Mourinho repeat, ‘serious’ Arsenal threat – Man City handed clear response after Bernardo Silva rant
Arsenal had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Manchester City on Sunday in an early Premier League title race clash. Erling Haaland had opened the scoring after just nine minutes to notch his 100th goal for City but the Gunners turned the game on its head before half-time thanks to Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhaes.
However, an action-packed first-half ended with a red card to Leandro Trossard in the eighth minute of added time setting Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal up for a second half of backs-against-the-wall defending. They almost held out and made an early-season statement but for John Stones’ goal deep into injury time, preserving Pep Guardiola’s side’s unbeaten start to 2023/24.
The debate, meanwhile, is raging around Arsenal’s tactics around the game with Bernardo Silva and Stones taking aim at their opponents’ style of play and online discourse surrounding the merits of so-called ‘gamesmanship’.
Arsenal didn’t have much choice really. Down to 10 men and away to Manchester City, they had to play for what was already in their hands. Given that City only really took long shots from defenders for the best part of 50 minutes, the plan was justified.
Arteta’s decision to leave nobody upfield is the thing that can be most heavily scrutinised. Kai Havertz played an important role in shutting down City’s key men on the edge of the box, shepherding the ball to Ruben Dias at every opportunity, but he was the sort of outlet that Arsenal needed to take some of the pressure off.
Even with David Raya taking his time over every cross, players making the most of contact and fatigue to play for injuries, the siege was relentless. Arsenal did what they had to but couldn’t hold out, and that is not what should determine the success of their plan.
The process involved was spot on. The defining moment of the game – Stones’ equaliser – came via a deflection and a scramble.
Arsenal played with the most compact 10 men perhaps there has ever been for such a sustained period of time. It didn’t get the result that it perhaps deserved but it was needed.
