Manchester City forward Erling Haaland chose an ideal moment to break his recent scoring drought in the Premier League, netting the winner in a 2-1 triumph against table-topping Arsenal on Sunday. This result gives City an advantage in the championship contest. The Norwegian had gone without a league goal since February, but his strong finish in the 65th minute during an engaging encounter at Etihad Stadium turned out to be the difference. Now three points adrift of Arsenal with one extra match to play, City could claim first place by defeating struggling Burnley midweek, leaving five fixtures remaining. Arsenal, who have held the lead for much of the season and are chasing their first crown since 2004, sit on 70 points after 33 outings, while City have 67 from 32. Buoyed by Arsenal’s unexpected loss to Bournemouth the previous week, City started sharply and grabbed an early advantage in the 15th minute through Rayan Cherki’s impressive individual effort. But Arsenal leveled almost immediately when City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s error was capitalized on by Kai Havertz. Eberechi Eze hit the post for Arsenal as both teams pushed for a decider in the second half, yet Haaland emerged to claim his 23rd league strike of the campaign, aided by strong play from Nico O’Reilly.
