City suffer FA Cup KO after Aubameyang double

For the second time in four days, Mikel Arteta’s team has produced a performance of stirring defensive discipline against two of the Premier League’s reigning powers.

Guardiola sent out a starting XI crammed with ballplayers, with İlkay Gündoğan the only real defensive presence in the front six. City began at a sprint, swamping the Arsenal goal from all angles. And no doubt Guardiola expected something similar to the Liverpool game at the Emirates in midweek, where David Luiz – yes, that David Luiz – had led the most stirring, dogged deep defensive performance of this overspill section of the season.

For this game, Mikel Arteta switched Kieran Tierney into the back three, with Shkodran Mustafi cast as David Luiz’s fellow central rock. Film directors call this kind of thing ‚“casting against type”; often, it should be said, with surprising results.

City had 90% possession in the opening ten minutes, forcing Arsenal back towards their own goal, and almost into it at times as the red shirts held a deep double-banked bridgehead. But it was Arsenal who had the first really clear chance with 15 minutes gone. David Luiz pulled a poor Aymeric Laporte clearance out of the air and played a simple square pass through the guts of City’s midfield to Aubameyang, unmarked in front of goal. His shot was powerful but straight at Ederson.

It felt like an ominous miss. But apparently not to Aubameyang, who opened the scoring four minutes later at the end of another move that met zero resistance from the sky blue shirts. Héctor Bellerin fed Nicolas Pépé on the right. His deep cross curved across the City defence unimpeded and was met by a wonderful close-range finish from the narrowest of angles.

Arsenal continued to alternate deep defence with moments of counterattack. City still had the most of the ball. But there were hasty clearances and some muddled passing. Mustafi drew a flying save from Ederson, heading a corner back towards goal. And for all their diffuse possession City still had not managed a shot on target as the half-time whistle blew.

City was back out early after the break. They began with a more familiar kind of urgency, David Silva taking the ball in deep positions and sparking one little interchange of passes that saw Raheem Sterling shoot wide with a clear sight of goal.

For a while, it was more of the same, only more so: more sky blue passing patterns, more deep defence. It took Arsenal eight minutes to construct a move in the City half.

Still, though, they looked gristly and solid as City passed the ball across the face of that defensive double-bolt. It is some time since Kevin De Bruyne looked this clunky on the ball. With an hour gone the best midfielder in the Premier League had completed just 66% of his passes.

Guardiola’s team needed a moment of inspiration. De Bruyne almost provided it, dipping a free-kick over the wall and into the side netting. Sterling fell under a challenge from Mustafi in the area, but Arsenal survived the VAR check. Moments later Sterling produced a horrible miss in front of the goal. Taken by surprise by the flight of a corner from the left, he could only deflect the ball weakly off his nose when any kind of header looked a certain goal.

And it was Arsenal, crouched behind their guard for the entire half, who scored a second with 71 minutes gone. It was made by a wonderful diagonal ball in behind City’s high line from Tierney. Once again a single pass was all it took to send Aubameyang easing clear of Eric García. The finish was a thing of beauty, Aubameyang galloping through, shifting his hips to change the angle and slipping the ball under Ederson to make it 2-0.

City still pressed. Laporte crashed a shot on to the outside of the post. But for all their pressure they continued to founder on the resilience and fast-breaking energy of a hugely impressive Arsenal team.