 "Erling Haaland and Phil Foden")
Erling Haaland and Phil Foden
Defending champions Manchester City dropped their first points of the English Premier League 2024-25 season after a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Arsenal on Sunday, September 22, at Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s City entered the match as favourites, having maintained a 100 per cent winning record in their previous four games. However, Guardiola’s former subordinate, now Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, had other plans as the Gunners were ready to challenge City.
Manchester City, who are eyeing their record-extending fifth EP title, started the game on a high, with their goal machine Erling Haaland netting his 100th goal for his side, following a through ball from Savinho. However, the home team suffered a major setback in the 21st minute when star player Rodri was forced off the field after picking up a knee injury.
Arsenal wasted no time in taking advantage of City’s disarray, with Calafiori scoring in the 22nd minute to level the score. Gabriel then found the net in the in the first half stoppage time to give the Gunners a 2-1 lead.
However, they also suffered a significant blow just before half-time, as striker Leandro Trossard was sent off after picking up his second yellow card of the match in the 45+8 minute, leaving Arsenal with 10 men for the remainder of the game.
City applied constant pressure in the second half with numerous attempts on goal, but Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya thwarted everything they threw at him. However, his resilience finally broke in the 90+8 minute when City’s super sub John Stones scored to secure a 2-2 draw.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX1-oKm1qXw
City and Arsenal shared a point each. Despite this, one point was enough for the defending champions to move clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League points table with 13 points from 5 games, while Arsenal moved up to fourth, replacing Chelsea, with 11 points from 5 games.
First Published: Sep 23 2024 | 10:29 AM IS