Manchester City striker Erling Haaland chose the perfect moment to end his Premier League drought with the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal, giving his team the advantage in the title race, this Sunday (19).
The Norwegian had not scored in the league since February, but his neat finish in the 65th minute of a thrilling encounter at the Etihad Stadium was decisive as City moved to within three points of Arsenal with a game in hand.
A victory over relegation-bound Burnley next Wednesday (22) would put City top of the table with five games remaining.
Arsenal, who until then were favorites to win their first title since 2004 after leading the race for so long, have 70 points from 33 games, while City have 67 from 32.
City started the match buoyed by Arsenal’s shock home defeat to Bournemouth last week. Pep Guardiola’s side got off to the perfect start with a brilliant solo goal from Rayan Cherki in the 15th minute.
But Arsenal were gifted an equalizer less than two minutes later when goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s hesitation was punished by Kai Havertz.
The equalizer took away City’s momentum, although they regained their passing rhythm as half-time approached, and it took the keen awareness of Arsenal defender Piero Hincapié to block Antoine Semenyo’s goalbound attempt.
Just as the Arsenal fans began to make their voices heard, they were silenced in the 64th minute. Nico O’Reilly crossed the ball into the box and Haaland sent his shot into Raya’s corner.
Tempers flared as time passed. The battle between Gabriel and Haaland reached the boiling point when both received yellow cards for exchanging glares, attempted headbutts and shoves.
Arsenal bombarded the City box in stoppage time but Havertz wasted a golden chance to equalize when his free header found the top of the net.
