Manuel Akanji hits out at Arsenal’s tactics as Manchester City rage over dark arts of Premier League rivals

A collective nerve has certainly been touched at the Etihad Stadium. In the aftermath of their last-gasp 2-2 draw on Sunday, a host of Manchester City players came forth to bemoan Arsenal’s gamesmanship, cynicism and willingness to settle for a point. To John Stones, it was “dirty.” Bernardo Silva said that “there was only one team that came to play football.” No one has called for humility as forcefully as Erling Haaland did since Kendrick Lamar in 2017. After all that, Manuel Akanji concluded by picking up Rodri’s familiar refrain from last season. Arsenal might be happy with one point but the champions were not.

“It worked for them if they’re happy with the one point,” said Akanji after John Stones’ 98th-minute strike had secured a point for City. “We’re not, we tried to get more but that’s what they’re happy with.”

City had certainly tried, particularly in a second half where they held the man advantage following Leandro Trossard’s red card on the brink of halftime for kicking the ball away. Mikel Arteta had raged about that, Arsenal’s second dismissal in their last three Premier League games, after the final whistle but City felt no less aggrieved at what they felt was the cynicism of Arsenal.

Certainly, there were plenty of Arsenal players hitting the deck in need of treatment as they batted off wave upon wave of sky-blue attacks with remorseless obduracy. A cynic might suggest it afforded them a rare breather in a half where City simply refused to let the ball go out of play. David Raya was not afraid to hit the deck and take his time after his eight post-interval saves. It was no wonder he and Arsenal felt the need for a lie-down. As City pursued parity they unleashed 28 shots on the Arsenal goal, tilting their field to such an extent that five of their players completed more final third passes in the second half than every outfield player in red managed across the whole pitch.

Equally, it is worth noting that Arsenal’s tactics extended beyond the cynical. With 11 men or 10 Arsenal are showing a real understanding of how to make City take the shots they want to give up. Since the start of last season, the champions’ xG per shot in the Premier League has been 0.118. Their mark against the Gunners is by far the lowest of any opponent at 0.075. Nearly 45% of City’s shots on the Arsenal goal have come from outside the box. Over 16 percent have been headers, 37 percent have been blocked. The numbers keep getting worse for City, their last three encounters with Arsenal having produced just seven open play shots on goal. No wonder their shot conversion rate is a paltry 4.1 percent.

Arteta’s side might have been beaten by Haaland this time, a barnstorming run up their gut after brilliant skill by Savinho, but for the other 269 minutes of his recent outings against William Saliba and Gabriel, he has been quelled. No wonder he was so intent on beefing with Myles Lewis-Skelly and Arteta at the final whistle. Those were battles he might win. Meanwhile, none of City’s wide forwards and playmakers have brought a save from Raya. If Haaland doesn’t get a shot on the Arsenal goal, it is often a hit-and-hope from one of the defenders.

Arsenal defended quite brilliantly, knowing which players to afford room to and which to double up on. Add in the other methods at their disposal and it was almost a surprise that a way was eventually found through the 10 men.

Asked whether Arsenal were masters of the so-called dark arts, Akanji said, “I don’t think there are many better than them at it.” 

There might be a few in north London who welcome such an assessment, particularly coming from a side who have developed a reputation as masters of stopping opposition breakaways by fair means or foul.

Arsenal’s collective personality had long been defined by its naivety. It is hard to believe that a team under previous management would have sat in a 5-4-0 after Trossard’s red. Indeed, Akanji’s assessment of how Arteta’s side play against City reads like the antithesis of late era Arsene Wenger. 

“Always when we play against them, that’s what they’re looking for: the drama. Going hard in the duels, defence, 11 players in their own box and then go on set pieces and try to score a goal,” Akanji said. 

It nearly worked, though Akanji believed that Michael Oliver could have done more to stop Arsenal from breaking up the game. 

“That’s what they’re looking for in the end. We have to defend ourselves because in every duel, every free kick that was given, they went on the floor. Players go on the floor to get up, sprint back again, go on the floor again, one of their team went over to tell the keeper to go on the floor and stuff like this,” he said. 

“I mean, there’s nothing we can do about it. In the end, It’s up to the referee to control throughout the whole season, to control these situations. But yeah, there’s nothing else we can do about it.”

Akanji was not the only one unimpressed with Oliver. Silva, who was unimpressed by new rivals Arsenal compared to a Liverpool who “always faced us face to face to try to win the games,” said, “There was only one team that came to play football. The other came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee, unfortunately.”

Arsenal might reasonable contend otherwise. After all, they ended the first half in the lead, a stunning goal from Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel’s header off a corner overturning Haaland’s early opener. Arteta might have been overstating his point when he said that “99 times out of 100” a team that plays a half against City down to 10 men loses and loses heavily — Leeds beat the champions in those circumstances in April 2021 — but most at the Etihad would have agreed at halftime that it was beyond even Europe’s best defense to avoid defeat.

That they did was a triumph that will only become apparent to Arsenal when the devastation of Stones’ late equalizer subsides. Having so resolutely boiled City’s blood in the process should only make for a sweeter sense of pride.

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