Manchester City 2–2 Arsenal
by Layth Yousif
at the City of Manchester Stadium

A LAST-GASP John Stones leveller in the 98th minute denied magnificent 10-player Arsenal a famous victory in an astonishing match.

As the rain lashed down on Sunday afternoon, substitute Stones scrambled home City’s late equaliser to foil Mikel Arteta’s battling Gunners, in an utterly enthralling clash, in front of 52,846.

Riccardo Calafiori cancelled out Erling Haaland’s opener with a quite magnificent strike, prior to Gabriel’s emphatic header making it 2-1 to the Gunners, in a remarkable opening 45 minutes in Manchester on Sunday afternoon.

In a breathless and captivating contest, referee Michael Oliver still found time to send off Leandro Trossard moments before the interval.

According to the rules, the 29-year-old deserved to have been handed a second yellow card for kicking the ball away, yet it is abject inconsistencies by referees that continues to frustrate Arsenal — not least when referee Oliver failed to book City’s Jeremy Doku for the same offence. 

Speaking after the match, a visibly irked Arteta refused to be drawn on Oliver’s contentious decision to send off Trossard. 

“Red card? I prefer not to comment … I’ve seen it. It’s that obvious,” Arteta said, adding: “I'm expecting now 100 Premier League games to be played 10 against or 11.”

In an enthralling match, as relentless rain poured from gunmetal grey Manchester skies, City elder llkay Gundogan, now back in the fold following a year at Barcelona, fired wide.

Pep Guardiola’s City were ruthless in the opening stages and their dominance soon told.

In the ninth minute. Erling Haaland latched onto Savinho’s through ball to clinically fire past Raya to make it 1-0, with his 100^th City goal in 105 appearances. 

With the home side looking to double their lead, Gundogan hit the post with his free-kick shortly afterwards.

In a breathless opening where you simply couldn’t take your eyes off the action for fear of missing a significant moment, Rodri limped off with what looked like a serious knee injury.

Buoyed by the departure of the Ballon D’or nominee, who is such an important talisman for Guardiola’s all-conquering side, Arsenal fought their way back into the contest to equalise on 22 minutes, when Calafiori hit a screamer past Ederson, to equaliser to stun the home support in the stadium.

The unexpected leveller coming after the muscular 23-year-old Italy international cut inside to unleash an outstanding strike, following Gabi Martinelli feeding the former Bologna defender, making his full debut.

Such was his joy, Calafiori ran straight to bench, jumping on boss Arteta, before being engulfed by delighted teammates. The contrast on the City bench was stark, with a furious Guardiola violently kicking his seat in annoyance. 

Guardiola’s City are rarely overwhelmed, but as Arsenal strove for supremacy, Gabriel headed narrowly over the bar from Saka’s superb inswinging corner, in what was a big chance for set-piece specialists Arsenal to go ahead.

Arsenal showed plenty of fight — Trossard fired over after Martinelli and Gabriel dovetailed well along the flank.

With City failing to heed the warning from Gabriel’s near miss, the dangerous defender headed home Saka’s corner in an almost identical set-piece action to make it 2-1 in the first minute of added time before the interval.

The goal prompted unbridled joy among the team, and the jubilant travelling fans massed at the other end of the stadium.

However, as the clock ticked down on eight minutes of added time before the break, referee Oliver chose to send Trossard off moments before half time, following his misdemeanour in booting the ball away, after clattering Bernardo Silva on the halfway line. 

At half time, Ben White replaced Gunners captain Saka, as boss Arteta aimed to bolster the backline following Trossard’s expulsion.

Unsurprisingly against the Gunners 10 men, City started with intent, with Raya thwarting Haaland, prior to Josko Gvardiol firing over moments later. 

It was then Ruben Dias’s turn to unleash a shot that flew over Raya’s bar.

As City continued to push Arsenal deeper, Raya increasingly frustrated City.

Following his stupendous double save during Champions League action to earn his team a valuable point in the goalless draw at Atalanta, it was perhaps no surprise that Raya initially blocked Josko Gvardiol’s initial effort midway through the second half. The ball then flying high into the air before the Gunners 29-year-old claimed the ball at the second attempt.

Raya earned a chorus of boos by going down for treatment when trying to take the sting out of City’s endeavours, with the visitors’ accused of timewasting tactics.  

As the heavy Mancunian rain continued to fall, Guardiola opted to bring Phil Foden on for Doku in a bid to unlock the obdurate Gunners backline with 20 minutes remaining. The Catalan then threw on Jack Grealish and Stones, as Gvardiol fired over on 79 minutes.

Yet, as the clock ticked down, with the Gunners on the brink of a superb victory over champions City, up stepped Stones to finally break down Arteta’s depleted but fiercely obdurate team in the eighth minute of added time, to deny Arsenal a statement triumph.

Speaking after the match, Guardiola took time to praise Arsenal, saying: “Congratulations to Arsenal for being so strong mentally to block for a long, long time. That’s not easy but we were patient.”

While many of the drained 10 players of the Arsenal team fell to the ground, devastated at conceding such a late equaliser, Arteta praised his side, as they once again underlined their title credentials. 

Reflecting afterwards, Arteta said: “The way the team competed was just unbelievable. I’m so proud of the team. 

“You can’t be thrown into a more difficult situation against that kind of opponent and the way we handled that. 

“I’m so proud.”