'By chance or choice, they have clicked' - why Man City will be champions

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'By chance or choice, they have clicked' - why Man City will be champions

Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy explains why he thinks Manchester City will beat Arsenal to the Premier League title.

'By chance or choice, they have clicked' - why Man City will be champions

Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy explains why he thinks Manchester City will beat Arsenal to the Premier League title.

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Manchester City's win over Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday was an absolutely thrilling game to watch and analyse - not the cautious and cagey tactical battle I thought it might be.

Given they were the team who really needed to win, I expected City to be the ones to go after Arsenal from the off and that Mikel Arteta's side would have to weather the storm.

That kind of happened, but the reply from Arsenal to equalise immediately took the wind out of City temporarily.

Arsenal regained their poise and there was not much in it for the rest of the first half.

After half-time City came out brilliantly, but the way Arsenal responded - even before they went 2-1 down - is the way a top team should.

In the past the Gunners have been accused of being too pragmatic in games like this and not going for it enough, but this time they started committing more and more men forward, being braver on the ball and getting quality balls into the box.

They hit the woodwork twice and were right in the game at the very end - when Kai Havertz had that late chance, he really should have scored.

I have heard lots of criticism of Arsenal recently - how they have bottled it in games or are falling away again when it matters - but that was certainly not the case here.

It was a disappointing result for them, but when they review this game in the cold light of day they cannot be disappointed with the performance.

They had a real go at City in the second half and created some really good chances.

Gabriel came within the width of a post of making it 2-2 and Eberechi Eze came even closer when he hit the inside of the upright. If the ball goes across the line instead over bouncing along it, then it is Arsenal who are ahead.

On a different day they could easily have won this game, they would be nine points clear and we would all be saying the title race is done.

The reason Arsenal will be kicking themselves is because we did not see this intensity when they lost at home to Bournemouth last week.

Maybe that was because they are playing a lot of games at the moment and energy was a factor, but I think it is more to do with mindset.

You know as a player that when you play City away you have got to be at it, and you find the extra you need physically and mentally to match them. You have to, because you know how good they are.

It is different when you are at home to a team like Bournemouth on a sunny afternoon and part of you is thinking 'we are better than these'.

You expect to be beating them and, when you are not, you have got to somehow find a way within a game to change momentum.

I was at Emirates Stadium for the Bournemouth game, and I did not see the energy and urgency from Arsenal that I saw at Etihad Stadium.

Yes, Arsenal have messed up recently, but not this time.

As I said on Match of the Day, this title race is a long way from being over and the Arsenal players just have to keep together now.

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