Manchester City are breathing down Arsenal’s necks after Erling Haaland’s strike helped beat the Gunners 2-1 to land a potentially decisive blow in the English Premier League title race.
Haaland picked the perfect time to end his lean spell in the crucial victory over the football league leaders to give his side the edge in the title race on Sunday.
The Norwegian had not scored in the league since February but his emphatic finish after 65 minutes of a compelling Etihad Stadium showdown proved decisive.
Pep Guardiola’s men close to within three points of the leaders and have a game in hand with momentum firmly in their favour as Arsenal’s quest for a first league title in 22 years unravels.
Defeat to City in the League Cup final last month has sparked a run of one win in six games in all competitions for Mikel Arteta’s men, including four consecutive defeats in domestic competitions.
Victory over relegation-bound Burnley on Wednesday will take City to the top for the first time this year, and Haaland admitted every game will be akin to “a final” for his team.
“Every game is a final,” he said after the match. “We have to focus on recovery and prepare for Burnley. It is as important as this game. We have to stay humble and focus on the next game.”
City’s outgoing captain Bernardo Silva was full of praise for the number nine.
“Erling was fantastic today,” Silva told Sky Sports. “It is not easy with centre-backs that strong. He fought like an animal.”
Silva admitted the win marked a huge moment in the league.
“Very big [win] because it puts us in a position if we win our game in hand, we’re on the same points,” he said.
“Two weeks ago, this didn’t look very likely, this scenario. I’m happy we can be on the same points.”
After finishing second for the past three seasons, Arsenal are at risk of seeing another huge chance to end their long wait to be the football champions of England slip away.
They will also rue their luck after twice hitting the post, either side of Haaland’s winner in the second half.
After Rayan Cherki’s stunning solo effort opened the scoring, City gifted the visitors a route back into the game when Kai Havertz charged down Gianluigi Donnarumma’s attempted clearance to equalise. But the difference in quality up front proved the difference.
Haaland pounced to sweep in his 34th goal of the season 25 minutes from time before Havertz headed over a glorious chance deep into stoppage time.
Guardiola’s men looked to prey on Arsenal’s anxiety in a blistering start.
Cherki’s deflected shot then came back off the post, and City claims for a penalty against Gabriel Magalhaes for handball were ignored.
The visitors were just starting to gain a foothold when a moment of magic from Cherki prised open the Gunners’ notoriously mean defence. The French international danced through challenges from Gabriel and Declan Rice before coolly slotting in the bottom corner.
Arsenal, though, were handed an immediate lifeline thanks to Donnarumma’s disaster.
The giant Italian was the scourge of Arteta’s men when playing for Paris Saint-Germain in last season’s Champions League semifinals. But he handed them a gift as he dallied and allowed Havertz to charge down his attempted clearance into the top corner.
The nature of the equaliser knocked City off their stride, and it took until Guardiola’s half-time team talk for the hosts to regain control.
Haaland should have scored when he hit the post after Arsenal failed to clear a corner, but then came two moments that will haunt Arsenal if they fail to end their long wait to win the title.
Donnarumma redeemed himself with a massive save when one-on-one with Havertz before Martin Odegaard’s follow-up effort was hooked off the line by Matheus Nunes.
Moments later, Eberechi Eze hit the inside of the post and saw the ball roll agonisingly along the line rather than into Donnarumma’s net.
City pounced on their moment of fortune to retake the lead. Haaland outmuscled Gabriel to meet Nico O’Reilly’s cross and hooked past David Raya.
Arsenal were denied by the woodwork once more when Gabriel’s header deflected off O’Reilly onto the post, and Havertz failed to turn in the rebound.
Gabriel was then lucky to stay on the field after an attempted headbutt on Haaland received only a yellow card.
But they had the chance to level when Havertz connected sweetly with Leandro Trossard’s cross, but could not keep his header down.
Arteta fell to the ground in disbelief, but now has the job of trying to raise his players for their final five games of the campaign.
Arsenal have on paper the kinder run-in, but appear to have run out of steam when it matters once more.
Arteta rued his side’s missed goal-scoring opportunities.
“When you don’t [take the chances] and they have the individual quality, that’s the risk,” the former Man City assistant coach said.
“There is an element of luck, whether the ball goes in or not. The second goal, the ball gets deflected and it goes to Haaland. There is an individual quality as well, to be cool, precise and ruthless. You have to be there.”
“You can see right to the end of the game the attitude of the team. We could have been more composed in certain moments, but we certainly took the game to areas where we wanted it.”
Despite the loss, the Spaniard said his team has time to reset before the next game.
“We lost an opportunity today, a big one. But there are still another five [matches] to go. There are still a lot of positives [to take from] today.”
