By Samuel A. March 31, 2024
Manchester City and Arsenal played out a rather boring 0-0 draw at the Etihad in a match high on pressure from both sides but short of clear cut goal scoring chances which left Liverpool two points clear at the top of the Premier League and three points off Manchester City after their win against Brighton earlier on Sunday afternoon.
With Jurgen Klopp’s side coming from behind to beat Brighton, all eyes were on the blockbuster match up in Manchester, but the stars of City and Arsenal seemed blunt and less agile than usual. The best chance of the game came in the first half, when Nathan Ake shouldered a corner at Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya from close range. The Dutchman would go off with a calf problem not long after further denting an injury hit City backline.
Arsenal failed to majorly trouble second keeper Stefan Ortega but once by sub Leandro Trossard in the final minutes from an angle after City replacement Jeremy Doku had twice fired off target. Erling Haaland barely had a kick and missed the ball completely when Josko Gvardiol’s knockdown seemed to open it up for him with six minutes to play.
The result extends Man City’s unbeaten home record to a remarkable 39 games, so Arsenal, who had lost their last eight here in all competitions, may see positives in taking a point away. Pep Guardiola after the match said: “We take the point. We tried, we didn’t create much, they didn’t create much. The defence so compact and we cannot regain the balls high pressing because there’s long balls, second balls and they’re really good with Havertz and all the physicality they have. When Rico came in, they were in that side. They had one or two chances in transitions, especially when we lose one or two balls, but it was a tight game, we were who we are. Maybe we miss a little bit in the final third but it isn’t easy.
Liverpool are first. But there are still nine games and we will see what happens.”
Mikel Arteta on the other hand said: “If you don’t win, you’re never happy happy. But I think we have made a big step. We have experienced what happened here last year and we have come across in a different way. We have played a lot of parts of the game in an exceptional way and other parts of the game where we have the feeling we can do much better, especially with the ball in the first phase of the buildup when we didn’t have enough composure and patience to play more. Because after we committed some big, big, big situations to have the chance to win the game. To come to this big place, not a lot of teams have done what we’ve done today, and especially when there is a lot at stake, you have to respond and it’s another step. Nothing changes. We wanted to win. Unfortunately we know the Liverpool result but we have to carry on. Still a lot to play for.”
