Haaland hammered in the famous nail in the coffin when eight minutes before full time he hammered home with his right foot, placed the ball in the far corner and set full speed towards the Manchester City supporters. Haaland’s goal, his 26th of the season in the Premier League, removed all doubt: Manchester City are now league leaders. – He is a monster in the second half, says national team manager Ståle Solbakken in the Viaplay studio after the match. – Fantastic ending. Strike game from the top shelf, says former Premier League striker Chris Sutton on the BBC radio broadcast. However, how long Manchester City will stay there remains to be seen. Right now they are ahead of Arsenal on goal difference, but “The Gunners” have played one game less. The teams will also meet once more during the season. And it can quickly become amps then too. The temperature was high in a match where so much was at stake. Several have referred to this match as a potential title decider. There were several fierce duels, rushing tackles and arguments between the players. Kevin De Bruyne had much of the Emirates Stadium against him when he pushed Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta, who prevented De Bruyne from taking a quick throw-in: Photo: DAVID KLEIN / Reuters De Bruyne was once again central to Pep Guardiola’s men, and it was he who made it 1-0 to the light blues. He intercepted a loose support pass from Takehiro Tomiyasu and made no mistake when Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale came rushing out: Begieren lifted the ball over the keeper to make it 1-0. But a few minutes before half-time, Arsenal got the equaliser: Ederson cut down Eddie Nketiah inside his own penalty area and Bukayo Saka kept a cool head, despite Ederson trying to psych him out. After the break, the game became very fragmented. Many free kicks both ways and little flow from the two teams that have done the best in the league this season. Erling Braut Haaland thought he had secured the away team a penalty kick when he went to the ground after a tug-of-war with Gabriel, but the Norwegian started his run too early and the penalty decision was overturned due to offside after a VAR check. But Haaland got his revenge. He was third last on the ball when Manchester City went up 2-1: Manchester City won the ball high, Haaland rolled on to Ilkay Gündogan who unselfishly played the ball to Jack Grealish. His finish went via Tomiyasu and changed direction, just enough to outsmart Ramsdale. Photo: GLYN KIRK / AFP Ten minutes later, Haaland punctuated the match. He put his finger to his forehead and celebrated as his red city rival Marcus Rashford, fell to his knees and slid towards ecstatic Manchester City supporters. And if the gold match wasn’t open before, it at least is now. – A heavy blow for Arsenal. How do they fight back now? Yes, they have a game to play, but Manchester City were brilliant in the second half. They flexed their muscles and told Arsenal “it’s us you have to beat”, says Chris Sutton on BBC radio.
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Haaland scored in almost a top game
