Manchester City's Bernardo Silva and John Stones criticised Arsenal's “dirty” approach and “time-wasting” after the rivalry between the two teams ended in a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Gabriel Magalhães headed in a corner kick and scored the visitors' second goal while City goalkeeper Ederson was blocked. Leandro Trossard was sent off for a second yellow card just before half-time for kicking the ball away, and Arsenal, with 10 men at the end, slowed the game down as much as possible. The visitors' tactics almost sealed a classic win, but Stones' 98th-minute goal rescued City a point. Erling Haaland put them ahead before Ricardo Calafiori equalized for Arsenal.
Asked about Arsenal's dark magic, Stones said: “I don't know if they've mastered it but they've been doing it for years and we expected it. Call it clever or dirty, whichever you want to call it.”
“They disrupt the flow of the game and take everybody out of rhythm and I think we handled it well. When something like this happens it's not easy to try to gain momentum and get in the game and get ahead of your opponent. A little interruption stops you from doing that.”
Silva echoed Stones' sentiments. “Only one team came to play football,” he said. “The other team came to play as far as the referee would allow.”
The Portuguese added: “The second goal was already recognised by the referee, a routine block by them against our goalkeeper, and then the referee also recognised a series of time-wasting actions that followed.”
Asked about the difference between City's battles with Liverpool and their more recent rivalry with Arsenal, Silva said: “Liverpool have won the Premier League and Arsenal haven't. Liverpool have won the Champions League and Arsenal haven't. Liverpool have always gone head-to-head with us to win games.”
Manager Mikel Arteta also complained, accusing referee Michael Oliver of inconsistency in not giving a yellow card to City's Jeremy Doku for kicking the ball away, before giving a second yellow to Trossard for the same offence. “I've seen it and it's clear,” Arteta said. “If that's the case, I expect it to be 10-11 in 100 games this season.”
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“Of course it's a miracle that we played 56 minutes with 10 men at the Etihad. What we did is incredible. What happened when they took that decision is clear but it's not worth me commenting on it. We adapted in the best way possible, we changed the way we fought and I'm very proud of them. I couldn't imagine a more difficult situation and how we got through it.”
In August, Arsenal had Declan Rice sent off in similar circumstances in a 1-1 draw with Brighton. Haaland flicked the ball at Gabriel's head while celebrating Stones' goal, but Arteta played down the incident. “I think it was emotional, that's all,” he said. The prognosis for Rodri, who was forced off with a knee injury, was unclear. “I don't know.” [how serious]”I didn't ask the doctor,” he said.
Guardiola criticised Kyle Walker for not marking Gabriel when he scored. [do better] And they didn't,” the manager said.
