Arsenal went toe to toe with Manchester City at Emirates Stadium, and were arguably unlucky to come away with not just a draw, but possibly even a win over probably the best - and certainly the most in-form - team in Europe.
The loss of the Covid-stricken Mikel Arteta from the side lines made very little difference, but despite a raucous atmosphere and magnificent all-round performance Arsenal came up empty-handed from a game from which they deserved at least a point. They rattled City virtually throughout, showed no fear, and this must surely be a template for the future. The ‘process’ is progressing nicely, and fans will have come away not just disappointed and angry, but also both optimistic and proud of their team.
Team news; and the welcome news that Tomiyasu had recovered from Covid and was able to a slot back in at right back, allowing Ben White to revert to right centre back. For City, Rodri was back, Grealish was only on the bench, and Foden didn’t even make the squad. For me, a possible weak link looked to be Ake at left back, up against Bukayo Saka.
Arsenal’s shape looked really good from the start, and following 10 minutes of early sparring the first flash point of the game came after just 10 minutes. A swift break saw Lacazette release Odegaard down the inside right channel, and we were incredulous that firstly referee Atwell failed to award a penalty as the Norwegian went over Ederson’s outstretched leg, and then VAR Gillett saw no need to send him to the pitch side monitor. Having seen it again - and again! - that’s a penalty for me. There’s a clear angle showing that Ederson made contact with Odegaard before he (possibly) got to the ball.
VAR is meant to deal with a ‘clear and obvious error’ by the referee, and that’s got to be why Atwell wasn’t invited to the monitor. However, I’d rather that the VAR ensured that the decision is the correct one - and for me in this instance what the VAR does is compound the original error.
In the reverse game - a chastening 5-0 defeat - City had no less than 81% possession. However in this game Arsenal had almost as much of the ball (for the first hour at least) as their illustrious opponents and spent almost the entire first half on the front foot. They pressed City deep in their own half and barely allowed them out. And City had just the one decent chance in the entire half - a header from Dias following a corner - but apart from that Arsenal looked almost completely in control and had much the best of the penalty area exchanges. It was quite remarkable to witness.
After half an hour, Arsenal got the reward that their brave play deserved. White stepped in and robbed De Bruyne inside the Arsenal half and via first Partey, then Xhaka and Odegaard the ball zipped out to Tierney on the left. Martinelli occupied Cancelo as Tierney drove inside, and Saka stepped away from Ake (not as alert as he could have been in an unfamiliar role) and passed the ball into the net from the edge of the penalty area. A beautiful team goal, and absolute no less that they deserved.
And there were other chances. Martinelli curled just wide following another sweeping move, and then just missed out on what would have been an absolute ‘worldie’, picking the ball up well inside his own half, racing forward and beating first Cancelo, then Dias and finally Cancelo again before sliding the ball just wide of the far post. Such a shame.
And so the half time whistle went with Arsenal in a well-deserved lead. City, surprised by Arsenal’s intensity, hadn’t even rustled a shot on target! And whilst we expected changes, and a reaction, from City after half time, we barely got one.
On 49 minutes, Rodri’s ‘robust’ challenge on Martinelli in the edge of the area was rewarded merely by an Arsenal corner. BT Sport commentators agreed that Rodri had slipped as he went in for the challenge, but in doing so he wiped our Brazilian out! Amazing...
And Arsenal remained on top; passing crisply around and through City, with Partey and Xhaka bossing midfield.
And then the moment that changed the game. Bernardo Silva stood Xhaka up in the penalty area. Xhaka’s left leg went out but made little contact with Bernardo, but the latter made the most of it and started to go down. Dive? Yes, certainly. But at the same time Xhaka momentarily grabbed hold of his shirt; it made no material difference, but if you’re watching it back in slow motion… and so this time Atwell was sent to the monitor by Gillett, and we all knew what was going to happen.
And here’s the inconsistency, and why we feel so hard done by. For this, Atwell is referred to the monitor. For the other one - for me actually more clear cut - he is not. Infuriating. Mahrez - who I’d actually forgotten was playing - sent Ramsdale the wrong way. With City’s first shot on target!
Slightly lost in the build up to the penalty kick, Gabriel was booked for attempting to scuff up the penalty spot. Stupid, and would come back to haunt him. But not before… miscommunication between Laporte and Ederson led to the former’s header looping over the keeper. Ake cleared from right on the line, and Martinelli - expertly impeded by the referee - could only hit the outside of the post from the follow up.
And seconds later Gabriel was off. He clattered into Jesus on the halfway line as the latter turned, and it was clumsy more than malicious. Worthy of a card? Perhaps (I of course didn’t think so) - although in the context of what was to transpire a little later when City players did similar probably not. But he’d given the referee the opportunity to wave a card, and it was the first one - for messing around with the penalty spot - the was the real issue here.
5 mad minutes… and of course the pendulum changed. City with 11 men against 10 can only mean one thing - domination of the ball.
But here was the incredible inconsistency of the refereeing. Odegaard was replaced by Holding, and went off complaining about the number of challenges Rodri had got away with without a booking for numerous niggly fouls - ‘three times’, one could see the Norwegian mouthing to Fourth Official Kevin Friend as he departed - and less than a minute later Rodri barged Lacazette off of the ball. Free kick to Arsenal, and yet the only card meted out was to Saka for complaining about the lack of card for serial offender Rodri. Two minutes later, a yellow card for Holding for tugging at the arm of De Bruyne. For his first foul...
Yet Arsenal remained compact throughout as the pressure built. And still looked occasionally dangerous on the break as ESR replaced Laca; Martinelli reverting to centre forward. And the possession stats were really skewed over the final 30 or so minutes.
But the moment we’d all been dreading finally arrived, as in the third of no less than 6 minutes of injury time City finally went ahead. Following a free kick, Laporte stayed forward, and a De Bruyne cross led to pinball in the penalty area with the ball falling at the feet of our friend Rodri, who poked home. Just two shots on target - but two goals. And finally Rodri was booked - for taking his shirt off!!!
We still had time for some shithousery from our other friend, the diving Bernardo Silva, who firstly handled unnecessarily and then kicked the ball away at a free kick, and from Gundogan - as City reverted to their standard ‘take the lead, commit a series of niggly fouls’ mode. And so Arsenal hopes we’re finally dashed.
Conclusions?
Well, firstly it is clear that Arsenal are making great strides forward this season. We’d have all been surprised to have made the top 4 before the season started - and certainly after the first three games - but it now appears attainable. We have to hold off the likes of United, West Ham and T*ttenham, but as it happens neither Liverpool or Chelsea are completely out of sight above us. It’s going to be interesting, and is frankly quite surprising but also exciting.
This, despite the defeat, was a Statement Performance. Yes, Arsenal have had more rest time than City, but they have a massive squad, so that’s something of a red herring. This shows that Arsenal are on the right path, and there is no reason to take a single step back from here. Guardiola himself acknowledged that Arsenal were the better side in this game.
Save for one or two small (crucial, I grant you) moments over the 90 minutes, every single Arsenal player gets a minimum of 8/10 from me. Typical that Xhaka had to be involved in the critical moment of the game, but that’s him in a nutshell. As for the others; Tomiyasu, Tierney, Martinelli and Saka were superb, and in his 50th game for the club the Thomas Partey we’ve been waiting to see finally turned up. A magnificent display from him. Of course, we won’t see him for a month now, annoyingly…
There’s something very wrong with refereeing standards in this country. How Atwell - who once gave a goal when the ball had actually gone off for a goal kick, and whose performances were so bad at one point that he was demoted to the EFL - can be given one of the biggest games of the weekend is beyond me. There’s hardly a single referee that I’m glad to see officiating an Arsenal game. In fact, on reflection, there’s not a single one. We’ve ‘got beef’ with Atkinson, Tierney, Dean, Friend (I originally typed Fiend there), Moss…
And finally… we can be very proud of our team. They’ve showed how good they can be. And in return we’ve supported them whole heartedly. Let’s keep going now. Three Cup games in the next week or so, and then there’s the small matter of a visit to The Toilet Bowl. Massive. So COYG!
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