The Myles Lewis-Skelly moment that summed up Arsenal and Man City’s new reality | OneFootball

A huge result, in many more senses than an incredible 5-1 margin. There was a lot more going on here than Pep Guardiola’s worst ever league defeat, and a statement victory for Arsenal’s young side. It was full circle. This is what Manchester City had themselves subjected Mikel Arteta's side to before, but with far more edge to the celebrations.

Erling Haaland at least knows who Myles Lewis-Skelly is now. His City side, however, were left wondering where they were. The champions don’t look anything like a true Guardiola team, as they suffered a defeat that has been coming for weeks.

Arsenal, meanwhile, finally looked like what they should be. That was in no small part down to the assertiveness of their 18-year-old, whose urgency changed the entire tone of this game. It was also in quite a contrast of the meditative celebration that added insult to injured pride for Haaland and City. Lewis-Skelly went there, having surged through the champions.

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Lewis-Skelly copied Haaland’s ‘Zen’ celebration as Arsenal thrashed the champions 5-1 (Getty Images)

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The 18-year-old’s attitude showed Arsenal what they needed to deliver a statement result (Getty Images)

It’s remarkable to think this match was in the balance for a time. There was a period where it looked like Arsenal were treating the opposition as if they were the City of 2023 rather than of 2025.

That ironically changed when Haaland rediscovered his touch, and actually touched the ball again. The Norwegian’s brilliant header to equalise felt like the last time anyone in a City shirt did anything competent. It came in the 55th minute.

Haaland’s goal was like a moment of realisation that finally woke Arsenal up. They went from trying to protect an opening goal, gifted to them by City’s loose play on the edge of their own box, to rampaging at the visitors in a way that reminded of their own best form from the last few years.

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Haaland equalised but lost his battle with Gabriel (Action Images via Reuters)

Is this where a title race actually restarts? Liverpool keep winning in that effervescently efficient way but Arsenal have now offered their strongest response yet. It’s the sort of win that can change the tone.

The story of this win was really in the response to Haaland’s equaliser. “Emotionally, that was a turning point,” Arteta said.

As easy as the match ended up for his side - a remarkable sentence in itself - it could easily have gone in another direction. There was a lot of tension. After Kai Havertz missed his first big chance, and Haaland scored, there was that sense of the same happening again in this fixture; that Arsenal were showing too much respect; that they’d been too cautious; that City still have something over them.

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(Action Images via Reuters)

The equaliser instead jolted something in Arsenal, like perhaps the memory that they haven’t actually lost to Guardiola’s side since their own 4-1 reckoning of May 2023.

How much has changed since then, not least for City. What most stands out is the lack of bite, and intensity. City have become so easy to both win the ball off and step around. That is simply incredible for a Guardiola team. It was visible in almost every goal here.

For the first, John Stones telegraphed a pass to Manuel Akanji, who stumbled as if he just wasn’t ready for it. Neither player then responded sharply enough as Havertz easily squared for Martin Odegaard. And, again, these are two centre-halves who had been world-class in this system just a year ago.

For the second, time at 38 seconds after Haaland’s header, Phil Foden played the ball straight into midfield and found Thomas Partey. Stones stood off; it was an invitation to shoot.

Lewis-Skelly then displayed the kind of urgency that City no longer offer. After that, as Guardiola said, City “fell down”. Stones admitted it was “unacceptable”. Havertz and substitute Ethan Nwaneri turned a statement victory into a humiliation.

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(Getty Images)

Guardiola himself had referenced how City started in the same way as they did in the 3-1 win over Chelsea, by gifting the opposition a goal. That was even more relevant that he may have intended. City have actually suffered this same issue repeatedly, in every type of game, from Brentford to Brugge. Paris Saint-Germain showed that if you go at them with “tenacity”, as Arteta put it, Guardiola’s side can be badly hurt.

Chelsea basically didn’t take that opportunity. Arsenal, eventually, did.

While this match showed that City are caught between eras as well as a lot of other issues - not least questions around Guardiola’s own medium-term future - it perhaps said even more about Arsenal’s future. Or, at least, something new.

There has been an angst around the club due to the lack of attacking signings and depth, but Arteta and his staff have been insistent on not losing sight of the bigger picture. The refusal to move in certain areas has allowed more game-time for Lewis-Skelly and the 17-year-old Nwaneri.

The full benefits could be seen here. Lewis-Skelly was running the game. Nwaneri was now offering real productivity in a big fixture.

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Nwaneri came off the bench to score a brilliant fifth (Getty Images)

That’s why this felt like it was about more than the size of the victory or the title race for Arsenal. It was about the future.

There was even the impudence of Lewis-Skelly celebrating in the way he did, and that after Gabriel had goaded Haaland after the first goal.

It felt like that could be tempting fortune, as if it was needless. Arteta, for his part, said he told his players to only focus on what they’re doing on the pitch.

That was the point, though. They followed up such talk. Some outside the club would say they need to actually follow it with the major trophies. But that is the aim. That is what they’re looking to.

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(Getty Images)

Guardiola, meanwhile, didn’t really know where to look. That was certainly the case when asked about Lewis-Skelly’s celebration. “I didn’t see it,” Guardiola initially said. “They did that?” When this was confirmed, he said “that’s good”. There were then a few seconds of silence as Guardiola looked at the table again before repeating “that’s good”. As he got up and left, he then turned to his press officer and said, “did you like my answer?”

You could read a lot into that little moment.

The issue for Guardiola is that you can read so much more into this result. Arsenal gave the only response that really matters. Now it’s about what next. This had all the feel of a changing of the guard… except there are Liverpool on top of the table. Arsenal, at least, know what they need. They also know a bit more about who they are. The same cannot be said for City.