football. London takes a look at how the Gunners got on individually in their Premier League clash with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium
Arsenal claimed a crucial point in their bid to win the Premier League title with a 0-0 draw at Manchester City.
The Gunners went into the game having lost their lead at the top of the table with Liverpool’s win over Brighton. Still though, they knew this was a match they couldn’t lose and it played out in appropriately tight circumstances.
Gabriel Jesus had the best of the Arsenal chances, while Erling Haaland and Nathan Ake went close for City. Ultimately though it was a point that suits Arsenal far more than their title rivals. Here’s how Football. London rated the players individually in the clash.
David Raya: Struggled with his footing on countless occasions when distributing to cede possession easily. Great at crosses though, and when he could avoid slipping kept Arsenal ticking over nicely on the ball. 6.
Ben White: Some superb technique when playing out from the back and great influence on the Arsenal attack. Defensively very solid too in a huge game. 7.
William Saliba: Defensively switched on throughout. Won almost every one of his duels with Haaland and showed focus when Arsenal was under pressure. Maybe not as progressive with his passing as usual. 7.
Gabriel: Embraced the physical battle with Haaland without getting too emotionally caught up in things like he has done in the past in this fixture. Solid throughout. 7.
Jakub Kiwior: Took a while to get to grips with Bernardo Silva coming down the City right, but did well after finding his feet. Decent attacking contribution. 6.
Jorginho: Not as influential as in his mammoth Liverpool display, but still good. Ensured Arsenal were sensible on the ball particularly when under the cosh in the first half. Always a willing option to receive but couldn’t break the tightness of the match. 6.
Martin Odegaard: Worked tirelessly and consistently showed quality when on the ball. Helped get Arsenal forward on the counter in the first half and then was pivotal to their increased dominance early in the second. Captain’s display in a big game even if the end product was slightly lacking. 7.
Declan Rice: Worked very hard defensively and helped Arsenal win possession back to end spells of City dominance. Not much impact in the final third but his focus was on being solid. 7.
Bukayo Saka: A relatively quiet day for the Hale Ender. Had some good moments early in the second half when Arsenal got forward. Faded as the game went on though, perhaps as a consequence of his injury worry. 6.
Kai Havertz: Worked diligently in the first half and was a useful out ball as Arsenal counter-attacked. Not as impactful in the second half though but a decent display overall. 6.
Gabriel Jesus: Took far too long to pull the trigger when presented with good opportunities. Could easily have had a hattrick on another day but was wasteful. Worked himself into the ground, but was lucky to last as long as he did before getting a yellow card. 5.
SUBSTITUTES –
Takehiro Tomiyasu: Shut Doku down as a threat for the most part but gave away a few corners a little easily. 6.
Thomas Partey: A less rusty display than Sheffield United. Did a decent job after being handed the relay baton by Jorginho to finish the game at the base of midfield. 6.
Leandro Trossard: Should have done better when played in on goal by Odegaard’s defence-splitting pass. Decent impact aside from that but not decisive. 6.
Gabriel Martinelli: Came on too late to influence the game. n/a.