Arteta takes pride in Arsenal's handling of "mission impossible"

Today at 02:58 PM

Mikel Arteta says he was immensely proud of the way 10-man Arsenal approached “mission impossible” against Manchester City even though they had to settle for a 2-2 draw at the Etihad after substitute John Stones equalised in the 98th minute.

In an epic encounter at the Etihad, the Gunners battled back from Erling Haaland’s early opener to take the lead before the break. Riccardo Calafiori marked his first start in the Premier League with a beautiful curler to level before Gabriel Magalhaes, for the second time in a week, headed home a Bukayo Saka corner with brutal force.

Despite City’s overall control, Arteta’s side looked good value for their lead but the game was turned on its head in stoppage time of the first half when Leandro Trossard was given his marching orders after receiving a second yellow card from referee Michael Oliver for kicking the ball away.

Arsenal’s decision to see out the second period without any attacking outlet created a one-dimensional game where Pep Guardiola’s side had 88% possession and mounted wave after wave of attacks that the Gunners repelled. Raya was called into a series of late saves before the away side’s stubborn resistance was broken at the death by Stone’s strike after the ball fell loose in a packed box.

Facing questions from Sky Sports, the Spaniard said: “It’s unbelievable what the players did. The way we played in the normal conditions, which are super, super difficult, that’s why they haven’t lost here for 40-something games and then the context we were thrown against 10 men for 55, 56 minutes. That is the story that tells the character of our players, I’m extremely proud of them.”

The Gunners were very much under the cosh in the opening 15 minutes and might easily have fallen further behind but they slowly grew in confidence before taking two chances and creating a couple of others.

“They had two situations, the one with Gundogan in between, he was playing just behind Haaland and pinning them, and he created an opening from that situation. And then the goal [for Haaland] but they didn’t create much more than that.

“But we had to dig in, get some control, behaving more stable in what we want to do. We get that, we were very efficient in front of goal, we went up 2-1 and then there are two incidents, very similar, in particular one very different, with a very different outcome that obviously forces you to play a game that nobody wanted to watch.”

The two incidents to which he refers are likely to be the talking point for the rest of the week. Having lost Declan Rice to a red card against Brighton in similar circumstances, Arteta was clearly incensed that two examples of play being delayed were treated differently by the officials. First, Jeremy Doku kicked the ball away and avoided a booking but when Leandro Trossard did the same, he felt the full force of the law having already picked up an earlier booking for a tug.

Asked for his view on the Belgian’s sending off, Arteta said: “I think it’s very clear. It’s very obvious. And hopefully what 100 per cent of other people think.

“It’s not my job to come here and judge what happened. My job is to survive in the most difficult environment you can have in football for 55 minutes and try to get things done to survive. That is my job.

“The rest is not my job and it’s already the second time that [a red card for delaying the restart] has happened in five games which is really, really worrying if we want to see the best Premier League.

He added: If you’ve played football or any sport, it’s less than a second [between the whistle and Trossard kicking the ball]. Less. Than. A. Second. The previous one [Doku’s] is more than a second. That’s it. Simple.”

As for how his players reacted to the latest setback, he continued: “It was mission impossible. It’s already very hard against 11 players with 10 it’s impossible. Because we have an opponent who puts you under pressure that means you’re going to defend you’re six-yard box time and time and time after time. That’s it.

“[We did] Unbelievably well, I’m so proud of them. When you have survived for that many minutes, to concede in the last minute the way we did because we had to play 97 and then it went to 99 [minutes], it’s very disappointing. At the same time, I cannot be prouder of them and the way they competed today.”

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