Late goal earns draw for Arsenal against ultra-defensive City

LONDON, England (AP):

A goal by Erling Haaland was perhaps to be expected. What Manchester City did next certainly wasn’t.

With an ultra-defensive performance so unlike a team coached by Pep Guardiola, City came close to holding out against Arsenal for the most unusual of wins in an English Premier League match between two title contenders yesterday.

Then, in the third minute of stoppage time, Eberechi Eze played a ball over City’s packed defence and substitute Gabriel Martinelli latched onto it before lobbing goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for Arsenal’s dramatic equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

“We’ve obviously gained the respect of the opposition,” Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said, “... we probably haven’t dominated a game against Man City as we did today.”

No one has.

The 32.8 per cent average possession by City is the lowest by a Guardiola team in a top-flight match, according to statistic supplier Opta.

Rice noted City went to a 5-4-1, adding: “I’ve never seen them do that.”

Back to his prolific best, Haaland made it 13 goals in eight appearances for club and country this season by sprinting upfield and collecting a return pass from Tijjani Reijnders to slot home a finish in the ninth minute.

The Emirates Stadium was then treated to a defensive masterclass from the visitors as Guardiola, who is famed for cherishing possession, set up City to let Arsenal have plenty of the ball and to defend deep. He kept putting on defenders to protect the lead.

It almost worked, except for the late twist by Martinelli – who has become something of a supersub for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta this season.

ESCHEWING PRINCIPLES

The result left Liverpool, the defending champions, with a five-point lead after just five games, with Arsenal in second place on goal difference over Tottenham and Bournemouth.

“They win every match,” Arteta said of Liverpool. “It’s going to be very difficult but if we play at this level, like we did against Manchester City, we will be fine.”

Guardiola made no apologies for eschewing his long-held football principles and adjusting for a match that came three days after a 2-0 win over Napoli in the Champions League. Arsenal had two extra days to prepare, having played – and beaten – Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday.

In Haaland, Guardiola also has one of the most dangerous players in the world on the counterattack, and it was from that source that City took the lead with the Norway striker’s sixth league goal this season.

“We don’t try to come and be like this,” Guardiola said. “But when the opponents are better and we defend deeper and we have Erling and Tijjani, we can use the counterattack, yes. But our intention is not like this.

“I would prefer to not do it, but you cannot expect at this level to not do it. It’s impossible.”

City defender Ruben Dias said it was nice to have such “safety” in numbers in defence, and to have a goalkeeper behind with the presence of Donnarumma.

“We are proud of what we have done,” Dias said, “and how we behaved on the pitch.”

In other results, Sunderland drew 1-1 with Aston Villa, and Bournemouth and Newcastle played out a 0-0 draw.