Manchester City won 5-0 at the Etihad for the second weekend running after running riot against 10-man Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola’s side were 2-0 up inside the opening 12 minutes when Ilkay Gundogan and then Ferran Torres capitalised on slack defending to score from close-range.
Arsenal’s task was made even more difficult when Granit Xhaka was sent off for a reckless lunge on Joao Cancelo. From that point on it was a matter of how many City would score with Gabriel Jesus, Rodri and Torres again, ensuring the final number was five. Were it not for Bernd Leno, who made five saves, it could have easily been more.
Here, i looks at the five key performances from a game that saw City move top and Arsenal bottom of the Premier League…
Gabriel Jesus – 8/10
Unless something miraculous happens between now and the end of the transfer window, Manchester City’s attempts to sign a new striker will have fallen short after moves for Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo failed to materialise.
Pep Guardiola’s public pursuit of a new forward appears to have galvanised Gabriel Jesus who has made an electric start to the campaign. Jesus hasn’t often been a regular in City’s starting XI, but after starring during last weekend’s 5-0 demolition of Norwich, he kept his place this afternoon, again on the right wing.
And once more he impressed, setting up Ilkay Gundogan for City’s opener, before finishing off Jack Grealish’s cut-back for the third. Jesus has shown flashes of quality throughout his time with City, but perhaps this could be the season in which he establishes himself as an integral member of the side.
Granit Xhaka – 2/10
The point at which one might expect Granit Xhaka to have learned a lesson or two from his reckless abandon on a football pitch has long since passed. Now 28 and one of the more experienced players in the Arsenal dressing room, Xhaka’s decision-making remains that of the 23-year-old who first rocked up in north London.
With Arsenal already trailing 2-0 after a calamitous start and firmly under the cosh against far superior opponents, cool heads were required to steer the team safely to half-time. Instead, Xhaka flew into a two-footed challenge on Joao Cancelo to earn his fourth Premier League red card since the start of 2016-17, more than any other player.
Utterly brainless and utterly predictable from a player whose habits are so deeply ingrained it is futile trying to change them. And to think, Arsenal awarded him a new contract just 12 days ago.
Ferran Torres – 9/10
Another player who looks set to benefit from City’s fruitless striker search.
Ferran Torres might not be a natural in the No.9 role, but it is a position that he is growing into after starting there in all three of City’s matches so far. After failing to score on the opening day defeat to Spurs or in last week’s procession over Norwich, Torres finally got on the scoresheet here, scoring twice
Both were exactly the type of finishes that Guardiola will want to see from the converted winger, opportunistic goals made possible from clever movement and scored from between the width of the posts. He also contributed an assist for good measure too, teeing up his compatriot Rodri to score.
Cedric Soares – 4/10
That Cedric Soares couldn’t get into Southampton’s first-team and yet is deemed good enough to play for Arsenal’s is an indictment of how far the Gunners have fallen.
In Cedric’s defence, there are plenty of defenders that would struggle to contain Joao Cancelo and Jack Grealish, but he made it far too easy for them in the first half. The full-back could do nothing to prevent Grealish from waltzing past him before setting up Jesus for an easy tap-in.
The closest Cedric got to Grealish was the moment he pulled his shirt back to earn a yellow card. Arsenal were once a team renowned for the intricacy of their passing game. Now, in Cedric, they have a full back who completed 43 per cent of his 16 attempts in 90 minutes.
Jack Grealish – 7/10
No goals for Jack Grealish, but another impressive performance to add to his City portfolio.
Grealish’s jinking run and pass led to Jesus’ goal and in Kevin De Bruyne’s absence, he looked the most likely to make something happen, creating six chances in total, at least two more than any of his teammates.
If there was a main question mark hanging over Grealish after he completed his move to City, it was how he would adapt to being one of a handful of playmakers in Guardiola’s system after being the star of the show at Villa Park. Encouragingly, for City followers, he is demanding the ball just as much in sky blue as he did in Villa’s claret, and in doing so is shouldering the responsibility to make things happen.
Other big-name signings have made more impactful starts at new clubs, but Grealish deserves praise for slotting so seamlessly into a team whose patterns and movements have long been established.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3jmqYlp
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