At a Glance:
- Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side lost 2-1 to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
- One of Arsenal’s key players had a nightmarish time against Pep Guardiola’s men.
- It is time for the Gunners to sell the Arsenal star.
Goals from Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland meant Kai Havertz’s strike was rendered futile for Arsenal as they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The Gunners were handed a lifeline shortly after Cherki’s sumptous opening goal as Havertz capitalised on a catastrophic error from Gianluigi Donnarumma as he dwindled on the ball for far too long.
Despite Haaland lauding Arsenal as one of the best teams in Europe, the visitors yet again displayed a soft underbelly when the pressure is on them.
Ultimately, such big games are defined by players who are ready to be stand up and counted but Mikel Arteta’s troops did not do so on Sunday evening.
Arsenal must get rid of Kai Havertz after horror show vs Man City
One of them is Havertz, who Arteta entrusted to lead the line against Manchester City but he was guilty of fluffing his lines on two occasions.
Firstly, the £65 million (Sky Sports) man was put through on goal by Martin Odegaard when the game was tied 1-1 and he simply blasted the ball towards an onrushing Donnarumma.
This attack ends in a goal 84% of the time 🤯 pic.twitter.com/oQUQSMo0k9
— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) April 19, 2026
A world-class striker like Haaland, for instance would likely have just dinked the goalkeeper but Havertz has yet to justify his status as a top-class centre-forward.
While Havertz linked play well against Manchester City, the German’s all-round game was not to a particularly elite standard where he dominated Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guehi. Furthermore, Haavertz’s all-round game is not to the level of elite goalscorers of yesteryear such as Robin van Persie and Thierry Henry to excuse his wasteful finishing.
Even in the Carabao Cup final against City, the Champions League winner missed a gilt-edged chance to give Arsenal the lead and in the dying embers of Sunday’s clash, the forward had a free header that he failed to even get on target.
With Viktor Gyokeres struggling in the first place, Mikel Arteta cannot continue relying on Havertz, who is yet to set the world alight since his move to the Emirates. Furthermore, the former Chelsea star’s increasing unavailable due to frequent injuries does not help his case to be continually backed by Arteta.
Kai Havertz stats during Man City vs Arsenal
The stats justify why Havertz had a complete shocker against City.
| Kai Havertz stats vs Man City | |
| Goals | 1 |
| Big chances missed | 3 |
| Possession lost | 9 |
| Duels won | 4/9 |
In a potentially title-deciding game, a striker that misses three big chances, loses the ball nine times and wins just four out of nine duels has to look at themselves in the mirror.
Mikel Arteta’s decision to trust Havertz to be his leading man did not worked against City while Manchester City’s Haaland ultimately scored a brilliant winner to seal the contest in the hosts’ favour.
