At 20:30 Beijing time on January 1, the 21st round of the Premier League ushered in a focus battle, and the 4th-ranked Arsenal hosted the leader Manchester City. As a result, Arsenal suffered a 1-goal lead, being double-killed by Manchester City in the season and not beating Manchester City in the league for seven consecutive years.
In the last game, Arsenal beat Norwich 5-0 to secure the 4th place in the table with a four-point advantage, and Manchester City's form was even more explosive, with a wave of 10 consecutive wins to shake off Chelsea and Liverpool, almost killing the suspense of the title race, and the confrontation between the two teams was very eye-catching.
Just 10 minutes into the opening, there was controversy on the pitch, Arsenal instigated a quick counter-attack, Martinelli knocked back, Lacazette scored the ball, Andegao led the ball into the box and fell to the ground under Ederson's defense. However, the referee did not award a penalty after listening to VAR's opinion.
In the 16th minute, Thomas cut straight in, Martinelli burst into the box, and a small angle shot was saved by Ederson.
In the 31st minute, Tierney ran down the left and suddenly delivered a scalpel-like pass that Saka kept pumping with his left foot, 1-0! According to statistics, Arsenal also broke the embarrassment of the Premier League facing Manchester City for 560 consecutive minutes without scoring.
Arsenal played a near-perfect half, which made Guardiola a little worried.
Yi Bian fought again, the situation on the field suddenly changed, and Arsenal was "injured" many times. In the 57th minute, B fell to the ground inside the penalty area, the referee watched the VAR and decided that Xhaka had committed a foul, Manchester City won the penalty, and Mahrez hit it, 1-1!
In the 58th minute, Ederson and Laporte had a misunderstanding, the latter headed the ball towards his own goal, Acker quickly chased back, in front of the goal line to complete the limit of the clearance, Martinelli missed the shot. 30 seconds later, Ederson's bigfoot long pass to Jesus, Gabriel tactically fouled Jesus, and was sent off for a second yellow card, with Arsenal 10-11.
In just 2 minutes, Arsenal experienced a 3-blow equaliser, missed goal and a red card.
In the 93rd minute, De Bruyne's cross was met by Holden's header unblocked and turned into an assist, and Rodri stabbed the shot to make it 1-2.
As Rodri took off his shirt and slid to his knees in celebration, Arsenal tumbled to the ground, unable to equalise the remaining days and ending up swallowing a bitter defeat 1-2.
For the first time since 1985, Arsenal have lost on New Year's Day and suffered a 10-game league defeat against Manchester City! You know, the last time Arsenal beat Manchester City was in December 2015. In other words, Arsenal have not beaten Manchester City in the league for almost 7 years.
With Arsenal losing, West Ham, Manchester United and Tottenham all see hope of closing the gap, and the suspense of the Premier League's race for four is even greater.