Manchester City is making matters worse for Arsenal after Erling Haaland delivered a potentially decisive blow to the English Premier League title race by beating the Gunners 2-1.
Haaland picked the right moment to end his poor spell in a crucial win over the Football League leaders on Sunday and give his side a lead in the title race.
The Norwegian had not scored in the league since February, but his powerful performance proved decisive after a thrilling 65 minutes at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s side are three points clear of the leaders and have the game in hand with momentum in hand as Arsenal’s quest for a first league title in 22 years comes to an end.
Mikel Arteta’s side have gone on a six-match winning streak in all competitions, including four consecutive defeats in domestic competitions, following defeat to City in the League Cup final last month.
Victory over relegation-bound Burnley on Wednesday would take City top the table for the first time this year, and Haaland admitted every game will be like a “final” for his team.
“Every game is a final,” he said after the match. “We have to focus on recovery and prepare for Burnley. It’s as important as this game. We have to stay humble and focus on the next game.”
City’s outgoing captain Bernardo Silva praised the number nine.
“Erling was fantastic today,” Silva told Sky Sports. “It’s not easy with such a strong centre-back. He fought like a beast.”
Silva acknowledged that the win is a big moment in the league.
“Very big (win) because it puts us in a position where if we win our game we will be on even points,” he said.
“Two weeks ago, it didn’t seem very possible, this scenario. I’m glad we’re at similar points.”
Having finished second in the last three seasons, Arsenal are in danger of missing out on another great chance to end their long wait to be crowned English football champions.
They would still bemoan their luck after hitting the post twice either side of Holland’s winner in the second half.
After Ryan Cherky’s brilliant solo effort opened the scoring, City gave the visitors a chance to get back into the game when Kai Havertz parried Gianluigi Donnarumma’s equaliser. But the difference in quality already proved the difference.
Haaland tried to sweep in his 34th goal of the season 25 minutes from time, before Havertz converted a brilliant chance in stoppage time.
Guardiola’s team took advantage of Arsenal’s anxiety and made a strong start.
Cherky’s deflected shot came back off the post, and City’s claim for a penalty against Gabriel Magalhaes for handball was disregarded.
The visitors were just beginning to find their footing when a moment of magic from Cherky exposed the Gunners’ notorious defence. The French international danced through challenges from Gabriel and Declan Rice before slotting comfortably into the bottom corner.
However, Arsenal were given an immediate lease of life due to Donnarumma’s disaster.
The giant Italian was in trouble for Arteta’s men when playing for Paris Saint-Germain in last season’s Champions League semi-final. But as he stopped, he gave them a gift and allowed Havertz to curl his effort into the top corner.
The nature of the equalizer threw City out of their rhythm, and it took until Guardiola’s half-time call for the hosts to regain control.
Haaland should have scored when he hit the post after failing to clear an Arsenal corner, but then came two moments that will haunt Arsenal if they fail to end their long wait to win the title.
Donnarumma made a massive save of his own in a one-on-one battle with Havertz when Martin Odegaard’s follow-up effort was cleared off the line by Matthäus Nunes.
Moments later, Eberechi Eze struck the inside of the post and saw the ball travel quickly along the line instead of going into Donnarumma’s net.
City made the most of their luck to take the lead again. Haaland got past Gabriel to meet Nico O’Reilly’s cross and slip it past David Raya.
Arsenal were once again denied by the woodwork when Gabriel’s header hit the post after hitting O’Reilly, and Havertz failed to turn in the rebound.
Gabriel was lucky to stay on the field after attempting a headbutt on Haaland and only received a yellow card.
But they had a chance to equalize when Havertz sweetly connected with Leandro Trossard’s cross but could not keep his header down.
Arteta fell to the ground in disbelief but now faces the task of trying to lift his players for the final five games of the campaign.
Arsenal have the better run-in on paper, but when it counts once again it seems to be out of steam.
Arteta regretted his team’s missed goalscoring opportunities.
“When you don’t (take risks) and they have individual quality, that’s a risk,” said the former Man City assistant coach.
“There’s an element of luck, whether the ball goes in or not. In the second goal, the ball gets deflected and it goes to Haaland. There’s also an individual quality of being calm, precise and ruthless. You have to be there.”
“You could see the attitude of the team towards the end of the game. We could have been more composed in some moments, but we definitely took the game into the areas we wanted to.”
Despite the defeat, the Spaniard said his team still had time to reset before the next game.
“We missed a big chance today. But there are still five (matches) left. There are still a lot of positive things (to learn today).”
