Manchester City 3, Arsenal 0
David Luiz had a horror show for Arsenal as he made mistakes for two of Manchester City’s goals before being sent off after just 30 minutes of game time at the Etihad.
Embed from Getty ImagesLuckless Arsenal didn’t even bring on Luiz until they had suffered two defensive injuries and perhaps there was a reason for it as the Brazilian came on in the 24th minute and was walking off in the 50th minute having been sent off for a calamitous foul on Riyad Mahrez.
During his time on the pitch he helped City build an unassailable lead with responsibility for goals by Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne before Phil Foden polished off the 10-man Gunners in injury time.
But the Blues will be concerned at the late loss of Eric Garcia to a serious looking injury after he was clattered by Ederson near the end of the game.
The focus was on Sterling from the start as players from both sides took a knee prior to kick off as players recognised the Black Lives Matters movement and the losses to Corona Virus pandemic this year so far.
Sterling, who hadn’t scored in 2020 until tonight, should have beaten Leno earlier as City bullied the Gunners and carved out chances at will thanks to magic from Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva.
By contrast, Leno’s opposite number in the City goal thought he had a night off after an early scare when Eddie Nketiah thought he was clean through from the start but was clearly offside.
Ederson started in his 100th Premier League game but both sides sprang surprises in their starting lineups as Pep Guardiola’s former right hand man Mikel Arteta’s went up against his former boss at the Etihad Stadium.
Eric Garcia starts for Manchester City
Both managers picked relative rookies in defence, with highly promising 19-year-old Eric Garcia partnering Aymeric Laporte while Pablo Mari – a former City defender – was making only his second Premier League start for the Gunners.
Embed from Getty ImagesGiven that Arsenal weren’t expected to pose a physical challenge it was no surprise to see Nicolas Otamendi on the bench but John Stones didn’t even make the nine-man bench.
Gabriel Jesus was also preferred to Sergio Aguero who joined Leroy Sane on the bench while Benjamin Mendy made a rare start at left back for City and the defensive assuredness of Rodri was sacrificed for an attacking midfield trio that included Ilkay Gundogan.
As with the players in the earlier kick off players took a knee prior to kick off and Arsenal were swiftly out of the blocks.
There was a it more early action in this game, with Eddie Nketiah narrowly offside while Leno touched a Kevin De Bruyne free kick over the bar.
Pep Guardiola had warned of under-preparation leading to injuries and there was an early injury setback for Granit Xhaka (achilles) as he ran into Matteo Guendouzi and was stretchered off after just 8 minutes.
And with City back into their full pomp, roughing up their visitors, the Gunners were soon down again with David Luiz having to replace Pablo Mari (hamstring) after 24 minutes.
Raheem Sterling scores first goal during Project Restart
It was a matter of time before Raheem Sterling scored two minutes into first half added time – his first goal of the calendar year – after a Kevin De Bruyne pass was deflected into the path of the England winger by the sloppy Luiz.
Embed from Getty ImagesSterling thrashed it past Bernd Leno who would have counted himself lucky to have kept a clean sheet after chances for Sterling, David Silva, Riyad Mahrez, and De Bruyne tested him.
It was City’s 350th Premier League goal under Pep Guardiola.
And less than 4 minutes after the restart at Luiz was walking off the pitch for the fourth time this season after Anthony Taylor showed him the red card after hauling down Riyad Mahrez and there was no reprieve by VAR.
Ederson’s long punt upfield found Kyle Walker who headed the ball infield for Mahrez who drew the foul after slaloming into the area with Luiz in tow.
Kevin De Bruyne stepped up and scored City’s first successful Premier League spot kick after in 5 attempts for a well deserved 10th City goal of the season.
At 2-0 up with Arsenal a man down, City took full control and lowered the tempo – but there was to be no return to action for Leroy Sane.
Sergio Aguero was City’s final sub on the night but moments after he came on Ederson had to race off his own line to clear the ball but clattered Garcia with 10 minutes to go leaving City with ten men.
But any thoughts of Arsenal closing the gap were short-lived as they failed to even get a shot on target while City racked up 12 from a total of 20 shots.
Sergio Aguero exchanged passes with Sterling before rapping the post with a clever shot but Phil Foden was there on the spot to tap in the rebound from 8 yards out to extinguish Arsenal hopes just a minute into 11 minutes of added time with his fourth goal of the season.
The Garcia injury cast a shadow over what was otherwise a comprehensive City victory which closed the academic gap to Liverpool down to 22 points with 27 to play for.
“He’s conscious which is a good sign but we will make extra tests in hospital.” Said Guardiola of Garcia who would surely have seen more action in the closing games of the Premier League season before the injury.
More crucially, the gap to Manchester United in fifth place is 15 points and with such a gap the last few Premier League games would be an excellent opportunity to test out some of City’s youth talent.
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 3, Arsenal 0
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Garcia, Laporte (Fernandinho 70), Mendy, David Silva (Bernardo Silva 65), Gundogan, De Bruyne (Rodri 70), Mahrez (Foden 65), Jesus, Sterling (Aguero 80)
Man City Subs not used: Carson, Zinchenko, Sane, Otamendi
Booked: Rodri 79
Goals: Sterling 45+2; De Bruyne 51 pen; Foden 90+1
Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Mari (Luiz 24), Mustafi, Tierney, Xhaka (Ceballos 8), Guendouzi (Maitland-Niles 67), Nketiah (Lacazette 67), Willock (Nelson 67), Saka, Aubameyang
Arsenal Subs not used: Martinez, Pepe, Kolasinac, Martinelli
Booked: Tierney 76
Sent Off: Luiz 49
Referee: Anthony Taylor