With both sides desperately in need of a win, the last thing either side would have wanted would have been this top four clash. Pep Guardiola knew that a win was needed to cool his critics after ending a three month spell without a home win in the league in midweek, whilst Arsenal Wenger knew that defeat would only rile up his critics further.
Guardiola took the bold step of dropping his £47.5 million summer signing, John Stone in midweek with many thinking he was being rested, but he couldn’t regain his place in time for Sunday. That didn’t stop Arsenal waltzing through the City defence as if it was not there to take the lead inside five minutes thanks to Theo Walcott though.
City piled on the pressure but had few rewards until after half time when Leroy Sane broke through to give his side an equaliser just minutes into the second period, scoring his first goal for the club to offer some justification for his mammoth fee in the summer.
From that point on it was the home team that looked far more likely to emerge with the three points, and once Rajeev Sterling completed the turnaround it looked secure. Sterling cut back to finish into the far post with quality, something that he had been lacking from his game earlier on in the game.
The result sees Arsenal drop below City to fourth, having started the week in second, and the pressure may have temporarily lifted on Guardiola, but it all piled on to Arsenal Wenger’s shoulders instead.
Read on over the next few pages to see what we can take from the game…