Premier League. Manchester City – Arsenal. “Gunners” one step away from success
Sunday’s Premier League hit began with bolder moves by the hosts. Manchester City’s players seemed faster, more precise and decisive. This quickly found its way into the result – in the 10th minute Haaland broke away from defenders and finished off a great pass from Savinho.
A moment later, Gundugan tried a free kick, but the post stood in his way. “The Citizens” had the advantage, but after fifteen minutes of play came a very big blow in the form of Rodri’s injury. One of the most important players in Guardiola’s puzzle fell in the penalty area without contact with the opponent and grabbed his knee. He was unable to continue playing, which may be a sign of a longer break.
In the 22nd minute, Calafiori scored a brilliant goal, his first for Arsenal. A powerful and precise left-footed shot gave Ederson no chance.
After Rodri left the pitch, Manchester City’s play slowed down a bit, and Arsenal took their chance. Gabriel scored from a corner kick before the break. The home players protested that Ederson had been blocked illegally, but the Gunners have been playing corners this way for a long time and the lack of a foul in this situation should come as no surprise to anyone.
The English champions had great difficulty getting back into the game, and it was clear that this goal had seriously thwarted their plans. However, Arsenal made things more complicated for themselves – Trossard received a second yellow card and was sent off to the protests of Arteta and his teammates. Was this a situation in which he should have received a yellow card? It seems that the referee Michael Oliver had every reason to punish the “Gunners” player for his sharp body tackle on Bernardo Silva.
Banging your head against the wall… for a while
The second half was completely different from the first for obvious reasons. Arsenal withdrew very deep and defended with their entire team on their own sixteen, stealing valuable seconds at every opportunity, and occasionally trying to make quick attacks. Manchester City had an overwhelming advantage, but with each passing minute the actions of “The Citizens” were becoming more and more desperate, and Guardiola’s team were hitting the wall with their heads, unable to seriously threaten the opponents’ goal. Raya, who was in great shape, didn’t have much to do, and when he had to intervene, he did it flawlessly.
Five minutes before the end, Gvardiol tried a powerful volley, but he couldn’t beat the Spanish goalkeeper. Eventually, Manchester City managed to equalize, but it didn’t happen until the last action of the match, when Stones scored after a huge mess.
There was no shortage of controversy, and bad blood was felt between the players of both teams. Manchester City defended the leading position they had before this round, but Arsenal showed great character and caused huge problems for their opponents.
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