Arsenal vs Man City final score, highlights and analysis as Grealish and Haaland send Guardiola's men top

Dom Farrell

•
Arsenal vs Man City final score, highlights and analysis as Grealish and Haaland send Guardiola's men top image

Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland sealed a superb 3-1 win for Manchester City at Arsenal that sends Pep Guardiola's team to the top of the Premier League table at the Gunners' expense.

Mikel Arteta's men are only off the top on goal difference and have a game in hand on their rivals but well-worked goals for Grealish and Haaland inside the final 20 minutes suggested a crucial momentum shift in the title race.

City led against the run of play in the 24th minute when Takehiro Tomiyasu looked to guide Ederson's clearance back to Aaron Ramsdale and Kevin De Bruyne stole in to loop a first-time finish into the net — an ideal time for his first goal since October.

Saka levelled three minutes before the break after Ederson was penalised for colliding with Eddie Nketiah when the striker got off a shot that was cleared off the line by Nathan Ake. But City put any frustration behind them and moved into the ascendency to claim a hard-earned win that was capped by Haaland's 26th Premier League goal of the season.

Arsenal vs Man City final score

  1H 2H Final
ARS 1 0 1
MCI 1 2 3

Goals:

MCI — Kevin De Bruyne — 24th minute.

ARS — Bukayo Saka (penalty) — 42nd minute.

MCI — Jack Grealish (Ilkay Gundogan) — 72nd minute.

MCI — Erling Haaland (Kevin De Bruyne) — 82nd minute.

Nketiah had the first clear opening of the game when he headed off target from Oleksandr Zinchenko’s searching cross shortly before De Bruyne displayed a clinical edge that the Arsenal centre-forward lacked.

Tomiyasu — a surprise inclusion ahead of Ben White at right-back – was culpable as he played a blind backpass towards Ramsdale, allowing De Bruyne to steal in and loop a left-footed finish over the Gunners goalkeeper.

Arsenal responded impressively to going behind, with Ederson’s booking for time-wasting indicative of City’s discomfort. Things got worse for the Brazil goalkeeper when he was adjudged to have fouled Nketiah and his attempts at kidology were no match for Saka’s ice-cool precision.

If City’s performance before halftime showed the frailties that have hindered their season so far, their display after the interval showed the gigantic character of a team that have been crowned champions in four of the past five seasons.

Nketiah failed to get on the end of a wonderful Tomiyasu cross in the 66th minute but such moments of encouragement were becoming few and far between for Arsenal and Haaland passed unselfishly to Ilkay Gundogan in the 72nd minute after Bernardo Silva snaffled Gabriel's poor pass.

Gundogan recycled possession for Grealish to do the rest via a slight deflection and the sight of Gundogan, Rodri and De Bruyne smoothly combining to set up Haaland for the game-sealing goal underlined a considerable statement of intent.

MORE: Did Arsenal deserve a penalty vs Man City? Reactions to controversial referee decision on Ederson foul, Saka goal

Pep Guardiola: My tactics were horrible

“First half they were much better than us, second half we were much better,” Guardiola told Amazon Prime afterwards. “At half time we said you cannot play always defending. They are so, so good but we need to be more active. Second half we were excellent.”

So, why was that? “My tactics. I decided something new and it was horrible. We let them play in the build-up with our shape. Second half we were more like we are.” 

It’s unlikely we’d have got this level of self-deprecation and honesty had City failed to turn things around, but it was a reminder that Guardiola is still working a few things out this season. For the second time in a week, Bernardo Silva lined up as an inverted left-back. The City boss’ halftime tweaks were decisive and his switch to a more conventional back four — bringing Manuel Akanji on for Riyad Mahrez and adding Silva to the attacking press — served to make things horrible for Arsenal.

Pep Guardiola
Getty Images

MORE: Man City lineup vs Arsenal: 'Overthinking' Pep Guardiola's biggest tactics hits and misses remembered

£100m Jack Grealish finds priceless contribution

City’s stuttering form since the World Cup, not to mention the storm engulfing the club off the field in the form of 115 charges for allegedly breaking Premier League rules, has obscured a couple of developments. One of these is Jack Grealish producing his best and most sustained run of form in a City shirt. 

By his own admission, Grealish’s adaptation to life under Guardiola has not been seamless. But he is benefiting from a consistent run in the side and racking up a collection of vital contributions.

“For me, it was a great night, that’s what I want to do. I want to affect these big games,” he said. “When I scored at Old Trafford [in last month’s Manchester derby] I was buzzing but then we went and lost 2-1, so it didn't really mean anything. I was buzzing tonight.” His game-breaking goal could come to mean an awful lot come May and it nestles alongside four assists in all competitions since the World Cup break.

Eddie Nketiah highlights Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal complaint

Arteta understandably said he could find little fault in Arsenal’s overall performance, aside from the manner in which he felt they gifted City their goals. Nketiah made it a similar story at the other end of the pitch.

The striker’s missed header when the score was 3-1 was poor but, by that point, inconsequential. The same could not be said for the chances he passed up at 0-0 and 1-1. It was a tough night overall for Arsenal’s backup centre-forward, who has done an excellent job filling in for the injured Gabriel Jesus. It is worth mentioning in mitigation that there is no guarantee Jesus would have done better with the chances that fell Nketiah’s way, while he had to deal with Ruben Dias defending like a man possessed over the 90 minutes.

Nevertheless, Haaland relentlessly rough-housing Arsenal’s centre-backs before ending his three-game "goal drought" while Nketiah faded from view showed one of the few gulfs between the teams in a title race that remains on a knife edge. 

Ederson of Man City and Eddie Nketiah of Arsenal penalty
Getty Images

Arsenal vs Man City as it happened in the Premier League top-of-the-table clash

Fulltime: Phil Foden rounds off stoppage time with some keep ball in the corner near where the City fans are stationed and the celebrations begin on the whistle. That's a huge, huge win for City, who had to dig in and turn the game in their favour after halftime. Arsenal impressed in the opening 45 but that's now three league games without a win and City are back on top. Mikel Arteta's men still have a game in hand but this is a huge test of their mettle now.

89th minute: Bukayo Saka curls in a delicious ball but Eddie Nketiah gets his header all wrong. A couple of chances have passed the Arsenal striker by tonight and this is the sort of game that magnifies those flaws.

87th minute: Arsenal are trying to rouse themselves for a final charge. Substitute Ben White blootering a long-range shot at Ruben Dias' back is probably not the way to do that. Kalvin Phillips is coming on to bolt things down and get City over the line.

82nd minute: GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Erling Haaland!!!!!!

City are heading back to the top of the Premier League. Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan establish the attack, Kevin De Bruyne cuts the ball back and Haaland takes a touch before home a right-footed finish.

79th minute: Arsenal substitute Leandro Trossard pirouettingly goes to ground under the attentions of Kyle Walker in the penalty area. Anthony Taylor is well-placed and waves away the protests.

77th minute: Jack Grealish makes way for Phil Foden after scoring what could prove to be the biggest goal of his Manchester City career.

75th minute: Can City hold onto their lead this time? Arsenal have men over. Granit Xhaka shapes to shoot but that is an outstanding challenge from Ruben Dias who looked to be on his way to ground.

72nd minute: GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Jack Grealish!!!!!!

It's been coming, City lead once more. Arsenal cough up possession. Bernardo Silva finds Erling Haaland, who unselfishly finds Ilkay Gundogan, who recycles the ball to Grealish. The England man strikes unerringly but he has the help of a slight deflection.

69th minute: Dicey moments for Arsenal. Zinchenko gives the ball away to Bernardo Silva and here's Haaland in the box. The pass wasn't great, in truth, and the England goalkeeper gets down to the striker's feet to claim the ball.

68th minute: Scramble!!! Rodri gets to the header. Aaron Ramsdale can't gather it. The ball falls to Manuel Akanji, who finishes a bit like a centre-back who's just come on. Arsenal get it away.

67th minute: Jack Grealish draws a free-kick from Bukayo Saka. Kevin De Bruyne is on it on the left hand corner of the Arsenal box.

66th minute: Arsenal have not been too visible as an attacking force after halftime, but that's close. Takehiro Tomiyasu romps forward from right-back and whips in a dangerous low ball. Ederson and Nketiah fling themselves towards it and neither get there.

64th minute: Eddie Nketiah is late on Ruben Dias. It's a yellow card but probably not worth the collective brouhaha from City. There's a fair bit of needle about this now, as the stakes probably dictate.

63rd minute: Silva plays a forward pass to Haaland, who seemingly assumed Jack Grealish would be overlapping. He wasn't and Arsenal tidy up.

62nd minute: City make their first change, with Manuel Akanji coming on for Riyad Mahrez. They switch to a more conventional back four and Bernardo Silva sprints over to his new detail on the right wing.

60th minute: Gabriel in now down after Haaland jammed an elbow into the back of his head. It'll be good once these two let everyone else join in again.

59th minute: Offside, no penalty. Gabriel's yellow card is also expunged. Haaland offers him some thoughts. And Emirates Stadium now loves VAR. What a difference four days makes!

57th minute: Penalty to City!!!! Gabriel gets in a complete tangle with Haaland, who tumbles to the floor. That looks pretty cut and dried. However, it looks like Haaland was offside when Kyle Walker played the ball through...

56th minute: Martin Odegaard gets to the byline and cuts back to Jorginho, who feeds a teasing ball into the goalmouth. Ederson pouches it with Nketiah in close attendance.

52nd minute: De Bruyne booms it over everyone. Not his best work.

51st minute: Mikel Arteta looks to stop Kevin De Bruyne from taking a quick throw-in and the City midfielder gives his former coach a shove in the chest. Spicy. City have a free-kick in De Bruyne territory on the right flank. For an actual foul, not because Arteta was making mischief. That's definitely not in the rules.

48th minute: Takehiro Tomiyasu is booked for taking ages over a throw. Seems odd to be timewasting at there, at this juncture. Perhaps he was just being incredibly indecisive.

46th minute: We're back underway after Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard share a joke on either side of the halfway line. How's your Norwegian? It's probably a more pleasant one than the chat referee Anthony Taylor is having with Kyle Walker, who is still probably trying to get his head around that penalty decision. Collectively, City need to get over feeling aggrieved and play better than they did in the first half.

Halftime: Gripping, breathless stuff. You can't really argue that Arsenal don't deserve to be at least level after Kevin De Bruyne's opener came against the run of play. Whether the penalty award was a touch harsh on Ederson (who was on  yellow card at the time, if you want to open another can of worms), is another debate. Anyway, grab some refreshments, have a breath and we'll see you back here shortly.

45th minute+6: Off the crossbar! Rodri heads against Nathan Ake's skins and the ball balloons up against the bar. Aaron Ramsdale pushes behind.

45th minute+5: Erling Haaland harasses William Saliba into giving the ball away and then draws a foul. Nice position on the left for City as we head into the last of six additional minutes.

44th minute: Ilkay Gundogan siezes on a knockdown in the Arsenal box. Aaron Ramsdale blocked but the offside flag was up.

42nd minute: GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!! Bukayo Saka (pen)!!!!!!!

Cool as you like from Saka, who slots unerringly into the bottom left corner, sending Ederson the wrong way.

Available in the US

Available in the UK

40th minute: Penalty to Arsenal!!!! Ederson comes out, Eddie Nketiah gets his shot away. Nathan Ake clears brilliantly off the line but the referee points to the spot because Ederson collided with Nketiah after he got his shot away.

36th minute: Ederson is absolutely dire at time-wasting. No subtlety to his work at all. A booking that has been in the post ever since De Bruyne's goal 10 minutes ago duly arrives. It feels like City are trying to burgle their way towards halftime at the moment.

34th minute: Kyle Walker was down for some treatment after appearing to wind himself on an awkward landing. He has to leave the field and returns before getting the signal from referee Anthony Taylor, earning a yellow card. That's an unusual and needless booking that Walker must make sure doesn't catch up with him later on in the game.

29th minute: Lovely slick move from Arsenal, with Jorginho and Martin Odegaard combining to send Saka into the box. But Ake does brilliantly, going to ground but still scrambling to make the block.

28th minute: A chance for redemption for Tomiyasu but he hacks a left-footed volley over. Before that, Bernardo Silva added to his tally of fouls on Bukayo Saka. Can only assume he's not in the book on account of being a lovely chap at this point.

24th minute: GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!! Kevin De Bruyne!!!!

City strike first. Glorious finish from Kevin De Bruyne but a howling error from Takehiro Tomiyasu. Ederson pings a clearance downfield and the Japan defender foolishly looks to play a blind pass back to Aaron Ramsdale. De Bruyne reads it and lifts a first-time finish into the goal left footed.

Available in the US

Available in the UK

22nd minute: First decent change falls Arsenal's way. Ake bravely clears a Granit Xhaka cross and Oleksandr Zinchenko swings the loose ball back in. Eddie Nketiah gets up but heads wide. That was an attack built out of pure tenacity as Arsenal snapped into a succession of second balls ahead of their opponents.

21st minute: Bukayo Saka charges into a hard and fair tackle on Nathan Ake. Saka limps back to his feet but he'll be fine running that off.

18th minute: Ramsdale is back up and running. Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta were able to impart some bonus pearls of wisdom to their players after an intense opening that has been light on goalmouth action.

16th minute: First sniff for Erling Haaland as Riyad Mahrez floats the ball to the back post. He gets there first but can only scuff across goal. It might have been interesting had he tested Aaron Ramsdale, who is down with his boot off having some treatment.

13th minute: Nketiah is penalised for a high boot, which seems a bit harsh given Nathan Ake won the header around his kneecaps. 

12th minute: Granit Xhaka seizes possession and quickly looks for Eddie Nketiah. Ruben Dias reads the though ball and gets a convincing block on the shot.

9th minute: Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez are City's wide forwards tonight but they look to be lining up very narrowly. Getting bodies around Erling Haaland seems to be a key part of the gameplan. Bernardo Silva is penalised for a foul on Bukayo Saka now. You sense this could become a long night for him.

7th minute: Bernardo Silva isn't penalised for what looks like a fairly obviously foul on Bukayo Saka. Here's Jack Grealish, sashaying in-field. His attempted pass into the box is cleared behind but Arsenal deal with the corner. Mikel Arteta  not impressed about the lack of a free-kick for his team there.

6th minute: Riyad Mahrez nips to the byline after some bustling work from Erling Haaland but Jorginho reads the cutback expertly.

5th minute: Kevin De Bruyne gets his head to Martin Odegaard's delivery. The Norway playmaker has another go and whacks it out for a throw on the other side. Not his best work.

4th minute: Confident spell of possession from Arsenal, a nice tempo to their work. Ruben Dias shoves Eddie Nketiah in the back and there's a free-kick about 35 yards out. Very high City line.

2nd minute: Eddie Nketiah gets into the City box and the Emirates roars. Ruben Dias makes the block and Granit Xhaka hacks over from outside the box when the ball bounces his way.

1st minute: Whistles as City kickoff and keep the ball. They go back to Ederson, who launches one towards Erling Haaland. William Saliba wins the header, which already marks an improvement on his weekend work against Ivan Toney.

1 min from kickoff: A handshake and mutual pat on the back from firm friends Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta. All business tonight.

3 mins from kickoff: Boos from the away end for the Premier League anthem. Aren't new traditions nice? It's just part of a huge cacophony in north London. This is big and there's an atmosphere to match.

5 mins from kickoff: The teams are in the tunnel and we've got a snazzy light show at Emirates Stadium, as is the way for these occasions nowadays. This is a game that comes with more than enough of its own razzamataz. 

10 mins from kickoff: It's really hard to pick a winner tonight, but Sergio Aguero has stuck $8,000 on City via a collaboration with a gambling partner. Loose change to one of the finest players of the Premier League's modern era, I guess. Please do gamble responsibly etc, etc.

35 mins from kickoff: Pep Guardiola has been speaking to Amazon Prime about his most notable selection. 
"We have many players who can play there — Sergio [Gomez], Rico [Lewis] and now Bernardo [Silva] can," he said of the Portugal playmaker lining up as a left-back against Bukayo Saka, even if Nathan Ake's role in this team means it's not quite as simple as that.

"When you are an intelligent player and can read what is going on, like my lovely Fabian Delph and like Oleksandr [Zinchenko], you can play in other places — it's because they are intelligent players."

Zinchenko, of course, is starting for Arsenal tonight after being allowed to leave City last summer. Joao Cancelo would have been a lock-in for such games a month or so ago, but a deterioration in his relationship with Guardiola underpinned a hasty loan switch to Bayern Munich. That sort of carry-on is certainly no way to replace Fabian Delph in Guardiola's affections.

MORE: Man City lineup vs Arsenal: 'Overthinking' Pep Guardiola's biggest tactics hits and misses remembered

55 mins from kickoff: And here is the City XI. Somewhat surprisingly, Pep Guardiola has stuck with Bernardo Silva as his inverted left-back. Alternatively, that's a bit mad so it's entirely what you expect from Guardiola in a game of this magnitude. Nathan Ake, who scored the only goal when the teams met in the FA Cup last month, is the only change from the City side that beat Aston Villa at the weekend, with Aymeric Laporte dropping to the bench.

1hr from kickoff: The teams are in. As expected Thomas Partey hasn't made it for Arsenal, with Jorginho making his first start since joining from Chelsea on deadline day. Perhaps more surprising is Takehiro Tomiyasu getting the nod over Ben White at rightback.

1hr 15 mins from kickoff: Of course, Manchester City have a high-profile injury doubt of their own. Erling Haaland was substituted at halftime against Aston Villa at the weekend after taking a whack to the thigh in a collision with visiting goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. Pep Guardiola seemed cautiously optimistic yesterday when asked about Haaland's fitness on Monday. If he misses out, Argentina star Julian Alvarez will be ready to deputise.

If Haaland is available to play, the prolific striker will hope to improve on his record away from home against the traditional big six in the Premier League this season. Across games at Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham, he has a grand total of zero goals. Having 25 over the course of all other league games softens the blow somewhat, but City could do with their attacking talisman stepping up tonight.

Erling Haaland
Getty Images

1hr 25 mins from kickoff: Since plumping for Chelsea over City, Jorginho has a patchy record against the reigning Premier League champions. His career head-to-head with City, taking in his time at Napoli, reads won four and lost seven, although one of the victories was in the 2021 Champions League final. On that day, Pep Guardiola infamously played without a recognised holding midfielder. In Sunday's 3-1 win over Aston Villa, he played Bernardo Silva as a hybrid left-back. You can only wonder what Guardiola's latest teamsheet might have in store for us.

Jorginho Chelsea

1hr 45 mins from kickoff: Right, let's cut straight to it. The huge breaking team news concerns reports from the Athletic's David Ornstein that influential midfielder Arsenal midfield Thomas Partey is set to miss tonight's game. That means a probable start for deadline day signing Jorginho, who Pep Guardiola knows very well from Manchester City's prolonged attempts to sign the Italy international in 2018 when he played for Napoli.

2 hours from kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of a mouthwatering Premier League clash between leaders Arsenal and champions Manchester City.

Arsenal vs Man City lineups

Long-term absentees Gabriel Jesus and Mohamed Elneny remain out for this match, and Emile Smith Rowe is still working back from a thigh injury.

Thomas Partey is the big absentee with a muscular injury, meaning Jorginho makes his first Arsenal start since joining on deadline day from Chelsea. Elsewhere, Arteta sprung a minor surprise by giving Takehiro Tomiyasu the nod over Ben White at right-back.

Arsenal starting lineup (4-3-3): Ramsdale (GK) — White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko — Odegaard, Jorginho, Xhaka — Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli

The biggest focus for Man City was on star striker Erling Haaland who was withdrawn at halftime during the win over Aston Villa. Haaland has been passed fit to start, with Julian Alvarez primed to step in on the bench if his problem flares up again. Centre-back John Stones remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Guardiola had choices to make in the left-back position. It will be filled by a combination of Bernardo Silva and Nathan Ake, with the Netherlands international replacing Aymeric Laporte in the only change to the Xi that beat Villa. Ake will nominally play on the left of a back three in possession.

Man City starting lineup (3-2-3-3): Ederson (GK) — Walker, Dias, Ake — Rodri, Silva — De Bruyne, Gundogan — Mahrez, Haaland, Grealish

MORE: Watch every Premier League match live with fuboTV in Canada

How to watch Arsenal vs. Man City

  Date Time TV channel Streaming
USA Wed, Feb. 15 14:30 ET — Peacock
UK Wed, Feb. 15 19:30 GMT — Amazon Prime
Australia Thu, Feb. 16 06:30 AEST  — Optus Sport
Canada Wed, Feb. 15 14:30 ET  — fuboTV Canada
India Thu, Feb. 16 00:00 IST Star Sports Select 1 JioTV, Hotstar VIP
New Zealand Thu, Feb. 16 08:30 NZST Sky Sport Sky Go
Malaysia Thu, Feb. 16 03:30 MT Astro SuperSport 3 sooka, Astro Go
Singapore Thu, Feb. 16 03:30 SST Hub Premier 1 & 2 (Ch. 221-222) StarHub TV+
Hong Kong Thu, Feb. 16 03:30 HKST Now Premier League TV (Ch. 620-621) Now E, Now Player

UK: This Wednesday evening match in the UK will be carried by Amazon Prime's streaming service.

USA: The match will only be available on streaming service Peacock.

Canada: Every Premier League game streams live and on demand exclusively via fuboTV.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream matches live and on demand on Optus Sport. 

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.