After the draw against Arsenal, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola opened up about the match. On top of that, he praised the Gunners. The match between City and Arsenal was an entertaining one.
Guardiola said that Arsenal were the best opponent they have faced. Later, he explained his statement by saying that the Gunners were quick at everything, such as throw-ins, free-kicks, and goal-kicks. They never wasted a single minute during the game.
He added that the Gunners are so good in multiple aspects of the game, such as their defending and their attacking with long and short balls. Mikel Arteta’s team can control any game. All these aspects have made them one of the best in the world.
When a team does these kinds of things, it can certainly hurt the opponents. This thing happened with Manchester City. When Kyle Walker made a foul, match referee Michael Oliver called him in the middle of the pitch to give him a yellow card. At the same time, Arsenal started the game with a quick free kick. At this time, Kyle Walker was out of his position. So, Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli sprinted with the ball and easily gave it to Riccardo Calafiori.
After that, Michael Oliver refused to deny the goal. According to rules, this goal shouldn’t have stood because the referee called Kyle Walker and took him out of his position. This created acres of space for Gabriel Martinelli, and the Brazilian winger exploited that opportunity. So, Pep Guardiola became angry and was kicking the chair on the sidelines. Referees should not take this type of decision during any match.
Then the Italian scored a beautiful goal against Ederson Moraes. The Brazilian goalkeeper was unable to save it, and the ball ended in the back of the net. After the first half, everyone was expecting that Arsenal would deny City a single point out of this match, but Guardiola’s team made a last-minute comeback with a John Stones goal.
Star performers for Arsenal
In this match, Erling Halaand scored the opening goal for Manchester City. That was his 100th goal for the club. But Arsenal didn’t allow Guardiola to breathe as they scored the equalizer in a few minutes. Both Calafiori and Gabriel Martinelli played beautiful football down the left-hand side.
In the mean time, the Gunners scored again. Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes scored a header from the corner. After this goal, Pep Guardiola became furious at his players, and we saw a change in their game. The Cityzens were taking multiple attempts on Arsenal’s goal. From Kyle Walker’s long-range effort to Gvardiol’s side-volley, everything was fired towards their opponent.
But Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya saved all of it. The Spaniard was even saving the rebounds. Raya is performing at his best. In the last Champions League match, he saved a penalty from Atalanta’s Rategui, which kept Arsenal on a 0-0 draw.
So, he has become an important player for Mikel Arteta. According to Metro, Gary Stevens said that David Raya is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Last season, Raya made a loan move to Arsenal from Brentford.
Now he has become a permanent signing for the Gunners. Gary Stevens has backed Mikel Arteta on this decision and has said that Arsenal got this one 100% right. Some fans even say that Raya is an upgrade of their previous goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale.
After this game, it is clear that Arsenal are going to compete with Manchester City for the Premier League title. Some fans even believe that the Gunners can break the four-year dominance of Guardiola’s team.
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