Getting rid of Manchester City from the FA Cup semifinals, Arsenal advanced to the final with a 2-0 win at Wembley Stadium, London, Sunday (7/19).
It was the fierce appearance of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who was the decider of the Gunners’ victory. Aubameyang bought up two goals from Pep Guardiola’s team.
Man City actually dominated the game since the beginning of the match. In contrast, Mikel Arteta’s squad is waiting more by launching a quick counterattack.
The Citizens almost even broke into the Arsenal goal when the game has been running for four minutes. David Silva’s cross from Raheem Sterling was still able to be blocked by the Gunners defender, Kieran Tierney.
Arsenal actually made a surprise in the 19th minute through a fast counterattack scheme. From the left side of Man City’s defense, Nicolas Pepe immediately sent a long cross towards Aubameyang.
The Gabonese striker successfully grabbed the ball from Pepe into a goal through a first time kick. Score 1-0 to Arsenal’s advantage lasted until halftime.
Entering the second half, The Citizens back more confined Arsenal defense. However, the Gunners were able to stem the attack after attack by his opponent with a tight defense in the back.
The Gunners returned to take advantage of Man City’s negligence that was too determined to attack. Again the Arsenal goal in the 71st minute returned by Aubameyang thanks to the team’s counterattack.
Aubameyang easily puts the ball in between Ederson’s legs after receiving a pass from Tierney.
Aubameyang’s second goal seemed to be a lethal blow to The Citizens. Score 2-0 for the Gunners also lasted until the match was over.
Arsenal made sure to the FA Cup final and will face either Manchester United or Chelsea in the top game.
Manchester United vs Chelsea duel will be held at Wembley Stadium on Monday (7/20).
After the match, Arsenal defender David Luiz, expressed his joy at beating one of the strongest teams in the Premier League.
“That is why I say it is part of the process. We can do more in the game, so it might be easier. But we remain humble and we can hurt our opponents and we succeed,” said the Brazilian.
Ahead of this match, many had thought that it was impossible for Arsenal to beat City, especially after the 0-3 defeat of the Gunners at Etihad in June.
But, Mikel Arteta’s team looks like a very different team today. They are able to survive like one unit and carry out the best attacks in world football.
In the back line the team has experienced the best improvement. Arteta’s insistence on defense solidity has yielded results over the last four days in particular.
But the Spanish manager also has a profound impact on the team’s ability to attack and open up the opponent’s open defenses.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s first goal against City was clear evidence of that fact. The bait and movement of each player is also very perfect, with all players in red and white uniforms showing calm when controlling the ball.
Arsenal (3-4-3): Emiliano Martinez; Shkodran Mustafi, David Luiz, Kieran Tierney; Hector Bellerin, Dani Ceballos, Granit Xhaka, Ainsley Maitland-Niles; Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Manchester City (4-3-3): Ederson; Kyle Walker, Eric Garcia, Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy; Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, David Silva; Riyad Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling.
