Premier League 2024-25: Arsenal crushes Man City to stay alive in title race

Premier League 2024-25: Arsenal crushes Man City to stay alive in title race

Arsenal delivered a statement of intent in the Premier League title race with a 5-1 hammering of champion Manchester City to close the gap at the top to six points on Sunday.

Captain Martin Odegaard fired Arsenal into a second-minute lead and City was finished off in ruthless fashion after the break with teenagers Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri both on target for the rampant Gunners.

Erling Haaland’s equaliser, his 250th senior career goal, had briefly raised City’s hopes, but it could have no complaints as any lingering hopes of winning a fifth successive title surely disappeared into the north London night.

Arsenal is now 14 games unbeaten in the league and has 50 points from 24 games with leader Liverpool on 56 from 23. Manchester City is a distant fourth with 41.

Arsenal has been accused of being over-reliant on set-piece goals this season but on Sunday it played with fluency and flare to rack up its biggest home win of the league season.

Sloppy City gifted Arsenal the lead when Manuel Akanji was put in trouble by teammate John Stones and was dispossessed before Kai Havertz calmly set up Odegaard to sweep home from close range despite an attempted block by Stones.

With City at sixes and sevens, Arsenal thought it had made it 2-0 shortly afterwards when Gabriel Martinelli lifted a shot past Stefan Ortega but was adjudged to be offside.

City was spared further punishment when it again lost the ball playing out from the back and Havertz, with the whole goal to aim at, somehow dragged his shot wide.

Haaland touched the ball only six times in the first half but came alive in the 55th minute to head in Savinho’s cross.

For a moment it looked as though Arsenal’s earlier misses might haunt them but 38 seconds after the restart Phil Foden gave the ball away and Thomas Partey’s shot deflected off Stones to leave Ortega with no chance.

With their tails up, Arsenal looked to rub City’s noses in the dirt and Lewis-Skelly took a pass from Declan Rice and curled a shot beyond Ortega for his first senior goal.

The party was already in full swing when substitute Nwaneri left Ortega for dead with a sublime finish.