Manchester City came into this match unbeaten and without a loss in nine home meetings against Arsenal, this fixture was the talk of the weekend both sides have been top two in the last Premier League seasons. Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arterta opted out for a 4-4-2 formation with David Raya in between the sticks, William Saliba and Gabriel in the heart of defense, Thomas Partey and Declan Rice in the middle of the pack , Kai Havertz and Trossard playing upfront.
Pep Guardiola side lined up with a 4-3-3 formation, Ederson was in goal, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji were the center halves, Rodri was in the middle of the pack and Erling Haaland was the main man upfront.
Haaland gave Manchester City the lead nine minutes into the game, the goal marked his 100th goal as a Manchester City player and it took him 105 games to reach that margin becoming the fastest player alongside Cristiano Ronaldo to score 100 goals for a top five club in the 21st century.
The lead didn’t last long as Riccardo Calafiori restored parity in the 22nd minute through a breathtaking strike from outside the box, it was his first goal for the club. Late into the first half Gabriel kept Arsenal ahead for the first time, at the same time becoming the highest scoring centre back in the Premier League since 2020,there was still room for drama has Trossard was sent off by Mikel Oliver reducing Arsenal to ten men.
The 2nd half was all about Manchester City as they had 24 shots, seven on target and an expected goal ratio of 1.04 while Arsenal didn’t have any shot, the Gunners had 22 percent possession, but were solid attacking wise.
Arsenal were close to getting the first win at the Ethiad since 2015 until stones put the ball into the ball in the 98th minute breaking Arsenal’s heart. The win maintained City’s unbeaten start to the season and made it 13 points from a possible 15.