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Manchester City defeated Arsenal 4-1 at the Etihad to move to within two points of the Gunners at the top, with two games in hand.
Despite Arsenal being hard to beat in recent months, boss Mikel Arteta set out for battle with a side that was easy to play through and uncharacteristically poor in possession.
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We look at 5 mistakes the Arsenal boss made in this heavy defeat to Manchester City.
1. Defensive Selection
Mikel Arteta was forced to start Rob Holding in central defence due to the absence of the injured William Saliba and Holding vs Erling Haaland was an immediate mismatch.
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In hindsight, bringing Ben White to the middle and allowing Holding to play at right-back may have helped Arsenal cope with the strength and speed of Haaland, who tormented the Arsenal defence every chance he got.
2. Failure to make early tactical changes
Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were isolated on the flanks with the City defenders doing an excellent job in keeping them quiet.
Martinelli in particular who has been excellent in recent weeks was nowhere to be found and Arteta failed to identify this and find solutions to get his best forward players into the game before the contest got away from them.
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3. Arsenal’s high line
When defending against a force like Erling Haaland you cannot afford to leave spaces in behind. Arsenal played a dangerously high line that Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne exploited on occasion and in that high-octane first half, City should have been at least 4 goals to the good.
The Gunners were saved by Aaron Ramsdale’s smart saves. Arteta failed to recognize this early enough and by the time he made adjustments, it was too late.
As it happened: Manchester City hand Arsenal a football lesson to shift title race
4. Starting an unfit Xhaka
Granit Xhaka battles with fitness in the past week and was touch and go before kickoff. It was obvious from the start that he was not ready for this game and his inclusion was a mistake.
He struggled to cope with Man City’s midfield press and robustness and was lucky not to be sent off after a tussle with Jack Grealish. He looked totally off the pace and should have been left out.
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5. Thomas Partey isolated in midfield
Thomas Partey showed some fight but was often all by himself in repelling City’s advancing attacks. Mikel Arteta should have brought Jorginho on sooner to aid the Ghanaian in his midfield battles and attempt to wrestle back control of the midfield.
Guardiola’s men bossed the midfield and took control of the entire game from start to finish.
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