Saliba and Gabriel imperious as Arsenal share the spoils at the Etihad

Manchester City 0 Arsenal 0   
Premier League   
Sunday 31st March 2024  4.30pm    

I don’t think there were too many Gooners who wouldn’t have have taken a point from this game if you’d offered it to them before kick off at the Etihad. This observer felt that a win might be possible if both Saka and Martinelli began the game, but the two were never on the pitch at the same time. 

 

Let’s start by looking at how things are different from last season’s late April visit to the same venue. Arsenal had drawn three in a row and were then stuffed 4-1 by City. The differences in team selection were that Ramsdale, Holding, Zinchenko, Partey, Xhaka and Martinelli started. Yesterday, we saw Raya, Saliba, Kiwior, Jorginho, Rice and Havertz. 

 

It was a very different performance shown by Mikel Arteta’s team, one in which the defensive work, organisation, focus and discipline was off the scale. Play as well as this in Europe and Arsenal could win some tight ties in the way that the 2005-06 team did on their route to the final. Remember they didn’t concede a goal in the six knockout matches that led to Paris. 

 

City had one glorious chance in the first half when Ake’s header from a corner wasn’t as clean as he’d have wanted and went straight to Raya at point blank range. Haaland hit an air shot in the second half when close in at an angle and some longer efforts drifted wide. Critically, the home side rarely had space for a clean hit inside the area, testament to the visitors’ defensive solidity, embodied by the rightly lauded standout performances of Gabriel and Saliba. The pair dealt very well to negate Haaland, who thankfully isn’t having quite such an imperious season as his first in England. 

 

Guardiola’s side dominated territory and possession. I don’t think this was the gameplan, but just as the Gunners are an excellent pressing team, City don’t tend to wait too long to win the ball back and playing from deep, Arsenal rarely had the chance to establish long periods of keep ball. For the neutral, it was a poor game to watch, no question. For fans of the two sides, the tension replaced any thoughts of being entertained. The stakes are high enough in any match at this stage of the season for title contenders, but that rises when they play each other. That Arsenal have taken eight points out of 12 from their matches against the others in the top three is a marker of their development.

 

On the counter attack, they might have won the match. Two second half moments were not capitalised upon by Jesus failing to make contact with Saka’s ball across the face of the goal, and late on Trossard not having enough confidence in his weaker foot to play a first time pass to the free Martinelli. A bit of me does think that VAR might have chalked it off for offside against the Belgian. We’ll never know. It was superb play by Partey and Odegaard to set him away. 

 

Liverpool’s win earlier in the afternoon at home to Brighton means they are two points clear of Arsenal with an inferior goal difference. City are a point behind the Gunners. So tight that everything can change in one round of games. All Arsenal can do is win as many of their matches as they can and see what the others do. On paper their run-in is slightly tougher due to their away trips (Brighton, Wolves, Spurs and Manchester United), but the team that wins the title generally puts together a winning run, regardless of their opposition. Keep everyone fit and the Gunners can win every match of the nine they have left to play. Drop cheap points and they can kiss goodbye to hopes of a first title since the Invincibles. 

 

City are unquestionably weakened a little by injuries, but everything is relative. They have a very deep squad. Alvarez didn’t even get on the pitch yesterday. Guardiola used three subs – one of those the enforced replacement of Ake in the first half. Arteta used four, mainly to replace tired legs with fresh ones. Tomiyasu came on for Kiwior who’d played two hours of intense play-off football for Poland in midweek. 

 

Ultimately, this was a defensive masterclass by Arsenal. And much as their attacking moves against easier opposition may be eye candy, it is by not conceding goals that they can secure the results that could win the title. I recall the run-in to the 1997-98 title. Arsene Wenger’s first trophy was secured with two matches to spare. The team played a sequence of 14 league matches from the end of January until securing the title at home to Everton. They took 40 points from 42 available, winning 13. They conceded two goals in those matches.

 

Fast forward to this season. 9 matches left. In their last nine league fixtures, since 20^th January, they have taken 25 points from 27, conceding four goals. They’ve had one serious blip all season, a period of five matches in December when they dropped 11 points. But they are back on track and putting together the kind of run that champions do. More points are required to win titles these days, but the Gunners are showing title form. Not conceding any more goals is a long shot, but a solid defence, even without ultimate perfection, should provide the platform for winning every match between now and the campaign’s end. And for all the talk of possible twists and turns, they just might need to.

 

One final word on the change of rules regarding ballboys. They can’t hand the ball to the players anymore to prevent the dark arts of either speeding up play or delaying it. Players have to take the balls from allocated places instead. Football sure isn’t what it used to be, and we’ll no longer enjoy moments of wonderful drama such as this. Shame.

 

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