Arsenal and Manchester City’s title hopes take a hit with Emirates draw

Gabriel Martinelli’s brilliant stoppage-time lob rescued a point for Arsenal in a 1-1 draw with old rivals Manchester City.

Erling Haaland’s ninth-minute opener looked set to earn Manchester City a rare victory at Emirates Stadium after they had struggled there in recent battles with Mikel Arteta’s side.

Pep Guardiola reverted to a back five in the second half in an effort to keep a clean sheet which would secure all three points in the capital before Arsenal’s pressure eventually told through Martinelli.

This draw does little for the Premier League title hopes of Arsenal or City, but is enough to maintain momentum after a clash which flitted between end-to-end and tedious on Sunday evening.

Humble Haaland makes his point

Haaland was a central figure in both fixtures last season even though Manchester City failed to win either match, but this time allowed his football to do the talking. It was the Norwegian who sparked a post-match melee at Etihad Stadium when he threw a ball against Gabriel Magalhaes’s head after a last-gasp equaliser for City and subsequently told Arteta to be “humble” after full-time. Fast forward to February and Haaland was served a dish of humble pie when Myles Skelly-Lewis copied his Zen goal celebration during a 5-1 win for Arsenal where the forward was public enemy number one. This time around Haaland ignored jeers and showed his supreme finishing ability with a smart ninth-minute effort. After a lack of composure from both teams during a skittish start, Haaland’s deft touch to Tijjani Reijnders was followed by a burst of acceleration past Gabriel before he slotted home. Haaland barely celebrated and proceeded to dominate Gabriel, giving the Arsenal captain a slight shove to the floor when he defended one corner during an all-action display and despite one other effort straight at David Raya, the former Borussia Dortmund striker was far superior to opposite number Viktor Gyokeres, who failed to have a single shot.

‘Complete squad’ helps Arsenal fight back – but was it enough?

Arteta declared this his “most complete” squad after Eberechi Eze signed on August 23 and then decided to add Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Piero Hincapie for good measure on transfer deadline day. A summer spending spree of £250million by Arsenal sparked light-hearted comments from Guardiola this week about Arteta that “if he wins the title, it will be just because he spent” after years of criticism for his own lavish expenditure in Manchester. However, Arteta does now possess a playing group which appears to cover all bases and had the luxury of leaving Eze, fit-again Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri and Martinelli on the bench for the visit of City. After a shot-shy first 45, where it took Arsenal until the 32nd minute to register an effort of note, the Spaniard rolled the dice. Eze and Saka were sent on at half-time, then Martinelli in the 80th minute and Nwaneri before two substitutes combined deep into stoppage time to produce the late leveller Arsenal’s pressure at the very least deserved. Yet, for all of the Gunners’ attacking ability on the pitch, not one single chance was created for star forward Gyokeres. With Gyokeres again anonymous, after similar quiet displays at Old Trafford and against Liverpool, Arsenal have lost further ground on the Reds and are already five points off the 2024/25 Premier League champions.

Title race over?

It poses the question should we hand the title to Liverpool now? Of course not, but with Arne Slot’s men able to churn out five consecutive wins when they appear far from their best, it is an ominous sign for the chasing pack. Liverpool’s nervy 2-1 win over Everton in Saturday’s Merseyside derby moved them onto 15 points out of a possible 15 and put the pressure on Arsenal and Manchester City, even though the clocks are yet to go back. City are already a whopping eight points off the current leaders. There is plenty of time for that to be wiped away, but £125million forward Alexander Isak is nowhere near being close to getting up and running. If he clicks early, could the Reds be unstoppable? Arsenal and City will hope that is not the case. Guardiola’s side also serve as a timely reminder of how much can change. City started last season with four straight wins but quickly went off the rails. It still remains this is a case of two points dropped for both clubs in north London.