Kevin De Bruyne used one word to describe Arsenal after Manchester City won 4-1 in the top of the table clash at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.
Pep Guardiola’s men were sensational against the Gunners. Manchester City blew Mikel Arteta’s side away, taking a 3-0 lead inside 54 minutes.
It was Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland who really tore the visitors apart. The Arsenal defence simply could not handle the quality of Manchester City’s attacking players. And the scoreline could have been a lot worse heading into the break.
De Bruyne describes Arsenal in one word after win
For Arsenal fans, the performance will have been devastating to watch. The Gunners had the opportunity to wrestle back the initiative in the title race. But by the time they showed signs of life, City had largely put the game beyond them.
Nevertheless, they have received some credit from De Bruyne, who was speaking in a post-match interview with BT Sport (broadcast on 26/4; 22:05). He suggested that Manchester City have huge respect for their closest rivals.
“They are a class team and hard to play against. We had to be at our best today and they were,” he told BT Sport.
The manner of the result highlighted the gulf that still exists between Arsenal and Manchester City.
Arsenal have played some of the best football on show in the Premier League this season. And before this recent blip, it really seemed that they were going to get across the line
But Manchester City have found yet another gear. Arsenal’s inexperience has probably showed as they have had to deal with plenty of adversity in the last four games.
It is going to be fascinating to see how Arsenal respond. They will not want to throw in the towel. But it is going to be so hard to pick themselves up now that the gap has all but evaporated.
Arsenal’s time will come, you would think. They have done something unbelievable this season. And they have such a young squad.
But one of Mikel Arteta’s toughest challenges this term is yet to come as he looks to find a way to get his side to push Manchester City as far as they can.
