By Ethan Aspinall, Mon 20 April 2026 11:25
Manchester City 2 Arsenal 1: match reportBlues secure huge victory over Arsenal to move within THREE points of the league leaders
Manchester City defeated Arsenal 2-1 to close the gap and move within three points of the Gunners with a game in hand. The result is the Blues fourth consecutive victory in a run that started with victory over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final and they will now hope they can continue the momentum in the final weeks as they look to pip Arsenal to a league title yet again. Guardiola named an unchanged eleven from the team that played against Chelsea.
Arsenal changed their game plan from the one that they employed in the cup final a month earlier and were looking to take the game to the Blues. They had the first attempt of the game when Mosquera’s header from a corner went just wide. Moments later, up the other end City almost had the ball in the back of the net through Cherki who had a shot from the left that rebounded off Gabriel and onto the post.
City eventually took the lead in the 14th minute as Cherki danced through the Arsenal defence and slotted the ball into the left side of the net to make it 1-0.
The Blues now looked firmly in control albeit, their celebrations were cut abruptly short just a few seconds later when Donnarumma made a catastrophic blunder, failing to clear the ball from his box in time and Havertz pounced and knocked the ball in to make it all square once again almost immediately.
Throughout the rest of the first half, City were unable to find the net but were more in control as the first half ended. This continued in the second half, with City hitting the post in the 48th minute, getting closer.
Arsenal themselves had chances to take the lead with Eze coming very close hitting the inside of the post with the ball rebounding across the face of goal and Donnarumma denying the Gunners on many occasions, redeeming himself from his earlier error.
Eventually in the 64th minute, City took the lead once more with Nico O’Reilly’s pass going through the crowd and falling none other to Haaland who in a tussle with Gabriel knocked the ball past Raya to make it 2-1. A huge goal for City
Tempers flared throughout the last 20 minutes, Haaland and Gabriel were both booked after a confrontation which included an attempted headbutt by the Brazilian defender. Regardless, City remained calm and managed to keep Arsenal out despite how close they came to an equaliser when Havertz header went just over in the final minutes. The final whistle went and it ended 2-1 to City.
City now face Burnley midweek before facing Southampton in the FA cup semi-final looking to continue their run in on the right track. Arsenal have five more league games and Atletico over two legs in the Champions League. A crucial few weeks remain and despite the victory, City still have tough fixtures ahead and know they can’t be complacent but this victory will give them a huge morale boost.