Five conclusions as Man City make easy work of Arsenal | OneFootball

Liverpool will be sitting a little more uncomfortably at the top of the Premier League as Manchester City eased to a 3-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, wins for Chelsea and Manchester United over the weekend meant the Gunners slipped to sixth in the table.

Here’s what we made of the game.

Sergio Agüero is top class

Harry Kane this, Mohamed Salah that, something about Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Why does Sergio Agüero never get the plaudits he deserves?

A hat-trick from the Argentine  (his 14th for Manchester City) took him to 14 Premier League goals for the season so far. Since arriving in English football in 2011, he’s now scored 219 goals in 320 appearances.

His first goal was a brilliant header, his second came from great movement, the third was a bit fortunate but his movement was once again top notch.

Yet he’s never mentioned as City’s greatest player, nor as one of the Premier League’s greatest ever imports. It’s about time that changed.

Arsenal shouldn’t be so toothless

For about 10 minutes before Manchester City went 2-1 up, it looked like we had a real game on their hands.

Arsenal had drawn level and battled through a tough period of pressure. They had grown into the game and Manchester City, under immense pressure to win and stay on Liverpool’s tail, looked nervous.

Then Sergio Agüero made it 2-1 right on half-time.

After the break, Arsenal didn’t have a single shot while conceding 13 at the other end. Unai Emery’s side didn’t complete a single pass into the Manchester City area. They sat tight, hoped not to concede more, and prayed for a miracle counter-attacking opportunity to arise.

That’s despite starting with both Aubameyang and Lacazette.

At the moment, Arsenal are too easy to suffocate. When he arrived at the club, Emery said he thought it was very important to be “protagonists” in games. There’s a long way to go.

Fernandinho’s magic

At centre-back when Arsenal attacked, in central midfield when City won the ball. Is there anything he can’t do?

Much has been said about Fernandinho this season – he’s missed just two Premier League games and Man City lost both – and this was just another performance to underline his importance.

Playing two positions at once, the Brazilian was solid at the back and an instigator on the ball.

Even if he was less influential than usual, he was impeccable in everything he did and important as City switched the play to stretch the Arsenal backline.

If the title race is going to go all the way to the wire, he cannot get injured.

Guendouzi’s got class

If anyone stood out in Arsenal’s impressive first half, it was 19-year-old Matteo Guendouzi.

After a shaky couple of months, the teenager delivered a man of the match performance against Cardiff in midweek and he was at it again here. The key to breaking free of Manchester City’s pressure, Guendouzi completed all 20 of his passes in the opening 45 minutes.

His influence and performance declined after the break, as did Arsenal’s, but the Frenchman has something about him. Boundless energy off the ball, serenity on it, and a bit of a nasty streak. He could go far.

All passes completed in the first half. So much attention on Torreira but the Frenchman, at just 19, is a huge hope for the future.

The second half was much trickier. Arsenal were behind and City strangled control – the guests didn’t even have a shot after the break.

No shots in the second half.

Saving Sané

All three of Manchester City’s goals came from the left-hand side of the pitch. Without Leroy Sané on the pitch.

Arsenal’s injury problems meant 35-year-old Stephan Lichtsteiner was at right-back. The former Juventus man hasn’t looked good enough since his arrival from Juventus and it showed again here.

Raheem Sterling is fantastic but he often wants to cut inside to create or score himself. With Sané in from the start, City could’ve torn Lichtsteiner apart and ended this game much earlier.

Then again, maybe Guardiola was saving Sané. Man City face Everton in midweek and Chelsea next weekend and the German will have a huge part to play in both games. And he’ll be fresh.

As for Lichtsteiner, there’s no way he should be at Arsenal next season.