The whole world was watching, so I won't go into too much detail about the game; except in the context of the points I have to make. And I don't really know where to start! But let's have a go:
Firstly, City had to step up to top gear to get anything from Arsenal. Which they don't often need to do. They started very quickly, and it's difficult to do anything but admire Haaland's goal; scored so early, and so brilliantly, especially as Arsenal hadn't at that point quite got to grips with the way Pep had set his team out. The goal had everything to do with how Pep's tactics exploited the space between Arsenal's centre backs and full backs by using the full width of the pitch, thus allowing the twin Number 10s to get closer to Arsenal's defence than was comfortable. For the goal, the movement of Gundogan and Savinho (plus the latter's exquisite pass) freed Haaland in acres of space. After that, the timing of the run, the first touch and the finish were quite magnificent. Neither Saliba nor Raya had any chance.
But Haaland, for all his undoubted footballing prowess, is a nasty piece of work. When things got tight towards the end he had no compunction with throwing his weight around - illegally - as well as resorting to taunts and abuse. There was the ball-throwing incident in the aftermath of the equaliser. The shoulder charge on Gabriel. A 'Who the f*ck are you?' to Miles Lewis-Skelly. And the supposed 'banter' with Arteta and Arsenal players at the end of the game. 'Stay humble, eh', he had the audacity to tell the opposing manager... Classless.
Talking of throwing one's weight around, I should now mention my complete lack of sympathy for Rodri. In the first few seconds, he deliberately blocked off Havertz; and then did his best to get the German into trouble. Later on, his attempt to block Partey off at a corner, trying to win a penalty off of it, in fact - led to a self-inflicted injury - possibly even an ACL tear. Here is yet another world-class City player, used to bullying the opposition, rotational fouling and generally getting his own way at all times, who received his comeuppance. Karma. As my much-missed dad was wont to say: 'I hope it's nothing trivial.'
City will certainly miss Rodri while he's out injured; 8 months should cover it, please... City simply never lose when Rodri is in the team. Let's see how they cope.
It was Rodri who questioned Arsenal's 'ambition' in an interview last season. In the aftermath of this match, John Stones and - especially - Bernardo Silva did the same. They are rattled; and it's only the mutual respect between Pep and Mikel that stops this from bubbling over into something very unpleasant. The return game, in February, will be a doozy!
And so to Arsenal's two goals, which turned the match on its head.
There's lots to pick out with the equaliser.
1. Where the initial foul occurred, compared to where the free kick was taken from. No biggie, frankly.
2. The fact that following the whistle for the foul Bernardo Silva carried the ball 15 yards away - was that a yellow card offence?
3. Michael Oliver calling the captain's together to try to calm the game down, and then allegedly allowing Arsenal to restart before Walker was back in position (red herring; he WAS back in position).
4. Gabriel Martinelli - was his assist the lighting of the blue touch paper for his season?
And 5. What a finish from Riccardo Califiori! Reminiscent of Saliba's sublime effort against Bournemouth in its execution, but with the stakes so much higher here. What a way to announce yourself onto the scene!
And to see the City players whinge, and Pep lash out at his own chair - magical...
For the go-ahead goal... well, we shouldn't be surprised any more, should we? City had had a warning just a few moments before, and despite changing the marker on Gabriel it was so well-worked that it was frankly inevitable. Stick it on a loop; clever blocking-off in the 6-yard area; runs from back to front; Saka's delivery on a sixpence; and Gabriel thumping the ball into the roof of the net. Rinse and repeat. The only difference between this week and last was the colour of the shirts.
And then... and haven't we been here before? Haven't Arsenal - and only Arsenal - been here before. Of all the incidences of kicking the ball away so far this season, which team have been most severely punished; by, say, the awarding of second yellow cards?
Trossard had already been booked for a shirt pull; and quite rightly. He then barged into Bernardo Silva, and as the ball ran loose - and Oliver's whistle blew - booted the ball into the path of Gabriel Martinelli, who was in tons of space. All within a second of the whistle sounding; and reminiscent once more of Robin Van Persie's sending off in Barcelona all those years ago. As with Declan Rice against Brighton, by the letter of the Law it's a bookable offence (whether it ought to be is another matter entirely), and thus by the letter of the Law he had to go. But...
We had the earlier incident with Bernardo Silva that I referenced above. And another involving Doku. No action taken. And I should mention an incident the previous week involving Dominik Szloboszlai of Liverpool, who did something remarkably similar, but more blatantly, and was not punished for it. The referee that day? Michael Oliver.
This is the same Michael Oliver who decided not to send Matteo Kovacic off at The Emirates last season for two vicious tackles from behind (on Rice and Odegaard) because - and I quote Howard Webb here - 'Michael doesn't like to have a negative impact in a big game'. With it being an Arsenal player, he couldn't get the cards out quick enough!
Regular readers of this blog will know that I don't go in for conspiracy theories... I'd really prefer to regard all referees as suffering from various stages of incompetence. But here are a few facts about Michael Oliver and his relationship with Abu Dhabi.
1. He was paid £20,000 in 2023 to go out to the UAE to referee a match in a tournament sponsored by The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company - owned by the owner of Manchester City. Accompanied, by the way, by both of yesterday's linesmen.
2. Subsequently, he failed to punish Kovacic (as mentioned above). He also failed to penalise Jeremy Doku for a chest high assault on Liverpool's Alexis MacAllister towards the end of last season, that would have meant a late - and in my eyes stone bonk certain - penalty to Liverpool. He also failed to award Chelsea a penalty for a pretty clear handball by Jack Grealish in last year's FA Cup semi final.
3. It's probably mere coincidence, but the Manchester City Director of Football is Ferran Soriano. I am pretty sure that he was Director of Football at Barcelona - who of course were found guilty of bribing referees - when RVP got his marching orders. Pure coincidence, of course...
As I say, no conspiracy theory. But even if there's no skullduggery going on - and the game would be finished if it were - there's surely some unconscious bias affecting the man's judgement? I'll leave it at that. And I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions.
What it did mean, of course, was that the second half was virtually unwatchable as a spectacle. The biggest game in the biggest competition on world football ruined by the decision to send Trossard off. As Mikel Arteta described it: Michael Oliver's decision 'forces you to play a game that nobody wanted to watch'. Nailed it. Nobody wants to watch 50 minutes of attack vs defence.
And it was, inevitably, a siege. It's difficult enough to play against that lot with 11 vs 11, let alone a man down. Arsenal had very little choice but to go ultra-defensive and try to hold on to their lead. Perhaps they could have attempted to have an outlet, but it's difficult when the opposition are suffocating you. Ben White, despite nursing an injury, replaced Saka and Arsenal went 5-4-0, which soon became 6-3-0. And they hung on, And hung on. City could do very little more than take pot shots from outside the penalty area, as space was at such a premium. David Raya made save after save. Saliba and Gabriel organised and organised. Thomas Partey, contrary to all expectations as he played his third game in a week, was magnificent in his shielding work. Arsenal tried delaying tactics; everything they knew.
And it almost paid off. It was only in the 8th minute of 7 added that City finally equalised. Arsenal legs had finally gone, as they reached the last throes of the third of three intense away games in a week (City had had three home matches, and a day more to prepare for this match). A short corner had defenders on heels, City worked it around for the umpteenth time, and following some pinball the ball reached an unmarked John Stones 10 yards out. 2-2... cue home delirium, and Haaland's disgraceful behaviour. Who's celebrating a draw now, Rodri?
So near, and yet so far. An Arsenal win would have been seismic for the Premier League. And yet... I am sure that we're all supremely proud of the effort put in by the players. And what this illustrates yet again is that the gap is continuing to close. The reason that City are trash-talking is that they are extremely concerned. Arsenal are becoming elite; they just need the trophies to show for it. We cannot doubt their 'cojones', nor their quality.
If only we could get through a game, or a series of games, without any controversy. Arsenal have the 11 points I predicted were the minimum they needed after this stretch of games. But it could so easily have been 15. And for a little while now it does get easier. We're right in this, I suspect that we'll stay right in it, and there's still the matter of the 115 charges...
This is Arsenal's year. I can feel it. COYG!
No comments:
Post a Comment