Mikel Arteta's side frustrated the champions and demonstrated their steel to earn a draw which could see them finally topple their tormentors in May
Manchester City effectively wrapped up last season's Premier League crown by thrashing Arsenal, but it was hard to make too many conclusions as to the destination of this season's title from Sunday's bitty 0-0 draw, as it left the three-horse race wide open.
One thing was clear, however: Arsenal are almost unrecognisable from the frail side that showed up here 11 months ago and are no longer willing to let City push them around. Mikel Arteta's troops were up for the fight this time and Gabriel monstered Erling Haaland, who was barely allowed a sight of goal by the towering Brazilian.
Declan Rice and Jorginho took the midfield battle to Rodri, while Kevin De Bruyne – who had scored twice in this fixture last year – also had a quiet afternoon. It is not the first time that City have failed to win a crunch game this season, and if they do not manage to retain the title, their inability to take points off their direct rivals will be a big reason why.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the Etihad Stadium…
Getty LOSER: Erling Haaland & Phil Foden
Phil Foden and Haaland were the stars of City's last great result at the Etihad Stadium when they dismantled Manchester United, but they met a very different type of opponent in Arsenal and barely made an impact.
Haaland was shackled by Gabriel while Jorginho kept his eye on Foden, ensuring the midfielder could not dictate the pace of the game as he usually does. Pep Guardiola is one of Foden's biggest admirers, so it shows how badly he was playing that he hauled City's homegrown hero off the pitch after an hour in favour of Jack Grealish, who outshone his team-mate. On this evidence, Grealish could be a better option to start against Aston Villa on Wednesday than Foden, who also had a miserable time with England.
It is rarely a good idea to write off Haaland, meanwhile, but his record in big matches is getting hard to ignore, as he has only scored one goal against top-five opponents this season.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesWINNER: Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp's side must have been dismayed after losing to Manchester United in the FA Cup in their last outing, but they might have accepted that painful elimination had they known that two weeks later they would be sitting two points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Liverpool had typically made life difficult for themselves earlier in the day by conceding in just the second minute against Brighton, but thanks to some Mohamed Salah magic they turned the game around to win 2-1.
They could catch up with events in Manchester while on their way home from Anfield, and will be delighted with the result, which leaves them back in control of the title race and without having to face Arsenal or City in their final nine games. They have a favourable run-in too, with Tottenham looking like their hardest home game left, and Manchester United and Aston Villa their toughest away opponents.
Getty ImagesLOSER: City's defensive crisis
After having pretty good fortunes with injuries in defence, all the dominos had started to fall in the build-up to the most important stage of the campaign for City. And they continued to do so on Sunday as Nathan Ake pulled up injured midway through the first half, forcing Guardiola to throw on the still inexperienced Rico Lewis while switching Manuel Akanji to centre-back.
Ake being out would not usually set alarm bells ringing, but his injury comes at the worst time, with Guardiola already missing three key players at the back. Ederson got injured at the start of the month at Anfield and then City suffered a double whammy of blows in the international break. The usually bulletproof Kyle Walker hurt his hamstring for England against Brazil and then John Stones, playing for the Three Lions against Belgium, suffered yet another setback in an injury-riddled campaign.
The losses come as City have six games in the next three weeks, including their Champions League quarter-final clash with Real Madrid, the FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea and a testing league fixture with Aston Villa on Wednesday.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Mikel Arteta
It is no secret that City saw Arteta as Guardiola's eventual successor, and they were distraught when he left his role as the Catalan's assistant coach to take charge of Arsenal in December 2019. The Spaniard inherited a huge task when he succeeded Unai Emery and he has had to take the long road to reach this point, but he has never been closer to overhauling his old master and his old employers.
Arsenal may not end up winning this title in the end. but whatever happens in the final game, he has done away with his side's reputations as City's pushovers. At the start of this season, the Gunners had lost 12 consecutive Premier League games against City between 2017 and 2023 and had not beaten them since 2015. Now,they have avoided defeat in their last two fixtures.
Arsenal's title bid effectively fizzled out last season when they were thrashed 4-1 at the Etihad, but 11 months on they came here as equals and left with a draw that keeps them above City and with Liverpool within reach. Just as crucially, they left with their heads held high and still believing they can topple these two juggernauts.
"You want to win the game. You prepare to win it. If you cannot win it, make sure you draw it. We did that," Arteta said. "Eleven months ago we were here and the story was very different. You have to make steps as a team and today we’ve done that."