Arsenal completely overwhelmed Manchester City in Matchday 24 of the Premier League, thanks largely to four second-half goals.

A tense 2-2 draw in the first leg at the Etihad had given the home side a significant boost ahead of this week’s return fixture at the Emirates. Even though Erling Haaland—who once advised coach Mikel Arteta to be modest—managed to score, his solitary effort to level the match at 1-1, courtesy of a well-placed shot that forced the lone save from the Norwegian striker’s opponent, was not enough to salvage a result for City. The visitors’ defense crumbled in the second half, conceding four more goals amid panic and disarray.

Haaland’s goal could hardly be celebrated. Just 105 seconds after his own header equalized, Arsenal restored their lead when Thomas Partey unleashed a powerful strike. The ball deflected off John Stones’ back, changing direction before nestling into the net, leaving goalkeeper Stefan Ortega helpless—especially notable as he was subbing in for an injured Ederson just before the match.

Seven minutes later, Haaland was mocked by Arsenal’s 18-year-old prodigy. Myles Lewis-Kelly electrified the Emirates crowd as he made a surging run into the box and curled a right-footed shot into the far corner. Arsenal’s left-back celebrated in a meditative manner reminiscent of Haaland’s trademark style—a pointed jest towards the 24-year-old forward, who had once taunted Lewis-Skelly as “what kind of monster is this” during the first leg.

A succession of conceding goals ultimately led to City’s collapse, while Arsenal appeared to grow ever more inspired as the game unfolded. Kai Havertz and substitute Ethan Nwaneri each contributed with elegant finishes to secure a commanding 5-1 victory for the Gunners. Notably, Lewis-Kelly (18 years and 129 days old) and Nwaneri (17 years and 318 days old) became the youngest players to score against a Premier League powerhouse in over 21 years.

In the opening stages, it was Havertz who made the breakthrough, providing the assist for Martin Odegaard’s opener at the 103rd second. This marked the third time this season that City had conceded within the opening two minutes of a Premier League match—a dismal statistic more akin to teams languishing near the bottom of the table like Ipswich or Wolves. In a peculiar twist, defender Gabriel Magalhaes, who did not score, nonetheless celebrated provocatively in front of Haaland after City had salvaged a 2-2 draw in the first leg.

Up until the 55th minute, the match appeared evenly balanced. Had David Raya not performed so impressively in goal, City might have equalized in the first half through either Josko Gvardiol or Savinho. However, the final 30 minutes of the second half told an entirely different story. Post-match, defender John Stones publicly apologized to the fans, admitting that his performance during the second half was utterly unacceptable. For the fourth time this season, City conceded four or more goals in a single match—a scenario that had never occurred in any of Pep Guardiola’s previous campaigns.

Historically, coach Arteta had lost nine of his first ten encounters against Guardiola. But now, he has become only the third manager in history—after Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp—to remain unbeaten in five consecutive matches against the City mastermind. Arsenal extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 14 games, thereby reducing the gap at the top of the table to just six points behind leaders Liverpool

For the first time since 2009, Manchester City suffered back-to-back defeats at the Emirates. In that same year, the blue half of Manchester had also lost by a margin of more than two goals to Arsenal. Pep Guardiola’s men now sit in fourth place with 41 points, edging out Newcastle solely on goal-scoring records. Their top-four finish is in jeopardy if Chelsea fail to win against West Ham in the final round of Matchday 24.