On this evidence, Arsenal and Manchester City look ready to go the distance again in the Premier League. Whether Mikel Arteta can finally get the better of Pep Guardiola is still unknown.
A 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday showed Arsenal can certainly go toe-to-toe with the four-time defending champion — but it also confirmed City’s powers of resilience after dominating English soccer for the past six years.
“Still we have this passion, this fire inside ourselves,” Guardiola said after John Stones rescued a point with an equalizer in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
Arsenal has been runner-up to City in each of the last two years — setting new benchmarks along the way — but still coming up short.
Arteta was Guardiola’s former assistant at City and now stands as his biggest threat.
On Sunday his team looked like snapping City’s 47-game unbeaten home run, despite being down to 10 men for the entirety of the second half after Leandro Trossard was sent off in first-half stoppage time.
But Arsenal’s resolve was finally broken by substitute Stones, who swept in from close range in the final moments to make it 48 home games without defeat for City.
“Obviously, it is already a miracle we played 56 minutes at the Etihad with 10 men. It is unbelievable what we have done,” said Arteta, who was incensed when Trossard was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away.
“I’m expecting 100 Premier League games this season to play 10 against 11 or 10 against 10 or nine against 10, let’s see,” Arteta said.
City was defending an unbeaten home run dating back to a 2-1 loss to Brentford in November 2022. Arsenal was within moments of its first victory at City since 2015 after Gabriel Magalhaes’ first-half header had put the visitors 2-1 up.
Stones’ late leveler was in keeping with a game packed with intrigue and incident.
Erling Haaland reached a landmark when putting City ahead in the ninth with his 100th goal for the club in 105 appearances — firing past Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya.
That later felt like an aside as the home fans began to resign themselves to a rare defeat on home soil.
Influential City midfielder Rodri had left the field in the 20th after appearing to hurt his right knee. The Spain international limped off and his departure proved a turning point as Arsenal leveled just two minutes later through Riccardo Calafiori’s curling effort from outside the area.
Magalhaes then headed the visitors in front from a corner in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, having come close from an almost identical routine shortly before.
There was still time for another pivotal moment before the break when Trossard was sent off.
With a numerical advantage, City dominated the second half but looked like being frustrated by Arsenal’s stubborn defense and some impressive saves from Raya.
Stones, a center back who sometimes operates in midfield, was brought on and Guardiola instructed him to join Haaland in attack.
“He wanted me to play closer to Erling, get higher up the pitch so when we got crosses in we could start to win more aerial duels,” Stones said.
It paid off.
“Over the years we have learned as a team to stick together, no matter who is playing and to always be ready,” Stones added.
The draw ended City’s 100% winning record in the league season, but left it a point ahead of second-place Liverpool and Aston Villa in third.
Arsenal is two points off the leader in fourth.
Arteta said his players were “really gutted” in the locker room after seeing victory snatched away so late.
“But, as well, they know that they have made another big step today,” he said.
Seeing red
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler and Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espírito Santo were sent off in a bad-tempered end to their teams’ 2-2 draw.
The dismissals were triggered by Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White being shown a second yellow card in the 83rd at Amex Stadium for a reckless challenge on Joao Pedro.
That sparked angry reactions on the sidelines, with Espirito Santo and Hurzeler both shown red by referee Robert Jones for what the Premier League described as “unacceptable technical area behavior.”
Forest stunned Liverpool with a 1-0 win at Anfield last weekend and it took the lead Sunday through Chris Wood’s penalty in the 13th minute. Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck gave Brighton a halftime lead with goals in the 42nd and 45th. Ramon Sosa leveled the game in the 70th.
___
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
