1) Arsenal offer a glimmer of hope for the rest
“We’ve got Guardiola” sang the delirious home support and here was another key win overseen by the Catalan. Yet despite this, Alexandre Lacazette’s second half consolation highlighted a weak spot that City’s competitors are sure to study. When Liverpool were trounced 5-0 in early September City had been split open along Nicolas Otamendi’s left-hand channel before Sadio Mané’s 37th-minute sending off changed the contest. In this match a similar vulnerability came when Otamendi was given scant support by an awol Fabian Delph, the left-back, and so Lacazette could stroke beyond the excellent Ederson Moraes. City are a formidable force but the job of their fellow championship contenders is to try and pick them apart: the issue, of course, is how the blue wave can be relentless, as Gabriel Jesus’s finish following Lacazette’s proved.
2) Ederson impresses yet again for City
The goalkeeper’s excellent contribution to City’s start is illustrated by the fact that he has attracted close to zero attention so far. Following Claudio Bravo’s calamitous time last season, this shows how reliable the Brazilian has been. The Chilean had been recruited, in part, for his work with his feet, but that actually proved to be an achilles heel and Ederson has been the polar opposite, as was shown when he was hurried by an Arsenal press and calmly stroked the ball over to John Stones. When required to do some actual goal-minding for his side, the 24-year-old was as sharp as his outfield colleagues: for instance, when Alexis Sánchez popped Mesut Özil into a good position, out raced Ederson to collect. Better still was a save from Aaron Ramsey at the end of the first half that kept his team ahead, with the No1 also blameless regarding Arsenal’s goal.
3) Delph enjoying life as a born-again full-back
The 27-year-old who performed two U-turns before finally joining City from Aston Villa in summer 2015 is enjoying a run at left-back or left wing-back due to Benjamin Mendy’s serious knee injury. He is the latest example of Guardiola’s love of packing his teams with as many midfielders as possible. Today he was the left-back in a four, and his scheming abilities were shown when spraying one diagonal ball out from defence to initiate an attack. As is Guardiola’s wont, too, he stepped forward from defence into Arsenal territory when possible to squeeze space. Mendy may not be able to return until April, meaning Delph has the prospect of a near season-long stay in the side. To do so, though, he will have to improve the awry positioning that allowed Lacazette to be one-on-one with Otamendi for his goal. Delph took a late knock but the hope is that it was not serious.
4) Arsenal’s five at the back were well under par
Arsène Wenger may have questioned Michael Oliver’s refereeing and whether Raheem Sterling dived, but the truth was that his back five of Sead Kolasinac, Nacho Monreal, Francis Coquelin, Laurent Koscielny and Hector Bellerín were close to calamitous. City’s opener came when Kevin De Bruyne swapped passes with Fernandinho, waltzed forward as Koscielny watched space, then beat Petr Cech: no wonder Wenger looked royally cheesed off. The Frenchman adores flowing football so he cannot have been any more impressed with how, when De Bruyne pressed Coquelin into an area near a corner flag, the No34 hoofed the ball straight out. Poorer still was Monreal’s concession of the second-half penalty on Sterling from which Sergio Agüero notched goal No179 for the club. Wenger believed this should not have been awarded but it seemed the correct decision.
5) Mesut Özil would be a fine January buy
The 2014 World Cup-winner would surely grace a genuine title-contending team rather than a side that perennially fails to achieve that status. Özil’s contract expires next summer and as a favourite of José Mourinho when he was in charge of Real Madrid, might Manchester United’s manager consider a January window bid? In the opening moments the German drifted near to Ederson’s goal to be Arsenal’s furthest player forward. Later, he pulled a left-foot shot wide. Yet after the 29-year-old was next put in by Alexis Sánchez he drifted away to the periphery. During four years at the north London club Özil’s figures are seven goals in 40 appearances in 2013-14; five in 32 in 2014-15; eight in 44 in 2015-16; 12 in 44 last term, and, so far, only one in nine this year. Those numbers could well rise if he played in a finer team.
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