The fallout from Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash at the Etihad has focused on Arsenal – and that’s understandable. The narrative surrounding the Gunners is utterly compelling. We really could be looking at one of the biggest bottle jobs in football history. However, City are responsible for the vast majority of the pressure that Arsenal are now buckling under – and that needs to be recognised.
This is not a vintage Guardiola team. We know that from the way in which they were dumped out of the Champions League by a mediocre Real Madrid side coached by Alvaro Arbeloa. City have also lost five league games this season – an unthinkable tally back when they were competing for titles with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
However, City haven’t suffered a domestic defeat since being beaten with alarming ease by local rivals Manchester United all the way back in January. Consequently, they’re now closing in on a domestic treble – which is just further testament to Guardiola’s greatness.
The Catalan has been given a massive helping hand by the club’s owners, who made two season-changing acquisitions in Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo, but Guardiola also deserves immense credit for improving Abdukodir Khusanov, putting his faith in Nico O’Reilly, belatedly embracing the maverick genius of Rayan Cherki and, perhaps most importantly of all for a coach accused of overthinking things, figuring out his strongest starting line-up – and sticking with it.
As a result, a pretty settled City side that could have easily folded after back-to-back draws with Nottingham Forest and West Ham in March is now playing its best football of the season, as underlined by four consecutive statement wins in all competitions: two over Arsenal, and one apiece over Liverpool and Chelsea.
Basically, while City are rising to the challenge, Arsenal appear to be overwhelmed by it.
