Second-half City too good for Gunners

Manchester City came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 in their Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Manchester City 2 Arsenal 1
Walcott scores after five minutes
Sane levels two minutes after the restart
Sterling nets the winner on 71 minutes
Match summary:

Theo Walcott gave Arsenal the perfect start when he finished well after just five minutes. But it was a game of two halves, as a resurgent City emerged after the half-time break.

Leroy Sane needed just two minutes to grab an equaliser before Raheem Stirling claimed all three points for City with his goal on 71 minutes.

Full report:

The City fans were still settling into their seats when Walcott found the back of the net. Hector Bellerin fed Alexis Sanchez who in turn found Walcott with a pass that split Pablo Zabaleta and Nicolas Otamendi, allowing the England striker to fire home from inside the 18-yard area.

City squandered a chance to equalise two minutes later as Stirling headed wide a good Kevin De Bruyne delivery, when he should have at least hit the target.

De Bruyne then failed to connect properly to a shot that was easy pickings for Petr Cech, when Sane was in space at the back post.

De Bruyne fired a 22nd minute effort well over the target as City struggled to get their passing game going, allowing Arsenal to grow in confidence.

Cech was then forced to acrobatically stop Gabriel’s clearance from ending up in the back of his net as the ball smashed off the head of Bellerin.

What a comeback in the 2nd half! 😊😊 Very happy about my 1st @premierleague goal and the 3 points in this big match ⚽ #inSané #LS19 #MCIARS pic.twitter.com/VsgxkvE9SQ

— Leroy Sané (@LeroySane19) December 18, 2016
Walcott never looked comfortable when he connected with a Mesut Ozil ball over the top that he volleyed over the City goal, before coming close with a glanced header from Nacho Monreal’s delivery following a short corner.

Gabriel then did well to clear at his near post as Sane had skipped past Monreal before firing in a low cross, for the real piece of action from an entertaining first half.

Pep Guardiola’s teamtalk appeared to do its job when Sane netted within two minutes of the restart.

The goalscorer looked to be just offside, but kept his composure well as he raced onto a David Silva ball over the top, swiveled and poked the ball into the bottom-left corner of the net.

City were certainly buoyed by their goal and looked a reinvigorated team in the second half as they forced Arsenal to sit deep.

The Gunners broke forward in the 53rd minute though, with Bellerin firing well wide from the right flank before Cech was forced to come off his line to close down Sane after being released through on goal by De Bruyne.

Great result!! 😊 Fantastic team spirit to come back to win! #ComeOnCity 👊🏾 pic.twitter.com/nFC3Vgt3cU

— Yaya Touré (@YayaToure) December 18, 2016
Sterling fired wide just after the hour mark before Cech got down well to his right to stop a deflected De Bruyne shot from sneaking in.

And no sooner had Cech dusted himself off, then he was picking the ball up out of the back of his net.

De Bruyne released Sterling wide right after a superb crossfield ball, and the winger cut inside before firing his effort past the Arsenal stopper.

There was another hint of offside as Silva made a move toward the shot, that snuck in at Cech’s near post.

De Bruyne then hit a post as City looked to wrap up this tie before Walcott blasted high and wide when a low cross was required.

Second-half substitute Olivier Giroud placed his 84th minute header wide before City looked to run down the clock by keeping possession of the ball.