Liverpool today benefited greatly from the goalless draw that ended the great rivalry between Manchester City and Arsenal in the exciting battle for the Premier League. Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta They signed a table and the Reds, who beat Brighton shortly before (2-1), are again in the lead, with nine games, at the expense of the Gunners, who are two points behind.
While the ‘citizens’, Real Madrid’s rivals in the Champions League quarterfinals, are still third in contention but are now three points behind the leaders.
72% owned
The Etihad witnessed a battle between two teams who base their football on ball control. The city largely leads this aspect (they have 72% ownership), favored by the approach of a Mikel Arteta who prefers to face the fight waiting behind the rival and waiting for the option to come out on the counterattack.
This Arsenal has learned to adapt to the circumstances and, despite not being good at defending, they have reduced the gaps to the maximum. Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne and, above all, to Phil Foden who is not comfortable now in the 60 minutes he is on the field and Erling Haaland, who barely handled seven balls in the first half when he was well marked Gabriel Magalhaes, assisted by William Saliba.
In this context, chances were few and far between as Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard were only able to send Arsenal into attack in dribs and drabs. Gabriel Jesus was the first to shoot at the goal, but his attempt went into the side netting in the 8th minute.
Chance for Aké, who retired injured
Nathan Aké had the clearest chance after a quarter of an hour with a corner taken by De Bruyne. The centre-back, unmarked, heads over from point-blank range and David Raya takes the ball with his body.
Minutes later, Aké had to retire with a muscle setback and added to City’s defensive woes ahead of their Champions League tie against Real Madrid. Kyle Walker is out today and John Stones He remained on the bench after both were injured in the English team.
Lewis, emergency
Pep Guardiola turned to the boy Rico Lewiswho played the right pass Manuel Akanji in the middle of the back. City did not seem committed to this change as Arsenal had more space for a while and tried several attempts.
In one of them, Gabriel Jesus cut the edge of the area and his shot was very close to the post (31′).
After the break City seemed to come out with clearer ideas and Mateo Kovacic unleashed a shot that narrowly missed the target (47′). But the party moved under the same parameters. More ‘skyblue’ dominance but fewer shots against fierce ‘gunner’ resistance.
Guardiola’s double change
Guardiola tried to shake the tree during the game get Foden and Kovacic back with a view to opening up the flanks with the entry of Jack Grealish and Jérémy Doku.
City looked for the goal late on but, when they found an opening, their attempts always fell to an Arsenal player who was well positioned in the area. Even Haaland was indecisive when a ball fell to David Raya, missing the best chance in the final stretch.
The champion could not beat the best defense in the Premier League and, after drawing before the national team’s break with their visit to Liverpool (1-1), they also could not beat the Gunners, who won 1-0 in the first round. at the Emirates and now they have ended a seven-game losing streak in the league at the Etihad.
match lineup
18
25
24
16
3
6
twenty
17
9
8
47
22
4
fifteen
twenty
2
6
8
41
29
7
9
Etihad Stadium
David Raya22
78′
Ben White4
Jakub Kiwiorfifteen
65′
Jorginhotwenty
65′
William Saliba2
26′
Gabriel Magalhães6
Martin Odegaard8
Declan Rice41
Kai Havertz29
60′
Bukayo Saka7
77′
60′
Gabriel Jesus9
66′
71′
Replacements
Aaron Ramsdale1
Takehiro Tomiyasu18
65′
26′
Oleksandr Zinchenko35
60′
Thomas Party5
65′
Emile Smith Rowe10
Fabio Vieiratwenty-one
Gabriel MartinelliEleven
77′
60′
Eddie Nketiah14
Leandro Trossard19
71′
coach
Pep Guardiola
Mikel Arteta
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
