Manchester City were undeniably superior to Arsenal. The Gunners intended to beat them on their home turf. But Pep Guardiola’s tactical prowess caught them off guard.
Arteta and his boys lost 4-1.
That may have appeared to be a simple victory for the defending champions, but it wasn’t.
John Stones intimated that, despite it appearing easy, Arsenal made things difficult for them. Speaking to the media after the game, he admitted via mancity.com, “We have to give them (Arsenal) a lot of respect and credit. We couldn’t play the football we normally do.
“From both sides, we had man-to-man pressure. It was very difficult to play our usual passes, and we had to go counter that by going into Erling. I think we could have had a few more [goals].”
Arsenal’s failure to beat City may have dented their chances of winning the league. But who knows?
The Citizens could end up dropping points. Aaron Ramsdale is still optimistic about Arsenal’s chances. But he knows it is dependent on Manchester City slipping and them capitalising.
“We haven’t played nine months of Premier League football to be in this position to moan or give up; we’re not going to do that. If something is going to happen, it’s going to be in our league, so we’ve got to be there to pounce if anything happens,” said the Arsenal goalkeeper after the game, as per Arsenal.com.
If Arsenal are to get something out of this season, winning every one of their remaining fixtures is a must. No top team gives up after one defeat to a rival.
Darren N
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The players have to take an attitude like ramsdale – if city do end up dropping points, we’ll kick ourselves massively.
Of course it’s so unlikely we’ll overtake then, realistically – we just have to be professional about it. I just hope this will be a motivating experience for next season rather than a damaging one. We have to believe we can close the gap and take over.
He’s right. The season isn’t over and the margin is still very small. Even a team like Man City, widely regarded as the best in the world, can slip up. They’ve got some very tough and charged away games coming up, and anything is possible. Of course the title is not as likely for Arsenal as it was before the recent loss, but the challenge certainly isn’t over yet.