On paper, Manchester City and Arsenal locked horns in a blockbuster Premier League affair.
But, the performance between the two didn’t live up to the billing because they played out a goalless 0-0 draw.
It was a game of very few chances, with Arsenal’s defensive strength proving its worth and Mikel Arteta’s side securing a deserved clean sheet.
The London club have the best defence in the Premier League this season and they proved that once again when they kept the likes of Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden at bay, thanks to players like William Saliba.
It was pretty clear from the off that Arsenal didn’t want to get out of their shape and they were happy to break on their opponents.
What was interesting to note was the positioning of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus during parts of the game.
Gael Clichy thinks the duo could have played higher up the pitch and been braver during the 90 minutes by ‘taking risks’, as he told Premier League Productions (31/03/24 at 6:50 pm).
Rather than pushing high up the pitch, they both played very deep, helped out their fullbacks and didn’t allow Manchester City to play any balls in between the fullback or the centre-half.
Even though Arsenal secured a clean sheet, it seems as though Clichy wanted more.
Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka v Manchester City
“You know Man City, they will have possession and you know you will help them on transition on the second ball,” said Clichy. “This is what you (Jesus and Saka) can’t do when you are so deep. Even when you collect the ball, you have more than 50-60 meters to go again.
“That’s what we said, with the fullbacks/wing-backs Man City are using, at the moment. You can give yourself a chance to be a little bit higher as a winger and ask your fullbacks for a bit more energy to close them down. I know it’s hard, but you have to take risks and without risks, you aren’t going anywhere.
Post-match: “I like to see teams play. To see Arsenal with the wingers coming very deep, when I say disappointed, I am not disappointed because they didn’t play well. I think they played really well with the game plan they had. You always think, with the quality they had, they could try to go and do something. I think they really had this. It’s the only team that could do this to Man City and it’s the only reason I am disappointed.”
Premier League title race
Well, the winners out of all of this are Liverpool. They beat Brighton 2-1 earlier in the day and are now top of the table.
There is a two-point gap between Jurgen Klopp’s men and Arsenal in second, with the current champions three behind.
But with midweek fixtures coming up. All of this could change by next week and this point for the Gunners could prove to be very crucial.
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