The Etihad stadium has long been a very unhappy place for Arsenal, but they finally claimed their first point at the home of Manchester City with a battling 0-0 draw in the Easter sunshine.
Mikel Arteta was boosted with the news that Gabriel and Bukayo Saka would be fit to start despite being doubts, however Gabriel Martinelli was deemed fit enough only for the bench, with Gabriel Jesus back in the starting XI in his place on the left wing.
From the first whisle Arsenal were under pressure, with City having almost all of the sn in the opening stages, but couldn’t find a way to properly threat the Arsenal goal. In fact, it would be the Gunners who would have the best chance of the opening quarter as Jesus poked wide a half-chance which hit the side netting of Stefan Ortega’s goal. Minutes later, City almost took the lead when Nathan Akron headed a close-range headed straight at a grateful David Raya.
The first half continued mostly in the Arsenal half, with the away side seemingly happy to let City have most of the ball. That tactic seemed to be working as the Arsenal defence held firm with Erling Haaland nowhere to be seen.
Jesus also had another chance at goal, as he fired just wide with his left foot from the edge of the box following some swift Arsenal football. That would prove to be the last of a tight, and for the neutral, a boring first half of Premier League action in Manchester.
Arsenal started the second half brightly, enjoying more possession in the City half, the opening stages of the second period saw a heightened sense of feistiness, with challenges going in from both sides. However, neither could create any clear cut chance to try and break the deadlock, however, a big chance came to the home side around the hour mark. A Kevin De Bruyne corner was flicked on towards Haaland at the back post but the Norwegian somehow missed the ball completely with the goal just a couple of yards away.
As the second half went on, it looked more and more like the final result would be a stalemate, Arsenal would be presented however with arguably their best chance of the afternoon as substitute Leandro Trossard was played through by Martin Odegaard but after taking on Manuel Akanji, the Belgian could only strike his effort straight at Ortega, although their was an opportunity for the ball to be played across to fellow sub Martinelli when Trossard first received the ball.
Arsenal continued to held firm and the contest eventually came to a close as Arsenal claimed a well earned clean sheet and left Manchester with a solid point ahead of a home game vs Luton three days later.
Player Ratings:
David Raya: 6 – Did well with his hands when he had to but struggled at times with his kicking
Ben White: 8 – Really good, especially in the first half where he looked like one of Arsenal’s biggest attacking outlets as well as being solid defensively
William Saliba: 9 – Amazingly calm on the ball and solid defensively when called into action
Gabriel: 8 – Like Saliba, was at the heart of a brilliant defensive showing from Arsenal
Jakub Kiwior: 5 – Did struggle at times against Bernardo Silva before being subbed off
Jorginho: 6 – Was neat and tidy on the ball, his experience was clearly valuable
Declan Rice: 8 – Superb. Was everywhere and mopped up to win the ball back for Arsenal multiple times
Martin Odegaard: 6 – The captain has had better games but his workrate has to be commended, led by example
Bukayo Saka: 5 – Played one great ball across the face of goal but didn’t get too involved, clearly wasn’t 100% fit but still worked hard defensively
Kai Havertz: 6 – Didn’t have much of an impact in front of goal but won his duels and caused problems phyiscally
Gabriel Jesus: 6 – Was frustrating at times but looked like Arsenal’s most dangerous attacker before being replaced by Trossard