Seven reasons Man City are in charge of title race as Arsenal outwitted - from dark arts to desire

Manchester City produced a stunning second half performance to beat Arsenal 2-1 and swing the title race's momentum in their favour

Matches can often be overhyped but Manchester City vs Arsenal lived up to the billing. It was huge. Anything other than a City victory left the title race firmly in the Gunners' hands. Instead, Pep Guardiola knows City will be sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League if they beat Burnley on Wednesday night.

Erling Haaland was the hero once again as he hit the winner in the second half. But while he has dominated the back pages on Monday morning, the Norwegian was not the only reason City fans could celebrate a brilliant win last night.

MEN Sport has rewatched the second half of this season-defining game and picked out seven reasons City overcame Arsenal to put the title race back in their hands.

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Gianluigi Donnarumma

The Italian goalkeeper has been near faultless for City this season. But, his clearance following Rayan Cherki's opener was too casual and gifted Arsenal an equaliser against the run of play.

As he jogged towards the South Stand at the start of the second half, he held up a hand of apology for his error. Actions would speak louder than words though as Donnarumma stepped up. His superb double save to deny Kai Havertz and then Gabriel Martinelli was inspired.

Donnarumma would also play a hand in the goal with his quick thinking setting up the attack. In the second half, he showed his elite mentality to play a crucial role in the win.

Bernardo Silva

Guardiola admitted he would cry post-match if he was to speak about Bernardo for too long. Such is his affection for the captain, who will leave at the end of the season, he even thanked Gary Neville for awarding him Man of the Match on Sky Sports.

Again, it was the 31-year-old who was dictating the game both in and out of possession. Bernardo has an incredible ability to drop into spaces when on the ball and he was the launch point for attacks from deep as he sprayed numerous passes out wide.

More impressive was his work rate off the ball. He produced a sensational last ditch tackle to deny a certain goalscoring chance and when he beat Viktor Gyokeres in the air in the final moments, you could only marvel at a player who has sometimes been overlooked.

Desire

Bernardo's towering header to beat Gyokeres was an example of something City showed throughout the game, but particularly in the second half. An old cliche is that a game is often settled by whichever team wants it more and shows the most desire.

City had it in abundance and you could tell that before the equaliser when Rodri twice won the ball back as Declan Rice shirked the challenge. That commitment comes from experience in these major games and while Arsenal did not play as badly as at Wembley last month, they were second best in this crucial detail.

Nico O'Reilly

He may not have scored a brace in this clash but his second half performance was superb. Martinelli was easily dealt with by O'Reilly who embarrassed him with his physicality.

O'Reilly has been the breakthrough gem this season and will be a huge part of City's future success. His role in the winner proved that.

The full-back ghosted into space as Arsenal switched off and Martinelli lost his man. In a flash, he was on the edge of the opposition area and it was his pass that Haaland converted. A true masterclass from the 21-year-old.

Press

City's press was well organised against Arsenal and began at the front. Haaland, Antoine Semenyo, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku created a fierce bank of four out of possession that had Gabriel and William Saliba worried.

Neither centre-back found it easy to play out so had to settle for the long ball. Once they did that, Bernardo and Rodri hurried their midfield along with Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guehi until eventually possession was retrieved.

It was a joy to watch and made life incredibly difficult for Mikel Arteta's men.

Tempo

For all that City did well without the ball, they backed it up when in possession. The Blues kept the tempo high when on the ball which can be easier said than done.

Arsenal wanted to win and played like a side looking for that crucial goal. But, they were more comfortable than City to sit back and hold onto the point.

At some stages, City were playing against an 11-player defence. However, their quick passing opened up opportunities and eventually, the Blues broke through.

Dark arts

Haaland and Gabriel's battle would have been better suited to this weekend's Wrestlemania rather than this Premier League grudge match. But if we were to adjudge a winner of this bout, it would be Haaland on points.

The striker was not afraid to embrace the dark arts and enter a grappling contest with the defender. As the half wore on, you could see this was frustrating Gabriel.

So much so, the centre-back allowed himself to be dragged into a tussle as City attacked. On that occasion he was left on the deck as Haaland kept his composure to score.

Gabriel's reaction afterwards said it all.