Mikel Arteta's side showed impressive steel to frustrate the champions, which suggests they're into the final stage of their evolution
The Premier League is well and truly back! Manchester City and Arsenal served up an instant classic at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday that no one saw coming. The tentative chess matches between English football's top-two teams bored neutrals to tears in 2023-24, and in the season before that, City racked up a 7-2 aggregate scoreline that rubbished the notion of an enduring rivalry.
On Sunday, though, Arsenal finally showed some teeth. Mikel Arteta's side were seconds away from leaving Manchester with three points, despite playing the entire second half with 10 men. After such a gallant performance, John Stones' 98th-minute equaliser was a cruel blow, but the final result shouldn't detract from the fact the Gunners made a crucial mental breakthrough.
City threw everything at Arsenal, but they refused to be bullied and, to a man, fought tirelessly from the first minute to the last. The champions extended their extraordinary unbeaten home run to 48 games across all competitions, but for the first time in almost two years, their cloak of invincibility slipped.
The Gunners will feel like City's equals now, and rightly so, having developed the aggressive streak that had been missing in the past two campaigns. The draw doesn't put them in the driver's seat, but Arsenal now have genuine cause to believe that the trophy will be heading back to north London for the first time in 21 years come May.
Getty ImagesShowing no fear
Pep Guardiola has only tasted defeat at the Etihad on 12 occasions since taking over as City boss in 2016. Only one of those losses came against a team in position to beat them to the title, too, which Chelsea inflicted in Guardiola's first season in English football.
Arsenal missed a glorious chance to add their name to that list in March, sitting back and settling for a 0-0 draw against an injury-ravaged City instead of going for the jugular. That cowardly display was inexcusable, and ultimately handed Guardiola's men their record-breaking, fourth-successive league crown.
But this time, there was no fear, even after a breathless start that saw City threaten to blow the Gunners away. Arteta surprisingly went with a man-to-man press right from the off, which was a huge risk against the pace and guile of Savinho and Jeremy Doku. Savinho, in particular, found himself in acres of space whenever he was able to beat his marker, and made Arsenal pay with a superb pass for Erling Haaland to score his 100th goal in a City shirt with just nine minutes on the clock.
The visitors were patient, though, and when they did get chance to strike on the transition, there was a real purpose to their play. Arsenal pushed forward in numbers and looked for the most direct route to goal. Kyle Walker had every right to feel aggrieved about the quick free-kick that led to the equaliser, after a talk with referee Michael Oliver left him out of position, but Gabriel Martinelli capitalised brilliantly, driving into the box before teeing up Riccardo Calafiori to score with a remarkable first-time shot.
And when Gabriel Magalhaes headed Arsenal in front from a corner just before the break, it came after another high-pressure attack that forced City onto the backfoot. Arteta's team were functioning like a deadly coiled spring; the gameplan was working perfectly – but then disaster struck.
AdvertisementAFPFollowing the Mourinho playbook
Leandro Trossard was walking a tightrope after being booked for pulling Savinho's shirt earlier in the first half, and completely lost his head deep into stoppage-time. The Belgian recklessly barged Bernardo Silva over when trying to reach a looped clearance, which was yellow-card worthy alone, and he then proceeded to boot the ball away after Oliver had blown the whistle for the foul.
Oliver booked Trossard again for delaying the restart rather than his challenge on Bernardo, which reduced Arsenal to 10 men just moments after they'd seized the momentum in the match. Complaints over Doku escaping punishment for a similar incident didn't matter; Trossard let his team down, and left Arteta in a serious bind.
Understandably, the Spaniard decided to try and protect Arsenal's advantage in the second half as he took a leaf out of the Jose Mourinho playbook. The Gunners camped on the edge of their own box with all nine outfielders behind the ball, giving up 88.5 percent of possession to City.
In the face of constant attacking waves, Arsenal's resolve never wavered, and City were reduced to taking pot-shots from distance as they struggled to find a way through the low block. The champions didn't even look like scoring, until fortune smiled on them right at the death.
Stones levelled proceedings with City's 28th shot in the second period – the joint-highest ever recorded in a single half of Premier League football – after seeing a Mateo Kovacic shot deflect kindly into his path barely five yards from goal. City got themselves out of jail, and the widespread sense of relief inside the Etihad was palpable.
On the flip side, it was pure devastation for Arsenal. But Arteta saw the bigger picture, telling reporters after the final whistle: "The way the team competes is unbelievable. I'm so proud of them. You cannot be thrown in a more difficult situation against that kind of opponent. The boys were very gutted. They put so much in. They put their heart and soul into every action. They know as well that they have made another big step today to do what they've done as individuals here."
Getty Images SportFerocious edge
Arsenal cleverly bought time whenever they could amid a relentless City onslaught, which came as little surprise to Stones. "They have done it for a few years now, so we knew to expect that," the City super-sub said to . "You can call it clever or dirty, whichever way you want to put it. But they break up the game, which upsets the rhythm. They use it to their advantage and we dealt with it very well."
City may well have expected some anti-football from the Gunners after last season's stalemate at the Etihad, but there was an underlying bitterness in Stones' voice. That's because – unlike in previous years – Arsenal turned this game into a fight and pushed City's buttons, breaking apart their composed demeanour in the process.
In the first half of Arsene Wenger's reign at the club, Arsenal did the same thing against Manchester United, year in, year out. They beat the Red Devils to three titles under the Frenchman through strength of character more than quality, with an inner steel running through the squad that made them a match for anyone.
For all of the pretty football and progress made, Arteta's group haven't had that over the past five years, which is why Sunday was such a huge moment. There was a ferocious edge to the rivalry with City for the first time. Sometimes it's necessary to embrace the dark arts to gain an advantage and that's exactly what this new version of Arsenal did, from Kai Havertz' brutal body check on Rodri seconds after the first whistle to Gabriel's constant attempts to rile up Haaland, who let his emotions get the better of him in the end.
GettyUnder City's skin
Stones and Haaland weren't the only City players rattled by Arsenal's approach, as Bernardo launched an extraordinary attack on the Gunners after the game, telling : "There was only one team that came to play football. The other came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee, unfortunately. We're not happy as we wanted the three points, but personally I'm happy with the way we came to play and faced the game. I'm glad we always enter the pitch to try to win every match."
The Portugal midfielder added when asked to compare the battle with Arsenal to City's rivalry with Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool side: "The difference? I don't know. Maybe that Liverpool have already won a Premier League, Arsenal haven't. That Liverpool have won a Champions League, Arsenal haven't. Liverpool always faced us face-to-face to try to win the games, so by this perspective the games against Arsenal haven't been like the ones we had and have against Liverpool."
Bernardo is right about one thing: Arsenal cannot yet claim to be on City's level due to their failure to win the biggest trophies in the Arteta era so far. But the mere fact he was so upset shows the Gunners really got under City's skin, which is a step in the right direction.
Liverpool often went toe-to-toe with City in admirable fashion, but only clinched the title once in Klopp's nine years at the helm. Matching Guardiola in the pure footballing stakes is not enough; Arsenal must continue to make sure that City hate playing against them if they are to take their spot at the top of the English football pyramid.
