Manchester City and Arsenal shared a furious and dramatic 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium after John Stones’ 98th minute equaliser.
City took the lead when Erling Haaland struck early in the game and the champions looked in full control. But the game unravelled for Pep Guardiola’s side, first when Rodri came off injured on 20 minutes, and then when Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori swept home a stunning equaliser.
Gabriel then rose to power home a head and give Arsenal a 2-1 lead heading into half-time, but moments before the break the Gunners were reduced to 10 men in unusual circumstances when Leandro Trossard first clattered into City’s Bernardo Silva and then kicked the ball away in frustration.
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City spent the entire second half attacking and left it very, very late to finally get the goal that denied 10-man Arsenal a huge victory.
Pep Guardiola on emerging rivalries
He told Sky Sports: “We have created a good rivalry with Arsenal. Before it was with (former Liverpool boss) Jurgen (Klopp) and now it’s there, so it’s a different way.
“We started the game how we started, a little bit delayed after two seconds, and there were many things. They have personality, but we have too.
“Many things happened, but at the end we equalised, which we deserved.”
Pep Guardiola was convinced his side deserved their late equaliser.
Mikel Arteta on Leandro Trossard’s red card
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was unhappy over Trossard’s second yellow card, but declined to elaborate.
He said: “It’s not my job to come here and judge what happened. My job is to survive in the most difficult environment you can be thrown into in football for 55 minutes and try to get things done to survive. That was my job.
“The rest is out of my job and it is already the second time it has happened in five games, which is really, really worrying if you want to see the best Premier League.”
Independent
