ONE FOR THE STORY BOOKS: 4️⃣ TALKING POINTS AS CITY EDGE ARSENAL IN THRILLER

 DRAMA AT THE EMIRATES- TALKING POINTS AS MANCHESTER CITY EDGE ARSENAL

-Mitansh Kagalwala

Photo Via: manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Arsenal took on Manchester City at the Emirates in what was the first game of 2022, and boy, was it good. The Gunners continued their sharp rise after their disastrous start, which saw them bottom of the table at one point, and outclassed the leaders for a good hour. Bukayo Saka opened the scoring in the first half, sweeping home a low cross from Kieran Tierney. Riyadh Mahrez equalized from a controversial penalty, and Rodri stabbed home the winner in injury time, Pep taking a leaf out of Sir Alex Ferguson’s playbook of late goals. With this win, City extend their winning streak to 11 games, and their lead at the top to 11 points.

 

1.   Oh Arsenal, back to their old ways: As the first half drew to a close, their looked to be only one winner, and it wasn’t the table-toppers. The second half started in much the same vein, but then Arsenal did what only Arsenal do. Two minutes of madness, that included a penalty via a VAR on-field check, two yellow cards, a backward header from Aymeric Laporte that looped over Ederson, a brilliant goal line clearance from Nathan Ake, an open goal miss, and a second yellow for Gabriel, for a silly foul on Gabriel Jesus. Rodri’s winner might be harsh on the Gunners, but they can only blame themselves for losing their heads and the game.

2.   More Penalty Drama: The first game of 2022 just had to have our old friend penalty controversy, didn’t it? Ederson’s challenge on Martin Odegaard should arguably have been a penalty, and the spot-kick which eventually was given on Granit Xhaka for bringing down Bernardo Silva caused a great stir. The penalty was a harsh call, but looked right; the Arsenal man had pulled Silva’s shirt, though opinions range on whether Silva was already on his way down. Nevertheless, after that, the Emirates rang with boos every time the Portuguese touched the ball.

3.   New Year Partey: Arsenal played commendably, better than most could have expected. Their young guns, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka shone, but the star of the show was Thomas Partey, who finally put in a shift that justified the millions Arsenal spent on him. In his 50th appearance in red, he was a monster in midfield, picking up every loose ball or touch, and speed of thought and passing both set up the opener and dictated the pace of play.

4.     Young Guns: Arsenal's young players showed truly how good they are, with Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu running the show for much of the game at the Etihad. This in the same game where world beaters such as Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Riyadh Mahrez struggled to create anything meaningful for the most part. Arsenal really do have the best youth in the Premier League, and we can't wait to see them reach their high potentials. 

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