FA PREMIER LEAGUE 

ARSENAL 1 (Martinelli 90+3)
MANCHESTER CITY 1 (Haaland 9) 

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AN instinctive finish in injury time from Gabi Martinelli salvaged a point just as a determined performance from the Gunners looked to be ending in defeat.

It was no less than Arsenal deserved after dominating possession without seriously threatening the City goal.

Erling Haaland had crushed the early optimism with a well taken finish on the break, and the visitors sat back into a defensive formation for the next 80 minutes.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta had given a surprise start to Leandro Trossard on the left, while Mikel Merino was favoured as the third central midfielder in the absence of Martin Odehaard. But they struggled to make any meaningful breakthroughs and the giant Gianluigi Donnarumma was equal to the in-swinging corners from Declan Rice.

Noni Madueke – once again by far the most dangerous player for Arsenal – was hauled off at half time for Bukayo Saka, back from his hamstring injury.

Arteta said afterwards made the change after Madueke had picked up a minor injury.

Eberechi Eze was also brought on at the interval for Merino, taking up a central attacking role for the first time since his summer signing.

The changes helped the Gunners tackle the midfield gridlock and they pressed for an equaliser with dogged determination.

Pep Guardiola’s City, for so long imperious in the Premier League, were restricted to breakaway attacks that were few and far between.
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The frustration was building though in the stadium as time went on, however, and the edgy atmosphere transferred onto the pitch. There were more poor passes and lapses in close control than usual.

Arteta said: “I think after they scored the goal, doing absolutely nothing before that, we were a bit shaky for five or seven minutes. After that we got the grip of the game again and started to dominate it, and the second half it was a continuation of that.”

New frontman Viktor Gyokeres had just a handful of touches and his runs were either not being picked out by his teammates or were unlikely to bear fruit.

Arteta said: “To have very big open chances is extremely difficult, but he’s certainly trying his best and trying to do that and we have to provide more for him, that’s it.

“There were a lot of situations where the chances were there and then the final pass was missing today.”

In truth, Gyokeres’ best play was holding the ball up and recycling it back to the midfield.

So much of the Arsenal attack is based on this type of slow and often painstaking build up.

At what point does Mikel Arteta dispense with the conservative approach and say – ‘we have the squad, we have an array of world class talent, let’s go and win this title’?At the moment, the plan seems to be to make fewer mistakes than everyone else.

While this may prove effective over the course of a long season, it does not gets the fans going. That coupled with the fouls and feigned injuries adds up to a strange spectacle.

There was a bizarre passage of play when Trossard went down after catching the ball in the balls, before getting up and throwing the ball at the same painful area felt by Bernardo Silva. The City captain dropped down like he had been executed by a sniper.

Around three minutes was spent sorting out the dispute before play could start again.

Many fans, who are paying through the nose for these tickets, will be questioning whether they had been at a football match today.

But there are many reasons to be cheerful.

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Arsenal had been dealt a horrendous first five fixtures. While they lost to Liverpool, they have come through them with a decent number of points.

Saka is back and with actual competition for his place, so he may not be pushed to breaking point again this season.

Richado Calafiori is also looking much stronger and faster than last season. Few teams will find their way past the collective might of Jurien Timber, William Saliba and Gabriel.

And as Arteta said after the Bilbao game, the “substitutes” may end up being more important than the starting eleven.

Martinelli is still a great player to bring on with defensive legs tiring.

His goal was brilliantly taken.

He caught Eze’s through ball, and clipped a half volley with the outside of boot up and over Donnarumma into the far corner.

Arteta said: “We want consistency on that, for every player that doesn’t start the game to be able to do that, because you see how long the match is and the level that it requires to beat them, and we’re very happy with him.”

Arsenal: Raya, Calafiori, Gabriel, Saliba, Timber (Martinelli 80), Rice, Zubimendi (Mosquera 98), Merino (Eze 46), Trossard (Nwaneri 84), Gyökeres, Madueke (Saka 46).
Subs not used: Arrizabalaga, Lewis-Skelly, Nørgaard, White

City: Donnarumma, O’Reilly (Stones 87), Gvardio, Dias, Khusanov (Nunes 46), Rodri, Doku (Savinho 87), Reijnders, Silva, Foden (Aké 68), Haaland (González 76)
Sub not used: Bobb, Lewis, Mukasa, Trafford