Arsenal secured a 2-2 draw against Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday (22 September) at the Etihad Stadium.
Despite going down early through Erling Haaland’s goal, the Gunners responded sharply and took a 2-1 lead at the break, with goals coming from Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel.
The big moment of the game came towards the end of the first half when Leandro Trossard was shown the second yellow card for kicking the ball away.
Arsenal played the entire second half with ten men and didn’t allow Man City to breach their defence, thanks to “remarkable” defending from Gabriel and William Saliba.
In the dying seconds of the game, John Stones rescued a point for Pep Guadiola’s side when he scored from a close range.
Micah Richards was full of praise for the defensive duo and said on Sky Sports that they were “unbelievable” on Sunday afternoon.
“I thought Gabriel and Saliba were unbelievable. To defend like that for 45 minutes in the second half against the best team in the league, it was just remarkable,” said Richards.
Arsenal will be gutted by the result
Mikel Arteta said after the game that he was gutted by the result, and rightly so. The manner in which they came from behind and took the lead before the break only goes to show how well prepared they are under Arteta.
But it was silly of Trossard to kick the ball away right in front of the referee and he was rightly shown the red card. In the second half, City didn’t create enough clear-cut chances, and they were left to shoot from a distance.
"Gabriel and Saliba were UNBELIEVABLE… just REMARKABLE"
"Arsenal have done well, but City were REALLY POOR!!"Micah Richards and Roy Keane in disagreement over the outcome of Manchester City's draw with Arsenal 💬 pic.twitter.com/irDcs2zpm4
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 22, 2024
The Gunners defended incredibly well, and the duo of Saliba and Gabriel deserves rich praise. But one could argue that City were running out of ideas, as they didn’t use the full-backs to good effect, and were too predictable with their movements.
However, just when it felt like Arsenal would snatch a great win at the Etihad, they conceded a late goal. With that result, Man City have moved to the top of the table, one point above Liverpool.
