Champions Manchester City turned up in style with a 5-0 drubbing of Arsenal in their English Premier League matchday three encounter to send the Gunners to the bottom of the league after three matches.
Manchester City came into the game against Arsenal on the back of an impressive 5-0 win over Norwich City in the previous match, while Arsenal hammered West Bromwich Albion 6-0 in their Carabao Cup second round match after losing 2-0 to Chelsea in the league. The Gunners saw their captain Pierre Emerick Aubameyang make his first league start of the season as they sought to get a good result against a Manchester City side that has picked up 28 points from 30 in their last 10 matches against them.
It took only seven minutes for Manchester City to open the scoring as midfielder Ilkay Gundogan crept in to head home a dinked cross from Gabriel Jesus. Spanish forward Ferran Torres added a second for Manchester City with an emphatic finish from close range just five minutes later. Arsenal were reduced to ten men after Granit Xhaka received his marching orders for a dangerous tackle on Manchester City fullback Joao Cancelo in the 35th minute to make matters worse for the Gunners. Gabriel Jesus turned from provider to scorer as he turned home a square ball from Jack Grealish in the 43rd minute to put the home side 3-0 up at halftime.
Manchester City added a third shortly after the restart as Rodri fired home an effort from 25 yards in the 53rd minute. They continued to dominate the play, forcing Arsenal to sit deeper and allowing Manchester City have 81% of the ball. Manchester City added a fifth before full-time as Torres added his second of the afternoon after glancing home a header following an inch-perfect cross from winger Riyad Mahrez six minutes from the end of the match.
The result puts Guardiola’s men on top of the table by virtue of their superior goal difference, with Arsenal rooted to the bottom of the table with zero points and zero goals scored this season after three matches. The Gunners have a goal difference of -9. In his post-match press conference, Guardiola praised Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta as a good manager, blaming injuries to key members of the Arsenal squad as the reason behind the result.
