Man City vs Arsenal

Manchester City host Premier League leaders Arsenal in the fourth round of the 2022-23 FA Cup at Etihad Stadium.

It’s the master vs the pupil as Pep Guardiola’s MHello and welcome to Manchester City vs Arsenal!anchester City take on Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. The Londoners have dropped points in only three matches: a defeat to Manchester United and draws against Southampton and Newcastle. He tries to get round the outside of Nathan Ake for the first time but the Dutchman shuts the door in his face. A delicious piece of footwork from De Bruyne to take him away from Partey in the Arsenal half. Manchester City lag a fair bit behind on six victories and have struggled to make their mark in the competition despite their newfound success. A ricochet sends the ball over the top of the Arsenal defence and Haaland is onto it. Ortega nips in just in time to get the ball away. Well, that next battle has seen Holding emerge from it with a yellow card for pulling the City man to the ground. Álvarez smashes one off the post from 20 yards and it bounces out to Grealish, who feeds a neat pass through to Ake in the box. A moment of promise from Saka for almost the first time in the match. A chance of tact from the defender. City are going to be content just to pass the ball about a bit, which is what they're doing at the moment.

The Premier League's top two face off in FA Cup action on Friday in Manchester. Who will come out on top when Pep Guardiola's City face Mikel Arteta's ...

Leandro Trossard gets his first chance to stretch his legs down the Arsenal left, he cuts inside and his cross bounces to Takehiro Tomiyasu. He passes to Leandro Trossard down the left and the winger's shot across goal is brilliantly kept out by the City keeper. Referee Paul Tierney waves "play on" and the City fans are furious. Quietly, that's a huge half for Arsenal in the context of what they're aiming for this season. City look to break but the long ball to Riyad Mahrez, somewhat inevitably, skips out for a throw-in. Walker is now on the receiving end of lots of instructions and pointing. The corner is headed clear at the near post but Arsenal are on the second ball. Ilkay Gundogan gets a half-block in and Ortega dives on the loose ball like it's a stray grenade. A large part of the reason for this change in the hierarchy is Ake’s form and versatility. The England man darts inside and draws a foul from his old mate Oleksandr Zinchenko, who is booked. In the sixth minute, the Belgium international cut a ball across the City box that Tomiyasu hammered goalwards to draw a superb save from Ortega. It fell to Ake to show the sort of composure that deserted the forwards on display, including Erling Haaland, who endured a frustrating evening.

Manchester City got the better of Premier League title rivals Arsenal, thanks to Nathan Ake's second-half goal that secured a 1-0 win at the Etihad Stadium ...

And a double substitution just before the hour mark proved decisive in breaking the deadlock. "It is really difficult to win against this team but we went head to head with them. The City backup was called into action again later in the half, this time when Trossard went for goal himself with a powerful left-footed drive that was turned away one-handed. At the other end, City's only real threat came from direct balls to Haaland. "One action changed it all. Mikel Arteta's side have a five point lead over City and a game in hand, with the two teams to meet again in the league on Feb. And Trossard was at the heart of all his side's best moves going forward. "There is not one person in the locker room that is not very happy for him [Ake]. As City move onto the competition's last 16 for the eighth consecutive season, Arsenal are left to focus on their challenge for a first Premier League title in 19 years. [John Stones](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/157974/John-Stones) in the first half, made a sensational last-ditch intervention to prevent a wonderfully inviting cross from [Granit Xhaka](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/149981/Granit-Xhaka) reaching Nketiah for a close-range finish. [Stefan Ortega](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/151855/Stefan-Ortega) replacing [Ederson](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/176948/Ederson) in goal and Ake in for [Aymeric Laporte](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/159317/Aymeric-Laporte) at the back -- Arteta refreshed his team with six alterations to the side that beat [Manchester United](/soccer/team?id=360) on Sunday. "Really difficult opponent.