Abhay Singh
Arsenal showcased commendable resilience and determination as they continued their positive progression, following an intense battle that culminated in a hard-fought 2-2 draw against reigning champion Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
Despite enduring the setback of conceding a 98th-minute equalizer, manager Mikel Arteta emphasized his team’s unwavering commitment and solid performance, highlighting the significant strides taken by Arsenal on their journey toward success.
Arsenal would have gone top of the table with the win
The London team played the whole second half with 10 men after Leandro Trossard was sent off in first-half stoppage time for kicking the ball away, having previously been on a caution.
John Stones tied the score for City late on, although they came agonizingly close to hanging onto their 2-1 lead, which had been established by goals from Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel in the first half.
With their first league victory at the Etihad since 2015, Arsenal would have surged to the top of the standings and made a significant statement in the hunt for the championship this year.
Arteta expressed his pride in his team’s ability to persevere in the face of difficulty. He said “They put their heart and soul into every single action and at the end to be punished in the last minute, it was the 99th, they are gutted,”
He also added “But as well, they know that they have made another big step today as a team and individuals to be able to do what they’ve done today here. We were given a context to the game that made it almost impossible for 56 minutes, but we adapted to that context in the best possible way. The way the team competed was unbelievable.”
“We were so brilliant”
While Arteta refrained from discussing Trossard’s second yellow card, he did state that he believes there would be “10 against 11 or 10 against 10 or nine” in 100 Premier League games.
His opposite Pep Guardiola claimed that his team had shown intelligence by holding the Arsenal goal hostage and by not crossing long balls into the team’s powerful center backs.
Guardiola said “We were so brilliant, to interpret these kind of things and afterwards it was a question of patience, a question of talent, question of luck, (Arsenal keeper David) Raya made three or four important saves and the ball didn’t drop but the last one John was there.”
As the minutes passed, questions concerning Arsenal’s strategy of disrupting play were posed to Guardiola.
He said “They bring us this type of game Arsenal and we have to handle it. They bring in that type of game. Had to handle it, and we did it, We did really well. They wanted to stop the game. We were patient enough. At the end we were fortunate.”
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