Arsenal vs Manchester City: 3 pillars of Arteta's victory over Guardiola

Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta masterminded the club’s first victory over Manchester City in the Premier League in eight years to mark what the Gunners hope will be a new era for their club. 

The 1-0 victory put an end to a disastrous run of 12 games in the league against the Cityzens without a victory for the Gunners, marking a watershed moment for Arteta, who got one over his former boss Pep Guardiola. 

The Manchester City manager is one of the toughest customers in the league, and Arteta’s first win over Guardiola in the Premier League was built on three main pillars.

Arsenal’s defensive work against Manchester City was incredible enough to quench the visitors’ highly formidable attack, and even though the decision to be more cautious shunted the Gunners’ attack, it was well worth it.

The London side have averaged 62.1% possession in the Premier League this season, but against Manchester City, they only had 49%. Partly due to their opponents, but also due to how Arteta chose to set up his team. 

With both Jorginho and Declan Rice playing in a double pivot, Arsenal were able to manage the risk posed by Manchester City and essentially shut down the Cityzens’ creativity, limiting them to only four shots in the entire match, the least attempted in any match in the Guardiola era. 

The Gunners also had the exceptional centre-back pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel Meghaeles to thank for an incredible display that gave Manchester City’s forwards very little breathing space. 

After 52 goals in his debut season with the club, it has become imperative that stopping Erling Haaland from finding the back of the net is a crucial step to stopping a Manchester City victory. 

In Haaland’s last Premier League match against Arsenal, the Norwegian scored once and provided two assists as the Cityzens ran out 4-1 winners, but the Gunners were prepared for him this time around. 

The marking on Haaland was skin-tight, as the Arsenal defence prevented service from reaching the Norway international, who managed only three touches in the opposition penalty area. 

Even when Haaland tried to drop deep to facilitate play, he was thoroughly marshalled by Saliba, and the Norwegian recorded an abysmal 0.00xG against Arsenal. 

Substitutes played a crucial role in Arsenal’s win, as Arteta’s gambles changed the game in the Gunners’ favour. 

Incredibly, all four of Arsenal’s substitutes combined to score the only goal of the game to seal the Gunners’ victory. 

Thomas Partey’s deep diagonal pass was brought down by Takehiro Tomiyasu for Kai Havertz, who set up Martinelli for the winner. 

Such perfect synergy amongst four players who did not start the game is rarely seen, and Arteta’s in-game management was top-notch to see off the challenge of Manchester City.