Arsenal drew with Man City: Gabriel Martinelli's miracle

Gabriel Martinelli's moment of injury-time magic earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw with Man City, Rodri's peak performance.

1. Pep Guardiola has built a hegemonic team, and his former student Mikel Arteta is working hard to overthrow that structure.

So far, Arteta has not been successful. Arsenal under the Basque coach have developed, but not matured enough.

Haaland maintains impressive scoring performance. Photo: MCFC

Sunday night's meeting showed that once again, with Rodri the wall that blocked them.

Rodri, who is finding himself again after an injury a year ago, returned to the Man City midfield and built a solid block of concrete at the Emirates. Arsenal's continuous storms were all pushed back before that "breakwater".

It was not until Gabriel Martinelli came on – inexplicably late, in the 80th minute – that the crowd’s frustration was relieved. Martinelli himself, with a brilliant goal – one of the most memorable moments of his career, scored the equalizer 1-1 in injury time.

That result made Liverpool happy, because they alone lead the Premier League with 15 points, 5 points more than Arsenal and 8 points more than Man City.

2. Rodri's legs are gradually finding stability. Around him, Man City becomes solid.

The Manchester team entered the match determined to impose a plan based on the physical condition of the Spanish conductor, who was not yet 100% recovered.

Rodri builds a solid wall for Man City. Photo: PL

Starting with a fierce pressing style, Guardiola soon realized that Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino often responded strongly.

If Pep pushes his players up to mark the opposition 1-on-1, the risk of losing the one-on-one duels will force Rodri to move too much.

Wanting to save his energy, Guardiola decided to strengthen his midfield with Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden, and wait for Arsenal to drop back. While both sides were still testing the game, the opening goal came.

Less than 10 minutes in, Arsenal were pushing forward into the opposition half when Calafiori crossed the ball. The ball landed in a crowd of nine players crammed into a few square metres. Foden, Rodri, Bernardo faced Zubimendi, Trossard and Rice, all caught up in a situation reminiscent of rugby.

Rodri was the winner. He didn't just clear the ball, he calmly watched, waiting for the right moment to pass to Erling Haaland through the crowd.

Arsenal were completely deadlocked in regulation time. Photo: Alamy

The pass was so precise that Haaland controlled the ball between Zubimendi and Gabriel Magalhaes, turned gently and then played a one-two with Reijnders – the midfielder sprinted forward after a 60-meter escape.

Reijnders faced Saliba and Timber, opening the ball back for Haaland to finish diagonally with his right foot. The goal was Haaland's fifth in just four Premier League games this season – also the pinnacle of counter-attacking.

Since taking the lead, Guardiola adjusted his tactics, and Arsenal were forced to push forward. For more than an hour, the home team only created a little danger from Calafiori's runs up the flank and Madueke's breakthroughs.

The final attacks were all blocked by the defense around Rodri. Arsenal were completely deadlocked (expected goals: 0.89).

3. Without Martin Odegaard and leaving Martinelli – who had exploded a few days earlier in the Champions League win over Bilbao – on the bench, Arsenal had possession without their game-changing players.

The Gunners had no way to unlock City's defense, while always being threatened by Doku's unstoppable breakthroughs.

Gabriel Martinelli's brilliant scoring moment. Photo: Imago

Notably, Man City only had 32.8% possession – the lowest rate in Guardiola’s coaching career. However, Haaland still had the chance to increase the score to 2-0 after Doku’s pass, but David Raya made an excellent save.

Tension spread throughout the stands and even the Arsenal coaching staff. Because within Emirates, from players to leaders, everyone believed that to win the Premier League, they had to beat City.

With no solution in sight, Mikel Arteta decided to bring Martinelli in. If anyone has contributed and sacrificed quietly for Arsenal, it is the 24-year-old Brazilian.

The moment he did was truly special, in a very difficult position: Eze passed the ball between the central defenders, Martinelli broke free, leaving three blue shirts behind, chipped the ball over Donnarumma's head when the Italian goalkeeper had closed all the shooting angles.

After a summer of heavy investment in strikers, Arsenal are living off the moments of Martinelli – the only one Arteta has scored on both fronts.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/arsenal-hoa-man-city-1-1-ma-thuat-gabriel-martinelli-2444844.html