Manchester City 2-2 Arsenal: Post-match reaction

ManchesterWorld

Michael Plant gives his immediate thoughts after a dramatic encounter between the Premier League's top two sides.

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00:00I'm at the Etihad which is just emptying around me after the most incredible game

00:05of football here this afternoon. Manchester City 2 Arsenal 2. A result

00:09that for so much of this game I did not think I was going to be saying because

00:13City they pushed and pushed and pushed to find a way back into this game. They

00:17played for 45 minutes against an Arsenal side who just sat deep and defended. Made

00:22it so difficult for City to break them down. There was just no gap for

00:26City to operate in. The ball kept going wide, kept being close in the box, headed away

00:29there was no chance of working it through the middle and going into

00:33injury time I was convinced Arsenal were gonna come away with a dramatic and

00:37probably quite a well-deserved 2-1 win but ultimately John Stones popped up

00:41with an equaliser in the eighth minute of added on time here in what was a

00:46really frenetic, frantic but hugely entertaining game at the Etihad. City

00:51did go into the lead after nine minutes when Erling Haaland scored. Fantastic

00:56finish from him. His 100th goal for the club in his 105th game but it all turned

01:00when Rodri picked up an injury at the end of the, well in the 15th minute.

01:04Really concerning one clutching the back of his leg. I think everyone will hope

01:07it's not a serious one but I think the early fears may be that it's a longer

01:11term one. We'll have to see obviously in the coming days but with that City lost a

01:15little bit of momentum. Arsenal scored two in the first half.

01:18Calafiore with a goal at an XG of 0.02. Caroline in his first ever start for the

01:23club. Unbelievable goal from him and Pep Guardiola spoke in the build up to

01:27this game about how Arsenal are possibly the best side in the world in terms of set

01:31pieces and what do they do? Of course they score a corner. The ball dropped on

01:35to Ederson. Gabriel rose highest in the box. Scored a fantastic header from a

01:40brilliant cross you have to say from Saka and then the drama. You thought that was

01:44it at the end of the first half. Trossard sent off for an absolutely crazy moment

01:48where he fouled Silva. I initially thought the yellow card was for that alone. It was

01:52a second booking. It wasn't. It was actually for kicking the ball away after. Madness

01:56upon madness from him. I don't know what he was thinking. He was sent off and then

01:58it meant that for the final 45 minutes City just had to, well Arsenal had to defend for

02:02their lives. City just pushed and pushed and pushed to find their way back in. You really

02:06didn't think it was going to happen. Arsenal were so compact that it meant that City kept

02:10having to shoot from their defenders at the edge of the box. They just couldn't get

02:13the ball to the likes of Haaland. Even to Foden when he came on. Silva. Just no opportunities

02:19for them. I have to say Arsenal for that 45 minutes absolutely incredible effort for

02:22them down to 10 men. But City, I mean I said earlier that Arsenal probably deserved a point

02:27or deserved a win but at the same time City probably deserved a point because they kept

02:30pushing. They didn't give up. They really, really tried to find new ways through this

02:37Arsenal defence and ultimately got it. Crazy dramatic goal from John Stones. Corner end

02:41of the box. All bubbling around. Stones just got a toe date. As I say really quite an ill

02:46tempered game. We obviously had the Rodri incident. There was an incident after 3 seconds

02:51when Rodri ended up lying on the ground after a contact with Kai Havertz. Plenty of coming

02:57together with the players. There was a big scrap at the end involving Erling Haaland

03:00who had something to say to Gabriel Jesus. Don't really know what happened in the crazy

03:05end to this game. There was also plenty of frustration from the City fans at how long

03:10Arsenal were taking to restart the play and dead balls. I think justifiably to be honest

03:14I think Raya did very well to get away without a book in. Plenty of time going down and getting

03:18treatment as well for injuries but ultimately City get a point. They preserved their unbeaten

03:22record at home. That stretches to 48 games. They were so, so close to that being done.

03:28I really, really thought it was going to happen but full credit to City that they just kept

03:31pushing and kept pushing. It's another chapter in what is evolving to a superb and fantastic

03:36rivalry between these clubs. I think they've brought up another knot here because it's

03:40pretty evident today that there's plenty of respect from City's end and that was I suppose

03:45what was leading to some of the frustration and the anger that Arsenal were causing them

03:48so many issues. But a fantastic game. Certainly you'll want to check out the highlights if

03:51you haven't seen it. But yeah, for me, my plans at the Etihad. I'm going to go and try

03:55and lie down.

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