Arsenal came from behind twice to salvage a draw against fellow Champions League contenders Manchester City.
The Gunners, having picked up a single victory in their previous five games, showed the sense of belief manager Arsene Wenger has always pointed to, as they denied Pep Guardiola’s side a potential route back into the title race.
A draw leaves the north London club in genuine danger of missing out on the top four, with Wenger’s side currently seven points behind City in fourth place. Loose defending was the order of the day as City took the lead within four minutes of first half action, following a simple long ball from Kevin De Bruyne into the path of Sane. The German international collected the ball immaculately before leaving Hector Bellerin behind with a clever dummy and rolling the ball past David Ospina. Arsene Wenger’s side were laboured in their response, but the Gunners levelled the scores approaching the half time interval.
Another comical piece of defending – this time from Nicolas Otamendi – allowed Mustafi to find Walcott alone in the penalty area with a cushioned header, before the forward calmly dispatched the ball into the net. But the home side’s parity was short lived as the away side re-established their advantage through Aguero only two minutes later. De Bruyne rattled the post with a driven effort before the ball kindly made its way back to the Belgian. A quick one-two with David Silva eventually saw Aguero given the opportunity to take aim, as the striker arrowed his effort into the far corner. Despite starting the second half brightly, City once again saw their lead disappear after Otamendi was singled out from an Arsenal corner.
Following good work from Nacho Monreal, a Gunners set-piece was met by a glancing header from Mustafi as the defender expertly found the bottom corner tolevel the scores once again. The game began to drift as both sides seemed to settle for a point.
Otamendi, however, thought otherwise, as another individual error nearly handed Arsenal victory. Otamendi’s decision to avoid a defensive header presented Mesut Ozil with a chance to go through on goal. But the midfielder’s heavy first touch let him down as Willy Caballero closed down the angle before he could rediscover his composure.
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