Man City: Pep’s men slice the points down to two – Pressures on the leaders

The game of the weekend pretty much went as planned for Pep Guardiola and his Man City team. In the fight to retain their title for a successive campaign, they finally gain pace in the race, as they close the point gap to two points.

The Etihad was a happy zone again last night when another top-six outfit was taken out for all the points up for grabs. At one moment of the game (A very small window), Arsenal looked as if they were not going to lay down and try to take some points or a point from the Etihad.

However, it was the Kun Aguero show and nobody was taking the spotlight from the hat trick man when Arsenal went down by three goals to one. City came out with better intentions and stuck to the game plan. The difference in attitude amongst personnel was not to take their opponents for granted.

The home side did just that!

Faults in Gunners’ game?

Before the game kicked off and the lineup was out, Tony Adam’s in the buildup put it best. Unai set his men up, aiming for the jugular with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette in the starting 11.

Setting the team up for a firing line of fearsome attack was the statement delivered ahead of the entertaining 90 minutes.

Tony Adams was spot on, not only because it made so much more sense, but also because of the final score. Experienced Premier League players should have played and Arsenal should have overloaded the midfield. As put by the ex-Gunner, “They should have thickened up with Ramsey in the middle”.

This holds enough evidence, Arsenal lost the game before it even began. Going at City, you need to be certain everything’s clicking at 110 when on the pitch. With Unai Emery’s Gunners form all over the place in recent weeks, this was never going to happen, especially against the champions.

The Citizens eased to three

Leading the line and the club to some of the most important three points this season was Sergio Aguero. Not one, not two, but three goals to achieve the goal set by the manager in the title race.

A surprise move to leave Leroy Sane out was met with questions, and so was the inclusion of arguably City’s best player this season, Fernandinho to the backline as a partner to Otamendi in a central defensive role. But was he really a defender?

Seamlessly and effortlessly, Pep quelled the questions proposed and reiterated how he sees things no other human sees in football. His side bounced back, and they bounced back remarkably well after their last defeat.

The next test is one they’ll have to sit out and watch on from their homes. Waiting and seeing if West Ham can do them a favour like others have completed for title rivals, Liverpool.