Watch: Kevin De Bruyne pushes away Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta during feisty top-of-the-table Premier League clash
The top-of-the-table Premier League encounter lived up to its hype as Manchester City triumphed 3-1 at Arsenal. City superstar Kevin De Bruyne was involved in a heated moment with an animated Gunners manager Mikel Arteta on the touchline.
The incident took place in the 51st minute. With the score level at 1-1, tempers were flaring at the Emirates. When the ball went out for a City throw, De Bruyne proceeded to take it with urgency, only for Arteta to intervene and knock it away from the Belgian midfielder.
De Bruyne reciprocated with a shove on the opposition manager. To be fair, Areta didn't help himself with his actions.
Watch the video of the incident below:
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The talismanic midfielder scored the opening goal for his team in the 24th minute. After Takhiro Tomiyasu played a poor back pass towards Aaron Ramsdale, De Bruyne was through on goal. He masterfully dinked it past Ramsdale to find the back of the net.
While Tomiyasu had a chance to redeem himself moments later, the full-back fired his left-footed effort over the bar after finding himself in space inside the City box.
More drama unfolded as Eddie Nketiah collided with Ederson when trying to shoot from a Granit Xhaka pass. Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot, and a VAR check sustained the on-field referee's decision. Bukayo Saka showed his maturity beyond his tender age to bring proceedings to level terms with a coolly taken penalty.
Arsenal, though, failed to get things going in the second half. They were often caught in possession when trying to play out of the back. Manchester City eventually punished the Gunners for their careless mistakes, with Jack Grealish retoring City's lead in the 72nd minute.
More misery awaited the Gunners as Erling Haaland rubber-stamped City's win eight minutes from time after some great work by De Bruyne in the build-up.
Arsenal architects of their own downfall against Manchester City
Arsenal's mistakes cost them the game against Manchester City. In a game of high stakes against a world-class team like Pep Guardiola's, the Gunners committed errors aplenty and were duly punished.
They were wasteful in possession around their penalty area. Considering the firepower City have in their ranks, it was only a matter of time before they conceded.
Apart from the errors, Eddie Nketiah missed two glaring opportunities. He failed to hit the target with a header in the first half after Oleksandr Zinchenko had found the striker with a sumptuous cross. Nketiah then couldn't meet Tomiyasu's delicious ball in the second half.
Kevin De Bruyne on Instagram after Man City's win against Arsenal π https://t.co/1TFUKNg2QD
The performances of Odegaard and Zincheno, though, should give Arteta a glimmer of home, but the title is slipping away from the Gunners.
Their handsome lead is gone, and Arsenal have been dethroned as the league leaders, but they do have a game in hand. It remains to be seen how the Gunners repond to get their title aspirations back on track.