Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal: City win potential title decider | OneFootball

Manchester City are now arguable favourites for the Premier League title, following a 2-1 win over league leaders Arsenal at the Etihad this afternoon.

Rayan Cherki opened the scoring for City with a wonderful goal, before a moment of madness saw Kai Havertz net an equaliser just 107 seconds lateer.

However, Erling Haaland stepped up and fired past Raya in the second half to seal all three points for the Citizens and sparking the title race into life ahead of the remaining few games.

As It Happened

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta found a way to get Eberechi Eze and Martin Ødegaard into the same starting XI in 2026 for this crucial clash, with Viktor Gyökeres dropping to the bench. Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola named an unchanged side from Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Chelsea last time out.

David Raya nearly cost his side in the opening minutes when his pass clattered into Erling Haaland, but luckily for the Spaniard, the ball flew back out to the wing. City hit the post seconds later when Cherki saw his shot deflect off Gabriel and onto the woodwork.

Arsenal earned themselves back-to-back corners in the sixth minute, but Cristhian Mosquera couldn’t keep his header on target. It was the hosts who found the opener in style on the 15th minute, when Cherki danced through the Arsenal defence and picked out the bottom corner with his right foot.

Their lead didn’t last long, however, as Havertz pounced on a loose touch from Gianluigi Donnarumma and found the net for an instant equaliser. Haaland looked to get his side back in front ten minutes later, but his shot was uncharacteristically wayward.

Bernardo Silva was next up to try and get a shot away, but some great recovery work from Declan Rice meant the ball went behind for a corner, which was dealt with comfortably. Mosquera was shown the first yellow card of the game in the 35th minute for a foul on Jérémy Doku.

Abdukodir Khusanov did well to nick the ball off Havertz’s toes shortly before half-time, putting the ball behind for a corner that Haaland subsequently cleared. Antoine Semenyo sparked into life in the 41st minute when his fierce strike was blocked by Piero Hincapié, bringing the first 45 to a close with nothing to separate the two sides.

Arsenal made one change at the break, with Gabriel Martinelli replacing Noni Madueke. The Citizens looked to take the lead early in the second half, but neither Khusanov nor Haaland could find the target. Minutes later, Rodri found Semenyo in behind the Arsenal defence, but the winger’s first touch let him down.

Donnarumma somewhat made up for his earlier error on the hour mark when he made a huge save to deny Havertz, before the rebound was cleared off the line by Nico O’Reilly. They somehow came even closer moments later, when Eze struck the upright from the edge of the area.

Marc Guehi was shown a yellow card in the 60th minute for a foul on Rice, but then up stepped Haaland, who fired past Raya to give his side the lead yet again with 25 minutes remaining. A tussle between the Norwegian and Gabriel saw the Manchester City forward have to change shirt after his was ripped by the Brazilian.

Gabriel saw his header rebound off the post in the 72nd minute, with the rebound going out for an Arsenal corner, which was well defended. Arteta made further changes following the corner, with Ben White and Leandro Trossard introduced to replace Mosquera and Eze.

White was involved straight away, but his cross could only find the gloves of Donnarumma. Gabriel arguably should have been sent off in the 83rd minute, after him and Haaland went face-to-face on the halfway line, and Gabriel seemed to push his head into Haaland; both were booked for the altercation. Pep Guardiola was also shown a yellow card for his reaction to the incident.

Both sides made changes in the 84th minute, with Cherki’s game coming to an end, when he was replaced by Phil Foden and Gyökeres replacing Martin Zubimendi. Savinho was also introduced shortly after, replacing Doku. Rodri was substituted due to injury in the 89th minute, with Nico González his replacement as City looked to see out the final minutes.

Arsenal applied pressure on the City goal as the game entered seven minutes of additional time; however, what looked to be a great cross was cut out by Bernardo Silva, who beat Gyökeres in the air. As the Gunners entered “last chance saloon” territory, Havertz came incredibly close with a header that went over the bar by millimetres.

Semenyo was withdrawn deep into injury time, with Nathan Aké coming on to help sure up the City defence for the final moments. The Dutch defender did just that and headed away a cross from Rice, to secure a vital and potentially title deciding win for Manchester City.