Reigning champions Manchester City got off to a winning start against Unai Emery's Arsenal at the Emirates, Raheem Sterling opened the scoring on 14 minutes after weaving through defence and lashing the ball home, Sergio Aguero had a one-on-one opportunity to kill the tie late on, but denied by a solid save from Petr Cech, before Moments later Bernardo Silva capitalised upon a counter-attack to pick out the top corner and seal victory.
While Guardiola can boast two world-class footballers in just about every position, and three in some, Emery made his Premier League bow with a 19-year-old central midfielder late of Lorient — Ligue 1, not Leyton — also playing his first game in the competition.
Matteo Guendouzi has not been capped by France outside of age-group football, and, under pressure, it showed. He did well, worked hard, looked lively.
But when faced with an up-and-under clearance in the second half — last line of defence, Sergio Aguero bearing down — he froze, missed his kick and the striker sped one on one towards goal.
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring with a sublime effort after dribbling his way towards goal.
On this occasion, Petr Cech saved, but it barely mattered. Two minutes later, Bernardo Silva scored City’s second and Arsenal were done. Meaning Emery has now played Guardiola 11 times without winning, and it is hard to imagine when that streak will end.
There remains no greater baptism for a Premier League manager than this fixture — with the possible exception of Manchester City away — and the scoreline ultimately flattered Arsenal.
For City, it must have felt like slipping into a familiar pair of shoes. The teams met on three occasions last season and City won and scored three each time. Had City needed three here, one imagines a third would have come.
Sterling celebrates being City's first Premier League goalscorer for the 18-19 season with the travelling away supporters
Sterling smiled as he celebrated his effort with City's all-time top goalscorer Aguero that got the season up and running
Stephan Lichtsteiner had to come on as a first half substitute for Ainsley Maitland-Niles and quickly had to adjust to the play
Maitland-Niles had to leave the field after picking up a knock on the half-hour mark and being unable to continue
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang showed his athleticism by lunge through the air to try to bring down a wayward pass
The Gabon international was quickly tracked down by Aymeric Laporte, who put in a big sliding challenge to win possession
While City led from Raheem Sterling’s goal there was always the chance of an undeserved reprieve for Arsenal, particularly when Alexandre Lacazette was introduced on 54 minutes, but hope ended with Silva’s goal, allowing the champions to close the game out with minimal fuss.
Sterling fed Benjamin Mendy — great going forward, unconvincing in defence — on the overlap and he cut a cross back to Silva, who buried it with power that gave Cech no chance.
Now completely in charge, City began the process of getting their big hitters back to fitness. On came Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus. That this win was as good as achieved without them shows the talent City have to burn. For now, and the foreseeable future, Emery can only dream.
For long periods it felt as if we had opened a portal to the past: City exhilarating, vibrant, ambitious, Arsenal overwhelmed, hesitant, hanging on. It was unfortunate that Ainsley Maitland-Niles was lost to injury after 35 minutes, but it did not impact on the outcome.
The idea that Emery can overnight transform a group of players, even one that includes youthful exuberance and two entirely new signings, is fanciful. Arsenal are not suddenly going to become a hard-running, hard-working outfit, capable of smothering the league’s strongest opponents, with a click of the new manager’s fingers.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan is tracked down by the powerful Benjamin Mendy, back in the City side after missing most of last season
Riyad Mahrez pauses for a moment of contemplation after going close with a chance to double City's lead at the Emirates
Mesut Ozil threw himself straight into the action and vied for an aerial ball with Benjamin Mendy in the early stages of the tie
Ilkay Gundogan took to the field wearing a protective face mask after recently undergoing a nose operation in pre-season
It didn't take long before new Arsenal manager Emery was up on his feet and barking orders at his players across the pitch
Aaron Ramsey quickly looked to impose himself in the centre of midfield and get play moving for the Gunners
Matteo Guendouzi was given his debut by Emery and immediately felt the force of the Premier League after a big tackle
They were resilient, but not in the never-say-die way witnessed at Anfield when City visited last season. The sort of ferocious, energetic doggedness that might trouble a Guardiola team is beyond them.
Arsenal do have talent, though, and there are easier games than this. Just as it was hard to judge the West Ham of Manuel Pellegrini earlier in the day, so the fixture against Chelsea next week may offer greater insight into progress at Arsenal.
Think how City made Chelsea look at Wembley in the Community Shield, and how much Chelsea seemed to have improved by the time they reached Huddersfield on Saturday. Time alone wasn’t the difference. Playing City is a step up. The same might be true of Liverpool.
So within the first 10 minutes, City signalled their intent and Arsenal immediately looked stretched. Aguero played a lovely flick to Sterling who weaved into the penalty area, around red-shirted obstacles, forcing a fine save from Cech. Yet just like his stop from Aguero in the second half, the work was quickly redundant.
Five minutes later, City were ahead. It was an excellent goal, one that showed why Gareth Southgate kept faith with Sterling at the World Cup, despite the external brickbats.
Maybe it would help if Sterling felt some love, rather than just disdain, from the many vox pops that damned him as England’s poorest player. He was outstanding here, at the heart of all that was good about City’s forward play, and the first goal of their campaign was no more than he deserved. It came from a pass by Mendy, which Sterling collected on the edge of the area, running parallel to the goal.
Emery warmly greeted his managerial counterpart Guardiola ahead of the two preparing for an opening weekend battle
Petr Cech was given the nod over new boy Bernd Leno and led the Arsenal side out at the Emirates for the opener
He ghosted past Hector Bellerin, then Guendouzi, before whipping a shot low past Cech. The Arsenal keeper was unsighted, as he gave the impression of leaving Sterling’s shot despite the ball being well inside his far post.
The Emirates became hushed. This was not so much a new era as a rerun; this was the Arsenal of old, soft and obliging. Nervous, too. In the 22nd minute, Guendouzi passed back to Cech whose attempt to square the ball to the full back position was so misjudged that he almost side-footed into his own net.
It passed a post for a corner, and the panic from the locals behind the goal must have been audible, because the goalkeeper turned to them and apologised.
No contrition was required four minutes later when Aguero surged through and was fouled by centre half Sokratis. From the free-kick, inside the D, Cech made a fine save from Riyad Mahrez, but from the loose rebound, struck by Aymeric Laporte, he made a better one.
Arsenal were not without opportunities, but they were limited. The best of it came when Bellerin sprang past Mendy and forced a fine save from Ederson. That aside, there was little new to report. By the end, the Emirates Stadium was half empty again and the away end was making all the noise. It was just like old times.
PREMIER LEAGUE LIVE TABLES, FIXTURES AND SCORES
MATCH FACTS, LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE
ARSENAL (4-3-3): Cech; Bellerin, Sokratis, Mustafi, Maitland-Niles (Lichtsteiner 35); Guendouzi, Xhaka, Mkhitaryan; Ramsey (Lacazette 54), Ozil, Aubameyang
SUBS NOT USED: Elneny, Torreira, Holding, Iwobi, Leno
BOOKED: Sokratis, Xhaka
MANAGER: Unai Emery
MAN CITY (4-1-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Mendy; Fernandinho; Gundogan, Bernardo, Mahrez (De Bruyne 60), Sterling (Sane 86); Aguero
SUBS NOT USED: Bravo, Kompany, Otamendi, Gabriel Jesus, Foden
GOALS: Sterling 14, Bernardo Silva 64
BOOKED: Sterling, De Bruyne
MANAGER: Pep Guardiola
REFEREE: Michael Oliver
ATTENDANCE: 59,934
0 comments:
Post a Comment