Week 5: The Arsenal- Manchester City Clash
By Tanko Bauka
Arsenal FC showed steel and character as they survived a scare by producing a masterclass in defending in the second half of their week 5 encounter with the defending champion, Manchester City, at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
The match, which could be described as the clash of the heavyweights, burst into life when the monster and goal machine, Erling Haaland, showed his quality as he escaped Arsenal defenders, Califiori and Gabriel when he was put through by Savinho to score his 100 goals in 105 matches.
The celebration lasted for just a few minutes as Arsenal responded with a wide-range cracker, scored by Califiori to make amend for his early mistake and the Gunners taunted as the king of set pieces scored in a similar fashion via precise delivery of a corner kick by Bukayo Saka and Gabriel pop up to nod in as he did against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend to hand his team the lead.
In the second half, Manchester City laid siege to Arsenal’s goal mouth area as they produced wave upon wave of attacks to level up and maybe go ahead to win the match after Lesandro Trossard was sent off, but Arsenal responded by mentally, and physically, and tactically barricading their eighteen yards to fend off Manchester City.
Manchester City’s pressure finally paid off when John Stone snatched an equalizer in the 98th minute to deny Arsenal a famous win at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City had not lost a match since 2022 when they were beaten 2-0 by Brentford.
Elsewhere, Nicolas Jackson inspired Chelsea to a comfortable 3-0 win against West Ham at the London Stadium as he scored a brace while Cole Palmer registered Chelsea’s third goal.
Liverpool also thumped AFC Bournemouth by 3 goals at Anfield to put behind them the memory of their loss against Nottingham Forest last weekend.
Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham and Aston Villa also secured three points at stake, while Machester United could only manage a goalless draw in a match they dominated against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
In the Spanish LA Liga, Barcelona continued their unbeaten and fine form as they piped Villarreal 5-1 to stay top of the league and extend the lead between them and their arch-rival Real Madrid to five points after Real Madrid has reduced it to one point following their victory against Espanyol.
In the Italian Serie A, AC Milan stunned Inter Milan 2-1 in the first San Siro derby, otherwise tagged the Milan derby, while Juventus continued their poor form in the league as they were held to a goalless draw by Napoli but they were wind by Torino, Empoli, Roma and Fiorentina.
Bayern Munich has continued to set the pace in the German Bundesliga as they seek to wrestle the league title from Bayer Leverkusen when they put 5 goals past Werder Bremen while Bayer Leverkusen responded with a 4-3 win over Wolfsburg as Stuttgart outclassed Borussia Dortmund by hammering them 5-1.
Results across Europe
West Ham 0- Chelsea 3
Aston Villa 3- Wolves 1
Fulham 3- Newcastle 1
Leicester 1- Everton 1
Liverpool 3- AFC Bournemouth 0
Southampton 1- Ipswich Town 1
Tottenham 3- Brentford 1
Crystal Palace 0- Manchester United 0
Brighton Albion 2- Nothingham 2
Manchester City 2- Arsenal 2
Spanish LA Liga
Deportivo Alaves 2- Sevilla 1
Real Valladolid 0- Real Sociadad 0
Osasuna 2- Las Palmas 1
Valencia 2- Girona 0
Real Madrid 3- Espanyol 1
Gatafe 1- Laganes 1
Athletic Bilbao 3- Celta Vigo 1
Villarreal 1- Barcelona 5
Italian Serie A
Cagliari 0- Empoli 2
Hellas Verona 2- Torino 3
Venezia 2- Genoa 0
Juventus 0- Napoli 0
Lacce 2- Parma 2
Fiorentina 2 – Lazio 1
AC Monza 1- Bologna 2
Roma 3- Udinese 0
Inter Milan 1 – AC Milan 2
German Bundesliga
Heidenheim 0- SC Freiburg 3
Werder Bremen 0- Bayern Munich 5
Union Berlin 2- Hoffenheim 1
VFL Bochum 2- Holstein Kiel 2
Eintrach Frankfurt 4- Bayern Monchenglabach 0
Bayern Leverkusen 4- Wolfsburg 3
Stuttgart 5- Borussia Dortmund 1
FC St Pauli 0- RB Leipzig 0.
