Manchester City took the lead in the Premier League title race after beating Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday (April 19). Goals from Ryan Cherki and Erling Haaland were enough for City to eventually secure all three points as Gigi Donnarumma’s howler allowed Arsenal to equalize in the first half through Kai Havertz.
That leaves City on 67 points and three behind Arsenal with a game in hand. Despite relentless pressure in the last few minutes, with Havertz going close in the final moments of the game, City held on for a famous win and gave Arsenal the pain of finishing second again.
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HOW WAS THE MATCH GOING?
The match started with both teams ready for the task and on the attack. Arsenal had a couple of corners early on when Cherki’s shot hit Gabriel before bouncing off the post and into the hands of David Raya.
However, it was the visitors who took an early advantage in the 15th minute as Cherki dribbled past the Arsenal defenders before unleashing a low shot past Ray. But less than two minutes later, Donnarumma had a moment that could have changed the course of the title fight. A routine throw-in found Donnarumma at his left post, but Kai Havertz quickly closed it down, got rid of the keeper and slotted the ball into the net.
City had their foot on the pedal and both teams created a few chances, with Haaland sending a shot over the bar in the 27th minute and Guehi finding a header straight at Rayo. But the score remained the same as we went into the second half.
City were the first to have a good chance as Doku’s shot was the result of sloppy Arsenal play. But the shot was aimed straight at Raya.
The visitors then suffered a major turnaround in the 59th minute when Arsenal quickly broke forward with Martin Odegaard leading the charge before sliding the ball through to Kai Havertz, whose close-range effort was blocked by the onrushing Donnarumma. The deflected ball then fell to Gabriel Martinelli, but the goalkeeper again reacted brilliantly to get a hand on this attempt as well.
Soon after, Eze’s shot hit the post as Odegaard set up the England midfielder only for his shot to beat Donnarumma and then hit the woodwork. But five minutes later, Haaland sent a dagger into their hearts after finishing off a sensational save by the visitors.
The move started with Donnarumma making a brilliant run at O’Reilly on the left wing. With space in front of him, O’Reilly raced forward, exchanging a quick one-two before leveling it back across goal. Rodri tried to flick it on before getting to Erling Haaland, who, despite leaning back as he struck, kept his composure to guide the target into the bottom left corner.
It was a great team move from City, who regained control of the game with a goal.
From then on it was Arsenal who went on the attack with City happy to grind out a result. Arteta decided to bring Viktor Gyokeres into the attack and they almost found an equalizer in two minutes.
Leandro Trossard whipped in a brilliant cross from the right with perfect pace and height and Kai Havertz timed his run superbly to miss the mark. From around eight yards he rose to meet it but his header flew just over the outstretched Donnarumma.
The win set off huge celebrations at the stadium as City have a chance to go level on points with Arsenal when they face Burnley on Wednesday.
– The end
Published on:
19 Apr 2026 11:00 PM IST
