The match in focus in gameweek 24 of the Premier League saw Arsenal crush Manchester City by beating them with a scoreline of 5-1 under the floodlights at the Emirates Stadium.

Mikel Arteta’s men gave their most dominant display of the season as they beat Pep Guardiola’s side for the second time in the league since the Spaniard’s arrival back in 2016.

Captain Martin Ødegaard’s early opener, Miles Lewis-Kelly’s first ever goal, Thomas Partey’s quick response, Kai Havertz’s redemption, and finally Ethan Nwaneri’s stunner destroyed the Manchester City defence as they conceded 5 goals in a single match only for the second time ever under Pep Guardiola. 

With last night's win, Arsenal have again gone within a distance of just 6 points of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.

The Gunner’s phenomenal 5-star display sends out a clear message to the Reds that they are ready to pounce upon any window of opportunity that Arne Slot’s men might allow with their mistakes.

Similar woes hurt Manchester City again, only more this time

Defensive woes have been the most common narrative in almost all of Manchester City’s games throughout the season. It was a similar story yesterday as well.

The high pressure from the Gunners managed to crack the City players, forcing them to break their defensive shape.

The City players were not able to hold on to possession and ended up giving away the ball in dangerous areas on many occasions, with two of them directly leading to goals.

Arsenal's opening goal was a big example of this when John Stones’ dangerous pass to Manuel Akanji was swept off from the defender’s feet by Leandro Trossard just a few yards away from Man City’s box, allowing Kai Havertz to easily find his captain, who had a simple finish to give Arsenal the lead within the first 2 minutes of the match. 

Thomas Partey’s goal was also a result of Phil Foden giving away the ball cheaply, allowing Partey to drive forward in space and have a successful crack at the goal just minutes after Erling Haaland’s equaliser.

According to The Athletic, Pep Guardiola’s side has now made 15 errors leading to an opposition shot this season in the Premier League, with 8 of them leading to goals, while also conceding their highest ever, 34, goals at this stage of the campaign in the league. 

What makes this stat sound even more astonishing is that despite Manchester United’s immense struggles, City have now conceded more goals than the Red Devils in the 2024/25 season of the Premier League.

City have now also conceded the highest number of goals per game in any season under Pep Guardiola, averaging 1.5 goals per game, as per SofaScore.

Arsenal’s brilliant exploitation of Manchester City’s vulnerabilities

Arsenal managed to exploit City’s vulnerabilities with their high press and brilliant wing play. 

The Gunners targeted City’s defensive weakness on the wings, with Matheus Nunes still being uncomfortable playing out of position at right-back, along with Josko Gvardiol’s advanced role leaving spaces on the left-hand side.

Mateo Kovacic’s inability to fulfil Rodri’s role to cover for Gvardiol appears to be leaving a lot of space on the left flank for the opposition to exploit, which has been targeted by many teams this season.

The Gunners also exploited this weakness brilliantly, with 2 out of their 5 goals coming from the left-hand side, one of them being a brilliant counterattack that was finished off by Kai Havertz. 

City were also not able to deal with Arsenal's intensity of their high press, leading to the disruption of their defensive shape on many occasions, allowing Mikel Arteta’s men to easily work their way through the field.