As It Happened: Manchester City 3-1 Arsenal

Good afternoon and welcome to Nigerianeye's live text coverage of the Premier League clash between Manchester City and Arsenal.


Victory would see Pep Guardiola's side extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points ahead of Manchester United's trip to Chelsea later today.

The Citizens are chasing a record-equalling ninth successive league win in a single season, but have only won one of their last nine meetings with Arsenal.

The Gunners travel to the Etihad Stadium nine points behind City and defeat would likely signal the end of their already slim title hopes at this early stage of the season.

Make sure you don't miss a minute of the action with our minute-by-minute updates below.

OFFICIAL LINE-UPS

ARSENAL: Cech; Bellerin, Koscielny, Monreal, Kolasinac; Ramsey, Coquelin, Xhaka; Ozil, Iwobi, Sanchez
Subs: Macey, Debuchy, Elneny, Wilshere, Walcott, Lacazette, Giroud

MANCHESTER CITY: Ederson; Walker, Otamendi, Stones, Delph; Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Silva; Sterling, Sane, Aguero
Subs: Bravo, Mangala, Gundogan, Bernardo, Jesus, Danilo, Yaya Toure


























The Man City juggernaut marches on, with little trouble against an Arsenal side who have dropped below Liverpool to sixth on goal difference and are now 12 points behind Pep Guardiola's side. The Gunners are surely out of the title race, and it doesn't look like anyone else can stop them either. Thanks for joining our live coverage of the match!

FULL TIME: MAN CITY 3-1 ARSENAL

90+3 min In the third of four minutes of added time, Ozil risks a sending off by barging into Delph, with eyes only for the City player. A red card and suspension is the last thing that Arsenal need with a North London derby on the horizon.

90+1 min Petulance starting to show from Arsenal - and a rare sighting of passion from Ozil as he clatters into Delph to take a late booking. Again the German has done nothing in the big game to persuade the Gunners that he is worth the big bucks.

89 min City are closing this game out with great comfort and there is even the opportunity for a bit of showboating in the centre circle from David Silva. They have passed this test and are looking very difficult to stop heading into the international break.

87 min Jesus must have been planning his next goal celebration as City broke two on one with De Bruyne on the ball, but the Belgian's pass is unusually poor and picked off by Koscielny.

85 min SUBSTITUTION: Final change for Man City as Sane comes off to be replaced by Bernardo Silva.

82 min Things have settled down now after a frantic five minutes following Jesus's goal. Arsenal seem resigned to their fate and City are going hunting for a fourth goal. Only PSG have scored more in Europe's top five leagues.

79 min SUBSTITUTIONS: Both managers make changes as Wenger brings on Giroud and Wilshere for Iwobi and Xhaka, while Guardiola sacrifices Sterling for the more defensive Gundogan in midfield.

77 min YELLOW! Frustration boils over for Sanchez as he becomes the fifth Gunner booked for going through the back of De Bruyne.

75 min Arsenal defenders are praying for offside as Jesus settles this one with a third for City. It is borderline against both De Bruyne and the Brazilian, who knocks home from close range from the Belgian's pass as Arsenal hold their hands up in hope. Xhaka is booked for his protests.

75 min GOAL! MAN CITY 3-1 ARSENAL (GABRIEL JESUS)

74 min YELLOW! Good refereeing from Michael Oliver has he goes back to an earlier offence to book Otamendi for clattering into the face of Lacazette by the right touchline.

72 min City look just as likely to score here as Arsenal do now. A third would surely kill the Gunners off.

70 min Again Arsenal have the numbers to get at City's defence but nobody is on the penalty spot to thrash home Kolasinac's cross after Ozil had stepped over the ball, deciding not to shoot himself.

68 min SAVE! Outstanding save from Cech to scramble across his goalline and keep out a close-range shot from Jesus after Arsenal had inexplicably let a corner reach the Brazilian at the back post.

67 min YELLOW! The Gunners have their tails up now and win a corner, but yet again this is only a platform for a City counter-attack. Koscielny takes one for the team by bringing down De Bruyne in his own half.

65 min There is the clear-cut chance that Arsenal needed, and Lacazette takes it! City are outnumbered at the back and Ramsey spots the run of Lacazette on his outside for the Frenchman to fire through Ederson's legs.

65 min GOAL! MAN CITY 2-1 ARSENAL (ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE)

64 min The Gunners are enjoying a decent spell at the moment but aren't creating clear-cut chances to score. Kolasinac wastes a promising position when his poor first touch from Sanchez's reverse pass allows Walker to clear.

62 min SUBSTITUTION: Aguero is taken off with nearly half an hour to go, with Gabriel Jesus coming on. Not a bad replacement for a leggy Aguero, who played 75 lung-busting minutes in Naples.

61 min Aguero slides a pass through for Sterling but the England international is caught out by Arsenal's high line.

59 min YELLOW! A great opening passes Arsenal by as Lacazette overhits his tee up for Ramsey, with Ederson off his line to thwart the Welshman. A frustrated Lacazette is soon booked for pulling back Delph.

57 min SUBSTITUTION: Wenger abandons the Coquelin experiment and reverts to a back four, with Lacazette coming on to play ahead of Sanchez and Ozil.

55 min CLOSE! Ederson nearly gifts Arsenal a way back into this game as he lets an Iwobi shot slip through his fingers. He snatches the loose ball before Ramsey unfairly barges him over the line with a blatant foul.

52 min It is a long way back now for Arsenal, and the more committed they get to attacking then the more vulnerable they are to the likes of Sane, Sterling and Aguero on the break. This makeshift three-man defence looks shaky enough as it is, after a decent opening 20 minutes.

50 min The worst possible start to the second half for Arsenal as Monreal bundles into Sterling and gives away a penalty. Aguero steps up and squeezes the spot kick in via the post for his 179th City goal in all competitions.

50 min GOAL! MAN CITY 2-0 ARSENAL (SERGIO AGUERO, pen)

48 min These two teams aren't that far apart in terms of what they do on the ball, it is off the ball where the differences are stark. City press so quickly and in number, whereas Arsenal don't make it tough enough for the likes of Silva and De Bruyne.

46 min KICKOFF: Arsenal resume the action, persisting with Coquelin in defence rather than midfield. Lacazette, Giroud and Walcott are all in reserve if the Gunners can hold out for the first 20 minutes.

45 min Xhaka attempts a quick free kick which hits the back of Ramsey's head - five yards in front of him. Facepalm.

43 min Xhaka wraps his foot around the ball to switch it beautifully to Bellerin, who continues to be Arsenal's best attacking option coming forward from right-back. This attack runs out of steam though.

41 min Crucial intervention from Kolasinac, who runs 50 yards to keep up with Sane and then executive his slide tackle expertly as City again broke away from another poor Sanchez corner.

39 min The visitors need to get to half time here with only a one-goal deficit. Although they had scored, City weren't opening Arsenal up too easily in the first 30 minutes, but suddenly the Gunners look very shaky defensively and the league leaders are smelling blood.

37 min Arsenal are sloppy on the ball again with Xhaka the guilty party this time. Between them, Koscielny and Cech clear Walker's cross but take an ugly bump into each other in the process.

35 min CHANCE! Sterling's end product has come on leaps and bounds under Guardiola, but he gets this horribly wrong - a simple square pass to Sane which surely would have been converted for 2-0 which is badly overhit. Arsenal were completely opened up after Ramsey gave the ball away.

33 min Lovely move from the hosts as Silva makes an overlapping run to the byline. Silva's cross was begging to be converted from close range but neither Sterling or Aguero had gambled on the quality.

31 min Great pressing from City as De Bruyne pushes Coquelin back to his own goal and forces the Frenchman into a panicked clearance for a throw-in. Coquelin nearly got himself into trouble there.

29 min Sanchez is spending most of his time out of the left flank, leaving space for Ozil to run through the middle, but he is neither going to get away from the Man City defence or hold them off. Arsenal could do with a better focal point in attack.

27 min Monreal commits himself high up the pitch and is left for dead by De Bruyne, whose attempt to switch to Sane on the left - the first pass he is always looking for - is foiled by the backtracking Bellerin.

25 min Sanchez almost releases Ozil but Ederson is quickly off his line before the German can get a shot away. Sanchez may have chosen the wrong pass there, with Ramsey and Bellerin over on his right.

23 min It has been all City since the goal, with Arsenal struggling to keep hold of the ball when it goes up to Alexis.

21 min As previously mentioned, Arsenal have won three games from behind already this season - against Watford, Leicester and Swansea. They hailed their character after those results, but this is a proper test of it now, one they have so often failed.

19 min De Bruyne opens the scoring for City with a left-footed shot from the left edge of the area, across Cech and into the bottom corner. It is poor defending from Arsenal, who initally gave the ball away through Kolasnic's ambitious pass and then failed to clear after Cech had saved from a previous De Bruyne effort. Koscielny did not get close enough to the Belgian for his follow-up effort, and questions may be asked of Cech too.

19 min GOAL! MAN CITY 1-0 ARSENAL (KEVIN DE BRUYNE)

16 min There is space for Arsenal to get down both flanks. Bellerin looks their best outlet at the minute and Kolasnic, who scored against Swansea last weekend, is also getting forward at every opportunity. The Bosnian just needs to make sure he isn't caught out when City break.

14 min The Gunners started well but have suddenly become quite sloppy in possession, while City are beginning to find their feet on the ball. Silva is finding some time on the ball, which he wouldn't have if Coquelin was playing in his accustomed midfield role.

12 min CLOSE! City are within inches of taking the lead as Sane's square ball for Sterling across the six-yard box is just out of reach. Ozil had casually lost the ball in his own half and City countered quickly with Koscielny getting in a mess trying to stay with Sane.

10 min Arsenal waste a really promising situation after Ramsey robs Delph of the ball high up the pitch, but Ozil's tame shot rolls wide with Ederson untroubled.

9 min Sterling embarks on a dangerous dribble into the Arsenal area, through the weak challenge of Xhaka but Monreal comes across on the cover.

7 min Good football from Arsenal who have started confidently. Bellerin has plenty of choices in the box and tries to pick out Ozil in the centre, but Otamendi is on hand at the near post to clear for a corner.

5 min Iwobi chests down a weak clearing header from Stones but volleys way over the crossbar.

4 min Arsenal have actually stuck with the three-at-the-back formation they have used all season, with Coquelin slipping into the centre of the trio. That is a big gamble from Wenger, starting the Frenchman for the first time this campaign, out of position.

2 min CHANCE! Early warning sign for Arsenal as City counter with six players from a Gunners corner. De Bruyne slips in Aguero, whose shot has plenty of power but was always rising high and wide.

1 min KICKOFF: City get the action underway after a perfectly-observed minute's silence ahead of Rememberance Day. The hosts are protecting a 22-game unbeaten run - Arsenal were the last team to beat them in last season's FA Cup semi-final.

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