Arsenal is building up stocks – Newspaper Kommersant No. 6 (7451) dated 01/16/2023

In two key matches of the 20th round of the English Premier League (EPL), its leader Arsenal defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 on the road, and second-placed Manchester City, also playing away, lost to Manchester United »- 1:2. Thus, the gap between the two clubs has grown to eight points. Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola has already said that his team “can’t win” the Premier League.

Although there is still about half of the distance to the finish of the English Football Championship, the 20th round has become one of the key ones in it. It included two matches that were not only fundamental in themselves, but also radically influenced the situation at the top of the standings, and perhaps even predetermined the outcome of the struggle for gold.

On Saturday, last year’s champions Manchester City, who are in second place, played away with Manchester United, which, after a disastrous start, gradually pulled themselves up to the leading group. The first round match between these teams ended with a convincing victory for the reigning champion – 6:3, but at Old Trafford the hosts managed to take revenge.

The progress that Manchester United has made recently under the leadership of head coach Erik ten Hag is beyond doubt even among those who initially doubted the ability of the Dutch specialist to bring one of the most popular clubs in the world out of a protracted crisis. Moreover, it is not only about the qualitative implementation of the tactical ideas of the Dutchman, but also about the return of the psychology of the winners. Having conceded in the middle of the half after Jack Grealish’s accurate header, Manchester United then responded with two scoring attacks within four minutes. Regarding the first return goal scored by Bruno Fernandes, however, there was a heated discussion. In the course of the attack, Marcus Rashford ran into a clear offside, which, although he did not touch the ball, clearly influenced the development of the episode, which was noted, for example, by Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola. But about the second goal of Manchester United, which was already on the account of Rashford, who responded to the transfer of Alejandro Garnacho from the left flank and pushed the ball past the goalkeeper Ederson in the fall, there were no such conversations. Thus, “Manchester City”, which on Wednesday in the English League Cup lost to one of the outsiders of the Premier League “Southampton”, suffered a second sensitive defeat in one week. And Guardiola could only declare that his team could not win the championship.

The Spaniard, probably, was a little deceitful at the same time. He probably expected that in the final match of the tour, the so-called North London derby, Tottenham would be able to take points from Arsenal, but his hopes did not come true.

The first half passed with an overwhelming advantage of the guests, who simply suppressed Tottenham with their activity. In less than ten minutes, and Hugo Lloris had to save his team after a weak blow from the non-working left leg of Eddie Nketia, who missed one hundred percent chance. However, shortly after this feat, the French goalkeeper of the hosts made a rare oversight for goalkeepers of his level. The cross from the right flank of Bukayo Saki was certainly a serious danger. But to send the ball into his own net, which Lloris did in some inexplicable way, was not at all necessary. Having conceded, Tottenham tried to seize the initiative, and one of its leaders, Korean Song Heung-min, was close to equalizing, but then Arsenal goalkeeper Aron Ramsdale showed himself brilliantly. And then the guests doubled the lead. And if in that episode it was possible to talk about help from their rivals, then it was expressed only in inattention, which allowed the Norwegian Martin Odegaard to deliver a perfectly accurate shot into the bottom corner from outside the penalty area.

The second half went in a more equal fight. At times, Tottenham managed to pin Arsenal to their own net, which is why Ramsdale certainly turned out to be one of the best players of the meeting. Guests, especially Nketia and Granit Xhaka, tried not to slow down, but the score did not change. And immediately after the final whistle there was a light brawl. Tottenham striker Richarlison began to sort things out with Ramsdale, and one of the hosts’ fans from outside the field managed to kick the Arsenal goalkeeper, who was standing at the billboard, with a tangible kick. However, it did not come to a full-fledged fight. A minute later, the head coach of the guests, Michele Arteta, in an embrace with his goalkeeper, fled to celebrate the victory to the sector of Arsenal fans. And they really had a reason to be happy. Eight points away from Manchester City is a very serious advantage.

Evgeny Fedyakov