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London. Costly mistakes, penalty kicks and goals that made legs bend.
The event in the UAE turns out to be dramatic, as both teams compete for the main role.
The defending champion was ultimately victorious. One match doesn’t say where the title ends up, but it feels important to say the least.
Was this the most important match the UAE has ever seen?
On my way to Holloway Road on a Wednesday afternoon, I thought what meeting he could contest.
The game against Leicester in 2016 – actually on Valentine’s Day – was also phenomenal. For those who need a reminder, Danny Welbeck scored the winning goal in the 95th minute.
Then, naturally, Lester lunged forward and raised the dent anyway.
So maybe tonight’s outcome isn’t as conclusive as we think? When he pushed Kevin De Bruyne away from Mikel Arteta, when the stands shook so he could feel it in every cell and finally pushed Jack Grealish in the 2-1 goal for Manchester City (which soon became 3-1), this eventful performance was experienced at any rate. Is at its highest level.
costly mistake
There are a number of players at Arsenal who can be described as invaluable. Martin Odegaard and Thomas Partey are two of those. They give the midfield the right balance and give Granit Xhaka the freedom to operate in attacking areas on the left (while Ödegaard stays on the right).
Before kick-off, there was so much focus on Barty’s absence from the squad that Ben White’s absence was not discussed. It was no surprise that the defender was relegated to the bench. However, substitute Takehiro Tomiyasu ended up in midfield early on for the wrong reason.
The first sign that something was up in the air came when Erling Haaland broke away from Tomiyasu’s coverage. Arsenal eventually avoided this situation, but a few minutes later the Japanese made a costly mistake.
You forgot Kevin De Bruyne. In recent weeks, the Belgian has mainly received headlines when Pep Guardiola left him out of the starting line-up. But when De Bruyne flexes his qualities, he is without a doubt one of the Premier League’s finest phenomena. Now he intercepted Tomiyasu’s reckless pass home and kicked the ball past goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Arsenal started brightly, and were looking to stay with Jorginho in midfield. Will this slip out of their hands because of a stupid mistake?
Ederson causes the penalty kick
But the first half was far from over, although Man City were already trying to slow the pace. So much so that Ederson got a yellow card. The goalkeeper was lucky not to pick up another when he was intercepted by Eddie Nketiah after five minutes.
Nketiah was cleared from the goal line, but Anthony Taylor signaled for the penalty (keeping the yellow card pocketed). He might be shouted at that Ederson should have been out, and that such a situation “always” ends in a warning. But the truth is that out of 52 penalties this season, eight of them were yellow cards and one red.
It feels like decades since Bukayo Saka gave an unconfirmed nine-meter impression. The memory of the EC final at Wembley has faded. Now the 21-year-old stumbled, brimming with confidence, and rolled into a tie to the sound of thousands of fans who dared dream of gold again.
Then it’s over
The drama continued after the first half. Center back Gabriel was saved by an offside line (correctly drawn this time) as Haaland edged past him.
Arsenal struggled to stay on top of the roof, before finally going on. Ten minutes after Grealish’s 2-1 goal, Haaland broke through his clean sheet.
City players sank to the ground with their arms in the air. I celebrated with the bench. Arsenal fans threw objects at De Bruyne who grinned in the stands as he was substituted.
Everyone knew it was over.
The city did not shine, but …
Mind you, I didn’t even have time to mention that Bernardo Silva, amazingly, initially kept his place starting at left back (before stepping in centrally). Although facing Bukayo Saka.
Man City did not shine in the first half and Guardiola later decided to make some adjustments. Bernardo was moved to the other side of the field, while Nathan Ake became a conventional left back.
The lack of perfection was Arsenal’s downfall. One game doesn’t tell where the league title ends up, just ask Leicester in 2016. But Mikel Arteta’s side need to shake off the disappointment and above all find stability again to do so.