The Bitter Yet Accurate Accusations of Man City

Manchester City’s stars have a point when accusing Arsenal of not trying to play football at the Etihad.

Playing with a man advantage for the entire second half, Manchester City narrowly avoided defeat at home. It wasn’t until the last minute of added time that Pep Guardiola’s team managed to equalize 2-2, thanks to John Stones.

Struggling to break down Arsenal’s solid defense, the home team’s stars felt frustrated. Bernardo Silva remarked after the match:

“Only one team was trying to play football. Unfortunately, Arsenal only focused on bending the rules, and the referee allowed it.”

Kyle Walker also expressed his frustration, using the term “dark arts” to describe Arsenal’s approach. Meanwhile, Stones was even more critical:

“Arsenal played football in a way not many Premier League clubs do. They fragmented the game, creating chaos that shook Man City’s rhythm. Thankfully, we managed to handle it.”

“I’m not saying Arsenal are masters of this dark art, but they’ve been playing like this for years. It’s up to you to decide whether they’re being smart or dirty, but Arsenal prevented Man City from playing.”

Silva, Walker, and Stones all felt that Arsenal’s main focus was disrupting the game at the Etihad. In reality, with a lead and down to 10 men in the second half, Mikel Arteta’s team had no choice but to defend deeply. This, along with David Raya’s brilliant performance, who made 9 saves, left the reigning champions frustrated.

It’s understandable why Guardiola’s team was bitter, but the players’ complaints were completely accurate. According to Opta, Arsenal wasted more time than any other team during stoppages for corners, goal kicks, free kicks, penalties, throw-ins, and kick-offs. They took an average of 31.8 seconds, just ahead of Leicester City at 31.7 seconds.

In contrast, Tottenham took an average of 24.2 seconds to handle dead ball situations, while Man City took just 25.4 seconds to get the ball back into play. Recently, Mail Sport released a video showing young player Myle Lewis-Kelly leaving the bench to approach Raya’s goal, asking the Spanish goalkeeper to waste time—a message clearly coming from Arsenal’s coaching staff.

Shortly after, Raya sat down, pretending to be in pain to delay the match. Referee Michael Oliver gave Lewis-Kelly a yellow card after he crossed behind Raya’s goal during his warm-up in the 65th minute, when Arsenal were leading 2-1.

Arteta’s players seem to have developed a habit of delaying the game. Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard were punished for kicking the ball away when Brighton and Man City were preparing for set pieces. This earned both Rice and Trossard yellow cards, leading to their dismissals in matches against Brighton and Man City.

Arteta’s Arsenal aim to play beautiful attacking football. But when needed, they’re willing to be gritty and play smart, as seen in their frequent time-wasting tactics at the Etihad. Man City came close to paying the price for Arsenal’s style of play.