Manchester City put five past Arsenal, leaving the Gunners bottom of the table after three games. Granit Xhaka was sent off for the away side, who trailed two-nil after just eleven minutes.
The Gunners suffered their third successive loss in the Premier League, leaving the Gunners rooted to the bottom of the table. Mikel Arteta’s team shipped five goals against ruthless City, who found the net five times for the second week running. Granit Xhaka saw a red for his reckless challenge on Jack Grealish, while Ferran Torres scored past Bernd Leno twice.
Nicolas Pepe joined Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes on the sidelines for Arsenal – the Ivorian ruled out due to an illness. Pablo Mari, meanwhile, was left on the bench by Arteta, who instead gave a place in the starting eleven to Sead Kolasinac.
Pierre-Emerick Aubamyenag returned for the Gunners up front, flanked on either side by Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka.
Pep Guardiola named an unchanged eleven, which put five past Norwich City last weekend. Gabriel Jesus started wide while Ferran Torres was deployed in the middle of the front three. Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish played as the two ‘eights’ with Rodi providing cover. Gundogan put the Citizens in front after just seven minutes, directing a Jesus cross past Leno in goal. Five minutes later, City were two up courtesy of Torres’ first of the night.
Things went from bad to worse for Arsenal in the 35th minute, as Xhaka received his marching orders. The Swiss midfielder went in two-footed to challenge Grealish and was shown a direct red by the referee. City capitalized and scored their third of the afternoon when Jesus turned in a Grealish pass past Leno.
Rodri added gloss to the scoreline in the 53rd minute, curling the ball past the goalkeeper from distance. City probed for their fifth and, despite Arsenal’s attempts to stifle them, found the net again in the 84th minute.
2021/21 Premier League table (August 28)
| POS | CLUB | P | GD | PTS |
| 15 | Leeds United | 2 | -4 | 1 |
| 16 | Wolverhampton | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| 17 | Burnley | 2 | -3 | 0 |
| 18 | Newcastle United | 2 | -4 | 0 |
| 19 | Norwich City | 2 | -8 | 0 |
| 20 | Arsenal | 3 | -9 | 0 |
As a consequence of their loss, Arsenal dropped to the foot of the table. On September 11, the Gunners face Norwich City on the other side of the international break. Manchester City will play against Leicester City.
