ARSENAL BRUTALLY SAVAGE MANCHESTER CITY

FINALLY, ARSENAL SLAY THE BOOGEYMAN UNDER THE BED

Brain is totally fried right now so no idea where I'm going to take this post - I stayed sober all weekend so I'd be in the right frame of mind whatever drama occured. Needless to say, the one thing I wasn't prepared to write about was Arsenal scoring 5 goals past a Manchester City who'd gone 6 games unbeaten in the Premier League.

Even the build-up had a bit of pantomime theater about it. Thierry Henry hedged his bets that if he criticised Arsenal's attacking play this season, the chances are, he'd not look too foolish come the end of a typically frugal top-of-the-table clash. Oh how wrong he'd be.

Arteta and Guardiola both knew this game was do or die for their respective clubs' seasons. Man City, technically, would be the most capable of winning all their games for the rest of the season because they've done it before. Arsenal have known for a while that a slip beyond 9 points and we're cooked. The prize on offer couldn't have been sweeter.

It's hard to pick a single hero from the afternoon. 5 goal scorers usually indicates that you'd be picking an attacker - but I'm not and you know where I'm going with it. Yep, the best goalkeeper on the planet right now is David Raya. His very selection was drama after getting a toxic hit of Neto in the week against Girona. The Spain number 1 made three incredible interventions in the first half. The first was from a Gvardiol glancing header. His left glove was in the right place and his powerful reflex-tip looped the ball just high enough to hit the bar and avoid Haaland waiting below it like a shark waiting for chum off the side of a boat. The second was getting a glove on a first time volleyed Gvardiol cross, putting the ball onto MLS at the backpost instead of a City player. The third was getting down to a deflected Savinho strike.

Those three saves kept Arsenal in a game they were mostly dominating. Mostly dominating has been the story of Arsenal vs City for the last three years. But bad luck, stupid errors, and the inevitability of City when you don't have players up to the standard has regularly derailed the result. Not today.

Arsenal had City rattled very early on. Our spacing off the ball gave their defenders no outlets and the clever way we pressed forced them into all manner of errors. They didn't have the guts, they couldn't handle the speed in which we moved, and we scored when Trossard nicked the ball off Akanji, Declan touched the ball into Kai, Kai cut to Odegaard who finally bundled the ball in for a goal.

Sad thing about PGMOL is I can't enjoy goals anymore. I'm waiting for them to find a reason to ruin the moment. But they couldn't find one.

We were momentarily in fantasy land when Martin clipped the ball over two City defenders finding Martinelli who chipped beautifully over Ortega. PGMOL got us that time and we were bang to rights. Gabi a yard offside.

City had their chances that I spoke about earlier - then Arsenal had their big second chance. Ortega passed to Kovacic who had a sliding Declan behind, the ball landed at the feet of Kai Havertz in acres of space, he had Stones to his right, Ortega to his left… and he chose to drag the ball wide of the post. It was an absolutely horrendous moment that drew fuuuuuu-gasps around the world. xG nerds saying it was a 0.77 chance. Higher than a penalty? Not for me. But… you gotta hit the target from there.

Arsenal's unrelenting pressing simmered down at the start of the second half, we took the foot off the gas and let City back into the game. Haaland was the scorer. Saliba found himself caught behind a giant man-monster, and when Savinho's perfectly weighted cross found its way in his direction, his header was merciless. The Norwegian's cele was him marching at the fans with a very smug look on his face…

We were all having that swirling head moment. That feeling when you've stepped out of a taxi and left your wallet. When you've accidentally replied all with a foul meme only meant for your work bestie. THAT FEELING CITY HAVE PUT ON US SO MANY TIMES.

How would a cooked Arsenal team that was inviting pressure on react?

Instant, like a Pot Noodle (look it up, foreign friends).

Thomas Partey, on his 150th appearance for Arsenal scooped up a shocking Phil Foden pass, looked at goal like Kolo Toure would have, and unleashed a Frank Lampard deflectico from distance. The goal was disgusting and beautiful in equal parts. Lucky, sure, but a prime example of what happens in football if you just have a go and break the system every now and then.

The next goal followed fast. Declan occupying that left 8 role caught MLS inside with a 20 yard diagonal. The youngster turned into the box, shuffled the ball onto his right foot, and clipped his shot at the inside post, Ortega's hand got to the ball, but the power took it into the top corner. WHAT A MOMENT. Myles peeled off, knowing what his celebration was going to be… he sat on the floor and dropped the Haaland sitting buddha celebration to mock the man who said 'who the fuck are you' last time they met. The character this kid has is unreal.

I loved the fourth. Arsenal won the ball on the edge of our own area, Partey released Martinelli in rapid transition. Kai flew past him on the right, took the pass in his stride, took two touches to put it on his left, then unleashed his apology tour finish, leaving people deleting their mean tweets about him. That goal meant the world to him. Credit Gabi for making the right pass, credit Kai for showing what all good forwards know… it's not the misses, it's how you react.

The fifth and final goal of the game was one to remember. Declan Rice found Ethan on the right with a world class moonraker pass from the left. Ethan stunned the ball. Moved in on goal. Shuffled inside and ripped off another beast of a shot across goal. What a goal. World class. Two teenagers on the score sheet against the reigning champions. Just incredible.

So much to love about that performance.

World class David Raya. Kai's redemption arc in the space of 90 minutes. Big Gabby at the back cheering in Haaland's face, taking a crack at a bicycle kick, and grabbing Haaland asking him to fetch his missing boot. Two teenagers scoring. Every single goal being an open play goal.

You know what it all comes down to? Character. This team has it. I've spent most of the season defending our season which hasn't been great because of many factors people haven't wanted to engage with, but I'm gonna say it now… Arsenal are the best team in England now. PGMOL are the main reason we're not ahead of Liverpool right now and our luck with injuries hasn't helped. But I am confident we are now the best team. We will go to Anfield and beat them. We might not win the league, but if we can keep pace with their lucky season and be within spitting distance by Anfield, we're going to win.

We saw on full display what the dark hand of PGMOL can do to influence seasons. If MLS doesn't play, we don't get that moment, we might not get that result. Michael Oliver, Darren England, and Howard Webb all wanted the three match suspension to stand. These people are trying to take a good Premier League season away from you. It's abhorrent. But what I will say, is the Liverpool supporting ref from yesterday was fairly decent. His only weakness was letting some heavy stuff go, but he did it for everyone.

I also want to revert back to the variance commentary I had with you all in December. Arsenal have been on the wrong side of variances this season, but that didn’t stop us being a great team. You just get those patches in sport. Yesterday showed we’ve come out the backend of that. We scored 5 goals off 2 xG. No one would say we weren’t worth the win. But it’s just amusing that you can put in that same performance in December and nothing drops for you (Fulham/Everton) and you’re slandered by the base. Football just isn’t fair sometimes.

Let's also look at that result with the transfer window in mind. You don't get that moment from Ethan Nwaneri if Arsenal spend £60m on Pedro Neto, just like Chelsea did last summer. Ethan has 6 goals to his name, Neto has 3. Who would you take if you were offered both right now? Through the pain of this season, we now have two teenagers that have saved us £60m in the transfer market. That's why I'm more confident now than I was at the start of the window that whatever Arsenal do today won't be a waste. You only add players that make your team better. If that’s Ollie Watkins, wonderful. If it’s no one, that’s the right move, becuase loading up on players without the right numbers is hope. Hope is not a strategy. The squad will see through bad signings.

Now let's talk about our season from here on in. There's a 2-0 we need to overturn against Newcastle this week. Getting to a Cup Final would be lovely, though not the most important thing for our season. Then it's one game a week. Leicester, West Ham, and a 6 pointer against Forest away. We'll be welcoming back Ben White, Tomiyasu, and Saka in March. Fitness will improve and hopefully a result like that puts us on an electric run until the end of the season.

If we don't end with silverware in the Premier League, that's sport. Did I predict a Liverpool collapse? Yes. It still might happen. But the reality of their season is everything has gone their way. They have had next to no injuries. They keep playing injury ravaged sides. Mo Salah has scored 37.5% of their goals and been involved in 75% of their total (G&As). He's the best player in the world right now and Arsenal, unfortunately, have not had theirs since December. Their collapse is coming though, their model is not sustainable, and I'd say it's going to be nearly impossible to replace their axis of greatness when it fades or exits this summer.

Arsenal have just got to keep doing the right things. We have a very young side heading towards its peak. We have teenagers stepping up like seniors. We have the players to finish the squad lined up over the next two windows. When we package a season together like Liverpool, no one will be close to Arsenal, and the big trophies will come.

So ignore the weak kneed out there. You know them. They've been polluting Youtube and your group chats for months. Keep it focused on our truth. The reason we're not where we are this season has very little to do with our quality - and if you were a betting man or woman, looking at our squad in the cold light of day, you'd be mad to think we're not going to the very top.

Final word goes to Thierry Henry. Those 5 goals made us the second highest scoring team in the league. 7 behind Liverpool. We’re doing that without Bukayo Saka and we’re where we are having lost our captain for a big chunk at the start of the season. The famed invincible team that Thierry played for only scored 73 goals when they won the golden title. Arsenal will surpass that number if they score more than 24 goals in our next 14 games, and our our current goals per game clip, we’ll easily do that.

So, have a good day, make the most of our moment, we're 6 points off Liverpool, and there is still plenty of season to play for.

See you in the comments. Sub up if you’re feeling frisky. x

MANCHESTER CITY (H) | ON THE WHISTLE PODCAST