Arsenal proved their season still has signs of life after twice battling back to earn a 2-2 draw with their Premier League top-four rivals Manchester City.

Against a backdrop of uncertainty over the future of manager Arsene Wenger and the supporter protests aimed at ousting the Frenchman, the Gunners showed they can still cut it with the best in the division as they fought for a point.

Leroy Sane put the visitors ahead inside five minutes and Sergio Aguero restored the lead for Pep Guardiola's men just 131 seconds after Theo Walcott had levelled.

Shkodran Mustafi headed Arsenal back on terms once more with just his second goal for the Gunners, who remain sixth in the table as a result - seven points adrift of City in fourth.

Here's what we learned from the draw at the Emirates...

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

Sanchez is shackled out on the left

Alexis Sanchez did not start this game where he has proven most effective. He was out on the periphery, stuck on the left, with an out-of-sorts Danny Welbeck still trying to find form and full fitness preferred in a central role. It was almost as if Wenger was testing the Chilean’s discipline and, surprisingly, Sanchez more or less stayed there and dutifully did his job.

Time and again, he carried the ball, held it up, then slipped in Nacho Monreal. Then he carried the ball, held it up, and slipped in Monreal. By the third occasion, it was clear Sanchez was being shackled, and yet he allowed himself only the odd pot-shot at the goal to release some frustration. Is this really the best way to treat your best player?

City’s lack of killer instinct costs them

Manchester City will have felt they had this game won at half-time. After all, they had seen off Arsenal’s 40th minute equaliser by restoring their lead just 131 seconds later, and Sergio Aguero’s goal had felt as though it came at will, as if a sudden jolt was all Pep Guardiola’s players needed needed to reassert their dominance.

As they emerged after the interval, it felt as though City’s intention would be to push on and score early, especially given how close they came to letting the contest slip from their grasp. Instead, they were lax, the half-time introduction of the lackadaisical Yaya Toure doing nothing to help. Bereft of killer instinct, Arsenal took just eight minutes to find their second equaliser. It was in those eight minutes that this match was decided.

Xhaka and Coquelin struggle to compete

It is difficult to decide which of Wenger’s ‘Emirates era’ Arsenal midfield pairings will be remembered as the most feeble, but the tandem of Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin is likely to be among the contenders. For the first half-hour here in particular, the two of them were reticent to tackle, offering their visiting counterparts time and space to pass by them.

On the rare occasion either put a foot in, they had their names taken, Xhaka’s foul on Nicolas Otamendi being particularly silly. Coquelin’s all-round display, meanwhile, was a reminder of why he was considered little more than a ‘sticking plaster’ when he broke into Arsenal’s injury-ravaged midfield two years ago. Some supporters have apparently taken to calling the pair ‘Dumb and Dumber’, but their performances are no laughing matter.

Walcott shows spirit his team-mates too often lack

While Arsenal’s supposed ‘enforcers’ struggled to lay down the law, there was more fight to be found in Theo Walcott. The winger is often characterised as a meek figure, on account of of his softly-spoken manner, but he cares about this club and is capable of the same impassioned displays of frustration as Sanchez.

At one point during Arsenal’s tepid first half, when nobody in a red shirt seemed capable of making a tackle, he dug in on Sane, jostling and battling until the ball broke his way. A couple of minutes later, he robbed Fernandinho and though the challenge looked to be a little on the naughty side, it roused a home crowd in need of a major lift. They had found it in an unlikely source.

Neither team as talented as they are billed to be

At times, you had to remind yourself that these two sides are meant to be among the Premier League’s elite. So frantic were some passages of play, so disorganised was some of the defending, that it was easy to see why both are at risk of not mixing it with Europe’s elite next season, and why they were both dumped out of the Champions League at a relatively early stage this year.