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After back-to-back defeats in the league, Mikel Arteta marched his depleted Arsenal squad to the home of the Champions, a side they hadn’t beaten in their previous 11 league meetings. For Manchester City, they came into this game off the back of a 5-0 win over Norwich City, a match in which they looked extremely comfortable. Pep Guardiola’s men would replicate that same form today.
Man City would start as they were meant to go on, opening the scoring in the seventh minute with an Ilkay Gundogan header. They would add a second five minutes later as Ferran Torres tapped in from close range. The misery wouldn’t stop there for the Gunners as Granit Xhaka would receive a straight red for an appalling tackle in the 35th minute.
From then on, the idea of there being any type of contest was put to bed. City refused to ease up, with Gabriel Jesus making it 3-0 before halftime. The second half would see the Champions dominate 86% of possession and add two more goals to their repertoire. The defeat leaves Arsenal rooted to the bottom of the table with a -9-goal difference.
Here are five talking points from Man City 5-0 Arsenal.
#5 Sead Kolasinac starts
A few days ago, Sead Kolasinac was set to fly out to Turkey for a medical with Fenerbahçe. Today, he started against the best team in the country. I'll never know how Mikel Arteta thought it was a good idea to start a player that is so clearly below the required standard of the club.
Year after year, Kolasinac has shown that he’s not good enough for this club only for Arteta to start him in consecutive games, despite trying to sell him. So, how did the Bosnian respond? By winning zero aerial duels, zero ground duels and making zero tackles. What a masterstroke by the manager.
#4 Manchester City in first gear
No striker, no problem. In a week that was centered around the PL Champions missing out on high-profile targets like Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester City answered all their critics with an explosive 5-0 win over another top six side. The scary thing is, Pep Guardiola’s men barely broke a sweat today.
The Cityzens were effortlessly supreme against an Arsenal side that refused to put up a fight. Against Mikel Arteta’s men, City had 81% possession, attempted 25 shots, won 14 corners, scored five goals with Ederson not having to make a single save. This is the third home game in a row that Man City have won 5-0, do they even need a striker?
#3 Cedric is Arsenal’s worst RB
When Cedric was signed to a four-year deal, Mikel Arteta said he was the best offensive right-back Arsenal have. Fast forward to August 2021 and the Portuguese international is one of the biggest liabilities in the entire squad. Today, up against a buoyant Jack Grealish and the effervescent Joao Cancelo, the 29-year-old didn’t stand a chance. On defense, he was a target and going forward he was ineffective, as was the whole team.
In a disastrous performance, Cedric had 31 touches of the ball, won 0/8 duels, made an error leading to a goal, got dribbled past once, misplaced nine passes and averaged a shocking 44% pass accuracy. At this point, Arteta may as well recall Hector Bellerin, a man he’s left out of the squad two weeks in a row.
#2 Granit Xhaka loses his head
How many times must a player let down a club before he’s deemed as not good enough? Arsenal Football Club is the only club in the world where failure gets rewarded. The Gunners had the chance to sell Granit Xhaka for £12m to Roma this summer, instead, they rejected the offer and tied him down to a new contract. After announcing that earlier in the week, the Swiss international ushered in a new era with the fourth red card of his PL career.
With his team 2-0 down, Arsenal needed the 28-year-old to show leadership and steer the younger ones in the squad through a tough time. Instead, the midfielder completely lost his head and launched a two-footed lunge on Joao Cancelo. Although there was not much contact on the City player, the red card was still warranted. In the modern game, you cannot go into tackles with two feet off the ground, it’s reckless, uncalled for and downright stupid.
#1 Arsenal through the numbers
It’s the 28th of August and Arsenal have still not won a single PL game, nor have they scored a goal. In fact, the Gunners have only managed seven shots on target across those three games. The numbers don’t get any more alarming than that.
On paper, this is the joint-worst start to a Premier League season for any club in history. Mikel Arteta has seemingly made it his mission to break as many records as possible. This is the first time Arsenal have lost their opening three league matches of a season since 1955.
Last season, Arsenal were lambasted for their inability to score but this season, they’re neither unable to score or defend. Not only did they ship five goals at the Etihad, but they also conceded 25 shots, the most they’ve ever faced under Arteta in the league. In the attack, they attempted just one shot. Arsenal are bad but the numbers suggest they’re diabolical.
