Arsenal end a miserable run by finally showing some character, but this odd 2-2 draw at the Emirates still mostly showed why both these teams and managers have underachieved this season. Just look at the runs of forms this result tops off.

Arsenal still haven’t won in the league since early February, Manchester City since early March. That Arsene Wenger has endured a much more trying time probably means he will be the much happier manager and, far from this becoming the season-defining Arsenal defeat that many had anticipated, it instead pretty much defined City’s campaign: an impressively fast start, an odd and almost incomprehensible drop-off, an inability to take chances and then just an odd underwhelming sense of dissatisfaction with it; as if they should have done much more.

They certainly squandered the chance to beat an Arsenal that had been on the ropes and prime for a beating, and it is poor that City twice had the lead against such a struggling side but still couldn’t win.

Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Arsenal Petr Cech 6 out of 10 His goal was shielded ably by Arsenal’s backline, but when called upon he was not found wanting, saving well down low from De Bruyne early on. He might, though, have done better for Toure’s goal. 2015 The Arsenal Football Club Plc Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Bellerin 6 out of 10 Back to his best at both ends, particularly putting in a tidy shift defensively where he cut out several attempts to spread the play out wide. 2015 Getty Images Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Mertesacker 7 out of 10 Dominant in the air throughout. City had plenty of corners but with Mertesacker in the area Arsenal never looked threatened. 2015 Getty Images Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Koscielny 7 out of 10 Set the tone as early as the third minute when he whipped the ball off Aguero’s feet as he looked to break. Bar one miskick in the first half this was excellent from Koscielny, who tidied up loose passing from City well. 2015 Getty Images Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Monreal 6 out of 10 Solid in defence and valuable in attack just like his compatriot at the other end. Early on he let De Bruyne break too often but he soon fixed that. 2015 Getty Images Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Flamini 6 out of 10 Took it upon himself to stick to Silva throughout and so he deserves credit for the tough time City’s playmaker had. At times he can be bypassed too easily on the counter attack but his organisation of the backline was critical. Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Ramsey 7 out of 10 All the questions around Ramsey ahead of the game were about his defensive game; he answered them in style time and again. His tackle count may not be the highest, but he was always back doing his duty. In the second half he embraced his licence to bomb on against City’s diffident backline and could have had a goal. 2015 Getty Images Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Campbell 8 out of 10 A 40 yard sprint to add ballast to defence in an early City counter typified everything that has been good about Campbell. Committed at both ends of the field he brought perfect balance to the lineup, whilst his understanding with Bellerin improves by the day. Deserved a goal to seal a man of the match display. 2015 Getty Images Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Ozil 8 out of 10 Of course he registered yet another pair of assists, even though the City midfield attempted to surround him from minute one to minute 90. His eye for a pass was yet again sublime as he offered further proof he could be relied on in the biggest games. 2015 The Arsenal Football Club Plc Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Walcott 7 out of 10 He’s not in the side to track back. Nor to add to the build-up. Or to press the opposition. Wenger picked him because given a half-chance he will probably hit the target, as he showed quite emphatically for the opening goal. What more could be asked of him? 2015 Getty Images Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Giroud 7 out of 10 An exemplary display of what a target man should do in the modern age. He relished aerial battles with Mangala and Otamendi but brought his team-mates into the game equally well when he had the ball at his feet. Another goal capped off a fine display. 2015 Getty Images Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Hart 7 out of 10 Equipped himself rather well considering the porous nature of his backline, as time and again he was called upon to make close-range saves when his team-mates allowed opponents to burst through. Might have done better for the second goal though, when Giroud fired through his legs. Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Sagna 5 out of 10 After so many years at the Emirates you might have thought Sagna would know not to allow Walcott to cut in on to his right, but that’s what he allowed him to do. Though Arsenal rarely attacked down the left when they did they got plenty of joy against a slow Sagna. 2015 Getty Images Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Otamendi 4 out of 10 He lacks for nothing except application, and it showed tonight as Giroud found that simply wanting the ball more than his disinterested opponent would ensure he won it. On one occasion he seemed to simply fall over rather than bother competing with Giroud. 2015 The Arsenal Football Club Plc Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Mangala 4 out of 10 At times this was a display of staggering incompetence from a player valued at over £30 million just a year ago. They’d do well to get a tenth of that after a display in which he gave the ball away in critical areas time and again, contributing decisively to Arsenal’s second. Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Kolarov 6 out of 10 A decent display, at least compared to his team-mates. He bombed forward with purpose and did his best to repel the dangerous double-act of Bellerin and Campbell. 2015 Getty Images Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings De Bruyne 6 out of 10 A performance packed with bright moments but hardly game-changing ones, for instance when he burst through on Cech’s goal before dragging his shot wide when Silva was well-placed. An almost anti-Walcott display; lots of possession, minimal output. 2015 Getty Images Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Toure 5 out of 10 City’s engine room was running on fumes tonight. Though his running looked like that of an injured man he might then at least have focused his attentions on defence, but too often he allowed failed to keep up with Ozil. In many ways his goal only served to enhance the frustration he brought, why wait 80 minutes to do something so brilliant? Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Fernandinho 5 out of 10 On so many occasion he seemed to be caught out from behind by an Arsenal player challenging from the ball as he was one of several players to not show the required intensity for a top of the table match. He scarcely moved from the middle third of the pitch in attack or defence. 2015 Getty Images Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Delph 5 out of 10 No surprise whatsoever that he was hooked off at half-time. Pellegrini had said his role was to offer cover down the left, but he never tamed Bellerin’s forward runs and was muscled off the ball by Campbell. 2015 The Arsenal Football Club Plc Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Silva 5 out of 10 Not the only player to look lacking in match sharpness; even his famed passing was off the mark too often. Well-tracked by Flamini but he never forced the issue by dropping deep or moving wide. Arsenal vs Manchester City player ratings Aguero 5 out of 10 Despite several days of first-team training he did not look remotely fit enough for this game and was overpowered and quite easily managed by Mertesacker and Koscielny, though in his defence his team-mates gave him little to work with. 2015 Getty Images

Wenger and his players perhaps at last deserve the credit for that in what has been an awful two months, and similar situations over that time had seen them embarrassingly collapse. That did not happen here.

It was all the more surprising because City started the game looking like they could destroy Arsenal, and looking like they knew exactly how to do it. It was conspicuous from the off that Guardiola’s midfielders kept trying to play quick passes through the middle to exploit the remarkable amount of space beyond the Arsenal midfield.

It was no coincidence that was where the opening goal came from after just four minutes. If the way Kevin De Bruyne’s long ball got through was embarrassingly easy, though, there was still a degree of difficulty to Sane’s finish. The winger showed supreme composure to go around David Ospina and slide it in.

Sane notched the opener for Manchester City (Getty)

The oddity from that point, though, was that City looked like they could be comfortably better than Arsenal… but were never actually that comfortable. They were slack and never really had control of the game, even if Arsenal couldn’t quite take command. The game went into an odd low-quality slump, characterised by the next goal, albeit one the home side probably deserved.

With Gael Clichy playing two Arsenal attackers onside, the rest of the City defence seemed to fall asleep, allowing Theo Walcott to prod home in the manner of someone who couldn’t believe the opposition had actually allowed this to happen.

Walcott equalised for Arsenal (Getty)

It was typical of everything going wrong at Arsenal right now, though, that even scoring a goal was a negative. It only succeeded in waking a slumbering City up.

Guardiola’s side were suddenly much more alert, much more aggressive, and much more switched on, as indicated by the fact it to a mere two minutes for Aguero to make it 2-1. It came from what was possibly the best move of the game, but also showed the worst of Arsenal as the Argentine was given an amazing amount of time and space in the box to beautifully pick his spot. Aguero elegantly swept the ball past David Ospina at an angle, as Wenger threw a water bottle on the ground in angry frustration.

It looked like Arsenal were about to go down a maelstrom again, especially when Laurent Koscielny went off with an achilles injury at half-time, but they directed that anger in the right way. They did not collapse. They rallied, as Shkodran Mustafi rose above the City defence on 53 minutes to head home a corner.



Aguero put Manchester City just before half-time (Getty)

Having been very slow to respond as the ball bounced past Willy Caballero, Guardiola’s defenders were quick to look around for someone else to blame. The reality was that they were just generally slack, and had lost all verve from that opening 10 minutes.

An opportunity had been squandered by City, but not just in this match as a whole. There was also the chance that Aguero had just before Mustafi’s equaliser, as he headed wide from a hard Jesus Navas cross that he didn’t quite seem to expect.



Mustafi headed in the equaliser to earn a share of the points (Getty)

Few perhaps expected Navas to perform so well in the right-back role, even he was one of a few players in this match fortunate to benefit from lenient refereeing when it came to rash challenges, and Aguero was much readier for a similar Navas ball minutes later. Just as he seemed to catch it excellently to catch out Ospina, though, the goalkeeper plucked it out of the air.

City had complaints when another Arsenal player appeared to handle in the area late on, as the ball grazed Nacho Monreal’s arm. Wenger was maybe fortunate at that point that Andre Marriner waved away complaints, but could argue he deserves a bit of luck.

Arsenal probably deserved the point, but both teams deserve to be exactly where they are in the table. This odd game showed why.



Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Xhaka, Walcott, Ozil, Sanchez, Welbeck.

Subs: Gibbs, Gabriel, Giroud, Iwobi, Martinez, Elneny, Maitland-Niles.

Manchester City: Caballero, Jesus Navas, Stones, Otamendi, Clichy, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva, Sane, Aguero, Sterling.

Subs: Bravo, Kompany, Zabaleta, Nolito, Kolarov, Delph, Toure.