MANCHESTER, England — John Stones' 98th-minute equalizer salvaged a 2-2 draw for Manchester City on Sunday against an Arsenal team that had to play the entire second half with 10 men after Leandro Trossard was controversially red-carded.
In a thrilling Etihad Stadium encounter between last season’s Premier League top two, Erling Haaland scored his 100th City goal in just 105 games to give the home side a ninth-minute lead. The Gunners responded impressively, though, as Riccardo Calafiori marked his league debut with a sublime left-footed strike before Gabriel Magalhães headed in Bukayo Saka’s corner in the 45th minute.
Trossard was sent off for a second yellow card for kicking the ball out after fouling Bernardo Silva, a moment that prompted a furious reaction from Gunners boss Mikel Arteta. City spent the entire second half camped on the edge of the Arsenal area but looked destined to lose a home league game for the first time in almost two years before Stones slotted home from close range after a scramble in the area following a penalty corner. –James Olley
Arsenal's indiscipline or refereeing inconsistency?
For the second time in three Premier League games, Arsenal have lost a player to a second yellow card for kicking the ball.
While Declan Rice was penalised for a slight elbow against Brighton & Hove Albion, Trossard was sent off here for kicking the ball wide of the goal after fouling Silva on the stroke of half-time. Both were technically correct decisions, but they were also examples of time-wasting, which often goes unpunished during matches, and often in the same games. João Pedro escaped punishment for kicking the ball out in that game against Brighton, while Jérémy Doku delayed play in the first half for City without receiving a booking.
Beyond the inconsistencies in the application of that particular law, though, Trossard’s red card extends the Gunners’ poor disciplinary record under Arteta. Since the Spaniard’s first game in December 2019, Arsenal have had 17 players sent off in the Premier League – four more than any other team. –Oley
The Gunners are preparing to give City a run for their money
Arteta has added some toughness to his Arsenal side this season, and it was evident within five seconds of kick-off when Kai Havertz brutally struck Rodri in the centre circle.
One of the criticisms of Arteta's Gunners during their fruitless title battles with City in recent years has been their lack of accuracy. They have plenty of talent, but was there something behind the smiles and joy of his young players?
Those smiles have been replaced by snarls this season, and Arteta’s side are beginning to develop the slump that plagued all of Arsene Wenger’s successful sides. Arsenal’s battles with Manchester United, when the two teams won every Premier League title over a nine-year period between 1996 and 2005, became legendary for the belligerence displayed by both sets of players.
Although City-Arsenal matches have yet to approach the intensity of the United-Arsenal rivalry, this game showed that it is certainly starting to build. The tackle on Havertz was one of several thorny exchanges, including Trossard's lunge at Silva that preceded his second yellow card.
Gabriel spent the afternoon battling with Haaland, while Calafiori and Jurriën Timber also brought toughness to the Arsenal defence. If the Gunners don't win the title again this season, it won't be for lack of fighting. –Mark Ogden
City should have been prepared for Arsenal's set-piece prowess
Manchester City could not say they had not been warned, in every sense. Moments before Gabriel headed in Saka's 45th-minute corner for what threatened to be the winner (until Stones headed in at the last moment), the Brazilian defender had a similar chance from another Saka pass that he headed wide.
Gabriel’s threat should have been obvious – 14 of his 16 Premier League goals have come from corners, the highest proportion of any player with 10 or more goals in Premier League history – and yet the first time he eluded Doku too easily and the second time he left Kyle Walker behind. Gabriel also headed in Saka’s corner to provide the decisive moment in Arsenal’s north London derby win over Tottenham Hotspur a week earlier.
The Gunners scored 22 goals from set-pieces last season, the most in the league, and the mastermind behind it all once wore City blue: Nicolas Jover left City for Arsenal in 2021. –Oley
The Gunners consolidate their status as genuine contenders
The transition was almost complete. Arsenal are desperate to prove they are finally ready to end City's dominance by winning their first Premier League title since 2004, and what better way to do that than by beating City in their own backyard?
The Gunners, like most teams to be fair, have a terrible away record against City – their most recent win in this fixture was in January 2015. That created an inferiority complex that has proven difficult to overcome.
In that context, last season's 0-0 draw was an important step in proving they are City's equal. On Sunday, they were seconds away from going even further and securing a thumping win that would have fuelled Arsenal's belief that they could become champions, but Stones robbed them of that feeling with almost the last shot of the game.
Arteta made some surprising decisions, such as allowing Calafiori to make his Premier League debut and shifting Timber to right-back at the expense of Ben White, who the manager later confirmed was suffering from an injury. Some criticised Arteta’s defensive approach in securing that 0-0 draw last season, and after Trossard’s red card he abandoned any intention of trying to attack given the numerical disadvantage his side faced for 45 minutes. White came on in place of Saka and Arsenal adopted a 5-4-0 formation.
Stones' goal leaves a bitter taste for Arteta, but he will be very proud of the way his side defended throughout the second half (20 shots against none), especially at the end of a long week that began with a win at Spurs and continued with a Champions League draw on Thursday night at Atalanta. The wait for a City win continues, but Guardiola knows he has a serious contender sitting close in his rearview mirror. — Olley
Pep had few answers as Arsenal frustrated the champions
Pep Guardiola must have felt like he was living a recurring nightmare as he watched his Manchester City side try to tear Arsenal apart in the second half. Arsenal, reduced to 10 players following Trossard's dismissal in the 45th minute, spent virtually the entire second half with a low defensive block of five defenders and four midfielders, sometimes less than two yards away, repelling City's attacks on the edge of their area.
Holding out for 45 minutes against a team as fearsome as City in attack may have seemed an impossible task for Arsenal, but they almost managed it, and Guardiola was as much to blame as his players for City's struggles to open the scoring before Stones' equaliser.
Guardiola fans will remember two epic Champions League exits at the Camp Nou, when his Barcelona side failed to overcome two teams (Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan in 2010 and Roberto Di Matteo’s Chelsea in 2012) who spent the entire second half stifling the ball and defending on the edge of their penalty area. It happened again on Sunday at the Etihad, with Guardiola failing to make key changes when it was clear his side were struggling to score.
City's tactics boiled down to defenders Walker, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji unleashing ambitious shots from outside the box, and it was so obvious that Guardiola had to do something. Yet he waited until the 70th minute before making a substitution (Phil Foden for Doku) and eight minutes later to bring on Stones and Jack Grealish.
The changes were not of much consequence until Stones came on, but Guardiola should have made changes earlier. He did not need two centre-backs on the pitch against a strikerless Arsenal and was too slow to introduce Grealish.
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How Haaland equalled Ronaldo with his 100th goal for Manchester City
Let's recap how Erling Haaland equalled Cristiano Ronaldo's record as the fastest man to score 100 goals for a European club.
On this occasion, City and Guardiola got their way, but Arsenal came very close to frustrating the champions and securing an incredible victory. –Ogden
Cracks appear in the city without Rodri
If anyone still had any doubts about Rodri's importance to Manchester City, the midfielder's first-half injury, which forced him off the game, underlined why he is arguably the one player Guardiola cannot do without.
Rodri suffered a knee injury in a seemingly harmless clash with Thomas Partey in the 20th minute. He had to undergo treatment for a lengthy spell on the pitch before being replaced by Mateo Kovacic when it became clear the Spanish midfielder was unable to continue.
Without Rodri, City lack the glue that holds the team together. He is the best defensive midfielder in the world, but his game has much more to offer than that, and his creativity is what makes him so important to the team.
City have not lost a Premier League game with Rodri in the team since defeat to Tottenham in 2023, a run that now stretches to 52 games.
When he was out through suspension early last season, City lost back-to-back league games against Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, so if Rodri faces a spell out through injury it will be interesting to see how City cope. They almost lost to Arsenal but Stones equalised late on, so the cracks in the team without Rodri are already showing. — Ogden
