Man City 5-0 Arsenal: 3 talking points as Guardiola’s men tore Arsenal apart | EPL 2021-22

Xhaka of Arsenal receiving a red against Manchester City
Xhaka of Arsenal receiving a red against Manchester City

Man City thrashed Arsenal 5-0 to pick up their second consecutive win in the Premier League.

Manchester City showed no mercy to Arsenal after beating them 5-0 at Ethiad.

The Citizens got off to a flyer when Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres scored two goals inside 12 minutes.

Arsenal’s woes deepened after Granit Xhaka saw a red card for his awful challenge on Joao Cancelo. City took advantage of it by adding another goal before the half-time break courtesy of Gabriel Jesus.

The scenario remained the same in the second half as City went on to add two more goals through Rodri and Torres – his second of the game. 

Here are the three talking points from Citizens’ battering of the North Londoners.

Torres and Sterling continue to thrive in their new role

Both Torres and Jesus had a spectacular game in the attack despite being played out of position. The Brazilian started on the left wing while Torres acted as a false 9 and the changes proved to be effective as they combinedly contributed to City’s four goals. While the pressing issue for City appeared to be lack of a prolific goal-scorer and a focal point in the attack after the defeat against Spurs in their opening game, the results against Norwich and Arsenal have proved otherwise.

Terrible display from Arsenal

The Gunners looked out of place for the entirety and they hardly tried to get back into the game whenever City scored a goal. From defence to attack, the tactical organisation was completely missing while no one stood out individually. It was a similar story against Brentford and Chelsea and Mikel Arteta hasn’t learnt his lesson.

The end is nearing for Arteta

It was reported earlier that the Spanish manager had only a handful of games to save his job. Now the heavy defeat against Man City means Arteta is close to hitting rock bottom. The Gunners are up against Norwich and Burnley – two relatively easier fixtures than the one against Tottenham next month. There is no guarantee whether Arteta would turn the fortunes given their current form and perhaps, he hasn’t left with many options either.