Arsenal can enjoy the boredom. In a weekend brimming with goals, the most boring match can be the most important. Even if the big winners of the day were Liverpool in a sense, they showed their staying power as Arsenal crashed out of the Premier League top spot and their 100 per cent record in 2024 ended.
Arsenal couldn’t win the war of attrition, but at least they made sure they didn’t lose. Last season’s title challenge inflicted irreparable damage on Manchester City. There was no slope this year. Mikel Arteta has suffered evisceration at the Etihad in the past. While Arsenal collected the first point of Pep Guardiola’s reign, the champions could not overcome Arteta’s red wall.
He was tutored by the City manager when he was his assistant, but he owes that display more to George Graham than Guardiola. Arsenal were expertly trained and displayed a display of organization and concentration. If the ultimate measure of success comes with the final league table, which may answer the question of whether they should have been bolder in their quest for victory, they will finish the Premier League season without sacrificing City.
In fact, they conceded very few shots on target: just one shot at the Emirates Stadium in October and just one in the second leg. It felt like a personal triumph for the formidable William Saliba, who has beaten Erling Haaland twice this season; Expect a series of jokes about the Frenchman having a built-in goal machine in his pocket. But it was a victory for the collective. In a game that required patience and City’s dominance, Arsenal were performing compactly in the middle of the pitch. Kai Havertz operated as a very reserved striker, at times as many as 21 players gathered in one third of the field, all with the lone exception of Stefan Ortega.
Ederson’s injury became a footnote. City’s substitute goalkeeper had to parry a shot from substitute Leandro Trossard but could otherwise stand by and watch little else.
That’s what Arsenal liked. The team, destroyed by Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne last season, tried to take revenge by putting them under pressure and crowding them. And City lacked the spark to collapse Arsenal in terms of brute strength, individual inspiration or clinically excellent teamwork. Arteta had a back four made up entirely of centre-backs, two defensive midfielders and a team that looked intent on revisiting some of the best games of the Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez days rather than more action-packed affairs. your last years.
David Raya’s solitary save came after a quarter of an hour. Nathan Ake met De Bruyne’s corner but only managed to shoulder his effort past the keeper from three yards. Mateo Kovacic then shot from just outside the penalty area. Haaland missed Josko Gvardiol’s shot for the corner. And that was essentially the sum of City’s attacking efforts.
In a bid to end the stalemate, Guardiola called up Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku while also sacrificing supposed player of the year Phil Foden. Arteta responded by bringing on Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu; Neither were offensive substitutions. This showed different attitudes, the old man seeking victory, the young man happy with the draw and Arsenal thriving in a game of frustration. Bernardo Silva was the busiest of City’s forward-thinking players, but although they extended their unbeaten run to 23 games, they somewhat succumbed to Arsenal’s challenge.
Maybe they were actually beaten. City’s defensive injury problems have increased: without Kyle Walker, they have seen Ake limping off, with John Stones having a limited place on the bench. He might have presented an opportunity for Arsenal, but they showed little interest in seizing the opportunity.
The most prominent of the attacking players, although not particularly successful, was Gabriel Jesus, who operated on the left wing on his return to the Etihad Stadium. He fired a shot into the side netting and curled an effort from the edge of the penalty area. He was unable to slide and put the finishing touch on Bukayo Saka’s normally quiet low center; This particular Jesus missed the cross on Easter. But he doesn’t have the blistering pace of Gabriel Martinelli and Walker’s absence means the quicker Brazilian could have been their trump card had he been allowed to run on Rico Lewis. Instead, the semi-fit Martinelli was limited to a late cameo; Maybe the injuries canceled each other out.
City’s reshaped defense maintained its clean sheet. Arsenal’s formidable rearguard could enjoy theirs. Last season City dismantled Arsenal with either stunning or embarrassing ease, depending on interpretation. This time they were more street oriented and tougher. This does not guarantee them victory. But at least this time they left Manchester without giving City a psychological advantage. And in a way, this attrition showed Arteta’s desire to replace his former club as champions.