Manchester City 5-0 Arsenal | 5 Talking Points | EPL 2020/21
After back-to-back defeats in the league, Mikel Arteta marched his depleted Arsenal squad to the home of the Champions, a side they hadn’t beaten in their previous 11 league meetings. For Manchester City, they came into this game off the back of a 5-0 win over Norwich City, a match in which they looked extremely comfortable. Pep Guardiola’s men would replicate that same form today.
Man City would start as they were meant to go on, opening the scoring in the seventh minute with an Ilkay Gundogan header. They would add a second five minutes later as Ferran Torres tapped in from close range. The misery wouldn’t stop there for the Gunners as Granit Xhaka would receive a straight red for an appalling tackle in the 35th minute.
From then on, the idea of there being any type of contest was put to bed. City refused to ease up, with Gabriel Jesus making it 3-0 before halftime. The second half would see the Champions dominate 86% of possession and add two more goals to their repertoire. The defeat leaves Arsenal rooted to the bottom of the table with a -9-goal difference.
Here are five talking points from Man City 5-0 Arsenal.
#5 Sead Kolasinac starts
A few days ago, Sead Kolasinac was set to fly out to Turkey for a medical with Fenerbahçe. Today, he started against the best team in the country. I'll never know how Mikel Arteta thought it was a good idea to start a player that is so clearly below the required standard of the club.
Year after year, Kolasinac has shown that he’s not good enough for this club only for Arteta to start him in consecutive games, despite trying to sell him. So, how did the Bosnian respond? By winning zero aerial duels, zero ground duels and making zero tackles. What a masterstroke by the manager.
#4 Manchester City in first gear
No striker, no problem. In a week that was centered around the PL Champions missing out on high-profile targets like Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester City answered all their critics with an explosive 5-0 win over another top six side. The scary thing is, Pep Guardiola’s men barely broke a sweat today.
The Cityzens were effortlessly supreme against an Arsenal side that refused to put up a fight. Against Mikel Arteta’s men, City had 81% possession, attempted 25 shots, won 14 corners, scored five goals with Ederson not having to make a single save. This is the third home game in a row that Man City have won 5-0, do they even need a striker?