Arsenal held to draw by Man City at the Emirates

After losing four matches out of their last five, English Premier League side, Arsenal, twice came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw against Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

The Gunners got off the worst possible start when City’s forward Leroy Sane put them ahead after just five minutes, but Arsenal equalized when Theo Walcott prodded home after hesitant City defending from a corner.

Sergio Aguero took less than two minutes to fire Pep Guardiola’s side back ahead before half-time.

The home side lost Laurent Koscielny to injury at half-time and it was his central defence partner Shkodran Mustafi who rose above City’s defence from a corner to restore parity after 53 minutes.

Mustafi headed Mesut Ozil’s corner home to earn Arsenal the one point which keeps them seven points behind fourth-placed City.

Arsenal have won one of their last six Premier League games, which has added to the woes of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who’s been placed under pressure by fans asking him to leave the club at the end of the season.

“We started very nervously. We had a refusal to lose the game, we were ready for a fight,” Wenger said after the game.

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“It was a strong performance on the mental front. Technically we can do better.

“The test was mental. We had to come back after half-time and we got a point after a time that has been so stressful for us.”

City manager Pep Guardiola was furious that a late handball appeal against Nacho Monreal was ignored.

In a post-match conference, he said, “I know this referee because we have had him before but I don’t want to discuss the penalty.”

Manchester City may have been offered just the slightest hope of a route back into the title race by Chelsea’s surprise loss at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday – and a win at the Emirates today would have further cemented their place in the top four.

But City will play League leaders Chelsea on Wednesday, a tie that will be decisive of a whole lot for them in the current campaign.

“We play against a team who is stable in what they do. We don’t have too much time to prepare but we go back to Manchester now and recover and then come back to London,” Guardiola added.

 
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