What went wrong for Arsenal at Man City last night?

Arteta’s hopes of winning his second FA Cup as Arsenal manager were dashed on Friday night when Arsenal were defeated 1-0 by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. The Premier League table-toppers came into that game full of confidence after outstanding performances against Manchester United and Tottenham in their previous two big games.

Regardless, it was Man City they were up against, and considering Arsenal had lost their previous five games in all competitions against the “Cityzens,” they needed to do something magical to end their losing streak against them.

The Gunners came for a fight against the Citizens, but their fight was insufficient to outshine the home team, as Nathan Ake’s placed effort at 64 minutes propelled City to the next level of the FA Cup.

So, what went wrong for Arsenal?

The first issue was Thomas Partey’s injury. The Arsenal midfield enforcer suffered a rib injury in the first half, forcing Arteta to make substitutions, and Albert Sambi Lokonga was brought on. This was a huge blow for Arsenal because Partey has been the rock of their midfield. Lokonga has never been able to step into Partey’s shoes. Without Partey, the Cityzens found it easy to penetrate the midfield and eventually scored a game-winning goal.

Second, Mikel Arteta’s decision to bench Martin Odegaard was unjustified against a Pep Guardiola team, in which you should play your best players. This season, the Norwegian international has been Arsenal’s standout performer. Arsenal has at least won every game in which Martin Odegaard has started.

The combination of Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, and Martin Odegaard has been overwhelming for opponents. The game was good, but the trio’s combination was lacking.

Partey will hopefully be fit to play against Everton soon when the Premier League returns, but with Maises Caicedo pushing to leave Brighton for Arsenal, Arteta’s midfield will be ready.

Darren N


 
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18 Comments

  1. Saka dropped off Ake to help Tomi. No more, no less. Otherwise, we’d have played out a 0-0 draw…Jus sayin.

  2. We can’t win every game, I am very disappointed to be out the FA Cup but no shame in getting knocked out by City.

    More concerned about the blatant disregard of getting a proper challenger/back-up for Partey. We’ve had 4-5 windows to get it right and we’ve done nothing worth while.

    Now that we are out both cups early, we have very little excuse to not push for the title.

  3. That guy is not ready. He needs to learn the basics. You could see Odegaard lashing out at him when he lost his man easily

  4. Spot on NY Gunner.A large majority of biased fans have blamed Lokonga for the goal, but in fact the main culprit was Saka who was poor throughout the match.He has been a shining light this season but I am at a loss to understand why the lively Trossard was taken off when Saka was clearly struggling.

    1. @Grandad
      Exactly. Ake had the rub of him throughout the match. Tomi had Grealish boxed in and under control. Saka should have seen that, instead of dropping off, freeing up Ake.
      Lokongo is greeting blamed simply because he’s not Partey. That and people are avoiding the obvious when it comes to Saka, in that match…Jus sayin

      1. think both are equally to blame…saka sold himself and the team leaving ake with space, however the build up to that chance doesnt not happen if lokonga closes the space in midfield around alvarez…mistakes can happen in a game, however, think it showed just how important partey is to this team

    2. On point, I think Arteta should be blamed for that, Saka failed to make those trade mark runs. He should have been taken off early.

  5. Not a lot went wrong to my mind. 5 changes to the starting lineup and still played well.

    It looked a fairly even contest, we seemed to have the better chances, they put one of theirs away and they were lucky with the run of the ball in a few of our chances – that’s football, sadly.

    And all this at the Etihad. At the Emirates with us at full strength… nothing to fear.

    Lol Emirates vs Etihad. Sounds like a game in a Middle Eastern league – shape of things to come?

    1. Not a shape of things to come…. but the shape of things at present. The Premier League is divided between the Middle East and the US if A.

  6. NOTHING! To the contrary, we actually learned that we’ve closed the gap with the Oilers. Having a severely weakened team go toe to toe with full-strength Oilers at the oil depot shows how evrything’s gone right for this club. Teams go to the emptihad anticipating serious domination. Full strength Chelsea were massacred, Spuds took a serious beating in 45 but not us! We restricted them to

  7. The difference on the night was that Ake won his dual with Saka both going forward and backward. But that said, Ake’s task was made easier in the absence of Odegaard until he came on. If Lokonga is no substitute for Partey, Viera is definately no substitute for Odegaard. Things will be different at the Emirates!

  8. @Roden
    The absence of Odegaard had zero to do with the goal. Saka dropped off Ake, to help Tomi mark Grealish, leaving Ake free to score. Tomi had Grealish boxed in, Saka should have stayed with his man. Both Viera and Lokongo are blameless in this situation…

    1. yes but when saka moved, Sambi was just marking space, Vieira moved to allow Sambi to close down Ake but he didnt move.

  9. Football. We are still students at a school headed by most managers isn’t it? We think we know everything, or rather pretend to do so to avoid the embarrassment of not knowing as the masters. The first press interview after a lost that Arteta didn’t lose his mind and the first press interview that Pep walked away after a win. Arteta played the mind game with his former master, didn’t he? Pep played almost of his best players expecting Arteta to do the same but that didn’t happened. And the game was evenly matched. The game of dark arts have started.

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