Mikel Arteta can’t believe the mistake he saw from Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu v Manchester City

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta claims he hasn’t seen Takehiro Tomiyasu make a mistake like he did against Manchester City in seven years.

The Gunners hosted City at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night with the two sides going for the Premier League title.

This has been a much-anticipated clash but City were given a helping hand with their opener.

Tomiyasu was running back towards his own goal with Jack Grealish in hot pursuit.

Tomiyasu tried to play a left-footed pass back to Aaron Ramsdale but it was far too short, allowing Kevin De Bruyne to swoop in and lob Ramsdale for the opening goal.

Mikel Arteta has now admitted that he can’t believe Tomiyasu’s mistake, believing he hasn’t seen him make that pass in seven years.

Tomiyasu was playing for Avispa Fukuoka in Japan at the time, so maybe there’s a specific moment in Arteta’s mind.

Arteta told Goal that Tomiyasu just never plays that pass but did it against City – and it hurt Arsenal.

“It’s exceptionally difficult to play at the level they require you to play to have a chance to win. I thought in many moments we did and we had them, but if you give three goals the way we did and don’t put away the big chances we had, then the margin for error is almost zero. It’s a shame because we really had them.

“I don’t know if it’s experience or bad luck. I’ve never seen Tomiyasu make that pass back in seven years and he did it today. It’s part of it and they have the quality to punish you,” he added.

Takehiro Tomiyasu not the only reason for Arsenal defeat

Arsenal did level it up through Bukayo Saka’s penalty but second-half goals from Grealish and Erling Haaland handed City a 3-1 win.

Pep Guardiola’s side move top of the Premier League table and Arsenal are somewhat licking their wounds today.

Tomiyasu has received plenty of criticism and it sounds like his manager wasn’t all that impressed either.

Yet that was just one moment in the game and Arsenal can’t pin it all on the mistake for the opening goal.

Gabriel Magalhaes didn’t exactly cover himself in glory in the second half either and Arsenal lacked a bit of sharpness in the final third.

This was a team defeat and not just down to Tomiyasu, who hadn’t started a Premier League game since before the World Cup.

It was a big call for Tomiyasu to come in against City and whilst it backfired in that moment, the Japan international doesn’t deserve to be the the scapegoat.