Man City beat Arsenal to move up to second place

Late on December 18, in round 17 of the English Premier League, Manchester City (MC) temporarily rose to second place after coming from behind to defeat Arsenal 2-1 at Etihad Stadium.

Arsenal started the match against MC very well when they found the opening goal in the first attack. In the 5th minute, from a quick attack in the middle, Alexis Sanchez sent a pass that tore through MC's defense for Theo Walcott to run down and shoot past goalkeeper Bravo, opening the score of the match.

Walcott opened the scoring. Photo: Reuters.

Having conceded a goal, MC pushed their squad up to respond and put great pressure on Arsenal's field. Although the away team proactively withdrew their entire squad to defend in front of the 16m50 box, they could only maintain their lead until the beginning of the second half.

In the 47th minute, from a quick attack in the middle, David Silva made a smart pass for Leroy Sane to break through and finish past goalkeeper Petr Cech, equalizing the score 1-1 for MC.

Replays later showed Sane was offside after Silva's pass, but the referee was unable to see the action and the MC got a lucky goal.

Excited after the equalizer, MC continued to push up the formation to put pressure and create more dangerous situations. Although goalkeeper Petr Cech excellently blocked two shots from Sane and De Bruyne, with the dominant game, MC still had another goal.

In the 72nd minute, from a long pass from De Bruyne, Sterling accelerated up the right wing. After a technical move to eliminate defender Nacho Monreal, Sterling fired a low shot into the near corner, leaving goalkeeper Petr Cech helpless, raising the score to 2-1 for MC.

Sterling's tricky shot helped Man City take the lead. Photo: Reuters.

The score would have been even bigger for MC if the goalpost had not denied De Bruyne's goal in the 77th minute. In the end, MC beat Arsenal 2-1 and temporarily rose to second place in the table with 36 points, two points more than Arsenal and seven points behind the leader Chelsea.

Before entering this match, Arsenal was ranked third with 34 points, while MC was ranked fourth with 33 points.

Both teams are without their strongest squads in this match. MC will be without midfielder Ilkay Gundogan due to injury and Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero due to suspension. Meanwhile, Arsenal will be without Aaron Ramsey, Shkodran Mustafi, Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla due to various injuries.

According to TTO