Arsenal left the Etihad with a hard-fought point, despite being reduced to 10 men just before half-time. However, despite their resolute, backs-to-the-wall performance, there was an underlying sense of disappointment, as they came so close to securing their first away win against Manchester City since 2015.
Here’s what the managers, players, pundits and stattos made of this afternoon’s 2-2 draw…
Mikel Arteta on his side’s performance…
We had a very difficult start. In the first 10-15 minutes we were struggling in two occasions to control certain spaces and we didn’t have enough ability to get out of the first 25-30 metres of the pitch, which meant that we never controlled the game. After that, we started to understand better what we had to do. We’re much more efficient. We’re back on the game, winning it and we had the best moment. Obviously, we were thrown to a context of the game that makes it almost impossible for 56 minutes. But anyway, we adapted to that context in the best possible way and the way the team competes is just unbelievable. I’m so proud of them. You cannot be thrown a more difficult situation against that kind of opponent and the way we deal with it, the way we handle the situation is unbelievable. I’m so proud of them.
Source: Post-game press conference
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Pep Guardiola on Arsenal’s rearguard action
A big compliment to Arsenal as they defended every ball until the end. We created chances, maybe not clear. They have Calafiori, Saliba, Gabriel, Partey and Rice -you know the commitment was so difficult. We did really well. They wanted to stop the game. We were patient enough. At the end we were fortunate and we tried to win in the second half.
Source: BBC Match of the Day
Man City (2.41) 2-2 (1.02) Arsenal
— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) September 22, 2024
Riccardo Calafiori’s reaction to a hectic full debut…
I am so happy to have scored and I am a bit disappointed that we didn’t win. It was so tough. We reacted really good and the second half was extremely tough, more mentally than physically.
Source: BBC Match of the Day
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John Stones on Arsenal’s mastery of the ‘dark arts’…
I wouldn’t say they’ve mastered it. They’ve done it for a few years and we know to expect that. You can call it clever or dirty, whichever way you want to put it, they break up the game and it upsets the rhythm for everyone. They use it for their advantage. I thought we dealt with it really well. It’s not easy when those things are happening, you’re trying to gain momentum and those little stoppages stop that.
Source: Sky Sports
Long shots this afternoon (efforts worth 0.05(xG) or less):
◎ Man City: 25
◎ Arsenal: 1Guess which one went in 😅
— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) September 22, 2024
Arteta’s thoughts on the nature of Trossard’s red card…
I’m expecting 100 Premier League games this season to play 10 against 11, or 10 against 10, or 9 against 10. Let’s see.
Source: Post-game press conference
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Jurrien Timber on how he’s coping with all the football and today’s result…
You want to win. Thursday, today, we didn’t but still, it was a long and hard week for myself. It’s been a long time since I’ve played so many games, especially in seven days, so that’s really good. We just need to keep going and keep improving. I think we showed a huge performance today. No win, unlucky, but I think we can build on this for sure.
Source: Arsenal.com
28 – Man City’s 98th minute equaliser was their latest goal scored on record (from 06-07) in a Premier League match. It was from their 28th shot of the second half, the joint-second highest ever by a side on record (from 03-04) in a single half of Premier League football. Chaos. pic.twitter.com/q7FAq3yEAm
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 22, 2024
Joe Hart on an exciting showdown…
My heart is beating out of my chest, I absolutely loved that. Wild at the end, so much passion. A great effort from Arsenal, from the ten players. City stayed true to how they want to play. A special mention to David Raya’s incredible performance.
Source: premierleague.com
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Arteta on the red card’s toll on the game…
I want to be involved in a game at this level that puts the game in a situation that we can enjoy it and we can talk about it in the proper way and we are not talking about that, it’s clear, you haven’t asked me one single tactical question.
Source: Post-game press conference
Man City vs Arsenal: Second Half Passes & Crosses pic.twitter.com/8l4tFs9ztj
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) September 22, 2024
Ian Wright on Arsenal settling for a point…
When he [Arteta] looks back at this if you go to City with ten men for so long, in the end, you’ve got to be happy to take the point. It would have brilliant if the game was 11 v 11. I’m so proud of the boys to go that long. It all kicked off at the end there because they went so close to holding off City, it would have been great from the mentally.
Source: premierleague.com
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Micah Richards on Arsenal’s centre-backs…
Gabriel and Saliba were unbelievable. To defend like that for 45 minutes in the second half against the best team in the league is remarkable. When Gabriel came to Arsenal he was making a few mistakes, but he has changed his game to be reliable.
Source: Sky Sports
Lol, Sky asked Opta how many mins the ball was in play for the 2nd half (obviously to feed a narrative about time wasting etc) & the answer was 35mins. The MOST of ANY game in the league this season.
— RG (@GeezyPeas) September 22, 2024
Roy Keane on Arsenal’s decision to stick everyone behind the ball…
I know we’re giving them credit for sitting in and defending but they still need to do a little bit more in possession. Ok, it came on late, the goal, but you always felt it was going to come. You’re talking about Arsenal Football Club trying to win league titles, they done it as well against Brighton in the last 10 or 15 minutes, they were almost time-wasting, settling for a draw. I want to see another side to Arsenal and I didn’t quite see it today.
Source: Sky Sports
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Theo Walcott on Arsenal’s effort…
They’ve worked so hard. They would have taken that at the start of the game. They’ve limited City to scraps.
Source: Sky Sports
David Raya's nine saves today are the joint-most on record (since 2003-04) by an #Arsenal keeper in a Premier League match.
Was going to lament how he didn't deserve to be on the losing side, but obviously he wasn't! Testament to us though I think that it feels like a loss
— Tom Ede (@TomEde1) September 22, 2024
Roy Keane, it’s time to retire from punditry, surely all your gambling debts and bar tabs are paid off by now.
Can’t appreciate good attacking, can’t appreciate good defending. His throughline is that nothing in life is impressive, unless it’s Roy Keane. Wrighty and Micah Richards aren’t getting paid anywhere near enough to dilute his psychosis.
He’s completely unimpressive- the phrase “impotent rage” springs to mind whenever I see him.
I’m surprised how rattled the manciteh players are with the result. Probably because they were unable to win the match despite being helped by the ref
He’s a true ass.
He’s a bitter old fart who says nothing of interest. Like the washed up bores on 606 he’s just there to stir controversy in an effort to drive engagement.
His name is all that draws water these days, and most viewers of matches now have no idea who the grouchy old hobo is
Couldn’t see another side of Arsenal? Keane’s head is so far up his ass I’m surprised he was able to see the game at all. Fuck off
I have some spare change, if he hasn’t yet settled his debts to retire…
Is Roy actually serious? How can he say that without the context of being down to 10 men?
Any other team tried doing what he suggested and they’d have lost by 2 or 3 goals.
Yeah. How dumb was he. And he seems to forgotten we were a goal up! It was a completely viable strategy to dig deep and defend our lead, with 10 men against city at their home. We weren’t fighting for a point and we almost pulled off the win too!
Yes, if the whistle had been blown at the end of the “allotted” ET, they would not have scored!
Same with the second yellow from Tross
He hate protect the brand. Can’t admit the whole 2nd half was a joke because of a shambolic call.
No bone to pick with Roy, he’s useless. Wright though! What can I say? I enjoy his celebrations when we score and win games but for a man brought on to bring an “arsenal perspective” when other teams have a biased pundit I feel him very infuriating when he even sides with their weird opinions just to look neutral. Rice and now Trossard but Doku gets away with it, I watched Colwill sleep on the ball then carry it away after yesterday and nothing. Nothing! Saliba got it for half that. How about a pundit who says “look, I understand… Read more »
That’s a replica of the reaction from many rival fans. People are calling us cheats, dirty, anti-football etc.
Liverpool played Tottenham exactly this way last season when they had a man down… I never saw this much outrage. I am honestly baffled. What has Arsenal football club done to the wider football community to be copping this much hate? Surely, such level of hatred should be reserved for cheats like Citeh, no? Mental.
Best ignore the inflammatory pundits. The whole model is that they wind us up and generate clicks. They don’t even believe what they are saying.
The Arsenal are the invincible’s. That’s what we have done to other clubs. They know they can never match it.
quality calls hate!
Not only that, if any other team had tried to do what we did they’d have lost by 2 or 3 goals.
Keane at one point spoke about how Arteta should have shown more class. Linke you did with Alf Inge Haaland you mean, Roy?
Can’t’ take anything he says seriously. He’s an A grade tool.
Roy will be Roy and Merse will be Merse… almost hard wired as wind up merchants but I was most disappointed with Theo’s meek punditry. It felt like he was intimidated by Keane when we needed someone to tell him to shut the fuck up and talk some sense, someone like Keown.. Saying we would’ve been happy with a point when that is clearly and visually not true, then defending the injustice of the ref and not mentioning the zero time delay between kicking the ball and whistle blow. Then not pointing out Doku’s same infringement earlier. It just felt… Read more »
Yep I found Theo to really intimidated. I guess that’s partly why Keown won league titles and Theo never. Get a backbone son and just talk what you see. I have to say I think Trossard was just plain stupid. He could have easily got a yellow for going into back of silva and Oliver was gonna let that go I think but then Trossard had to just not kick ball. I do think many Arsenal fans (I’m at times one of em) see things very thick arsenal lens. I think shearer got it right with Doku situation. Oliver was… Read more »
How’s United’s season going Keane?
You stupid idiot
Roy Keane is a plonker.
Sure will be glad when Keane finally retires. Of course, he’ll be replaced by some other brain dead former player.
They have, Phil Jones. According to him Martinez was never a red.
Phil Jones is going to appear on television? The same Phil Jones from Manchester united? Did he get reconstructive facial surgery?
because that man is ugly as the day is long.
Let the oaf suffer through our up-coming title seasons first.
Roy Keane wanted to see a game of football, and we got it. For one half.
Ps. Phil McNulty gave us a glowing review on BBC, said this result proves we’re right in the title race.
McNulty makes Keane look like Einstein.
I heard that stat about the ball being in play for 35 minutes in the second half, which is the most in the Premier League. I know we had players go down with cramp and there were subs but struggling to understand where 7 minutes came from if the ball was in play for so long? We didn’t waste that much time! Also Haaland is a right knob head for throwing the ball at the back of Gabbies head after the equaliser.
Relieved to see I’m not crazy by that ball in play stat. The seven added minutes did my head in. I thought for sure they would add a lot to give City an advantage but was thinking 3-5 would be egregious.
Well, their goal was scored on the EIGHTH minute of ET so they did add more to give the 115ers the advantage
If the ball was in play for 35-36 minutes, then in fact there should have been 9-10 minutes added on.
Football should switch to 30 or 35 minute halves with a countdown clock and stoppages and nip this idiotic timewasting guesswork in the bud once and for all.
How can you say we need to do more in possession with 10 men against the best team in the league. Just shut the fuck up.
He’s wrong but so is this.
Nar he ain’t wrong let him leave this earth permanently
I really cannot understand this incredulous response to Arsenal’s 2nd half performance.
You’re a goal up, a man down against the most cheated coded team in history, and the pundits are like , “seems a bit overly defensive to me.”
so strange.
Yup. And yet Mourinho was a genius for doing it 11v11. Go figure.
Also the Walrus, the Goblin, Everton’s inflamed scrotum, etc, etc.
“You can call it clever or dirty, whichever way you want to put it”
I’ll call it resolute thanks Stones you bitter twat.
They mastered 115 dark arts..
Uhm no we wouldn’t have taken that at the start Walcott. We came for a win.
“Lol, Sky asked Opta how many mins the ball was in play for the 2nd half (obviously to feed a narrative about time wasting etc) & the answer was 35mins. The MOST of ANY game in the league this season.”
So where the fuck did seven minutes of extra time come from at the end, with even more being added on top of that until City got an equaliser?
Good point.
The refs don’t actually count, they just do whatever “feels right in the moment.”
Oh I am SO glad you noticed that too! I thought I was the only one who saw there was MORE time added on until they scored!
Keane is so d*mb
Sky asking Opta for how much time was wasted and finding out that Arsenal played 35 minutes with the ball in play in the second half, more than any half of football all season in any PL game.
When the board went up with 7 on it?? Where the fuck were 7 minutes of stopages in that 2nf half. Bullshit bent reffing for the card and the added time. Disband the PGMOL an organisation at best incompetent, at worst corrupt.
7 minutes went up, and then played for ten…
Defo corrupt in my book – they can’t all be THAT stupid, surely?
Distinction without a difference at this point- both have the same impact on the games and the brand.
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely
It takes nerve or complete ignorance to essentially call arsenal cheats for the dark arts when your team has been charged with over 100 violations for cheating.
Gave away a stupid red card against Brighton and now City. We really need to stop this self destruction tactics. We should have 5 wins out of 5 if we showed better discipline. Hopefully after 2 stupid red cards we learn our lesson that these bastard refs are after us.
May i speak for Arsenal, club as well as every fan, and say no one wishes to see any side of Roy Keane whatsoever except for the one shown when he fucks off? I may? OK then, fuck off Roy!
I don’t even think we should waste our time over Roy Keane. Or his good mate Neville.
What we did was nothing short of sensational. It was exhausting just to watch, I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for the boys, backs to the wall for 55+ mins. But we really should not be kicking the ball away after what happened to Rice. Trossard just handed himself on a platter to the ref.
Super proud of the whole team. COYG!!
Re: Stones
Buying off referees is the darkest of dark arts! You win!
Re the comments by John Stones about *the dark arts*
Yes because the Man C115ty players are fucking saints who never throw themselves to the ground or surround the referee 🙄
Twat!
Couple if things:
1. John Stone’s po-faced pontificating on our use of the ‘dark arts’ when he’s played for a manager who wrote the book on rotational fouling.
2. MotD 2’s snide celebration of Haaland bouncing the ball off Gabriel in the aftermath of the City equaliser; Suck their Mums.
Bonus: unsurprising absent condemnation of City celebrating at the end as if they’ve won the League.
When in history have so many players from one team gone running their mouths about one opponent? It’s out of control they need their traps shut and praying we can do that at the Emirates.
That’s usually a sign of worry. Man City are worried because they know we can beat them and snatch the title from them this season. Shit, had they not been granted impunity to cheat they would have lost any hopes of titles a couple of years ago.
The cheating fucks!
Well fck united twat
Roy Keane can fuck off.
Keane is a clickbait whore! Even I am talking about him now. He accomplished what he set out for
The point is that if referees want to get petty about kicking a ball away 0.84 seconds after the whistle, why can:
– Haaland throw the ball at an opponent to wind them up – no caution
– Vicario play basketball outside his area – no caution
– both Pedro (Brighton) and Doku (City) kick the ball away – no caution
Don’t forget you are allowed to commit sa and “regular” assault if it’s on Gabi jesus
It’s blatantly obvious referees are against us since we are City’s closest rivals now. Few years ago it was Pool and they lost the title to City by 1-2 points due to referee inconsistency.
Imagine playing for a team that has 115 charges of cheating over them and having the temerity to accuse Arsenal of cheating. Like get to fuck you prissy little cry babies. The fact that yesterday feels like a loss for us tells me we will be fine this season
Doesn’t bode well for 115 with Rodri potentially out the rest of the season. I’m glad he’s injured.
Another thing worth mentioning here is that we played 3 away games in 9 days, including international travel. That’s why the players were tired and cramping- absolutely no pundits mentioned this.
*8 days
Roy Keane and Erling Haaland. The two biggest meatheads in the game. Both can kick off….
I mean, look at Haaland. “My Friends kick round thing to me, i kick round thing into square thing. Errrrrrrrrr…..fire bad.”
We seem to be garnering a lot of hate lately. Feels like we are on a right track to greatness. Fuck being nice, we must continue to strengthen this ruggedness along with our silkiness. ‘nice team’ ‘nice football’ without points isnt a compliment anyways🤷🏾♂️. They have been rattled!
And they are still crying about how we played. We are right under their skin. No one would let us celebrate that draw if we were City. They would be drawing other lines in the sand. And we cant celebrate it because we were so close. City have always broken up play, for years, that is why they are so familiar with it. Just never had the defensive juggernaut we built. Don’t know how this whole thing also rubbed off the rest of the league fans, but I guess that means we have made it. They have always hated us… Read more »