Arsenal made their return to Premier League action on Wednesday evening, but it wasn’t a happy comeback as they lost at Manchester City.
After more than three months without a game, Arsenal were back. They faced a difficult trip to the Etihad Stadium to take on City, and it proved a tricky evening for the Gunners.
Granit Xhaka was substituted with an injury early on, and Pablo Mari suffered a similar fate. David Luiz came on as the Spaniard’s replacement, and had an absolute shocker.
Luiz was at fault for City’s opener as he miscontrolled Kevin De Bruyne’s pass, allowing Raheem Sterling to score. Luiz then hauled down Riyad Mahrez for a City penalty and picked up a red card before De Bruyne dispatched the spot kick.
Phil Foden’s late goal finished off the 10-man Gunners. It felt like everything that could go wrong for Arsenal did go wrong, and Mikel Arteta must regroup his troops for the weekend trip to Brighton and Hove Albion.
Arteta may have taken a couple of positives out of the game, such as the performance of Kieran Tierney. This was the first time Arteta has been able to pick the Scot; he was injured when Arteta arrived as boss and only recovered during the lockdown.
Tierney started at left back and fared well, before shifting in to play as a makeshift centre back once Luiz had been sent off – and his performance impressed Arsenal fans.
Some suggested that the defender was the ‘only positive’ of the game, claiming he turned in a ‘top performance’.
Others want to see him stay fit, and believe that Arsenal have their left back of the future if he continues to impress.
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