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Arsenal's winless streak against the top six away from home continued as they were comfortably beaten by Manchester City at the Etihad.
The hosts entered into this game with an abundance pressure to secure all three points after the defeat to Newcastle United on Wednesday.
Unai Emery could not have asked for a poor start when Sergio Aguero scored a header from close range to open the scoring within 50 seconds.
Soon after, Gunners skipper, Laurent Koscielny headed the ball from a set piece to equalize the score.
But, a lapse of concentration from Lichsteiner saw Raheem Sterling assisting the Argentine again who took uttermost advantage to take the lead into the half-time.
In the second half, Arsenal looked shattered and never really had the energy to go toe-to-toe against the Citizens.
The hosts were tormenting the defence and eventually got the much decisive two-goal cushion when Aguero was on the end of another goal to register his hat-trick.
There were some individual performances which caught the eye in this game. In this article, we shall look at five hits and flops.
#1 Hit - Sergio Aguero
Just like the last game, Sergio Aguero was at the end of the right end and the Cityzens took their early lead through him.
The Manchester City striker was at the right place at the right time to finish off chances with ease.
In general, he did not have much to do, but his devastating finishing came into effect by securing his tenth hat-trick in the Premier League history.
The 30-year-old had to pass only 25 times throughout the game, but he looked significant with his linkup play with Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva.
He hit the target 100% with four shots on target from the equal amount. He did the defensive part of the game by tracking back and completed two tackles which helped him secure the Man of the match award.
He was constantly threatening the center-backs Laurent Koscielny and Shrokdan Mustafi by running behind them to stretch their defense and cause havoc.
#2 Flop - Stephan Lichtsteiner
Unai Emery was forced to deploy Stephan Lichsteiner through the defensive part of right flank after Hector Bellerin's long term injury and Ainsley Maitland-Niles picking up a knock in the previous game against Cardiff City.
With Leroy Sane getting dropped to the bench, Raheem Sterling played through the left wing. It is always going to mark someone like Sterling who has superior speed and agility when compared to many other players in the league.
The English International was constantly tormenting the 35-year-old Switzerland International who would want to forget this day as soon as possible.
Besides, Pep Guardiola decided to overload that part of the defense by utilizing David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan through that flank which helped the course for the hosts.
All the three goals which resulted in a tap in for Sergio Aguero came through the left flank for the Citizens. The hard work done by the midfielders has been totally undone by their own player who never looked authoritative.
#3 Hit - Raheem Sterling
Once a record signing for the Cityzens, Raheem Sterling was blistering through the left flank in the absence of Leroy Sane who is expected to be restored against Everton in midweek.
The absence of Bellerin and Maitland-Niles helped the Manchester City forward who found it too easy against the 35-year-old Stephan Lichsteiner.
His combination play with the talisman Sergio Aguero was pivotal to City's win. With his drifting runs through the left, he found Manchester City's No. 10 in the middle who had the simpler task to tap the ball in from close range.
Besides, he made four key passes throughout the game which further enhances his superiority in the Manchester City forward line.
His dribble attempts are 100%, having completed five out of five throughout the game. The Manchester City No. 7 did take one shot from outside the box which was comfortably parried away by the shot-stopper Bernd Leno. He was the second best player for the Cityzens without any shadow of a doubt.
#4 Flop - Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang
It was very difficult to under Arsenal's formation throughout the game as Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang swapped positions more often than not.
But, the tactics were very clear from the Spaniard Unai Emery, who wanted his side to defend deep and hit the Cityzens on the counter-attack.
During the first half, he played through the left wing, but he was not able to go past players as he was completely frozen through the flanks.
A stat suggests that the striker partners made six passes to each other throughout the game, with three coming from kick off.
Fernandinho did the dirty work in the middle of the park and the Gabonian International looked bleak throughout the game.
There were times when he dropped deep to receive the ball, but he was easily dispossessed and ran out of options.
Alex Iwobi was another player in contention for the worst player of the game, but he contributed much more to the defensive part of the game even though he looked out of options higher up the pitch.
#5 Hit - Matteo Guendouzi
If Unai Emery is ready to pick positive out of this game, it must be the 19-year-old Matteo Guendouzi's phenomenal performance.
The French teenager was given the job to mark Kevin De Bruyne throughout the game, and he has come away with flying colours even though Arsenal failed to do the job collectively.
During the first half, the midfielder attempted 22 passes, of which all were successful. Besides, the French International was able to win back the ball more than any other Arsenal player during the first 45 minutes.
In the remaining part of the game, he completed 31 passes out of 32 attempted. He was winning duels for fun and nullified the brilliance of Kevin De Bruyne for most parts of the game.
He contributed to the attack by producing one key pass which broke the Manchester City defence.
Rightfully, his performance is lauded by the Gunners faithful despite the away side crumbling down.
