Manchester City continued their irresistible run in this Premier League season, with a 3-1 win at home against Arsenal. After 11 matches, the Citizens now remain the only unbeaten team in the competition, winning 10 and drawing just once. And it was the usual suspects Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus who struck one each to render Alexandre Lacazette’s second-half strike a mere consolation for the Gunners.
City should have probably found the opener after just 90 seconds, only for Aguero to blaze his close-range effort wide of the goal.
But they scored their first in the 19th minute through De Bruyne, who has been in stellar form this season. After playing a quick one-two with Fernandinho, the 26-year-old brought the ball onto his left and struck a low shot past Petr Cech in the Arsenal goal. The Belgian continued his contribution in the match by forming a solid partnership with David Silva and Fernandinho in midfield, as the trio kept the visitors at bay – particularly blocking all routes to Alexis Sanchez, who was deployed as the striker.
The second goal came early on in the second-half. And it was the midfield again that set the move in motion for Raheem Sterling. This time, Brazilian Fernandinho made space and spotted the Englishman’s run from the right side of the box, only for Nacho Monreal to clumsily bring down Sterling to concede a penalty just five minutes after the restart.
Up stepped Aguero, who had been presented a special award midweek when he became the club’s all-time leading goalscorer. And the Argentine made no mistake in slotting home his 179th goal for the team.
In the 65th minute, Arsenal managed to conjure a decent run into the box. The move was initiated from their own defence as centre-back Laurent Koscielny passed on to Alex Iwobi, who pushed on to Aaron Ramsey in midfield. The Welshman then spotted Lacazette’s position and found a pass to the Frenchman, whose powerful strike snuck under City goalkeeper Ederson.
Having pulled one back, the Gunners were threatening to find another until the hosts regained control of the match, with some luck.
In the 74th minute, Fernandinho passed forward to Silva on the right flank. The Spaniard was offside, and the Arsenal defence froze, but the assistant referee didn’t raise the flag. Silva played to the whistle and squared the ball for Jesus who had the simple task of tapping home to ensure three points for Pep Guardiola’s side.
The win now marks City’s ninth consecutive in the Premier League this season and takes them eight points clear of Manchester United at the top of the table. Their 31 points and a goal difference of +31 is the best start to the Premier League after 11 games.
