MANCHESTER, England
John Stones' 98th minute equaliser salvaged a 2-2 draw for Manchester City against 10-man Arsenal in a bad-tempered clash between the two favourites for the Premier League title on Sunday.
Arsenal played the entire
second half a man down after Leandro Trossard was sent-off but were seconds
away from inflicting City's first home defeat since November 2022.
A draw is enough for City to
retake top spot, two points clear of Arsenal in fourth.
Erling Haaland's 100th City
goal had given Pep Guardiola's men the perfect start.
Arsenal turned the game around
thanks to Riccardo Calafiori's wonder strike and another set-piece header from
Gabriel Magalhaes.
The Gunners lost Trossard for
a second booking just before halftime.
However, Mikel Arteta's men
produced a stunning rearguard action to hold out until the final seconds when
Stones bundled in after Arsenal failed to clear a corner.
The powder keg for an
explosive encounter was lit within the first few seconds when Kai Havertz
charged into Rodri to leave the Spaniard needing treatment.
Guardiola said City had been
handed an advantage by having an extra day's rest and not travelling for their
Champions League draw with Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Arsenal, by contrast, were in
Italy on Thursday for their 0-0 stalemate against Atalanta.
City burst out of the traps to
try and make their fresher legs count and got an early reward.
Haaland had not even managed a
single shot on target in the two league meetings between the sides last season
as Arsenal kept two clean sheets against the champions.
But the Norwegian is in
unstoppable form and took just nine minutes to score his 10th goal of the
season and bring up his century in 105 games for City.
Savinho's through ball split
the Arsenal defence and Haaland coolly prodded past the onrushing David Raya.
Ilkay Gundogan then curled a
free-kick off the post.
But City's momentum was
interrupted when Rodri was forced off in some distress with a knee injury.
Just seconds after he was
replaced by Mateo Kovacic, Arsenal levelled in stunning fashion.
Calafiori was picked out by
Gabriel Martinelli at the edge of the box and the Italian defender curled a
brilliant effort beyond Ederson for his first Gunners goal.
Gabriel scored the winner in
Arsenal's 1-0 win at Tottenham in the north London derby last weekend.
And City were also unable to
cope with the Brazilian's power at set-pieces.
Guardiola's men got away with
a warning when Gabriel headed over his first big opportunity from a Bukayo Saka
corner.
The Arsenal centre-back was
not so forgiving with his second chance as he shrugged off Kyle Walker to nod
in another inviting delivery form Saka.
Yet there was another huge
momentum swing just before halftime when Trossard saw red.
The Belgian was shown a second
yellow for kicking the ball away after committing a foul.
Arsenal dropped two points in
a 1-1 draw with Brighton after Declan Rice did likewise just three weeks ago
and they suffered a similar fate in heartbreaking fashion.
Arteta responded by
introducing an extra defender in Ben White for Saka as the visitors set up camp
in their own box to repel wave upon wave of City attack.
Raya was called upon to save a
powerful downward header by Haaland.
But Arsenal largely restricted
City to potshots from distance by their centre-backs as Raya denied twice
denied Josko Gvardiol.
It was another City defender
who finally got what could be a defining goal in the title race come May.
Stones swept home the loose
ball from Jack Grealish's cross to extend City's near two-year invincible
streak on home soil.
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