Arsenal humble Manchester City to keep Premier League title hopes alive
SIT DOWN, BE HUMBLE: Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly celebrates scoring his side's third goal of the game. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire.
MYLES LEWIS-SKELLY kept Arsenal’s title hopes just about alive as he humbled Erling Haaland and Manchester City with a decisive first senior goal.
The Arsenal teenager won a red card suspension appeal to earn the right to start this grudge match to show the footballing world what a talent manager Mikel Arteta has at his disposal.
And the teenage defender, just 18 at the end of last year, rubbed salt into City’s open wounds by celebrating his landmark goal with Haaland’s trademark zen meditation pose; eyes closed, legs crossed and thumb and middle finger pinched together in a sign of calm relaxation.
His Hale End academy team-mate Ethan Nwaneri came on at the end to score Arsenal’s fifth in the 90th-minute. The pair hugged on the pitch at the end Lewis-Skelly struck just past the hour mark, shortly after Thomas Partey had shot Arsenal back in front after Haaland had equalised Martin Odegaard’s early Arsenal opener.
It was a spectacular match and victory for Arsenal’s often criticised squad. Kai Havertz, guilty of one of the misses of the season earlier scored Arsenal’s fourth with just under 15 minutes to go.
Haaland stirred trouble when these sides fought out a bruising 2-2 draw in Manchester earlier this season. ‘Stay Humble’ said the Norwegian forward to Arsenal manager Arteta as his players piled in to back their boss.
The humble words have become a cruel catchphrase in north London during City’s surprise slide down the table ever since. But few would have predicted the nature of this victory that keeps Arsenal within six points of leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
Just 105 seconds gone when Arsenal took the lead with their second chance of the match. City keeper Stefan Ortega had been dwelling in the ball, trying to take the sting out of Arsenal’s inevitable early attack-minded tactics.
How it backfired when he hit a slow pass out in the hope City could play out form the back. Leandro Trossard caught Manuel Akanji on the ball and played in Havertz. The German shaped to shoot only to deceive the CitY defence by squaring for Odegaard to drive into an empty net.
Last week we saw Abdukodir Khusanov make a similar error on his debut against Chelsea. Only the names had been changed this time as City’s big-money January signing was relegated to the subs bench.
Gabriel Martinelli had it in the back of the net again for Arsenal with only five minutes gone. This time it was ruled out for offside but the move showed again how slow and blunt City were in comparison to Arsenal’s rapier-like start to a match they had to win.
City recovered well, started to win the midfield battles and was causing Arsenal problems – David Raya made a sensational save from a Josko Gvardiol header at a corner – only to gift Arsenal what should have been an easy second goal with 28 minutes gone.
Ortega played out another questionable pass from the back and Declan Rice regained the ball superbly to present Havertz with a great chance. He only had to hit the target but dragged a left foot shot wide of the target. Arsenal’s leading scorer lifted his shirt to hide his face and the embarrassment he must have been feeling.
No wonder Arsenal’s transfer unit has been scouring Europe to sign a striker all season. Arsenal captain Odegaard tried to rally his team-mate and the home crowd but it was City who took the most heart and continued to dominate the match from then and into the second half.
The equaliser duly came in the 55th minute when Haaland headed firmly in his 25th goal of the season after a wonderfully worked move and cross from the right between Matheus Nunes, Phil Foden and Savinho.
Arsenal’s dismay and City’s joy and relief lasted for all of 60 seconds. Foden’s sloppy pass was intercepted by Partey 25 or so yards out, and the Ghanaian let fly with a shot that deflected in off the turned back of John Stones. Incredible scenes.
Now we would see what Arsenal were made of. Would they go in search of another goal to kill the game off or sit back as they did when leading at City with ten men at the start of the season and hope to hang on?
They went for it and were rewarded by Lewis-Skelley’s 62nd minute strike and a quality finish from Havertz with 76 minutes gone. And to top it all off, Arteta sent on 17-year-old Nwaneri to score what is already becoming a trademark left foot curler.
Raya 8, Lewis-Skelly 9 (Calafiori 90, Gabriel 7, Saliba 6, Timber 7, Rice 7, Partey 7, Odegaard 7 ( Merino84), Trossard 7 (Nwaneri 84), Havertz 6 (Sterling 90), Martinelli 7.
Neto, Tierney, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Jorginho.
Ortega 4, Nunes 5, Stones 5, Akanji 5, Gvardiol 6, Silva 7, Kovacic 7, Savinho 8, Foden 7 (McAtee 72), Haaland 6, Marmoush 6 (De Bruyne 72).
Carson, Grealish , Gundogan, Reis, Khusanov, O'Reilly, Lewis.
Peter Bankes 5.
60,355.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
