Manchester City Pass Major Psychological Test with Gritty Win over Arsenal

Manchester City have worked "two-and-a-half hours per day" in training on winning second balls, according to manager Pep Guardiola.

By full-time of their 2-1 win over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, it had become clear there was something different about the home side—and their ability to pick off the visitors on the break was what turned a game they were losing into a victory.

Talk of a crisis at the club has been near for some time. It began during their downturn in form after winning their opening 10 matches—dubbed Guardiola's worst run of his managerial career after going six without a win—and has carried on since. City have been patchy in that time, sometimes blowing teams away and, on other occasions, succumbing to defeat without a fight.

They needed to beat Arsenal. Having lost to Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur already this season, it was important Guardiola's side proved they could be successful against one of their rivals. City haven't beaten a team that has gone on to finish in the top four since November 2014, an underwhelming 1-0 success over a 10-man Manchester United.

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In the two years since, they failed to beat the clubs around them, and that put paid to their title challenges in Manuel Pellegrini's final two seasons in charge.

Assuming Arsenal don't capitulate on a grander scale than they usually do, City should have their latest success against a side that finishes in the Champions League spots. It's been far too long.

The game also proved that, psychologically at least, City are up for a fight. It's the first time they've been losing at half-time and gone on to win a Premier League game since Roberto Mancini was the manager, beating Tottenham 2-1 in 2012.

By half-time of Sunday's match, though, the City fans could have been forgiven for thinking they'd seen it all before. They'd certainly seen the opening goal a number of times this season, as the defence was again split open far too simply, just five minutes into the match. It's happened often under Guardiola.

Nicolas Otamendi, still struggling to impress, was caught stepping out of the line of defence, leaving acres of space for Theo Walcott to slip in behind and for Alexis Sanchez to find him. When one-on-one with Claudio Bravo, the England international didn't fail, and the goalkeeper had no chance of keeping the effort out.

The groans and grumbles of the home support were understandably getting louder. Their team hasn't responded well to setbacks in games for some time, so falling behind in the opening stages was the worst thing that could have happened.

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It did seem to knock their confidence. Raheem Sterling headed a sitter wide a few minutes later, while Kevin De Bruyne's crosses into the box were finding nobody except Arsenal stopper Petr Cech. The Belgian might have had a penalty for a pullback inside the area midway through the first half, but that's about as close as City came to equalising.

Arsenal were the more likely to double their lead. Granit Xhaka missed a free header, nodding it well wide while Bravo stood rooted. Hector Bellerin then fired an effort well over the bar after Gael Clichy's missed interception allowed the visitors a three-on-three break.

With the score at 1-0 to Arsenal at the interval, many must have felt like going home early.

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It's an old cliche that football is a game of two halves, but Guardiola gave his team a kick up the backside when he got them into the dressing room at the half. The City side that emerged from the tunnel for the second period looked far more aggressive and hungry than the one that had slumped its way off the pitch after a subpar first half.

There was a cute change from the Catalan that helped his side get more dominance in the match. They always had control of possession in the first half, but they were taking two or three touches on the ball, meaning Arsenal's defence was rarely troubled. They were able to double up on the attacking player with it at his feet, forcing him to pass it square or backward.

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Leroy Sane and De Bruyne started the match as inverted wingers, each playing on the opposite flank to his stronger foot. Sterling was through the middle, but it didn't work for City, who found attacks were often slowed as the forward players had to cut back on to their better feet.

However, after the break, Sane was moved to the left and Sterling to the right—and every time City got the ball, the pair of them bombed forward. It allowed De Bruyne to move inside and play alongside David Silva in the middle, with nobody occupying the centre-forward role.

Guardiola explained the switch to reporters after the match: "We decided to put Sterling like a striker...to create one-against-ones against [Laurent] Koscielny and Gabriel [Paulista]. [We hoped] he could take the ball between the lines and go one-against-one and [make] runs in behind because [Sterling] is so, so fast. ...

"But in the first half, Kevin was a little bit out of the game, and we didn't contact the ball so much. For us, Kevin and Silva are so important.

"And that's why in the second half, we put the right foot on the right side and the left foot on the left side to try to make one more man in the middle with Yaya [Toure], Fernando, Kevin and Silva—four against three in the middle against [Mesut] Ozil, Xhaka and [Francis] Coquelin to create the space."

It must have been pleasing for the manager, then, that it was his two second-half wingers who scored the two goals that dragged his team to victory. Sane might have been flagged offside on another day, but he still finished coolly past Cech after a fantastic assist from Silva. Sterling, meanwhile, cut inside and smashed an effort with his weaker foot past the goalkeeper at his near post—all because City were able to stretch the game.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger would complain later about possible offside decisions that had gone against his team for both of the home team's goals, but he'd get little sympathy from City's fans, who feel like they have been on the rough end of some poor calls lately.

At the other end of the pitch, City were also showing a marked improvement. True, Arsenal's goal didn't cover the defence in glory, but it was the sole error in the match—after weeks of mistakes that have led to chances, it was important the back line held firm against one of the better attacking teams in the league.

But for Walcott's strike, Bravo had little to do, and it's a testament to the players in front of him keeping a cool head. How much of it was down to Guardiola picking the same rearguard that had begun against Watford the match before is open to debate, but they certainly looked a lot more settled than in the months before.

Those two elements combined made City's second-half display one of the best performances of the season—the best since they took Barcelona apart at the beginning of November. Seven points behind leaders Chelsea, they're going to need more showings like Sunday afternoon's—especially when it comes to playing their rivals in the top four—to be in with a shot of eroding the deficit to the leaders.

The good news for Guardiola is he's still got more than half a season to do it in.

All quotes were gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted.