Five Key Takeaways from Arsenal's 1-1 draw against Manchester City 

Here's Gooner Fanzine print columnist Charlie Ashmore with his verdict on Arsenal's draw with Pep Guardiola's City after Gabi Martinelli's late leveller earned a point for the Gunner.

1 - City’s set up – a compliment or a confession?

Did Manchester City set up the way they did – a defensive counter-attacking mindset more reminiscent of an Aston Villa or a Newcastle reflect their fear about what we could do to them (and did last year) or an admission that they just aren’t where they want to be and therefore not capable of taking the game to us in the way they would have done in seasons past. 

They reminded me very much of Arsenal circa 1993-94 – for Erling Haaland read Ian Wright.  Very solid defensively and get the ball to the lethal man up top.  To answer my question I suspect it was a bit of both but it suggests a continuing vulnerability at City.  One that we failed to take advantage of.

2  - Is Arteta still too cautious?

The choice in midfield was Mikel Merino, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi again.  Three excellent players.  But where’s that creative spark coming from?  Was the team picked with the current City in mind or the expectations we have of City from the years of dominance?  The first half was crying out for a Ethan Nwaneri or an Eberechie Eze in the mix. 

We never really threatened them in the first half with only Noni Madueke looking like he might make something happen.  The second half was a different story.  The obvious explanation is the presence of Bukayo Saka and Eze but is there an element of City tiring as well – perhaps, to put a positive spin on the selection, Mikel Arteta’s plan was to keep it tight for an hour and then take advantage of their tired legs by upping the intent up top.   

If that was the plan it was undone in the ninth minute when Gabriel lost Haaland and let him run unchallenged for half the length of the pitch and into our box. 

Would a more attacking approach in the first half have prevented that sort of break?  We will never know. 

But I can’t help feeling that the handbrake is still too frequently used and needs releasing. 

Put simply we need to take more risks and that first half in particular showed all too little willingness to do so.

3 - Too many of the little details were off

There were far too many instances of things not quite happening as they should. 

Misplaced passes stopping the momentum of a forward thrust, controlling the ball and losing advantage, silly unnecessary fouls giving City a breather and allowing them to waste a minute at a time. 

Zubimendi is clearly a very gifted player but he needs to stop giving away free kicks in the middle of our half.  This was particularly unforgivable in injury time when we gave away three or four unnecessary fouls allowing them to kill any momentum as we searched for the winner. 

All too typical was Merino’s dribble into trouble in the first half which should in all honesty have resulted in a second goal for City.  But he wasn’t alone. 

We needed to be bang on the money on Sunday, and for much of the game we weren’t.  I wouldn’t mind as much if the ball was being lost as a result of taking more risks in our attacking play.  I can forgive an attempted defence-splitting pass going slightly wrong but that wasn’t what was happening yesterday.

4 - Martinelli strikes again

What a difference a week makes.

Two excellent goals, possibly goals only Martinelli in our squad could score and his value to the team is once again being widely appreciated. 

We fans are quick to forget the human side of footballers.  It should be obvious to us that players will be at their best when playing with confidence. 

It is only than that they trust their instincts and stop overthinking. 

Maybe it was Tuesday’s goal that has unlocked his confidence, maybe it’s the challenge of a bigger squad and knowing he is going to have to earn that place.  Whatever it is I cannot be happier for a uniquely talented player (his combination of pace, directness, skill and workrate) who still has the potential to become a great player.

5 - Points dropped.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a massive relief to equalise and rescue a point but I still feel it was two points dropped against a City who are nowhere near previous levels. 

It leaves us five points behind Liverpool but we have had a far harder start.  I would prefer us to be at least one point better off (which would mean Liverpool would be two worse off) but it is what it is. 

In a way, given the difference in fixtures, the points gap is sort of irrelevant after only five games  but the confidence the gap gives them is not. 

Our priority is to do what we can and our challenge is to find an extra 20 points on last season - I will be surprised if 84 points is good enough to win the league this year – we need to get into the 90s.. 

In that regard we are currently a single point behind our tally from the same five fixtures last season.  That’s the bad news. 

The good news is we dropped points in at least ten games we should be doing better in - so there’s plenty of room to gain the additional points needed but every time we drop points in matches we won last year, the challenge gets that bit harder.

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