January 01, (THEWILL) – English Premier League leaders Manchester City came from behind to beat fourth-placed Arsenal 2-1 on Saturday, thanks to a stoppage time goal from Rodri.
Both teams got off to a fast start and after just a few minutes, City forward Gabriel Jesus headed wide, before City survived a scare when VAR declined to overturn a potential foul by Ederson on Martin Odegaard in the box after ten minutes.
While City had more control and chances, Arsenal appeared to be more dangerous.
The hosts pressed high and disturbed City’s defensive line, preventing Pep Guardiola’s side from getting going, and they finally broke through on the half-hour mark.
The impressive Bukayo Saka knocked the ball past Ederson and into the back of the net after a drilled cross from Kieran Tierney fell at his feet.
Gabriel Martinelli had a great chance to make it two minutes before halftime, but dragged his shot agonisingly wide following a fantastic solo run.
But, Arsenal were their own undoing as a collision between Granit Xhaka and Bernardo Silva was called for review and VAR awarded City a penalty. Riyad Mahrez made no mistake from 12 yards to level the game.
What followed was the most head-scratching 60 seconds of the season. Aymeric Laporte headed past Ederson and Nathan Ake had to clear the ball off the line before Gabriel Martinelli missed the resulting strike that could have restored Arsenal’s lead.
It got worse as Gabriel Magalhaes, who had already been booked for scuffing the penalty spot moments before, was shown a second yellow card for a cynical foul and sent off from the restart, putting the hosts in a difficult situation with about half an hour of football still remaining.
The game quickly devolved into a defence versus attack battle, with City repeatedly banging on Arsenal’s door and the Gunners dismissing them with relative ease, even with their numerical disadvantage.
But, Rodri snatched the victory for City with a scruffy finish in the 93rd minute, just as it looked like the points were going to be evenly split in the first game of the second half of the campaign.
The Cityzens have now won 11 consecutive Premier League games, putting them 11 points clear at the top of the table. Next up for them is a trip to Swindon Town in the FA Cup. Arsenal were unable to hold on, and they remain in fourth place. On Tuesday, they take on Liverpool in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
