Leroy Sane, weaker feet and empty seats: Five things we learned from Arsenal 0-3 Manchester City

Arsenal 0 Manchester City 3: The Gunners were blown away by City at the Emirates

Arsenal were resoundingly beaten at the Emirates (Getty)

Manchester City picked apart Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, beating the Gunners 3-0 for the second time in four days following Sunday’s EFL Cup final rout.

A flurry of first-half strikes put the game to bed and Arsene Wenger’s team never recovered, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missing a penalty in the second half to add further misery.

While City moved another step closer to the Premier League title, Arsenal look a long way from finishing in the top four, suffering their seventh loss of 2018.

Here are five things we learned from the match:

Sane, the old-fashioned left winger

At the heart of all three first-half goals was the deft talent of Leroy Sane, tearing down the left wing using mostly his left foot like the wingers of old. His balance is immaculate, his acceleration frightening, his age – 22 – frankly annoying. He could go on to achieve almost anything, so long as he gets a bit of luck with injuries and circumstance, but if you were to give him one piece of advice it would probably be to stick with Pep Guardiola. The way Manchester City’s tactics stretch the pitch, open spaces and flood the final third all perfectly compliment his game. He be a brilliant footballer wherever his career takes him, but he will be a key part of something very special so long as he’s with Guardiola.

City’s mastery of the weaker foot

Manchester City’s beautiful second goal flowed around the three pins of Sane, David Silva and Sergio Aguero. Watch it back and you notice that the three passes in the buildup were all skidded hard on to the recipient’s weaker foot, meaning the next touch could be taken quickly in the stride of their stronger foot. This may be something City actively work on to speed up their play, or it might just be the product of world-class footballers playing with confidence, but either way, it was devastatingly effective. ​

Bernardo Silva bends a finish into the top corner (AFP/Getty Images)

Wenger out? Probably not

We’ve been here before, and we know how it ends. Arsene Wenger is the man holding the power at the Emirates and there is no more reason to think he will sack himself at the end of this season than any that have gone before. Admittedly, his previous position of omnipotence at the club has been weakened in the past few months by the background appointments of Sven Mislintat and Raul Sanllehi, but when he said this week that he was determined to see out his contract, and therefore stay beyond the summer, you get the impression – given what’s gone before – that he really meant it.

Star signings at risk of fading away

As tonight, and recent games, have proved, no one is safe from the contagion currently sweeping through Arsenal Football Club. It claimed Mesut Ozil many moons ago and has repeatedly forced Danny Welbeck into hiding, and now, just one month after signing for the club, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have seemingly fallen victim to its clutches.

The diagnosis? Apathy. It’s crippled Arsenal to its core, stripping players of any passion or desire, but the sight of Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan failing to make their mark on this evening’s match must surely be the biggest cause for concern. As two players with a proven track record, the duo have failed to rejuvenate this Arsenal side as hoped. Instead of lifting their teammates up out of their malaise, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan look to have sunk to their level. Asides from a brief second-half spell, which ended in a missed Aubameyang penalty, the pair bore the same lifeless characteristics as their fellow Arsenal players.

Aubameyang missed a second-half penalty (Getty)

There was little fight to their game, chances were squandered, opportunities overlooked and passes misplaced. As Arsenal found themselves tumbling further and further down the rabbit hole, outfoxed by their mesmerising visitors, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan faded further and further into the background. Unless something changes quick, these two players are at risk of going the same way as the rest of Arsenal’s team.

Empty seats

And it isn’t just the players feeling apathetic. The official attendance at the Emirates Stadium was 58,420 but maybe the circuitry in Arsenal’s calculator needs checking. Swathes of the stadium were empty. It would be kind to say that the Beast from the East had scared people away, but a more likely explanation was that the memories of Sunday’s Wembley unravelling against the same team were still fresh in the mind.