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John Stones says Arsenal did something quite unusual in 2-2 draw vs Manchester City
John Stones was the man to break Arsenal hearts in the 98th minute on Sunday.
The Manchester City No.5 was on hand to prod the ball beyond David Raya to secure a 2-2 draw for the Citizens, when it seemed as if they were heading towards a 2-1 defeat on home soil against an Arsenal side with just ten men, after Leandro Trossard was dismissed.
After the final whistle, John Stones admitted that Arsenal did something “that not many teams” do…
What John Stones said about Arsenal
The England international easily could have launched into a moan about Arsenal – as the Gunners wasted plenty of time at the Etihad Stadium.
For instance, Gabriel Martinelli went down with ‘cramp’ – before suspiciously getting up and chasing Michael Oliver, who made an error VAR could not check, after the referee decided to just let play continue, seeing through the apparent gamesmanship.
David Raya also hit the deck a number of times with injury complaints, allowing Mikel Arteta to feed instructions through to his players, something Stones referenced in his post match interview with Sky Sports.
The 30-year-old : “It was a difficult afternoon, they used the side of football that not many teams do – make it difficult, slow it down, get the goalkeeper down to get some information on.”
While Manchester City players, coaches and fans alike were surely frustrated by this approach, it was what Arsenal needed to do against a side who are arguably the best in Europe, especially with just ten men for over 45 minutes.
These dark arts almost paid off for Arteta, who was just seconds away from exiting the Etihad Stadium with three points – a venue where no side other than Manchester City have tasted victory in the Premier League since Brentford in November 2022.
Manchester City now seem wary of the Gunners
Cast your mind back to the 2022/23 campaign, when Arsenal were hammered 4-1 by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, despite leading the Premier League at that point in time.
Pep Guardiola made the Gunners look like children on that occasion, and the Manchester City players also seemed to hardly break a sweat.
Now – however – there is a lot of emotion in these games, with the likes of Erling Haaland in particular showing plenty of anger and frustration on Sunday, suggesting that Arsenal are finally starting to become a thorn in the side of Manchester City and get into their heads a little.
Hopefully, that can continue, as it is fantastic to see such competitiveness at the highest level, in what is becoming a proper title feud between two top teams.