Mikel Arteta says he was immensely proud of the way 10-man Arsenal approached “mission impossible” against Manchester City even though they had to settle for a 2-2 draw at the Etihad after substitute John Stones equalised in the 98th minute.
In an epic encounter at the Etihad, the Gunners battled back from Erling Haaland’s early opener to take the lead before the break. Riccardo Calafiori marked his first start in the Premier League with a beautiful curler to level before Gabriel Magalhaes, for the second time in a week, headed home a Bukayo Saka corner with brutal force.
Despite City’s overall control, Arteta’s side looked good value for their lead only for the game to be turned on its head in stoppage time of the first half when Leandro Trossard was given his marching orders after receiving a second yellow card from referee Michael Oliver for kicking the ball away.
Arsenal’s decision to see out the second period without any attacking outlet created a one-dimensional game where Pep Guardiola’s side had 88% possession and mounted wave after wave of attacks that the Gunners repelled. Goalkeeper David Raya was called into action on several occasions before the away side’s stubborn resistance was broken at the death by Stone’s strike after the ball fell loose in a packed box.
Facing questions from Sky Sports, a clearly frustrated Arteta said: “It’s unbelievable what the players did. The way we played in the normal conditions, which are super, super difficult, that’s why they haven’t lost here for 40-something games and then the context we were thrown against 10 men for 55, 56 minutes. That is the story that tells the character of our players, I’m extremely proud of them.”
The Gunners were very much under the cosh in the opening 15 minutes and might easily have fallen further behind but they slowly grew in confidence before taking two chances and creating a couple of others.
“They had two situations, the one with Gundogan in between, he was playing just behind Haaland and pinning them, and he created an opening from that situation. And then the goal [for Haaland] but they didn’t create much more than that.
“But we had to dig in, get some control, behaving more stable in what we want to do. We get that, we were very efficient in front of goal, we went up 2-1 and then there are two incidents, very similar, in particular one very different, with a very different outcome that obviously forces you to play a game that nobody wanted to watch.”
The two incidents to which he refers are likely to be the talking point for the rest of the week. Having lost Declan Rice to a red card against Brighton in similar circumstances, Arteta was clearly incensed that two examples of play being delayed were treated differently by the officials. First, Jeremy Doku kicked the ball away and avoided a booking but when Leandro Trossard did the same, he felt the full force of the law having already picked up an earlier booking for a tug.
Asked for his view on the Belgian’s sending off, Arteta said: “I think it’s very clear. It’s very obvious. And hopefully what 100 per cent of other people think.
“It’s not my job to come here and judge what happened. My job is to survive in the most difficult environment you can have in football for 55 minutes and try to get things done to survive. That is my job.
“The rest is not my job and it’s already the second time that [a red card for delaying the restart] has happened in five games which is really, really worrying if we want to see the best Premier League.
He added: If you’ve played football or any sport, it’s less than a second [between the whistle and Trossard kicking the ball]. Less. Than. A. Second. The previous one [Doku’s] is more than a second. That’s it. Simple.”
As for how his players reacted to the latest setback, he continued: “It was mission impossible. It’s already very hard against 11 players with 10 it’s impossible. Because we have an opponent who puts you under pressure that means you’re going to defend you’re six-yard box time and time and time after time. That’s it.
“[We did] Unbelievably well, I’m so proud of them. When you have survived for that many minutes, to concede in the last minute the way we did because we had to play 97 and then it went to 99 [minutes], it’s very disappointing. At the same time, I cannot be prouder of them and the way they competed today.”
Proud is right.
I hope it doesn’t come down to 2 points at the end of the season…
If it does I’d be far more disappointed in the two points dropped at home to Brighton than this one gained. Nonetheless seven points from Villa, Tots and them away is a satisfactory return.
I love the Arsenal. Cut me and I bleed red and white.
I’m the same; just missing the white
Arteta says it went to 99 minutes? I could’ve sworn it went to 115.
Michael Oliver MVP. He should renegotiate his contract with the UAE, surely he deserves more.
Excellent, measured commentary. Well done boss. Keep pointing out the idiocy that is making the game a joke.
Said what he wanted to say, didn’t fall into traps that at least 3 questions were trying to set. The guy knows the politics of this game inside out.
PGMOL should be scrapped and the FA should start hiring some proper referees.
I really think they should move to a model of only hiring ex-pros. Probably the lower leagues (as they would presumably be more likely to need employment once their playing days are over), but absolutely no way do players get sent off for the inane shit we see at the moment if it were players making decisions. Check out what that little rat Martinez got away with yesterday for United. Its ludicrous- he literally jumped in the air, both feet off the ground, totally out of control. If he’d been an inch higher or a millisecond later, he shatters the… Read more »
Mikel is going to get suspended for gently mentioning something approaching what we all saw on the pitch- match officials cheating. Again.
I really do believe Arsenal need to get serious now. This is the same referee that sent off Martinelli in one of the most bizarre decisions I’ve seen in 60 years, later saying he was frustrated by the gunner’s time wasting thus admitting that the sending off had nothing to do with what Martinelli had or hadn’t done. Same referee that failed to send off Kovacic in what was a blatant red card offence and today he fails to apply the rules in a consistent and unbiased manner. Those are 3 things I remember off the top of my head… Read more »
I actually think he is a good ref until he loses his mind over stuff. Doesn’t do it every game but when he does wow
I think MA should go full out manic against the PGMOL. Yeah he’ll get suspended but at this point it needs to be done. I’m sure other Premiership clubs would join in.
Don’t bet on other Premiership clubs joining, remember Wolves trying to curtail the use of VAR?This is a fight that only Arsenal can fight
So far, it’s safe to say, Arsenal have lost 4 points due to badly inconsistent match officiating. Michael Oliver absolutely murdered this game today by his bad decisions and attempted his best to hand any points over to City he could today. In both instances of dropped points, 11 on 11, Arsenal were a proper team. If today it was 11 on 11, I firmly believe it would end City 1:3 Arsenal today.
It also cost us the title last year.
Now that we’ve (hopefully) all calmed down after the game, I’d like to make a general point, not specific to Arsenal but the whole game of football. The quality of officiating in English football simply isn’t good enough. Why? Because referees are no longer allowed to use their common sense and discretion. The sending-off of Trossard today was ridiculous, not because it was technically wrong but because the rules are stupid and referees have become robots. Two soft yellows should never lead to a player being sent off the pitch. The rules need to change now. A potentially brilliant game… Read more »
The problem isn’t common sense but lack of consistency, even within a game as evidenced today (Doku-Trossard) same offence, different outcome.
Same goes for Rice’s sending off. Can’t remember if it was on the same day or the day before but another player did the same thing and nothing happened, so clearly some refs do apply common sense.
I think you’ve missed the point. I didn’t want either Doku or Trossard booked for mindless minor offences.
Referees should not be able to use the “I had no choice” defence: they should be given latitude to use their discretion and common sense. And the PGMOL should back them.
Refereeing is not a science: it’s an art form.
I get your point and I agree that refereeing is more about managing the game than applying the rules, or at least it should be.
However, we are at a point where refs are required to apply the rules, which would be fine if these were applied consistently.
You’re right but the bigger problem is that the ref didn’t apply the same rules to both teams. No yellow for doku. Yellow for trossard. Not to mention it was will after the 6th minute of added time.
Imagine playing Sp*rs, Atalanta and City away, back to back to back, without Odegaard and with refs screwing us, and yet still be undefeated. I’m incredibly proud of this team.
That’s 4 points the refs have cause us. Maybe it is rigged. Probably not. But Brighton not carded. Arsenal carded and sent off. Doku not carded but trossard sent off.
And there will be no truth from the officials. They will just say Oliver had no choice. At least the ref in the Brighton game felt bad. Oliver was happy to send if trossard.