Man City 0 Arsenal 0
It was the fixture of the weekend as two of the sides embroiled in a three-horse title race met at the Etihad Stadium. After Liverpool had taken all three points off Brighton earlier in the day, the pressure was on both Man City and Arsenal to perform.
Pep Guardiola picked a back four that included four centre-backs for the visit of his old prodigy Mikel Arteta. Victory would take The Gunners back to the top of the table, while for Man City, it would take them to within a point of leaders Liverpool.
The visitors had the first sight of goal as White got to the byline and clipped a ball to the back post to find Jesus. He took it on his chest and shot, but dragged his effort wide of the near post, not troubling Ortega in the Man City goal.
Man City then forced a corner and as the ball was whipped in, Ake had a free header only two yards out. He headed it straight at Raya, with the ball more striking the keeper than him making a save. Either side of the Spaniard and Guardiola’s side would have taken the lead.
Credit: @premierleague
Arteta’s side were clearly looking to play a counter-attacking game. As they broke with Odegaard, he fed the ball to Kiwior, who picked out Jesus on the edge of the box. He twisted and turned before getting a shot away with his left foot, which had Ortega scrambling as it narrowly missed the far post.
City continued to play their short passing game. Akanji clipped a cross into the box and Rodri met it with a glancing header which went well wide of the target. Aside from Ake’s header, the defending champions were struggling to create clear sights of goal.
It was forty-five minutes of half chances as the two sides went into the break level. After the interval, Kovacic tried his luck from distance but the effort was always moving away from goal with Raya at full stretch trying to cover his far post.
Arsenal came forward and Saka got to the byline on a rare occasion. He played the ball across the six yard box but Jesus could not get on the end of it. This is one of the negatives with Jesus dropping deep trying to link play, they often lack someone to attack crosses in the box as a result.
Man City forced a corner which Gvardiol met with a glancing header. Haaland ghosted in at the back post but got his feet all tangled up as it went through his legs. Not what you expect to see from Guardiola’s goal machine. It was a half-chance which in this game, was a rarity.
In the dying moments of the game, Odegaard threaded a ball through in behind the defence to Trossard. Martinelli was screaming for the ball at the back post, completely unmarked. The Belgian took the wrong option as he opted to shoot from a tight angle, which Ortega saved.
Credit: @premierleague
Both teams huffed and puffed but this really ended in a bore draw. Games like this are the ones every fan wants to see but this failed to be a ‘where were you when’ moment. The real winners were the people who opted to do something else with their Sunday afternoon.
In a title race that we all hope goes to the wire, advantage has been handed to Jurgen Klopp’s side. With nine games left to play, no doubt we will see many twists and turns before we find out who will be this season’s Premier League champions.
Did you enjoy this article? Please share to your social media. With one click you can help spread the word and make Solid at the Back the one-stop shop for all Premier League fans.