How Manchester City denied 10-man Arsenal a famous win thanks ...

Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva, speaking to TNT Sports after the match, certainly didn't hold back in his assessment of Arsenal.

He said: "There was only one team that came to play football. The other came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee, unfortunately. It all started in the very first second. In the first action we realised what was going to happen.

"We had a player injured after they sent him to the ground twice in ten minutes. We had a goal conceded after the referee called our captain and then didn't allow him to recover his position. The second goal is already their usual block to our keeper allowed by the referee.

"And then the referee allowed a sequence of time-wasting events. The thing that bothers me the most is having a lot of meetings with the FA at the beginning of each season. They tell us they will control this kind of situation and will stop them, but at the end it doesn't have any worth. They say a lot but nothing happens."

When asked about City's rivalry with Liverpool compared to the rivalry with Arsenal, he added: "Maybe that Liverpool have already won a Premier League, Arsenal haven't. That Liverpool have won a Champions League, Arsenal haven't.

"Liverpool always faced us face-to-face to try to win the games, so by this perspective the games against Arsenal haven't been like the ones we had and have against Liverpool. So yes, maybe a different rivalry."

There are a million things to catch the eye from the brilliant, unexpectedly dramatic draw between Manchester City and Arsenal.

There were handbags from start to finish, from Kai Havertz giving Rodri a Richard Ashcroft shoulder-barge in the first five seconds to Erling Haaland celebratorily donking the ball off the back of Gabriel’s head after John Stones nicked an equaliser that never looked like coming.

Arsenal clearly came north to lay down a marker and prove that they have the mentality to go toe-to-toe with City, not just in a title race but over the course of 90 minutes, and in some ways, they proved the latter point despite Stones’ last-gasp goal.

For all of the chaos, tactical queries, pushes, shoves and goals, the biggest moment may have come in the 21st minute when Rodri came off injured. Here is why.

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Rodri injury may be the most significant moment for Man City in a match of a million things

What next for Manchester City?

What next for Arsenal?

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, speaking to Sky Sports, said after the match: "Absolutely I am proud. The way the players played in the normal conditions was excellent, it was difficult, which is why they have not lost here for forty-something games.

"Then the context that we are thrown into playing as ten men for 55 minutes. That tells you the story and the character of our players and I am extremely proud of them.

"When you have survived that long, 97 minutes, and then it went to 99, very disappointed, but I could not be prouder of my players and the way that they competed today."

When asked if Arsenal deliberately slowed the game down, he added: "That is not for me to comment."

Manchester City's Pep Guardiola, speaking to BBC Match of the Day after the action, said: "A big compliment to Arsenal as they defended every ball until the end. We created chances, maybe not clear.

"They have Calafiori, Saliba, Gabriel, Partey and Rice, you know the commitment was so difficult. We did really well. They wanted to stop the game. We were patient enough. At the end we were fortunate and we tried to win in the second half.

"I admire my team. My team started well after interruptions for many things and after the first goal the referee asked the captains to talk. We defended really bad for the second one and they are incredible. Gabriel is so strong in that position."

Arsenal goalscorer Riccardo Calafiori speaking to BBC Match of the Day after the game, said: "I am so happy to have scored and I am a bit disappointed that we didn't win.

"It was so tough.

"We reacted really good and the second half was extremely tough, more mentally than physically."

After the match, John Stones discussed the instructions he was given by manager Pep Guardiola before coming on.

He said: "To play close to Erling (Haaland) and get more crosses into the box. We controlled the game outside the box so well and it's so difficult to break them down when they have 10 players so close to their goal.

"The goal came from a quick corner. I tried to stay within the width of the goal. I didn't get the cleanest strike and that is sometimes how the ball goes in."

When asked if he thought the match was over, he added: "No. Prime example a few years ago against Villa here (when they came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2). I think that sums it up. We have that belief we can win any game and never stop fighting."

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he expects “100 Premier League games” this season to see players sent off for delaying restarts after Leandro Trossard received a second yellow card for the offence during Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City.

Trossard’s sending off drew comparisons to that of team-mate Declan Rice, when the midfielder was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away during Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion last month.

“I prefer not to comment,” Arteta said when asked about Trossard’s dismissal. “I’ve seen it and it’s that obvious so I’ll leave it to you guys. I was already in big trouble trying to solve what happened on the pitch. It’s not my problem to solve what happens off the pitch.

“It’s that obvious that it’s not necessary to comment on it. It’s the second time. I’m expecting 100 Premier League games to be, 10 against 11 or nine vs 10 this season. Let’s see.”

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Arteta expects ‘100 games’ with red cards after Trossard’s sending off in Arsenal’s draw at Manchester City

Another record for Erling Haaland today.

As well as scoring his 100th Manchester City goal, he netted his 10th league goal of the campaign — that is the most a player has managed after the first five games of a season in competition history.

Arsenal’s set pieces have reached unstoppable levels. Gabriel’s header to put them 2-1 up made it 31 Premier League goals they’ve scored from corners since the start of the 2022-23 season. Nobody can match Arteta’s side.

The targets and the deliveries don’t change — Arsenal almost exclusively play in-swingers from both sides of the pitch, with Gabriel’s bonce the primary target.

City had their warning before the goal, and the move they eventually scored from was the same, just like Arsenal’s winner in the north London derby last Sunday: a Saka inswinger from the right, Gabriel header in the six-yard box.

Whereas most teams defend against Arsenal with a mix of zonal markers (their better aerial players) and blockers (smaller guys), City’s approach was almost completely zonal, apart from whoever was on Gabriel.

Teams are increasingly going to more extreme set-piece defensive schemes against Arsenal, but they keep finding solutions.

Let’s talk largely about the first half here, because after the red card, the game became slightly less about Rodri, apart from his proven quality at hitting long shots, which is an obvious point to make considering how many opportunities City had to shoot from range (and little else).

So, before Trossard’s dismissal, there was obviously a strong correlation between Rodri going off injured after 21 minutes and City not playing as well as they were with him on the pitch/Arsenal getting better following his departure.

But it is impossible to infer causation because you would never have expected any top team, especially Arsenal, to not start to change the rhythm. City had dominated early on and looked irresistible when Haaland scored, but they looked a lot less sure of themselves after Rodri went off.

With Arsenal’s quality and threat, it is just as easy to conclude they deserve some credit for how they responded to going a goal down in enemy territory, while noting that, of course, having Rodri on the pitch for the whole match would have been a help to City overall.

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Man City 2 Arsenal 2 – Controversial red, quick free kicks and rivalry ignited in classic

Three weeks after Arsenal had Rice sent off against Brighton for delaying the restart, his team-mate Trossard suffered the same fate at the Etihad.

The Belgian international had already been booked for tugging back Savinho — a professional foul that saw Arsenal offer no complaints. Then, in the final moments of the first half, he barged into Bernardo Silva. Oliver blew his whistle for the foul, and Trossard then booted the ball up into the air.

He may argue he assumed the whistle marked the end of the half, as the indicated stoppage time had elapsed by that point. But Oliver saw it otherwise, producing a second yellow card and sending Trossard off for delaying the restart.

The directive to reduce gamesmanship and time-wasting is admirable, but a sending-off does feel like unduly harsh punishment here, especially when it has such an enormous impact on the quality of the spectacle. Arsenal’s players know all too well that referees are hot on this issue.

Trossard should have thought twice before kicking the ball away. Arsenal’s biggest frustration, however, will be a lack of consistency. Earlier, City’s Jeremy Doku appeared to deliberately knock the ball beyond Rice earlier in the first half, yet was not shown a yellow card.

Riccardo Calafiori’s brilliant strike brought Arsenal level in the 22nd minute but sparked protests from the City players. Here’s a breakdown of what happened…

The foul by Ilkay Gundogan on Thomas Partey took place 10 yards shy of the centre circle, before referee Michael Oliver called Kyle Walker over from his position at right-back to speak to him. Meanwhile, Declan Rice and Thomas Partey moved the ball forward to near the centre circle.

The referee blew his whistle to allow Thomas Partey, the Arsenal midfielder, to restart play with the free-kick — 10 yards towards the City goal from where the foul took place.

Walker had not got back into position and he and his City team-mates were gesturing that they are not ready. Meanwhile, Martinelli was in acres of space on Arsenal’s left, the space Walker should have been defending.

Partey sprayed the ball over the head of Walker to Martinelli, who teed up Calafiori to curl past Ederson from just outside the penalty area. The City players and coaching staff were fuming. Walker confronted Oliver, and Guardiola booted his chair in the City dugout.

Until recently, the rivalry between Arsenal and Manchester City has been somewhat tepid. Perhaps because of the friendship between the two managers, there has always been more mutual respect than enmity.

There were signs in this game that may be changing. Within 14 seconds, Kai Havertz made a statement of intent, barging Rodri to the ground. If there has been a focus of Arsenal’s ire, it has been the Spanish international.

When City won the league last season, he claimed the difference between the two teams was “mentality” — comments that did not go unnoticed at London Colney. The touchline reactions of Guardiola and Arteta also showed how desperate the two former colleagues are to come out on top.

When Calafiori curled home Arsenal’s equaliser, Guardiola stormed back to his dugout and kicked his own chair. Arteta was similarly enraged when Trossard was dismissed. After a game full of needle, the trend is likely to continue. The tussle at the top of the Premier League is hotting up.

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Man City 2 Arsenal 2 – Controversial red, quick free kicks and rivalry ignited in classic

In the end, Arsenal had just 22.4 per cent possession in today's game. That is their second-lowest share in a Premier League match since the start of the 2003-04 season.

They had just under a third of the ball in the first half and 12.5 per cent possession in the second.

In our 'Discuss' tab at the top of the page and clickable here, Manchester City supporters have been getting involved in the post-match conversation too.

Brian D said: I honestly don't know what to make of that other than top notch s***housery and controversy all way around. Not a fun watch. Not even sure if the result was fair. Glad there's a ton of campaign to go and help wash away the grievances. Stonesy we love you!

Tobi O opined: Walker and Ederson need to improve their corner defending. We were lucky to escape with a draw here.

While David O insisted: One of the most boring games I have seen in a good number of years.

Not sure many would agree with you, David...

Arsenal fans haven't been shy to air their feelings in The Athletic's discussion tab at the top of the page and clickable here.

Mel W said: Wonder what Trossard has to say about the result? Let’s get our act together guys. That’s four points dropped from winning positions.

Artem K added: I am reflecting after the heroic performance of our defense that not that long ago our center-backs were Mustafi, Sokratis and Holding. The transformation this team has undergone is truly remarkable and is a huge achievement.

While Ae K concluded: If you have told me before this that we would come away with a point I would be happy. But the way that ended .... BRUTAL!!

Join the conversation!

Arteta showed a rare restraint during that interview when asked about the key refereeing decisions in the match.

"It's not my job to come here and judge what happened," he told Sky Sports. "My job is to survive in the most difficult environment you can have in football for 55 minutes.

"That was my job. The rest is out of my job and it's the second time it has happened in five games which is really, really worrying. We want to see the best Premier League."

Mikel Arteta was full of praise for his players in his post-match interview with Sky Sports.

"It's unbelievable what the players did," he said. "The way we played in the normal conditions that are already super, super difficult and then the contest against 10 men for 55 minutes.

"That shows the character of our players, I'm extremely proud of them."