The competition between Manchester City (Man City), who is aiming to win the English Professional Football Premier League (EPL) three times in a row, and Arsenal, who is aiming for the first title in 19 years, is getting fiercer.
On the 16th (Korean time), Man City won 3-1 against Arsenal in the 2022-2023 EPL round 12 match held at Emirates Stadium in London, England.안전놀이터 Man City (+36 goal difference), who won 3 points from the away game, has 51 points with Arsenal (+26). However, they took the lead in goal difference.
With this match, Arsenal’s unbeaten record at home this season also came to an end. Arsenal were on an unbeaten run of 8 wins and 2 draws at home this season. Arsenal is aiming for its first championship in 19 years since the 2003-2004 season, when the legend of the ‘undefeated championship’ was written.
On this day, Man City took the lead in the 24th minute with Kevin De Bruyne taking advantage of Arsenal’s defensive mistake. De Bruyne intercepted Arsenal’s Japanese fullback Takehiro Tomiyasu’s back pass to the goalkeeper and shook the net with a non-stop shot that passed the goalkeeper’s key. Arsenal turned the game around with Bukayo Saka’s 42nd-minute penalty from Eddy Nketia.
However, Man City exploded their offensive power in the second half. In the 27th minute of the second half, Jack Grealish scored the winning goal with a non-stop shot from the left side of the goal area. Then, in the 37th minute of the second half, ‘monster goal scorer’ Elling Hollan scored a cutback from De Bruyne, ending the game 3-1.
With his 26th goal of the season, Hollan ran for the top spot in the scoring rankings, and tied the record for most goals by a team player with 26 goals set by Sergio Aguero (retired) in the 2014-2015 season.
Despite rising to the top spot, Manchester City remain vigilant. This is because Manchester City has played 23 games and Arsenal has played 22 games, so Arsenal have played one less game than Man City. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said, “I think Arsenal are still number one,” and said, “There are many difficult processes left for everyone.” Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta also emphasized, “Our players are still confident that they can win the title.”