IN the end, Manchester City settled for three.
Enough is enough, especially when it comes to Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola and his rampant City players have done enough damage to this football club over the past five days.
They lifted the Carabao Cup at Wembley against Arsene Wenger’s side on Sunday and followed it up with another spanking at the Emirates.
In then final City took their foot off the gas when Silva scored their third after 65 minutes. Here, they called it a night after 33.
Goals two and three, scored by magic man David Silva and Leroy Sane, were gems.
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INTERACTIVE STATS – CLICK on the categories to find out how the teams fared
The first, curling beyond the reach of Petr Cech 15 minutes in, was not bad either.
City’s performance, embarrassing these Arsenal players in front of the half-empty stands at the Emirates, is confirmation that this club is rotten to the core.
To be 3-0 down after 33 minutes, for a club with Arsenal’s heritage, its traditions, its trophy cabinet, has to mean something.
It must provoke a response, for these Arsenal players to go out there and show that they are willing to do whatever is necessary to save Arsene Wenger.
INTERACTIVE LINE-UPS– CLICK on a player’s number below to see their stats
Instead the captain Laurent Koscielny summed up the state of this place, sending a cross-field pass aimlessly out of touch minutes after Sane had scored the third.
It was pitiful.
Even Pep was shaking his head at times, baffled by just how easy a club with Wenger’s exacting standards could fold so easily.
Stick around Pep, because they are a flaky bunch.
The punters, fed up with the false promises, voted with their feet.
There was hardly anyone here, turning their backs on these players after they surrendered so easily in the Carabao Cup final.
The snow was the official line, the reason Arsenal claimed so many stayed away from this humiliating, jaundiced defeat.
In reality, the cold reality, is that they are sick to the back teeth of watching Arsenal get ripped apart by the top teams.
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They knew what was to come last night. Everybody did.
Once City stemmed the flurry of early Arsenal attacks – Ederson saved Aaron Ramsey’s half volley and then held Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s effort – Pep’s players had a ball out there.
They scored the opener after 15 minutes when Sane drifted effortlessly past three Arsenal players when he made up his mind to cut in from the left.
The pass into Bernardo Silva was simple, encouraging the City winger to work an angle on to his left foot before curling his effort beyond Cech.
The next goal was so sweet to watch, with David Silva sending the ball into the feet of Sane.
Aguero delayed his pass, waiting for Silva to continue his run before playing him in on goal.
The finish, good as it was, was guaranteed.
They equalled the Carabao Cup final scoreline before the break, the first time Arsenal have been three behind at half-time in a Premier League fixture at home.
There was a time when Arsenal were all about finishing first, about winning Premier League titles under their aristocratic manager.
Those days are over.
It was three-zip after 33 minutes, with Sane finally converting a move that included Aguero, De Bruyne and finally a cross from Kyle Walker.
City fans were crowing – “it’s just like Wembley” – as Sane celebrated with his team-mates.
The worry for Arsenal, when they assess the damage City have done over the past five days, is that the best team in the Premier League were not even in full flight.
They did not need to be.
Even when Pep’s players went to sleep at the start of the second half, with Nicolas Otamendi conceding a penalty for upending Mkhitaryan, they had nothing to worry about.
Ederson saved Pierre Emerick-Aubamayeng’s penalty, shrugging it off as though it is the sort of thing he does for fun.
Nobody at Arsenal was laughing.
This time last Thursday they were losing to little Ostersunds, humbled by the little Swedes on their own turf.
At least City, a breathtaking 16 points clear of their nearest challengers in the Premier League, are an upgrade.
They bossed this game, playing it on their terms as they close in on another trophy.
The danger in years to come is that they dominate Arsenal every year, turning up at the Emirates to give them another mauling.
Arsenal’s players expected it, with the appalling body language filtering into the supporters freezing into the stands.
They are a bitter bunch now.
The glory days are over, with Premier League trophy after Premier League trophy being passed on to City, United, Chelsea, even Leicester.
Wenger will fight on, talking up their chances before their next game at Brighton on Sunday.
Arsenal could well win it and then everybody at the Emirates can pretend this was just a blip.
The reality is that this was another rout.
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