Manchester City looked ‘void of ideas’ in the eyes of Paul Merson, while Roy Keane slammed the Etihad hosts as ‘really poor’ after Pep Guardiola’s side rescued a last-gasp draw against 10-men Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta’s side were on the verge of a most memorable first Premier League victory over City at the Etihad under the Spaniard’s tenure, before John Stones tapped in a late equaliser.
Leandro Trossard’s ridiculous sending off at the end of the first-half for kicking the ball away led to City dominating possession for the entirety of the second-half as they tried to make the most of their man advantage.
Arsenal held firm, often playing as a back-six with Gabriel and William Saliba at the heart of keeping City’s attackers at bay, before eventually being broken by John Stones’ late strike.
City uncharacteristically struggled to carve openings in Arsenal’s defence, with long-range shots landing off-target and Gunners goalkeeper David Raya excellent in claiming balls into his box.
Manchester City struggled to break down 10-men Arsenal in the second-half at the Etihad
Arenal players were hugely dejected after conceding an equaliser at the death
Erling Haaland had initially put the hosts ahead by scoring a stunning 100th City goal before Arsenal clawed back two impressive strikes, and ex-Gunners forward Merson was critical of the reigning Premier League champions failed attacks.
‘When you want to break down 10 men you have to go down the outside. As Roy said no one done an overlap once,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘When you get an overlap defenders rush back and then you can pull that ball back. I was quite shocked with Man City, I thought they were void of ideas.’
Manchester United legend Roy Keane – who famously shared a fierce rivalry with Arsenal – also lashed out at City’s unusual attacking performance that left Guardiola raging in his technical dugout on several occasions.
He refused to add to the mountain of praise Arsenal were receiving for getting a draw, but also slammed City’s creative play as ‘really poor’ adding: ‘It has happened before where teams can get a result with ten men.
‘Listen, Arsenal did well but City were really poor – no movement, no overlaps, no underlaps.
‘It was more poor play from Manchester City than Arsenal’s brilliant defending.’
However, Keane, believes City’s deep squad depth that was emphasised by the second-half introductions of Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Stones, could prove to be the difference in the Premier League title race
Roy Keane believes Man City will benefit from having the strongest squad depth in the Premier League
He added: ‘It’s a reminder as well to everyone we look at the squad, Grealish comes on and has an effect, Stones, players off the bench, these top teams the influence of the subs coming on is going to be huge at the end of the season.’
Meanwhile, former Arsenal icon Theo Walcott told Arsenal players that conceding at the death wasn’t the worst thing as they still managed to take a hugely valuable Premier League point away from the home of the reigning English champions.
‘Of course its going to be gut wrenching but they would have taken this at the start of the game,’ Walcott said.
‘It’s just one of those opportunities they’ve failed in that statement with the points but it’s the games they can’t afford to drop points against like your West Ham’s and Fulham’s as they did last year. The manager would have learned a lot about his players.’
