City, a class above Arsenal.

It’s been six months since Unai Emery faced Pep Guardiola in his first official game as Arsenal manager. When asked whether his side was closer to Man City than they were at the start of the season, the manager admitted the gulf in quality between the two sides was huge and to some extent, the superiority of the City team to his was evident for all who cared to see. It’s been an on and off progress at Arsenal since he took over and the performance at the Etihad was one that confirmed the open secret ,that Arsenal are miles away from the Premier League’s top 2.
Sergio Aguero’s hattrick, all 3 goals coming in similar fashion- a ball across from the left, with a simple tap in to finish- was all that was required to tear this Arsenal side apart. To be fair to Arsenal, they did put up a fight after going behind in the first minute to equalise 11 minutes later. The next 30 minutes was Arsenal shutting down every City attack and taking the game to the champions but the killer punch came in the 42nd minute when Sterling’s ball across found Aguero unmarked at the far post to tap in for City’s second. The weakness in the Arsenal side was evident and anytime City went through the left with Raheem Sterling 1v1 with Stephan Lichsteiner, even the most optimistic Arsenal fans feared the worst as it was easier for Sterling to get past him than it is for Albert Einstein to solve a 5-year old’s math homework. City exploited that as much as they could and were duly rewarded.
The second half was more of a resemblance of this fixture 12 months ago when Arsenal got battered 3-0 in back to back games. City dominated for the entirety of the half with 13 shots to Arsenal’s 0 and should have got more than the 1 goal they got in the half. Arsenal’s Bernd Leno had to make 9 saves to keep the scoreline respectable.
For City, the win takes them to 59 points, 2 behind Liverpool who still have to play on Monday. With the title run in entering into the final third of the season, It also gives them a good start to what could be a very demanding week with a trip to Everton in midweek and Chelsea at home on Sunday on the cards for the defending champions.
Unai Emery’s Arsenal

Unai Emery when asked about the gap between his team and Manchester City said:
“The difference, for example, with City, Liverpool also is big. Tottenham, also, is keeping a lot of regularity in a lot of matches.”
He added,
“When you’re on the pitch and you are playing one team who in general are better, the players feel that”
These comments could be seen it two lights. On one hand, you could play the devil’s advocate and say this is a coach with a defeatist mentality who already lost the game before kick off or on the other hand, you could be a realist and admit there is some truth in what he says. In an ideal world, Emery wouldn’t have had Stephan Lichsteiner in his starting 11 versus City. 3 season ending injuries to his already limited squad hasn’t done him any favors and it would be very unfair to blame him for that. However, Arsenal started the game with Alex Iwobi as their only creative hub. The 22-year old Nigerian international was miserably poor and dissapointed badly. Unai had Ramsey, Ozil and newly signed Dennis Suarez on the bench(who later came on for his debut) but his rather weird obsession for playing all Defensive midfielders in his midfield regardless of the opposition meant no place in the starting 11 for these 3.
It is true that Unai Emery needs financial support and at least 3 transfer windows to get his team right but if he is failing to get the best out of the attacking players he has, then he has to take a long hard look at himself in the mirror.
Higuain off the mark for Chelsea

Gonzalo Higuain and Eden Hazard both got a brace in Chelsea’s comfortable 5-0 win at home to bottom of the table, Huddersfield town. It was a stark contrast to the debacle at Bournemouth in midweek as Chelsea lost 4-0 to suffer their worst marginal premier league defeat in 20 years. Higuain got the opener after a good pass from Ngolo Kante in behind the defence saw him 1v1 with the goalkeeper. His second of the day was a screamer into the top corner from 25 yards out. It was the response Maurizio Sarri expected from his boys after such a result and they will now take confidence in that ahead of their trip to the Manchester City next Sunday.
Kotoko Needs To Take Positives From Defeat.
Kumasi Asante Kotoko failed to get get their CAFCC campaign to a winning start as the porcupine warriors lost 1-0 to Sudanese side Al Hilal in Omdurman. The Sudanese side’s 40th minute effort was enough to secure all three points and ensure Kotoko return to Ghana with no point. They would however be encouraged by their second half performance as they raised their performance,hitting the post twice in an attempt to find the equaliser which was not to be. They face Zesco United next in Kumasi on February 13 in what is already a must win game.
Lyon defeat a lesson to PSG.

Paris St. Germain’s unbeaten run came to an end after a 2-1 defeat to Olimpique Lyonais on Sunday. Lyon themselves got a bit if redemption after they lost 5-0 in the reverse fixture early on in the season. Angel Di Maria’s 7th minute opener was cancelled in the 33rd minute by a brave Moussa Dembele header -another way to see it could be an Alphonse Areola howler- . Dembele then won a penalty right after the break and Nabil Fekir was on hand to score what will turn out to be the winner for Lyon. Lyon were relentless and fearless, taking advantage of the very visible absence of Marco Verrati in midfield as Marquinhos and Draxler did very little in providing the needed steel in midfield. On the wing, Memphis Depay gave Thomas Kherer a tough time and got past him too many a time. On the positive note, PSG created a whole lot of chances and maybe should have had something if not for the brilliance of Anthony Lopes who produced stunning save after save to keep Lyon in the lead. The good news; they won’t face Anthony Lopes every game but the worrying news is they face a goalkeeper more than capable of doing what Anthony Lopes did in a few days time in the person of David De Gea.

The lessons in this game were clear to be seen and with a UCL last 16 encounter against a resurgent Manchester United(whose manager was in attendance on Sunday at Lyon) drawing near, this loss should serve as a wake up call and enable Tuchel and PSG to regroup before the trip to Old Trafford in 9 days time.
Avot.
The Green Turf 
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