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Manchester City began their title defence with an impressive victory against the new-look Arsenal. Unai Emery's first Premier League match couldn't have been much tougher as his side faced a ruthless City side who dominated in every aspect of the game. Despite Manchester City's brilliance, Arsenal created some opportunities, but those weren't enough to deny the champions their three points.
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring by dancing past two Arsenal defenders before unleashing a thunderous shot that flew past Petr Cech. The scoreline remained the same until Bernardo Silva's exquisite finish in the second half from Mendy's pass, which sealed the game for Citizens.
Let us look at how each team's players fared in the match.
Arsenal:
Petr Cech
He made a couple of great saves in the first half and produced an incredible one-on-one save against Sergio Aguero's shot in the second half.
Besides that his passing was horrendous, he almost scored into his own goal and also reacted late to Sterling's goal.
Rating - 6
Hector Bellerin
He failed to deal with Benjamin Mendy who was the creator of both the goals, had a good chance to level the game in the first half but hit straight to Ederson who saved it without any trouble.
Rating - 5
Shkodran Mustafi
He handled Aguero well but lacked pace at times and also left too much space in front for Sterling's goal, who easily placed his shot away from the defence.
Rating - 5.5
Sokratis Papastathopoulos
Manchester City almost scored from a free kick that resulted because of a tactical foul committed by Sokratis. Besides that, he made some good tackles and looked fine.
Rating - 6
Ainsley Maitland-Niles
He got a daunting task to control Riyad Mahrez and Kyle Walker, the youngster was forced to be substituted in the first half due to injury while stopping Kyle Walker's bursting run.
Rating - 5
Matteo Guendouzi
He looked promising and although he made some errors while passing, his willingness to go forward and make himself available during difficult positions for teammates impressed the fans a lot.
Rating - 7
Granit Xhaka
Went missing completely out powered by the City's midfield, booked for a poor challenge in the second half and eventually made way for Torreira later on.
Rating - 4.5
Mesut Ozil
A disappointing performance for his standards failed to find the players in the attacking third constantly, looked nowhere near his usual best.
Rating - 5
Aaron Ramsey
He [layed a little further up the pitch than expected. Ramsey attacked the opponents and created space between the defenders; he was impressive in the game but earned very little help from his teammates.
Rating - 6.5
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
The Armenian had done little and it was not his day. He had a couple of opportunities but delayed his shots and that was enough for the City's defence to clear away the danger.
Rating - 5
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
He almost scored a goal but disallowed due to offside, and also did not get the service needed to deliver for his team.
Rating - 6
Substitute
Stephan Lichtsteiner (for Maitland-Niles 35)
He did well in an unfamiliar position due to injury for Maitland-Niles but was one of the players responsible for Silva's goal.
Rating - 6
Alexandre Lacazette (for Ramsey 54)
He almost scored from the moment he entered into the pitch, but could not get his team a point.
.Rating - 6
Lucas Torreira (for Xhaka 70)
The game had almost has gone away from Arsenal's hands when he was introduced but he managed to show glimpses of his talent.
Rating - 6
Manchester City
Ederson
Arsenal had not tested him much, and he made a couple of easy saves. In one situation, he almost would have conceded if not for the miscommunication between Lacazette and Ozil.
Rating - 6
Kyle Walker
Walker looked like Usain Bolt during the first half. He burst past Maitland-Niles and eventually got him out of the game. A complete right back package at his best.
Rating - 8
John Stones
He put up a good performance while looking cool and composed. He also dealt with the danger comfortably, a rock solid performance.
Rating - 8
Aymeric Laporte
Laporte made some errors in the first half but settled well into the City's flow well after that.
Rating - 7
Benjamin Mendy
Although he looked rusty while defending, he provided the City with an attacking option up front and grabbed two assists in the match.
Rating - 7
Ilkay Gundogan
He was arguably the bad performer of the day for the City as he looked sloppy at times in the midfield, and his shot was blocked by Aguero later in the second half.
Rating - 6
Fernandinho
He completely owned the midfield, outclassing the opponents, his pressing and positioning while off the ball and passing on the ball were impressive.
Rating - 8
Riyad Mahrez
It was only his first match but seemed to start understanding Guardiola's style of play very much; he forced Cech to save from a free kick in the first half, overall a decent debut.
Rating - 7
Bernardo Silva
Silva looked quiet in the first half but produced a moment of brilliance in the second period with a sublime finish with his first touch.
Rating - 8
Raheem Sterling
Sterling opened the scoring for the City by skipping past Arsenal's defenders from left and scoring a beautiful goal. He linked up well with his teammates and surely more to come from this player the rest of the season.
Rating - 9
Sergio Aguero
He made all the efforts as usual but only ended up without a goal for himself. He had a decent opportunity one-on-one with Cech, but it was saved by the keeper. It would have been a goal had he squared it for De Bruyne.
Rating - 7
Substitutes
Kevin De Bruyne (for Mahrez 60)
He put up a decent display and possessed an attacking threat to the opponent.
Rating - 7
Gabriel Jesus (for Aguero 79)
N/A
Leroy Sane (for Sterling 87)
N/A
