Manchester City 3-1 Arsenal: Three reasons why City won

2. City’s tactical flexibility and superiority in midfield:

Raheem Sterling

City played with a 3-5-2 formation yesterday, which became 3-6-1 at times, as Kevin De Bruyne kept switching from attack to midfield and vice-versa. Moreover, Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva played as the left and right wing-backs respectively, which came as a major surprise. City packed their midfield with players like De Bruyne, David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan, and dominated proceedings on the pitch.

City also had 59% ball-possession in the match and had 12 shots on target against Arsenal’s meagre return of two. Arsenal’s defenders fought hard, but could not stop the City players from creating genuine goal-scoring opportunities.

Ilkay Gundogan’s wonderful chip to Raheem Sterling led to City’s second goal. It was Sterling’s ninth assist of the season. He had yet another fantastic match and De Bruyne was as influential as ever.

City’s tactical flexibility and depth in the squad allows Pep Guardiola to experiment with different formations and line-ups. They were simply too good for the Gunners last night and kept the title race alive.