The title race turned again on Sunday, with Liverpool now in pole position to win this season’s title. premier league crown.
Jurgen Klopp’s men beat Brighton at Anfield, coming from behind to win a frenetic battle, Mohamed Salah’s second-half winner puts them two points clear at the top of the table with nine matches remaining. Their fate, in Klopp’s final months as manager, is now in their hands.
It’s because Manchester City and Arsenal neutralized each other in their fight at the Etihad, a goalless draw which does no service. It was a heavy encounter, largely lackluster, with the Gunners sitting back and countering – to the great dismay of the suffocated City players – with Erling Haaland chained and little capable of attacking the shard from both sides.
This is not to say that there weren’t those who didn’t claim to benefit from it. Social media is full of those who fetishize confrontation, tactics and so on, whether because it’s something they think they should say or because it’s what they actually believe .
But it was not an exciting encounter. Sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade.
Or maybe this assessment is wrong? This is why we asked our Mirror Soccer their thoughts on the Etihad affair, namely: Will Manchester City and Arsenal ultimately regret their goalless draw? Did you find the match to be an exciting tactical battle, or just plain boring?
Here’s what they found…
Felix Keith
Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer my football games to feature goals and excitement.
Two managers who know each other very well, starting with four central defenders in defense and who are afraid of conceding counter-attacks, that’s not a recipe for fun. Even the introduction of Jack GrealishJérémy Doku, Léandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli was unable to brighten up the siesta party.
Presenting a stalemate as a “tactical battle” or a “chess game” is reductive. Just because Pep Guardiola And Mikel Arteta are intelligent managers, this does not mean that we should praise their acumen and analyze their approaches. Call a bore, a bore, a bore.
As for what all this means, it’s clearly a better outcome for Arsenal than City, but – no matter what they say – there should be a hint of regret. The city was missing John Stones, Kyle Walker and Ederson. If there was ever a time to give it a try, this was it.
Liverpool have the advantage – and that wasn’t necessarily the case.
Tom Victor
Both Manchester City and Arsenal had good reason to be cautious ahead of Sunday’s game. The hosts’ big problem was injuries to Walker and Stones, while Arsenal may well have been left scarred by last year’s defeat which dented their title hopes.
I’m apparently in the minority who found the match entertaining, if only for the very visible tension as both teams sought to avoid costly mistakes. The pressure and scale of the task were truly up to par, with every micro-decision being important; Although it might have cost us spontaneity, the quality of attention to detail on both sides was evident.
Given the timing of the match, which took place after a fortnight or more without club football, it is understandable that both managers appeared to prioritize avoiding defeat above all else. Even then, both could have easily stolen the victory with a sharper finish, and if that were the case, regret wouldn’t even enter the conversation for the winner.
Rich Jones
Arsenal might regret it, Manchester City might not.
City tried to play their own game, but things just didn’t seem to be going their way, partly because of Arsenal’s approach and partly because they just couldn’t seem to.
It seemed like Arsenal were much happier not losing than trying to win the game. If the title race goes down to the wire, they might regret it, because it felt like City could have been there to win.
To me, Arsenal’s approach seemed to reflect how they still see themselves in the Premier League title race. They settle down almost as if they view themselves as inferior, and that’s quite telling.
In contrast, the recent draw between City and Liverpool was a draw between two teams fully confident in their beliefs and throwing everything they have at each other. Obviously, leaving home is a trickier prospect, but it still seems to indicate that Arsenal don’t yet have full confidence in their ability to throw everything they have at City and not get knocked out.
It’s a game of fine margins, and if they had found a winner it would have been considered a tactical masterclass. If they had tried harder and been eliminated, it would have been considered naive.
As it happens, it’s hard to say how history will view this outcome, but I sense there might be a tinge of regret given the way the match played out.
Jennifer Brown
It’s safe to say that Man City’s goalless draw against Arsenal is far from a classic. He fell well short of the expectations set by the relentless hype machine in the build-up to Sunday’s “title-decider.”
It started out cautiously and never really evolved since – a classic of great sides canceling out each other’s genres.
However, after conceding 10 goals in his last three trips to the Etihad, Mikel Arteta made the right choice not to leave his team vulnerable again. William Saliba and Gabriel easily stopped Erling Haaland – leaving the Premier League’s top scorer without even a shot on target. In fact, Arsenal were the first team to prevent Pep Guardiola’s side from scoring at home in 57 games. The north London side will have few regrets over a hard-won point.
The Man City boss won’t be as happy with his argument – and a worrying trend has emerged. Among the Premier League’s “big six”, they only managed to defeat Manchester United this season.
That alone may have ended their title hopes.
Alex Richards
Manchester City and Arsenal played a tactical and tense match – and put the Premier League title race in Liverpool’s hands.
Klopp’s side are now leading the way and after a season where they have faced many difficulties – including a number of significant injuries – they know they are nine games away from the title and their destiny is in their hands . Mentally, this is a huge boost for a team that will look at their remaining matches and believe they can win them all.
As for the game at the Etihad itself, there is simply no way to describe it as exciting. Touted as the one that could ultimately define the season, it was a damp squib.
What he needed was an early goal to break him open. There was none and as things progressed, Arsenal settled in and showed they were much happier not losing than going for victory.
That in itself was quite revealing. When Liverpool and City play each other, they play each other, as we saw recently at Anfield. Does Arteta view his team as inferior to his two rivals? Given what happened, that certainly seems so.
And even as his team happily celebrate a hard-earned point, they have to negotiate nine matches – including trips to Spurs and Manchester United – combined with European commitments, with no margin for error. It’s not something we’ve seen this team deal with before, unlike their rivals.
Jake Polden
“We lost three points today,” announced a furious Mikel Arteta after Arsenal’s defeat at Newcastle earlier in the season. “Guys, do you know what that means? It’s too hard, this league, it’s too hard, there’s too much at stake, it’s embarrassing.”
So if you thought the Gunners boss was going to risk everything for two measly points at the Etihad, you’re bound to be disappointed by Sunday’s performance.
Boring? Yes. Tactically exciting? No. A good result for both clubs? Absolutely.
A point was not only a fair result for two tied teams that day, but, on paper, it means the Premier League table is now well balanced.
Sure, Liverpool are in control, but let’s not forget they face old rivals Manchester United next weekend – an unpredictable side who knocked out Jurgen Klopp’s Reds. FA Cup recently and who would love nothing more than to have more rain on their final season show.
If either Manchester City or Arsenal had lost this weekend’s game, it would have been the psychological nail in their respective coffins. A draw means they are both still in the running. The match was a damp squib due to the expectations placed on football’s biggest names, but very rarely do these epic battles turn out to be anything other than a chess match where both sides cancel each other out.
For this reason, the result cannot be considered a tactical success for either manager because, let’s be honest, both would have been victorious if they had made themselves available.
Thomas Wathen
When I switched to Man City against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, I was expecting a Premier League classic that would give a team a huge boost in the title race. The only team to benefit from this result is Liverpool.
Many teams go to the Etihad full of fear because we all know how good Man City are. However, Arsenal approached the match in a perfect manner and were not afraid to challenge themselves.
Even in the final minutes I was adamant that either Man City or Arsenal were going to bring some excitement into the match and the title race with a late winner, but that wasn’t to be. It reminds you that just because these are two of the best teams in the league doesn’t mean you’re going to experience 90 minutes of excitement.
We often find that the best matches involve two teams desperate to get a result, no matter where they are in the league.
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