Arsenal humble Manchester City with five-star rout of Pep Guardiola’s side | OneFootball

Arsenal kept their Premier League title dream alive with an emphatic 5-1 victory against Manchester City at the Emirates.

Martin Odegaard fired Arsenal ahead after 104 seconds before Erling Haaland hauled City level in the 55th minute.

However, Thomas Partey restored Arsenal’s lead just a minute later, with teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly adding a third after he landed his first goal for Arsenal.

The 18-year-old then appeared to mock Haaland – who had urged Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to “stay humble” following the fiery 2-2 draw at the Etihad earlier this season – by imitating the City forward’s yoga-style celebration.

Kai Havertz delivered his side’s fourth with 14 minutes left before substitute Ethan Nwaneri completed a brilliant afternoon for Arsenal with a gorgeous strike in stoppage time.

The statement victory takes Arteta’s side back up to second, six points behind leaders Liverpool, with a shell-shocked City remaining in fourth, 15 points off the pace.

The pressure was on Arsenal after Liverpool’s win at Bournemouth on Saturday, and they enjoyed a fine start with Odegaard opening the scoring inside two minutes after a gift from City.

Manuel Akanji was caught dithering on the ball by Leandro Trossard and when the ball fell to Havertz he played in Odegaard who had the composure to coolly fire home.

Haaland threw a ball at Gabriel in a chaotic ending at the reverse fixture, and the defender returned the favour by screaming in the City forward’s face before joining his team-mates to celebrate Arsenal’s opener.

The Emirates was alive and Gabriel Martinelli thought he had doubled the home side’s lead inside six minutes only to see his finish ruled out for offside.

Although Arsenal enjoyed the best of the opening exchanges, Josko Gvardiol came close to hauling the visitors level only to see David Raya produce a fine reflex save to deny his header from Omar Marmoush’s corner.

The Spaniard palmed Gvardiol’s header on to his crossbar with Haaland ready to strike before Arsenal cleared their lines.

Down the other end, and Havertz should have put his side two clear. City were again guilty of creating their own downfall when Declan Rice nicked the ball off Mateo Kovacic on the edge of his box after he was played into danger by goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.

Rice’s interception fell to Havertz but with all of the goal to aim at, the German somehow dragged his shot wide. He reacted by pulling his shirt over his head.

As the half wore on, City’s presence grew, and the hosts had Raya to thank for keeping them ahead when he managed to divert Gvardiol’s fizzing cross from danger before getting down low to palm away Savinho’s deflected strike. City were on top when the half-time whistle blew.

And with 10 minutes of the second half gone, they had their equaliser. Phil Foden found Savinho and his pinpoint cross was planted into the back of the net by Haaland after William Saliba allowed his opponent a free header.

City were back in the match, but Arsenal provided a quick response that sucked the life out of Pep Guardiola’s men.

Foden’s sloppy pass fell right into Partey’s path and the midfielder’s 20-yard strike hit John Stones’ back before sailing past a wrong-footed Ortega.

Guardiola could not believe it, and it would get worse for the City boss when Lewis-Skelly put a rampant Arsenal two clear five minutes later.

Rice found the academy star in the penalty area and Ortega could not keep Lewis-Skelly’s curling right-footed strike out.

The teenager then ran away to the corner before sitting on the turf and holding his fingers in a yoga pose – a celebration synonymous with Haaland in recent years.

Suddenly it was all Arsenal, and a diving save from Ortega prevented Martinelli from making it four for Arsenal.

But Ortega could do nothing to prevent Havertz’s breakaway goal – started by Partey’s interception on the edge of his own area and assisted by Martinell’s high-speed dribble.

Nwaneri, another star of Arsenal’s academy and still a month shy of his 18th birthday, scored the fifth with virtually the last kick of the game following a brilliant curling effort from the edge of the area on a day that firmly keeps Arteta’s squad in the hunt for their first title in 21 years.