Stats don’t lie. Manchester City had a jaw-dropping 88% of ball possession in the second half of the Arsenal tie. They made a staggering 415 passes during that period, compared to the ten-man Gunners’ only 60.Yet, the hosts managed to grab only a draw, thanks to John Stones’ last-gasp equalizer in the dying seconds of the stoppage time.Moreover, Pep Guardiola’s team didn’t create a single promising goalscoring chance despite their domination, which seemed almost surreal for around 50 minutes. Confronted with that double-decker ten-man bus Mikel Arteta parked in front of Raya’s goal, the Cityzens were struggling to find solutions and tiny pockets of space that would allow them to fire from close range.Shots fired! Man City stars accuse Arsenal of not arriving at the game, Arteta sees it differentlyErling Haaland did score that first-half opener when the game was much more balanced, but as soon as the visitors sat low and deep, the Norwegian became almost useless.One would say that the crucial moment was Rodri’s early injury, which massively affected City’s game. Already without another key figure in the midfield, Kevin De Bruyne – who got injured a few days ago against Inter Milan in the Champions League – the defending champions were left without the creator. Rodri is a player whose importance for the team goes beyond numbers and stats, especially as a deep-lying playmaker.Beheaded Cityzens, missing both KDB and Rodri, failed to exploit Arsenal’s flaws as the ball was going back and forth between Bernardo Silva, Gundogan, and Kovacic. The latter three are excellent players with many virtues upon their sleeves, but replacing Manchester City’s incredible creative duo is just mission impossible.El Arsenal estuvo a una jugada de sacar un gran resultado. Un 2T de sufrir y mantenerse ordenado para no darle espacios a los más talentosos del rival, que no contaba con dos jugadores claves para hacer daño en estos contextos: Rodri y De Bruyne.pic.twitter.com/183yfp8Yxp— Javier Parra Peña (@Javier_EPP) September 23, 2024 Guardiola thinks the result “may have been different” had Rodri stayed on the pitch, with defender Ruben Dias then often taking up the position of the central midfielder.”With Rodri, it may have been different or maybe I put Ruben on the right. That’s why I delayed the sub for Kyle [Walker], but Kyle has a really good shot and crosses.”Grealish created space. Raya made two, three or four saves [and] the second ball was not with us. It’s difficult.”Congratulations to Arsenal, to be so strong mentally to block, it’s not easy but at the same time we were not easy to do it,” commented Pep after the match..@ErlingHaaland scores his 100th City goal in a tense draw against Arsenal at the Etihad! ⚖️ Highlights 👇 pic.twitter.com/Cu8O3Xq615— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 22, 2024 Asked about the seriousness of Rodri’s injury, he said:”I don’t know yet, I didn’t ask the doctors,” said Guardiola. “Rodri is strong. He leaves the pitch in this action because he felt something, otherwise Rodri stays there.”He’s the best holding midfielder in the world, he is a potential Ballon d’Or winner, I would love for him to win.”On Friday, Guardiola said that De Bruyne was “feeling better” and would be assessed to see if he could face Arsenal. But on Sunday, he was absent from the squad.”I think it’s not a big, big one [injury], but was not able [to play] for today.”##NAJAVA_MECA_8358090##
