It may only be until later in the day, but Man City are now top of the Premier League table, leapfrogging Arsenal with a comfortable 3-0 win over relegation threated West Ham at the Etihad on Saturday (December 20).
Who else but Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the fifth minute before running off to do a robot celebration with his teammates at the corner flag. Honestly, at this point, he may actually be some sort of footballing android thought up in some terrifying and cold Norwegian lab.
From then on it was nothing short of dominant from City. Tijjani Reijnders got in on the act just before half time, and Haaland bagged his second in the 69th minute to secure all three points and send shivers down Mikel Arteta’s spine.
Erling Haaland is inevitable
The striker has often been criticised of doing nothing but score goals, an odd argument considering that’s his job, but two goals from just 13 touches, the lowest of any outfield player to play the full 90 minutes is an insane statistic.
Haaland now has 19 goals in the Premier League alone, eight more than his closest competitor for the golden boot, Brentford’s Igor Thiago. The gap between the two is probably more goals than some of the summer’s big money striker signings will get all season.
IF Man City end up winning the Premier League, the club need to build a statue of him outside the ground. Haaland has been and will probably continue to be, the reason Pep Guardiola’s side are where they are.
Maybe Matheus Nunes is a right-back after all
Well, in the sense that is where he’s placed when we look at the formation. Nunes was instrumental today, drifting into central midfield, his natural position, and being City’s main creative outlet throughout the game.
The Portugal international completed the most passes in the game (100) and won the most duels (11). It was the perfect performance from Nunes, and Guardiola has clearly found the way to get the best out of him following a year-or-so in which he struggled.
City continue to be linked with the likes of Newcastle’s Tino Livramento, but they don’t really have much of a reason to be pursuing a new right-back when Nunes is performing the way he has been so far this season.
Your move Arsenal
Here we go. A few weeks ago it was looking like Arsenal were going to walk the league, but the fitness issues that have plagued them under Arteta have once again been their undoing, and City are taking advantage.
Arsenal will likely be back on top come the end of the day, but City aren’t letting them have a second to catch their breath, and we’ve been here before. The North London club will have to be perfect over the next few games.
Arteta’s side probably have a harder run over the festive period than City, with three home games against Crystal Palace, Brighton, and bogey club Aston Villa before the end of the month. Every point is precious as the title race heats up.