And thus ends the wild ride that was Manchester City 2-2 Arsenal.
Arsenal mixed determination, composure and togetherness into one package, and so very nearly beat a team that have only lost 2 of their last 80 matches at home – a record dating back to November 2021. And we so very nearly achieved it with 10 men, too.
Despite that horrible feeling of glorious failure, the positives are still overwhelming. Three incredibly tough away games in the space of a week, and we didn’t lose one. Domestically it also means we have navigated that horrible-looking opening three away matches without defeat – while extending our 2024 unbeaten away record to: won 10, drawn 2, lost 0 – Goals for 33, Goals against 5.
We may not have been at our free-flowing best as yet, but we have still come away from our tough opening five fixtures unbeaten, and now it is time to give the first answer to a question that will be asked many times in the coming weeks: how will Arsenal fare without Martin Ødegaard?
We showed we can still defend as a unit very, very well without the Norwegian. Now though, our next three Premier League matches see us host Leicester and Southampton, followed by a trip to Bournemouth after the next international break. Matches where we will face teams packing out their own defensive third. Matches, where typically – we would rely on Martin to help unlock those doors.
Either way, these are matches we should win and we need to win. And if we do, things could really start to fall into place. A run of victories to push us into late-October with the returns of Mikel Merino and Ødegaard himself then on the horizon? Sounds perfect.
And speaking of individuals, an obvious hard-to-ignore moment from the weekend came with Riccardo Calafiori’s first goal for the club. A beautiful, sweeping longshot, arching away from Ederson’s reach and into the City goal.
And with such a gorgeous strike helping us towards a valiant point, I wanted to know your favourite goal that opened a player’s goalscoring account with The Gunners. It could be as crisp as the late José Antonio Reyes’ first goal against Chelsea, or it could be the “I was there” feeling of seeing John Jensen’s only goal for the club. Whatever one is your favourite for whatever reason, I’d love to hear it.
Nevertheless, another week of thrills, pride and bizarre decisions to digest. But the genuine belief we can have in this side is a great feeling. Let’s just hope we’re allowed to keep 11 men on the pitch for the remaining 33 matches, hey…
Arsenal were at home against Manchester City. They were playing their 3rd away game in a row whilst we were playing our 3rd at home.
Following a home match in Europe, we had 3 days of preparation before the Sunday afternoon kick off. Manchester City were playing away on a Thursday, so only had the Saturday to prepare.
We had taken the lead in the opening 10 minutes and then City went down to 10-men moments before half time. We then huffed and puffed and it took us until the 97th minute to grab an equaliser.
A draw at home despite everything being in our favour. The narrative will be that this is an opportunity lost for The Arsenal. And a statement made by Manchester City. That they had bravely battled to a draw despite everything being against them.
Instead, with the tables turned, the narrative being written is that drawing away to the 4-in-a-row champions is a poor result and performance.
3 away games in a week
Tottenham away Atalanta away Manchester City away
Many pundits were writing that this would be a week that derails our title chances early in the season.
Back to back away games made harder with a trip to Italy in the Champions League sandwiched in between. Most of our detractors would have had us down to lose all 3 games.
Instead, we come away from the run with 1 win and 2 draws, concerning just 1 goal. And that goal being in the 98th minute of the last game in the run having played with 10 men for over half of it. Incredible.
Little to no rest
Manchester City played at home on Wednesday night. They had 3 full days of preparation following their game against Inter Milan.
Meanwhile, it was gone midnight Thursday in Italy by the time we had left the San Siro. Even if we got a flight home straight from the ground to London, we are probably talking about it being 4 or 5am with the lads being back home in their own beds.
At best, Friday would have been an afternoon rest and recuperation session at London Colney, giving us just a single day to prepare the lads for the toughest away trip of the season.
We have seen the impact of playing Thursday / Sunday in the Europa League. The fact is you are more likely to drop points on the Sunday. And that likelihood further increases if you were playing away mid-week.
Given the lack of rest and preparation for Arsenal, Manchester City went into Sunday as clear favourites.
Over half of the game with 10-men
Post game, Arsenal received a lot of criticism for the way we played.
Players and pundits pointing out statistics that showed Manchester City played the most passes, had the most shots, and were basically camped in our own half for 45 minutes. But what did they expect? Arsenal were down to 10-men.
Should we have done what Fat Ange did last season against Chelsea and gone all out attack, defending on the half way line, and get spanked?
Bernardo Silva came out in his post-game interview comparing Liverpool to Arsenal, saying: “Liverpool always faced us head-on, to win matches. From that perspective, our games against Arsenal haven’t been like the matches against Liverpool were, and still are”
Back in 2017, Liverpool faced Manchester City at the Etihad. They went down to 10 men in the first half as Sadio Mane was controversially sent off. The score was 1-nil to City when the Senegalese forward was given his marching orders. Liverpool lost 5-nil.
Now I might not be a genius, but surely drawing 2-2 is a better result when down to 10-men than losing 5-0?
The fact we went down to 10-men and held on for a point has clearly upset City players, who are used to opponents beinding over like being at a P Diddy party.
We move on
When the fixtures were announced, an early season collapse was predicted for Arsenal.
3 away games in the first 5 games. Trips to Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham. Last seasons 1st, 3rd and 5th. Only Liverpool’s inclusion would have made it a tougher start on the road for us.
Many pundits and fans had us down for 3 defeats. An expectation that at best we would have 6 points from the opening 5-games. Our title challenge over before it even begun.
Instead, we got 7 points from 9 on the road, and conceded just twice.
That leaves us 4th in the league, 2 points off top, and unbeaten. We have conceded just 3 goals this season, with 2 of those coming when we had 10-men.
When you go to places like Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester City, you can not expect to role them over. Win 3 or 4 nil. So I am not sure why our defensive outlook in these games is being criticised, rather than our performances be praised.
Mikeikel Arteta is growing tactically.
We can play defensive like Mourinhom, possession-based football like Pep, and a high press like Klopp. The team has the personnel to change tactics depending on the opponent and in-game situation.
Why is a manger being criticised for being tactically adaptable (meanwhile Ange is being praised for “sticking to his philosophy” and losing!). Why are we being criticised for being unbeaten? And why is the narrative now changing from”Arsenal are naive” to “it is wrong for Arsenal to engage in the dark arts”?
For a decade under Arsene Wenger, we were Southern sofites. We were naive. Unable to grind out results. And now we are doing just that, in 3 tough away games, Arteta is being compared to Tony Pullis and Sean Dyche.
This is a team, remember, that scored a club record league goals last season, breaking the record set the year before.
These opening 3 games were never about style, they were all about results. We could not have won the title in the opening 5 of the season but we could have lost it.
Instead of being 9 points behind City after 5 games, like many predicted, we are just 2. And I guess the Manchester and Liverpool pundits do not like that!
We stay together. We back the manager and what he has built, and we will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
The Arsenal are now unbeaten to Manchester City in the last 4 games. They have failed to beat us twice in a row at the Etihad. Despite their players trying to criticise our achievement, they are clearly scared of us.
We have proved in the last 2 away games against them that we are now their equals. Head to head there is nothing between us. We now need to do it for 38 league games.
My final thought is finishing 2nd behind Manchester City is not a failure considering what they have spent (on both transfers and salaries) in the last decade. Yes, some fans will point to “net spend”, but we all know this is meaningless. City are currently spending “less” because they have a well establish team built over the last 10-years.
Match Officials: Referee: Michael Oliver Assistants: Stuart Burt, Dan Cook Fourth official: Andy Madley VAR: John Brooks Assistant VAR: Richard West
Premier League Etihad Stadium Sunday 22nd September 2024 KO: 4:30 (UK)
Today , we return to the Premier League as we look to face Man City at the Etihad. After a solid performance at Atalanta in the Champions League, with Arsenal drawing 0-0 thanks to a great Raya double-save, Arteta will be looking to add more attacking threat against a strong Manchester City side.
Without the presence of Martin Odegaard, Rice and Havertz will have to step up and be creative . Trossard replaces Jesus as Havertz moves upfront with Trossard in the 10, which is expected as Jesus was nullified by the Atalanta defender on Thursday.
A surprise change is the replacement of Ben White with Riccardo Calafiori as he comes in at left-back and Timber moves to right-back. For me, I think that this is the right change by Arteta for this type of game as Timber is better defensively than White and with Jeremy Doku on his side, I think that Timber will be able to deal with him. Calafiori is also very solid defensively and I think that he will be able to handle Savio’s trickery.
Bernardo Silva kicked us off and straight away in the first 5 seconds, there was a collision between Rodri and Havertz as Rodri fell to the floor. Rodri got back up and the game restarted. As we played out from the back, Man City aggressively pressed however, some clever passes allowed Raya to kick it long.
A few moments later, there was another collision as Haaland ran into Saliba as he went up for the header. Michael Oliver quickly waved away any complaints of a booking as a free kick was given. A diagonal ball across our half was brought down by Bernardo Silva who fired a ball into the path of Ilkay Gundogan who took a brilliant touch and set himself up for the volley however, his effort went wide.
Moments later City broke again as Savio slipped the ball through to Haaland who made no mistake and poked the ball past Raya and into the net. A record breaking goal for Haaland as he scores his 100th goal and 10th of the season. A good bit of play from City however, we shouldn’t have been carved open that easily.
As we began to settle down, Saliba played a diagonal ball across to Martinelli who brought it down and crossed in however, the ball was cleared. A cheap foul was then given away by Gabriel on the edge of the area. Gundogan stepped up to take and his curling effort rattled against the post and out.
Man City then managed to grab another corner and the ball was quickly took but Rodri went down again in the box , clutching his knee after colliding with Partey and the referee blew his whistle for the corner to be retaken. After Rodri was down for a prolonged period,he came off a. The corner was then swung in and cleared by Havertz. Rodri was then replaced by Kovacic after a foul on Partey.
The quick ball was clipped out to Martinelli who set the ball back to Calafiori whose amazing curling effort went straight into the top corner an amazing start for the Italian. Our fans bellowed out chants silencing the home crowd which was pretty much already silent.
As play begun City started to mount on the pressure, however our defence stood strong. City then attacked again as Savio took a nice touch past Calafiori and crossed into Haaland who was successfully challenged by Saliba who headed away. Kyle Walker then fired a long range effort towards our goal however, Raya was there to hold it in his gloves.
Trossard was then booked for pulling back Savio. Then, a combination between Doku and Gvardiol allowed Doku to shoot however, his effort was deflected out for a corner. The corner was whipped in but Havertz was there again to clear.
Saka and Timber then provided a combination of their own as Timber slipped Saka through and his cross was blocked and out for a corner. The corner was swung in deep by Saks and was met by Gabriel who headed over by Gabriel. He probably should’ve scored as it was a free header however, it was good to see that Man City were unable to mark him.
A nice turn by Saliba allowed himself to glide past Haaland and we regained control of possession. Again some nice play by Gabriel and Martinelli allowed Martinelli to beat Walker for pace and cut the ball back for Trossard who blazed over. A looped ball from Rice then fell to Saka who then played the ball round again to Rice on the overlap whose cross was blocked and out for a corner. The corner was swung in again by Saka and AGAIN BIG GABI got on the end of it unmarked and headed into the net. Another inevitable corner goal just on the brink of half time as 6 minutes were added.
Partey was then booked after he was late and stopped Man City from countering. Trossard was then booked again and sent off for kicking the ball away after giving away a free kick. I do think that this was a second yellow however, it shows no consistency as a Man City player had thrown the ball away and not received a yellow. The free kick was swung in and cleared as the referee blew the half time whistle.
Half time views:
A very strong first half performance after going 1-0 down. Disappointing to see Trossard go off however, it is good to go in 2-1 up.
I’m sure Arteta will be riling up our players to battle but also keep them composed and to keep a compact shape.
A sub will probably have to be made for defensive support. Anyways, hopefully we can hold on for the three points.
Before we kicked off we made our first substitution with Ben White replacing Saka. We then kicked off and City started on the front foot with Haaland’s effort being held easily by Raya. City then had another chance as we seemed to be sitting in a 6-3 formation, with Kovacic blazing over.
Another shot from Dias this time, then sailed over the bar as Raya slowed down the clock with his goal kick. Shots after shots and Raya stood strong as he made a great save to deny Walker.
Some last ditch defending from our defenders resulted in a City corner which was played out and in to the leaping Haaland who was denied brilliantly by Raya who parried out to Bernardo Silva who fired over the bar. As we stayed in our compact shape, another chance fell to Gvardiol on the volley whose effort was again met equally by Raya.
A couple of moments later, Raya went down to receive treatment as Myles Lewis-Skelly received a booking before he’d even made his Premier League debut for appearing to tell Raya to go down. We again held our own as we hooked the ball away into the City half.
Savio’s effort then went over the bar as Doku was replaced by Phil Foden. As City stayed camped outside our box, Dias again had a shot, which was deflected off Phil Foden and into the hands of Raya.
Calafiori then went down signalling that he had to come off as he was replaced by Kiwior. With 15 minutes to go, we stood strong with the latest City effort coming from Kovacic which was again blocked. Foden then made his way into the box but his shot went over.
Pep then made two substitutions with Savio and Walker being replaced by Grealish and Stones. Kovacic then lashed another one over the bar. We then managed to grab a free kick as Havertz went down after a duel with Dias and then Declan Rice was booked for delaying the restart.
Dias then hit another one into the crowd as Martinelli went down with cramp however, Michael Oliver was having none of it as Jesus looked to come on. Raya was then forced into another save to deny Gvardiol as Martinelli was replaced by Jesus. Gabriel then went down after a challenge in our area. Again another one of our places went down, this time Timber as Raya kicked the ball away and the referee blew his whistle.
Bernardo Silva was then booked for arguing with the referee. Timber then came off and was replaced by the booked Lewis-Skelly for his Premier League debut. We again managed to clear our lines however, City came again and won a corner which was delayed by Jesus who received a yellow card.
The corner was direct this time as Raya rose the tallest and claimed brilliantly. As we ticked past the 97th minute mark, City took a short corner as Grealish fired a shot in which was saved by Raya however, the ball bounced out to Stones who poked home for the equaliser.
After the celebrations, we kicked off and already the players started pushing and shoving as Haaland bundled into Partey. VAR checked the foul and called it only “reckless”. As the ball was kicked long, the referee blew the full time whistle putting an end to one of the craziest games of the season.
Full time views:
A very hard-working second-half performance where we stood strong and failed at the final hurdle. Arteta will be proud of the lads for their commitment and perseverance throughout the game despite Trossard getting sent off.
A positive first half performance with a great goal by Calafiori and a dominant header by Gabriel. Without Trossard’s sending off, I think that it would have been a completely different game.
Anyhow, onwards and upwards as we look to build on a great point today as we face Bolton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 