Two of the best teams in the Premier League played a competitive match 3 days ago. Arsenal’s and Manchester City’s match ended in a 0-0 draw.
Here is what happened.
City underperformed.
They not only failed to score in a Premier League match for the first time since a loss to Crystal Palace in October 2021, 2-0, but showed a lack of real goal scoring chances in both halves.
Haaland, usually a force in City’s attack, had few opportunities and was easily handled by Gabriel and Saliba. Although they did have a total of 12 shots, only 1 of those was even on frame.
They also clearly didn’t bring the physicality as they have in the past, with 11 less fouls than Arsenal and 2 less yellows.
Raya kept defensive.
Arteta clearly had a strategy here that worked well to defend Man City against attacks. He didn’t allow any messing around or much prolonged possession in Arsenal’s half and kept the ball away from their goal.
David Raya, their keeper, on average had less than 50% of his passes as long balls. However this game he upped this by a lot and played 29 long balls, or around 83% of his passes (a long ball is defined by a pass longer than 35 yards).
