Soccer

Arsenal hold Manchester City to leave Liverpool with slight title advantage

City held goalless at home for the first time in 58 matches while Arsenal avoid defeat in the Etihad for the first time in nine attempts

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola speaks with Arsenal's Declan Rice following the Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA Wire
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola speaks with Arsenal's Declan Rice following the Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA Wire
David Hytner at the Etihad Stadium
Sun Mar 31 2024 - 19:11
Premier League: Manchester City 0 Arsenal 0

It is fair to say that the bar was set low for Arsenal. On eight previous occasions in all competitions, they had visited this stadium to take on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. On all eight they had lost. This was much better. It was not the statement victory they had craved, the one to really ignite dreams of a first Premier League title in 20 years.

But it was a result that kept them above the defending champions, with another game chalked off, the margins narrowing further in the race for the title. If Liverpool, watching from the other end of the East Lancs Road after their home win over Brighton, were the winners, then Arsenal could not grumble too much.

Theirs was an intensely disciplined performance. It might have added up to disappointment for the neutral, for the hoped-for spectacle, but Mikel Arteta would surely have taken this beforehand. Arsenal are a club for whom the psychological questions feel perennial. They showed some personality here.

For the first time in 58 matches here, City were held goalless; a club record sequence brought to the most grinding of halts. It had felt as though they, too, would rather have avoided defeat and so, in a way, they could take a positive. Their unbeaten run at the Etihad rolled on to 39 games. But the pickings were slimmer for them. Their idea had been to flex their muscles. They tend to do so at this time of the season. They always do against Arsenal. In a game of precious little incident, they could not make it happen.

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It seemed as if Arsenal had been assaulted by negative statistical pointers. How about this one? They had won just once in 19 previous away league games against the defending champions. Yet they had travelled to Manchester in hope, which represented a break from the recent norm.

Arteta was boosted by the availability of Gabriel Magalhães, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus, each of whom had stood down from national team duty over the past fortnight, while Gabriel Martinelli was back among the substitutes, making a late appearance. City, by contrast, were without the injured Ederson and Kyle Walker, with John Stones fit enough only for the bench.

Guardiola’s decision to start Mateo Kovacic in midfield alongside Rodri advertised his desire for control, to set the tempo. It was Manuel Akanji up and inside from right-back at the outset or maybe outside – the emphasis was on the up part of it – while Josko Gvaradiol was similarly advanced from left-back, albeit in a straighter line around the outside. It was because Phil Foden embraced his license to roam inside from the left wing.

It was all slow-burn tactical nuance, Guardiola forced to tweak when Nathan Aké felt something, his game over. Akanji shuffled inside, Rico Lewis entered at right-back. The principles did not change.

City hogged the ball. They tried to draw the red shirts out of position with patient approach work. Arsenal measured their progress in the tightness of their shape out of possession, the muscularity of their challenges in the one-on-ones, Gabriel setting the example. That, and their ability to break out, which they did a few times before the interval.

Ben White dropped a cross over Akanji in the early running which Jesus took down only to drag wide with no real power and Arsenal’s best moment of the first period came just after the half hour. It was Jakub Kiwior who touched back for Jesus and, when he jinked to create a half-yard, he arrowed a low shot just past the far post.

Arsenal's Declan Rice. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA Wire
Arsenal's Declan Rice. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA Wire

City could not penetrate in the first half. They asked why the referee, Anthony Taylor, kept his yellow card in his pocket after a clutch of Arsenal fouls. The home crowd sensed vulnerability in David Raya when he had the ball at his feet; there were a few iffy clearance from the Arsenal goalkeeper.

Aké had muscled on to a Kevin De Bruyne corner in the 16th minute but he did not get hold of the header, although Raya still needed to be sharp to block. Erling Haaland was bothered out of a header by Gabriel after a Gvardiol cross.

Arsenal pushed for a bit at the start of the second half; they won a few balls and almost got the transitions to work. Martin Ødegaard fed Saka, whose cross was meant for Jesus. He could not get there, Akanji defending the situation well. Previously, Kovacic had bent wide at the other end.

The game was locked and Guardiola moved first, swapping Kovacic and Foden for two pure wingers – Jérémy Doku and Jack Grealish. Silva went in alongside Rodri. It was an attacking change. Doku’s first touch was electric. The less said about his end product the better.

Arteta stuck with like-for-like substitutions. He liked how it was going. His watchwords remained the same. The focus had to be unwavering. Do not lose the individual battles. More broadly, do not lose.

Could there be a late twist? The answer was no. Haaland air-kicked under pressure at the far post after Gvardiol had flicked on a De Bruyne corner while the Arsenal substitute Leandro Trossard ran on to an Ødegaard pass only to lack conviction with the finish.

- Guardian