The disciple Mikel Arteta was able to beat his teacher Pep Guardiola. Arsenal stopped Manchester City with their excellent defense, the best in the Premier (24 goals in 29 games), and prevented the citizens from becoming equal with Liverpool at the top of the English League. So, from the main duel of the day at the Etihad Stadium, the third in contention emerged victorious, Jürgen Klopp’s red team, which with its victory over Brighton (2-1) is once again left alone in command of the classification, with two points on the gunners and three on the light blues.
The clash between leader Arsenal and third-place City promised to be spectacular, but the duel ended in a stalemate with only three shots on goal in the 95 minutes of play.
If it had been a boxing match, the London team would have taken the fight to the points for their two dangerous attempts: a great chance from Gabriel Jesús, excited, at 30 minutes with a shot from outside the area that went too far crossed; and a final shot by Trossard in the 85th minute, in which he went alone, but lacked speed and aim in a shot that was too heeled that Ortega stopped.
On City’s part, all their offensive baggage was a screwball by Kovacevic after the break (m. 46) that escaped just past the right post, and a non-shot by Håland that failed to connect with a cross from Gvardiol in the heart of the area. (m. 83). The Norwegian, alone at the far post, made a mess with his legs in front of the goalkeeper, to the despair of his teammate Rubén Días who did not believe the glaring mistake.
Little else happened on the Etihad pitch. City tried to impose their dominance of the game, but gave up due to the good disposition of Arteta’s team, who for some reason have the best defense in the championship. So Arsenal was able to keep the citizens scoreless for the first time in 58 games at their Etihad fiefdom. City have gone on a streak of 38 consecutive games without losing at home in all competitions (since they lost to Brentford in the last game before the World Cup in Qatar).
However, Guardiola’s team, which will visit the Bernabéu in the Champions League on Tuesday, April 9, is not doing well with the Premier League’s greats: it has not been able to beat Liverpool (1-1 at Anfield and at the Etihad) , with Tottenham (3-3 draw at home), Aston Villa (1-0 defeat in Birmingham), or with Arsenal (1-0 at the Emirates and 0-0 at the Etihad).
Nathan Aké was injured for Manchester City, joining the casualties of Walker and Stones nine days before visiting the Bernabéu.
