Arsenal fell to a crushing defeat at the Etihad Stadium as Manchester City blew the Premier League title race wide open by condeming Mikel Arteta's side to back-to-back defeats
18:26, 19 Apr 2026Updated 18:33, 19 Apr 2026
Mikel Arteta
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Mikel Arteta's side have lost a huge title showdown(Image: Getty Images)
It's spring time and that can only mean one thing: Manchester City are about to hunt down Arsenal to win the Premier League title again.
Pep Guardiola's side come alive in the sunshine and Erling Haaland's winner has blown the title race wide open as Arsenal were beaten 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium. The Gunners were unable to take advantage of a shocking error by Gianliugi Donnarumma that allowed Kai Havertz to equalise just two minutes after Rayan Cherki put City in front. While they still hold a slender lead in the title race with City needing to win their game in hand to level Arsenal's points tally, today's title showdown condemned Arsenal to back-to-back defeats.
Ahead of the clash, City fans were out to rattle Arsenal fans further as bottles of water with the Arsenal badge on them were sold outside the Etihad Stadium. The Gunners have held that ‘bottlers’ tag for the previous few years after ending second in the title race for the past three years.
Erling Haaland
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Erling Haaland won his battle against Gabriel(Image: Getty Images)
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But this season has seen that tag pushed further by their rivals after their Quadruple hunt collapsed following the Carabao Cup final defeat to City before being dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship side Southampton in the quarter-finals.
There has been real concern among the fanbase that they could end the season trophyless again, as told by the boos after the defeat to Bournemouth last weekend which saw the cracks really appear.
It looked as though Arsenal were heading for more heartbreak when Cherki wriggled his way past Gabriel and Declan Rice before slotting past David Raya to cap a piece of magic and put the Blues in front after just 16 minutes.
Arsenal bottle
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Arsenal branded bottles were sold outside the stadium before kick-off(Image: Getty Images)
However, the Gunners had the perfect response to eradicate fears that the game and title was drifting away as Havertz pressured Donnarumma on his goal line. The Italian was too slow in possession and his rushed clearance rebounded off Havertz and into the roof of the net to completely throw City’s advantage away in terrible fashion.
Arsenal reacted well and settled into the game, but they were frustrating in possession as City took the initiative down the other end of the pitch.
Arteta opted to bench Viktor Gyokeres for Havertz, a decision that while it did reap the rewards of a goal, albeit down to Donnarumma’s shocking mistake as opposed to tactical brilliance, did also stunt the Gunners pace on the counter attack.
Gyokeres’ goal catalogue at Sporting CP mostly came when he had space to run into and be direct – something that Arsenal’s possession and control system alongside their opponents not leaving much space in behind – has seen the Swede unable to play to his strengths.
Rayan Cherki scores
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Rayan Cherki danced through Arsenal's defence(Image: Offside via Getty Images)
The game at the Etihad would have allowed him to do exactly that with City dominating proceedings, especially at the start of the second half. But the Gunners had the chance they had been sitting back and waiting for as Havertz was played through one-on-one by Martin Odegaard but Donnarumma was out quickly to smother the shot and make up for his earlier mistake.
That chance put the fight back in Arsenal as Eberechi Eze whipped an effort from the edge of the box against the post just minutes later.
But just as Arsenal started to step out, City went the other end to retake the lead as Erling Haaland outmuscled Gabriel to turn Nico O’Reilly’s cross home and send Guardiola into a wild celebration.
Gabriel and Erling Haaland clash during Manchester City vs Arsenal
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Gabriel and Erling Haaland clash during Manchester City vs Arsenal(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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Haaland and Gabriel’s battle had been heating up the entire game and the big Norwegian won the key battle against his counterpart. Losing that battle ultimately cost the Gunners the game but could have hugely impacted their coming games with Gabriel incredibly lucky to avoid a red card after missing a headbutt on Haaland as the two looked heads.
Arteta was forced to switch it up and threw Leandro Trossard and Ben White. But still he kept Gyokeres and Max Dowman in reserve. Eventually the Swede's time came, but with only five minutes left - a change made way too late.
The final chance of the game landed on the free head of Havertz six yards out, but he got it all wrong and headed over the bar. As Gary Neville said: "That could be the Premier League title."