By the time John Stones got to celebrate his goal just before half-time, he was a good fifty yards away from where he had scored it. These are the days of VAR, when even landmark moments are not quite what they used to be.
At least the technology got it right this time. Stones was indeed onside as he headed City’s second goal at the far post, played on by the depth of Ben White’s suntan.
This was Stones third goal of the season and a second in successive home games for a central defender reinvented and reinvigorated by his manager at the age of almost 29. In some ways, Stones sums up the differences between Manchester City and Arsenal as this Premier League title contest swings ever further from the red corner to the blue. As Liverpool have found out in recent years, it’s usually the way it goes.
As Arsenal have struggled to find new ways to move forward under the pressure of fatigue, expectation and naked desire, City have turned chameleon on us. In some ways they look different but underneath – where it really matters – they are the same.
Stones epitomises this. A central defender all this career, he has played at times in midfield recently. In some games he has done a bit of both. He has been a defender who, when his team have had the ball, has played in midfield. There are not many new things in football (usually just new names for old tricks) but this is perhaps as close as it gets.
Here, in a game of such magnitude, Stones was largely denied the luxury. He was a centre half playing as one. But still his football continued to reek of the authority that only confidence can bring. His goal was important simply because of its timing. At 1-0, City had an advantage. At 2-0, they had pretty much nailed the game.
Guardiola’s played like a home team should. On the front foot, aggressively and with intent. This was a game they were heavily favoured to win and they played as though they believed that too.
Some had likened this prospect to the one in the spring of 2012 when City faced Manchester United with that season’s title race in the balance. It wasn’t quite that. City had never won a Premier League back then and were seeking to find their feet as a club of competitive stature. In some ways, days like those will never be experienced again.
Nevertheless, this did have the feeling of a puncher’s contest albeit one in which Arsenal were required to swing the haymakers. That sounds odd, given that Mikel Arteta’s team arrived in the north as league leaders. But City’s form and experience – not to mention their two games in hand – meant a draw would be ok for them. For Arsenal, a victory may have been enough to give them the title.
None of that was evident in the play. City swarmed all over the team in red while Arsenal could not even find a way to counter. By the interval, City were two goals ahead when it felt as though it could have been five. Aaron Ramsdale, the Arsenal goalkeeper, had been his team’s best player.
Before the game it had been unclear where Stones would play. The BBC line up had him in midfield alongside Rodri. As it was, he played in a more familiar role alongside Ruben Dias. Despite Guardiola’s tendency and aptitude for cleverness, this felt like an eminently sensible move.
Not that this restricted Stones. There is an argument in the modern game to do away with formations as a guide to how a team will play. So many of the best sides, seem to play about three at once, depending where the ball is on the field. Nobody is better at this than City.
So it was that Stones was occasionally able to step in to midfield here. When he did so, one of his fellow defenders – usually Kyle Walker – would step in to the hole vacated in order to provide cover. It sounds simple but if it isn’t done properly it is the kind of thing that can soon become ruinous.
City were helped here by the nature of the play. Whenever Arsenal had the ball in their own defensive areas, City’s front six would press urgently. This inevitably meant the ball would be played long by Arsenal. Meat and drink for Stones and Co at the other end of the field.
Arsenal looked at times as though they were out of their depth. City were the team with the plan while Arsenal seemed armed only with hope. Their season has been excellent but they had been run ragged by Liverpool in being hauled in from 2-0 at Anfield recently and had also lost already this season to City in league and cup and also at United back in September. This did not point to an inferiority complex but did indicate a slight weakness against better teams.
While Stones and Dias played with calm and with time, the Arsenal central defenders did not. Erling Haaland embarrassed Rob Holding at times while Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva gave City a width in attacking movements that Arsenal simply never had.
City won this by a distance. It’s their title to lose now and it has, in truth, felt like that for a while.