Mikel Arteta, what have you ever finished to this Arsenal workforce? 20 odd years in the past followers of the membership the world over had been in agony over the fashion of soccer Jose Mourinho dropped at Chelsea.

How dare he park the bus? How dare he not assault? How dare his Chelsea aspect carry the darkish arts into English soccer.

You might effectively argue that Arsenal have extra pizzazz to them than Mourinho’s Blues however their efficiency in opposition to Manchester Metropolis on Sunday afternoon was filled with loads of darkish arts.

Not way back this Gunners workforce had a smooth underbelly. They had been too straightforward to tough up and push apart. They’re something however that now.

Arsenal got here to the Etihad wanting to place their stamp on the sport they usually duly did that via Riccardo Calafiori’s screamer and Gabriel‘s aggressive header.

Nonetheless, their plans unravelled immediately when Leandro Trossard acquired a second yellow card and was despatched off for ‘delaying the restart’ having belted the ball away after displaying Bernardo Silva to the bottom. Not once more Arsenal followers had been considering.

Simply weeks on from Declan Rice’s controversial crimson for one thing comparable, they had been on the top of extra doubtful officiating.

Sure, this was extra of a crimson than Rice’s incident in opposition to Brighton however Jeremy Doku simply moments earlier had gone unpunished for kicking the ball away. Anyway, let’s not get slowed down by the officiating.

As Metropolis and Arsenal battled it out to a 2-2 draw, it was a Herculean effort from a workforce containing simply ten gamers within the second half.

Arteta’s aspect stood agency, they stood resolute however sadly couldn’t maintain on within the dying embers as John Stones bundled the ball residence. And breathe. What a contest that was.

Nonetheless, these in crimson and white have to be praised for his or her efforts, notably Gabriel.

Gabriel’s efficiency in numbers

Only some years in the past the Brazilian was famous as a defender who had a mistake in him. True sufficient. He was rash and able to a second of chaos however he has eradicated that from his recreation and now appears like one of many foremost defenders on the continent. In brief, he’s among the many very elite this recreation has to supply.

Alongside William Saliba, they’re on their method to taking place within the historical past books as the most effective defensive partnerships we have seen in Premier League historical past. They need to, after all, win the title first to go down as such.

Gabriel, nevertheless, deserves reward proper at this very second. So usually the bridesmaid to that man Saliba, he has entered his season with virtually one thing to show. He has a bruising header of the ball and has proven as such in back-to-back away video games.

He scored the winner in opposition to Spurs and really almost scored the winner in opposition to Metropolis, brushing Kyle Walker apart and powering a header into the web from Bukayo Saka’s nook.

Sure, he could have conceded twice and his positioning might have been higher for Erling Haaland’s inevitable purpose however he was a titan within the second half, making 5 clearances and profitable 4 duels.

Calafiori, the scorer of the equaliser wasn’t unhealthy both. Making his first begin for the Londoners, he scored a superb first-half purpose and left the sport having accomplished 94% of his passes, one of the best determine of any Arsenal starter.

That mentioned, one other of the backline deserves equal reward, Jurrien Timber.

Timber’s efficiency in numbers

The Dutchman cruelly missed most of final season having sustained a horrific ACL harm on the opening match of the 2023/24 marketing campaign.

So, to coin an previous cliche, he was like a brand new signing when returning to full health in pre-season. How good has he been too? Fielded at left-back within the opening few weeks of 2024/25, he deputised at right-back on Sunday rather than Ben White who did ultimately come on within the second half.

It will seem as if White now has a battle on his palms to win again that place as Timber was elegant.

Remarkably, he failed to finish a single cross throughout the entire match however he stood agency in defence and proved to be a helpful asset down the right-hand aspect too.

As Soccer.London’s Kaya Kaynak put it, handing the defender an 8/10 ranking, he ‘stored Doku quiet for the overwhelming majority of the primary half and when Savinho switched to his aspect within the second interval, the Brazilian received no pleasure’.

Jeremy Doku and Savinho are significantly tough wingers to cope with however Timber made it look straightforward, solely being dribbled previous as soon as, making three tackles and profitable 4 of his seven floor duels in line with Sofascore.

He has been good in an inverted left-back function in latest weeks however he could effectively have simply discovered a house for himself on the precise aspect of defence. He merely has to maintain his place for the following league recreation.