Mikel Arteta denied Manchester City's accusations that Arsenal used “dark magic” in Sunday's 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium and said the truth about the players' condition would be revealed in the squad sheet for Wednesday's Carabao Cup third round tie at home to Bolton.
City were furious after Leandro Trossard was sent off in first-half added time and, as they tried to defend a 2-1 lead with 10 men in the second half, Arsenal players kept going down and seeking treatment.
David Raya, Ricardo Calafiori, Gabriel Martinelli and Julian Timber were accused of deliberately disrupting the game, while City's John Stones, Bernardo Silva and Manuel Akanji were highly critical of Arsenal's tactics. Stones, who scored the equaliser in the dying seconds, said Arsenal had been practicing the “dark arts” for years.
To all this, Arteta, who worked as coach at City before taking over at Arsenal in December 2019, had a cryptic response. “I've been there before, I was there for four years,” he said. “I have all the information, so I know, believe me.” Arteta seemed to suggest City tend to react poorly after games they don't win.
Raya left the Etihad Stadium wearing bandages after a thigh injury, while Calafiori, who joined from Bologna in the summer, has not started for Arsenal so far, while Timber missed most of last season with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, and Martinelli has also struggled with fitness. All four are doubts for Bolton's visit, but it is unclear whether Arteta will use them in the Carabao Cup either way.
“I always prefer facts over words and speculation,” Arteta said. “Let's see who's available tomorrow. Then we can talk about black magic and all this or whether it's real or not. Other factors are factors but that's it. We use the facts. What are the other factors? Well, if a player is faking something, it means he's in the team and will continue to play. Unfortunately we have a few players who won't be available.”
Asked if there were any serious injuries in his City squad, Arteta replied: “We have to wait until one of them recovers.”
If Raya is unavailable, Arteta is likely to turn to 16-year-old fourth choice goalkeeper Jack Porter. Second choice goalkeeper Neto is unavailable for the cup match after playing against Bournemouth in the second round and third choice goalkeeper Tommy Thetford is injured.
Arteta is also without the injured Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney, with Ben White also a doubt. Trossard is suspended, and Arteta said Odegaard, who is dealing with an ankle injury, is “for a few weeks… I'm not sure exactly, but there could be a surprise.” [before the October international break] But that's unlikely.
Arteta said Arsenal's second-half defending against City was out of necessity, and was clearly unhappy that their brilliance was largely ignored and the spotlight was on their waste of time. As for the allegations of corruption, everyone at Arsenal is aware that City are defending themselves against 115 allegations of misconduct brought by the Premier League. City have denied all the allegations.
Arteta added that Arsenal have “learned from the past” when it comes to playing City with 10 men. They have done so twice in 2021-22. In the first meeting that season, Arsenal were 2-0 behind when Granit Xhaka was sent off in the 35th minute and suffered a 5-0 away defeat. The second time, Arsenal were 1-1 at 1 when Gabriel Magalhães was sent off in the 59th minute and conceded a goal in added time to go up 2-1.
After newsletter promotion
“We'd better learn… If we don't I'd be a fool, a very foolish man,” Arteta said, reflecting on how he has tried to instill a joy of competing in his players. “We had to play the games we had to play. [on Sunday]We just couldn't do 11-on-11 for the first 10, 15 minutes. After that we got a lot better. Then we were thrown into a totally different situation. [after the Trossard red card] And he did what every team does: Every manager wants a team that is happy and able to compete no matter what the circumstances.”
Arteta wanted to highlight City's play, who were temporarily down to 10 men while waiting to bring on Mateo Kovacic for the injured Rodri midway through the first half. Arsenal were unable to take a quick free-kick after Ilkay Gündogan fouled Thomas Partey and Silva saved the ball from Trossard.
“They played with 10 men for 30 seconds,” Arteta said. “Look what they did for 30 seconds. What they did is normal. We had to do it differently.”
Arteta has had time to reflect on Trossard's sending off and suggested there is ongoing frustration over the decision. It was the second time this season that an Arsenal player has received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away, after Declan Rice in the 1-1 draw at home to Brighton.
“You mean the pass?” Arteta said. Did he warn his players not to do that? “Yes, I think so,” Arteta replied. “Don't touch the ball, we'll play without it.”
