Manchester City pip Arsenal 2 – 1

Manchester City pip Arsenal 2 – 1
Manchester City capped a domineering display against Arsenal with a 2 – 1 win at the Ethihad Stadium on Sunday to hand the Gunners their second defeat in as many matches. Arsenal had scored early to take the lead under five minutes through Theo Walcott after a sleek counter attack. Sanchez slit the ball through to Walcott who managed to control it on the run before finishing neatly with the right foot.
The goal kind of woke up Manchester City who swarmed on Arsenal in search of a leveller. Raheem Sterling missed a sterling chance to equalise but headed wide after 7 minutes. City still piled on the pressure and in the 14th minute, Kevin De Bruyne crossed the ball tantalizingly into the Arsenal box but there was no Aguero to stab it home. Aguero, the Argentine international, is serving the 3rd of a 4-match ban imposed on him by the Football Association after he collected a red card for kicking out at Cesc Fabregas in their match against Premier League leaders, Chelsea.
Manchester City kept much of the possession, but Arsenal were constantly dangerous in counter attacks. Yaya Toure, the Ivory Coast international, had a header comfortably saved by Arsenal goalkeeper Peter Cech in injury time of the first half.
The second half started on a good note for Manchester City as a through ball enabled German international Leroy Sane to equalize in the 48th minute. Arsenal goalkeeper Peter Cech is partly to blame for not coming out in time to prevent Sane from having a clean view on goal, even though television replays showed that the German international was slightly offside when the ball was played.
Sane almost had a brace when he latched onto a pass from De Bruyne, but Cech came out in good time to fluff the ball into a corner.
Manchester City went up 2 – 1 after 71 minutes. De Bruyne sent Sterling clear with a diagonal cross, and the England international ran down the Arsenal defence before beating Cech with a left-footed low shot at the near post. Peter Cech is again culpable for failing to stop the ball from that tight angle. He was clearly lacking in sharpness and anticipation.
Arsenal missed an opportunity to equalise when Walcott miscued a shot after being fed decently by Alexis Sanchez.
City held on to a deserved win to move second on the table, 6 points behind Chelsea on top. Arsenal have now lost 2 matches in a row, having been beaten on Tuesday 2 – 1 at Everton. Their loss at the Ethihad Stadium puts question marks as to whether Arsenal have the backbone to stand in chase of the Premier League crown this season.
In other Sunday matches, Tottenham Hotspurs beat Burnley 2 – 1, while AFC Bournemouth lost at home 1 – 3 to Southampton.