DE MOLISHED
Arsenal 0 Man City 3: Toothless Gunners embarrassed as De Bruyne scores twice in masterclass before Sterling seals win
MISERABLE Arsenal were ripped apart by rampant Manchester City as Freddie Ljungberg’s managerial ambitions suffered a potentially terminal setback.
The interim Gunners boss refused to even acknowledge Mesut Ozil’s second-half tantrum as his team were left tormented by the brilliance of Kevin De Bruyne.
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They could have been ahead after just 30 seconds when Gabriel Martinelli forced his way past two City defenders to bring a sharp save from Ederson.
Instead they were behind after 89 seconds as a direct result of Nicolas Pepe allowing Fernandino to play Gabriel Jesus in behind Calum Chambers in the left-hand channel.
Jesus’ low pull back was crying out for an emphatic finish and De Bruyne did not disappoint with a thunderous rising shot which beat Bernd Leno all ends up.
It was the worst possible start for an Arsenal team suffering a crisis of confidence after winning just one of their previous 11 games.
Yet they failed to learn their lessons from City’s opening goal and were undone again in painfully similar fashion after 15 minutes.
CRISIS FOR ARSENAL
This time it was De Bruyne who turned creator, once again exposing Chambers’ lack of pace to roll the ball across the face of goal to leave Raheem Sterling with a straightforward tap-in at the back post.
It was all too much for the fuming Emirates supporters as the Champions emphasised the gulf in class between the teams with a slick passing game which left Arsenal chasing shadows.
But fate had not finished with Ljungberg yet and after 38 minutes Sead Kolasinac limped off after being brought down by Rodri and turning his right ankle.
Having just written Kieran Tierney off a dislocated shoulder, Kolasinac’s departure left Ljungberg scrambling around his bench to find someone to fill in at emergency left-back.
He eventually opted for winger Bukayo Saka, but before the teenager could even get onto the pitch De Bruyne had scored again, steering an exquisite left foot shot inside the far post from the edge of the area.
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And the magnificent Belgian was only denied a stunning first-half hat-trick by Leno’s fingertip save to push his 43rd minute effort against the post.
Arsenal, once again booed off at half-time, simply had no answer to the onslaught and Ozil reacted furiously to being replaced by Emile Smith Rowe in the 58th minute.
The angry German ripped off his woolly mittens and booted them angrily into the crowd. It was the most animated he had been all afternoon.
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