Manchester City (0) 0 Arsenal (0) 0
Premier League
Etihad Stadium, Ashton New Road, Manchester M11 3FF
Sunday, 31st March 2024. Kick-off time: 4.30pm
(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Jakob Kiwior; Martin Ødegaard (c), (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith-Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Leandro Trossard, Fábio Vieira, Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Yellow Cards: Gabriel Jesus
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 28%
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Assistant Referees: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn
Fourth Official: Tom Bramall
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Jarred Gillett; AVAR Darren Cann
Attendance: c.53,000
Without a shadow of a doubt, today’s match at the Etihad is the most eagerly awaited game of the season, between two of the three hotly tipped favourites to lift the Premiership crown in May of this year. All the predictions, all the talk, all the opinions mean nothing. This afternoon it is down to just Manchester City and ourselves; everything to play for, the biggest prize of them all awaits.
We kicked off the match here at the Etihad, and as expected, the first few minutes were both nervous and jittery for both teams. An early free kick from the home team saw a Kevin de Bruyne ball headed away for a City corner by the towering presence of Ben White, thankfully.
A quick Gabriel Jesus shot went inches past the post from just a few yards out, and then the home side started to apply pressure on our defence, which was holding firm. Ben White and William Saliba were totally immense at the back, deftly taking balls away from City strikers and clearing the danger.
David Raya amazingly saved a header from point-blank range via the head of Nathan Ake and at the other end, a Bukayo Saka corner swung into the City goal, but Stefan Ortega came off his line to pluck the ball out of the air. Overall, the match was a pretty cagey one which is perhaps understandable considering what is at stake this afternoon. We retreated in numbers soaking up all of the home sides’ possession.
Bukayo Saka ran at the City defence, but Josko Gvardiol slid in to rob our man of the ball, and both Declan Rice and Rodri were having a good old fashioned tussle in midfield whilst Kevin de Bruyne almost opened up our defence with a decent pass but Manuel Akanji’s pass inside the box was cleared by our defenders well.
Again, another great Gabriel Jesus attempt which whistled just wide of Stefan Ortega’s post, and with ten minutes or so left of the first half, our supporters are in good heart, inspiring our boys to create more chances to score.
A cross was floated into our penalty area and Erling Haaland, who was being expertly marked by Gabriel, jumped up to meet it but it went wide of the mark, thankfully. Gabriel went down hurt after trying to prevent a Rodri header which flashed well wide of David Raya’s post, and in the last few minutes of the first half, the home side were pressurising our defenders, and despite the home side having the dominant possession in the first forty-five minutes, it was honours even at the break.
The second half started with both teams getting scrappy and tense, with not much given away by anyone, anywhere.
A clever Bukayo Saka cross flew merely inches away from Gabriel Jesus as he dramatically slid in to connect, and Mateo Kovacic got very close with a curling effort from distance that flew past David Raya’s post, and then Bukayo Saka was sent sprawling to the ground by a harsh tackle, but referee Anthony Taylor allowed play to carry on, despite our pleas for a free kick.
The atmosphere became quite febrile with players of both sides going down after some heavy tackling, but no yellow cards were issued at this point in time.
The match started to open up, and despite the attempts by the home side to score, our excellent centre-backs were clearing the balls perfectly as they came flying into the six-yard box.
We looked dangerous on the break, and just after the hour mark, Mikel Arteta introduced some fresh legs to the proceedings with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Thomas Partey replacing Jakub Kiwior and Jorginho, and almost immediately, they made their presence felt on the pitch in a positive way.
Gabriel Jesus was pointlessly booked by referee Anthony Taylor, and after some close shaves from the City forwards, Leandro Trossard replaced the booked Gabriel Jesus with around fifteen minutes of the match remaining.
After an incident between Kevin de Bruyne and Bukayo Saka, the latter was substituted for Gabriel Martinelli with ten minutes of the game left to play.
Following an Erland Haaland header in our six-yard box that went narrowly wide, we then managed to catch City on the break with Leandro Trossard firing the ball straight at goalie Stefan Ortega instead of slotting the ball across to Gabriel Martinelli, who would have surely scored. During the five minutes injury time, we dug deep and when the final whistle was blown, we were mightily relieved.
Overall, it was a match that saw both sides cancel each other out, but our defenders today were the stars of the show, in particular the centre-back pairing of Ben White and William Saliba, who were immense.
Although the home side had the far greater possession stats, we stopped them from even getting close to scoring which was a master stroke from Mikel Arteta today. With regards to the stats, Manchester City only managed to get two shots on target against us, whilst we had one against them, so in essence, we did very well.
To come away from the Etihad with a point is a real achievement, and although the match was not the classic that it was predicted to be, the boys did well doing what they did today. Well done, chaps!
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners.
Our next match: Luton Town at the Emirates on Wednesday, 3rd April at 7.30pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 