
At a crucial stage in the season, Man City take control of the title race over Arsenal
Man City defeats Arsenal 2-1, closing in on the Premier League title.
Manchester City defeated Arsenal 2-1 in a crucial Premier League match, impacting the title race significantly. Bernardo Silva excelled, while an Arsenal star struggled during the game.
Man City vs. Arsenal player ratings, grades: Gunners' star has a nightmare while Bernardo Silva shines originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Manchester City hosted Arsenal on Sunday in arguably the most significant Premier League game for more than a decade.
Both teams knew that a victory at the Etihad Stadium could prove decisive in the title race, with the Gunners holding the advantage of a six-point lead at the top that meant a draw would also be a good result.
City battled to a 2-1 victory, which means they can draw level at the top if they win at Burnley on Wednesday. The title race is likely now to go to the wire.
Here is how The Sporting News rated the players on show.
MORE:What happens if Arsenal and Man City finish the season on equal points
Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Donnarumma
Moments after City took the lead, Donnarumma's kick was closed down by and blocked into the net. He made amends with a key save at 1-1 to deny Havertz from close range.
Manchester City won the match against Arsenal with a score of 2-1.
The victory allows Manchester City to potentially draw level with Arsenal at the top if they win their next match against Burnley.
Bernardo Silva was highlighted for his strong performance, while an Arsenal player had a notably poor game.
Manchester City's next match is against Burnley on Wednesday.

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Right-back: Matheus Nunes
His improvement to become a justified first-choice right-back at City may end up changing any plans they had to sign a full-back. 7/10
Centre-back: Abdukodir Khusanov
Still looks a little raw at times, but his speed across the ground means he always seems to rectify his own errors. Helped City get over the line when Arsenal applied late pressure. 7/10
Centre-back: Marc Guehi
A solid performance against an Arsenal attack that offered little threat via the centre-forwards, although his positioning was off when Havertz got free for a header in the closing seconds. Booked. 6/10
Left-back: Nico O'Reilly
Another strong performance from the young man fast becoming City's most important player. His cut-back towards Rodri ended up being the assist for Erling Haaland's winner. 7/10
Central midfield: Bernardo Silva
It looked like he tried to score straight from a corner three times until those duties were passed to Cherki. Industrious as ever in midfield on a stage in which he thrives: a game of huge magnitude for City. Ran back to stop a Havertz break that looked very dangerous. 8/10
Central midfield: Rodri
Typically excellent in his distribution, with one defence-splitting pass setting up a chance that Semenyo wasted. He and Silva controlled the midfield battle, especially in the second half. 7/10
Right wing: Antoine Semenyo
Semenyo has been very effective in front of goal for City since signing from Bournemouth, but he seemed to have misplaced his shooting boots today. Hincapie defended well against him. 5/10
**Attacking midfield:**Rayan Cherki
Produced the game's outstanding moment as he waltzed through the Arsenal defence to open the scoring. His influence diminished in the second half, but he was a threat whenever he had the ball. 7/10
**Left wing:**Jeremy Doku
Striker: Erling Haaland
His running battle with Gabriel was once again a major sub-plot. He got the better of the defender to turn home O'Reilly's cross for the killer second goal. 7/10
Subs:
Nathan Ake
On for the last two minutes as City aimed to see out the win. N/A
Nico Gonzalez
A late replacement for Rodri, who was struggling. N/A
Only touched the ball three times as late sub as City dropped deep. N/A
On for the closing stages and was tidy when he had the ball. 6/10
Manager: Pep Guardiola
City seemed a little perturbed by Arsenal's high press early on, but they quickly recovered their poise. Guardiola avoided any overthinking and let his players get the job done. 7/10
Goalkeeper: David Raya
Almost gifted Haaland the ball with a loose touch in the opening minutes. He could do little about either goal. 5/10
Right-back: Cristhian Mosquera
Surprisingly picked ahead of Ben White, Mosquera looked like a centre-back being asked to perform an unfamiliar role. He struggled to get to grips with Doku and was booked in the first half. 4/10
Centre-back: William Saliba
Defended well for the most part and helped to shut down Haaland in the first half. He had a better 90 minutes than his partner at the back. 6/10
Centre-back: Gabriel
Beaten all too easily by Cherki for the opening goal and was held off by Haaland for the second. Extremely fortunate to be shown only a yellow card for pushing his head towards the Norwegian as frustrations came to a boil. 3/10
Left-back: Piero Hincapie
Probably Arsenal's best starting defender, making three tackles and eight clearances. Offered an outlet down the left in attack, but without managing to create anything. 6/10
Central midfield: Martin Odegaard
His passes looked errant at the start and seemed to get worse, although he did at least create four opportunities. Worked hard to try to give Arsenal some control in spells after the break, but he looks well short of his best. 5/10
Central midfield: Martin Zubimendi
Screened his defence reasonably well and broke up a fair few City moves, especially in the first half, but the game rather passed him by as the match wore on. 5/10
Central midfield: Declan Rice
Assigned a man-marking role on Rodri in the first half, Rice looked somewhat confused by trying to balance pressing high while helping out in defence. He seemed to choose not to do the latter when Cherki waltzed through the middle of Arsenal's box to open the scoring. 4/10
**Right forward:**Noni Madueke
Looked a threat in moments but failed to create a chance and only attempted two dribbles before being hooked at halftime for Gabriel Martinelli. 4/10
Striker: Kai Havertz
Picked ahead of Viktor Gyokeres and justified the call with some assured hold-up play. He pressured Donnarumma to earn Arsenal an equaliser, but when his big moment came in the second half, he couldn't beat the Italian. Headed over a glorious chance in injury time. 6**/10**
**Left forward:**Eberechi Eze
Showed some nice touches when under pressure in the first half, but his influence waned. However, he was inches from a goal when his low shot hit the post and travelled across the goalmouth. 6/10
Subs:
Gabriel Martinelli
On at halftime for Madueke but was not a notable upgrade, although he did seem to keep Nunes a little more occupied. 5/10
Ben White
Defended better than Mosquera and offered a late attacking threat with crosses from the right. Not starting him was an error. 6/10
Brought on as Arsenal chased a goal. He was ineffective until he provided a pinpoint cross that Havertz should have headed in. 6/10
Viktor Gyokeres
Came on in the 84th minute and did not touch the ball. 4/10
Manager: Mikel Arteta
The early high press unsettled City, and the big call to play Havertz was the right one. But once the hosts gained control, Arsenal's midfield balance looked off because of Rice's Rodri detail. Starting Mosquera at right-back was an odd decision that didn't pay off. 5/10