Arsenal and Manchester City took part in a feisty game at the Etihad Stadium.
The two Premier League title contenders produced a brilliant first-half which saw Erling Haaland’s opener cancelled by a stunner from Riccardo Calafiori and then Gabriel giving the Gunners the lead.
Arsenal looked to be in control, but things became incredibly complicated after Leandro Trossard received a red card for kicking the ball away.
Arteta decided to deploy a low block to protect his lead and that almost worked. However, a last-minute equaliser from John Stones levelled the scores and the game finished 2-2.
Since the full-time whistle, many Manchester City players have had a go at Arsenal’s tactics. Guardiola has now had his say.
Pep Guardiola shares his private message to Mikel Arteta after Arsenal’s low block vs Man City
Arsenal have been getting some unnecessary criticism for their performance against Manchester City.
The Gunners did what any other team would do against Guardiola’s side after taking the lead and going down to 10 men – they protected what they had on the board.
City looked clueless against Arsenal’s defensive block, but many people are having a go at Arsenal rather than criticising City for the inability to beat a 10-man side.
Bernardo Silva has fired shots at Arsenal, while his fellow Manchester City teammate John Stones has also accused the Gunners of being ‘dirty’.
That, in our opinion, is absolutely ridiculous, and it looks like their own manager, Guardiola, has gone against his players’ views.
The Manchester City boss claimed that he really admired how Arsenal defended and even admitted that he could never replicate that.
Furthermore, Guardiola revealed that he privately praised Arteta for his tactics.
He said, as relayed on HaytersTV: “Me, as a manager, I’ve to reflect on what I can do better, against incredible teams – when you see 10 players so deep like Arsenal, what can I do better?
“Of course, they can do it. I admire them, what they’ve done, I cannot do it. I’m not able to do it with my team, defend with five central defenders that way, defend every single ball, block every single ball.
“What I’m saying (now), I said to Mikel: “You did it amazingly.” So, it’s not a problem.”
Arsenal should be praised, not criticised
A few years ago, Granit Xhaka echoed Micah Richards’ comment by saying that people always jump in to criticise Arsenal for everything they do.
That is the absolute truth and the criticism that has come out following the draw at the Etihad is proof.
We’re convinced that if any other team in the country had done what Arsenal did after going down to 10 men against the best side in the world, they would be praised.
Arsenal never get that sort of treatment.
That is not fair at all. We think Arteta’s side should get the credit they deserve for their performance. It was Manchester City celebrating a draw in the end – how many times have you seen that?
If there’s a club that deserves criticism, it’s City – they failed to break Arsenal down despite being at home, having a numerical advantage and also having an extra 24 hours of rest.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
