Man City 0-0 Arsenal: Gunners make their point at the Etihad at last

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

For the first time since December 2015, Arsenal avoided defeat away to Man City. For the first time in 58 games at the Etihad, Man City failed to score a goal. It’s not a game that will go down in the annals as a classic, but in the context of our record there, it’s one that Mikel Arteta will be pleased about – even if it does leave us behind Liverpool in the title race.

The team saw Gabriel Jesus start for the first time since the end of January, playing on the left hand side, while the rest was pretty much as expected. The game quickly settled into a familiar pattern, with lots of City possession, and lots of it in our half. It was interesting to hear Martin Odegaard talk afterwards about how Arsenal playing that deep wasn’t part of the plan, it was just how it transpired:

We had to defend a lot, a bit more deep than we planned to. I feel like we were dangerous in certain moments on the counter when we managed to keep the ball for a little bit. but it’s hard when you’ve defended for a while and you get the ball and your legs are heavy.

Still, this is an Arsenal team who have built a platform on defensive solidity this season. We ended the first period with as many shots as City, and there were moments of attacking threat too. Jesus shot wide at the back post, then curled another beyond the far post. His tendency to hang onto the ball a bit too long is a frustration, but given he hasn’t played much of late, I thought he was effective enough yesterday.

City’s only real chance was a Nathan Ake header from a corner which could have been a lot more dangerous if he’d made proper contact, but David Raya was there to stop it. There was also a scrappiness about Arsenal in the first half that was a bit uncharacteristic. Raya slipped a couple of times and made bad passes, Odegaard’s range wasn’t quite there – at one point playing a pass off Declan Rice’s back where normally he’d…

Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/04/man-city-0-0-arsenal-gunners-make-their-point-at-the-etihad-at-last/

Author : arseblog

Publish date : 2024-04-01 06:57:54

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.