Man City Vs Arsenal: Xhaka Sent Off as Gundogan Scores in 5-0 Win

• Arsenal slumped to bottom of the table after a 5-0 thrashing from Manchester City at the Etihad
• Gabriel Jesus, Ferran Torres and Ilkay Gundogan all got on the scoresheet as Guardiola inflicted a third straight Premier League defeat on the Gunners
• Mikel Arteta’s side is yet to score in the league this season, and have made the worst start to a league campaign since 1954

Manchester City leaped to the top of the table, at least temporarily, after a comprehensive performance saw them thrash Arsenal 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium.

It was the same story for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, who went 2-0 down inside 12 minutes despite making a promising start early on.

Fresh out of a rejuvenating 6-0 win over West Brom in the EFL Cup, the Gunners were expected to at least build on that victory and perhaps be more competitive against the Premier League champions.

And they made a promising start early on, pressing for the ball and exhibiting some nice interplay in midfield which comprised summer signing Martin Odegaard and youngster Emile-Smith Rowe.

Arsenal’s flashes of brilliance would only last five minutes, however, as Manchester City exploited their leaky defence with virtually their first attack of the game.

City’s Premier League top scorer for last season Ilkay Gundogan rose unmarked at the near post to benefit from Gabriel Jesus’s cross to open the scoring in the seventh minute, with forward Ferran Torres doubling his side’s lead five minutes later.

Once City were 2-0 up, Arsenal’s mentality seemed to revert back to the timid side which lost the opening two Premier League games to Brentford and Chelsea.

Things went from bad to worse 10 minutes to half time when Granit Xhaka was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Joao Cancelo.

City’s £100m man Jack Grealish then set up Gabriel Jesus in the 43rd minute after a trademark tease down the wing and the Brazilian made no mistake from a few yards to put the game beyond Arsenal’s reach.

The home side were in full control of the game and in the second half, they came out with some swagger, which was capped off with a sublime goal from Rodri, who curled in a low shot from outside the box to make it 4-0.

Despite the game ending as a contest in the first half, Pep Guardiola’s side was unrelenting in attack and substitutes Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling wasted some big chances to add to the scoreline.

No one was going to deny Ferran Torres his brace though, as the Spaniard scored his side’s fifth late on with a header from a Mahrez cross from the right.

In the end, the score was fully merited as City had a massive 89% possession and for Arsenal, their one attempt in the game, which was off target, summed up the club’s current state.