Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji is the latest player in Pep Guardiola’s camp to launch an attack on Arsenal’s tactics on Sunday afternoon.
The Premier League champions took the lead in the first ten minutes of the mammoth match between the title rivals in the top division after Erling Haaland scored his tenth goal of the season after a combination with Savinho.
Riccardo Calafiori equalised before Gabriel Magalhaes put Arsenal ahead in the first half, but a moment of madness from Leandro Trossard saw the striker sent off with a second yellow card after kicking the ball away.
Manchester City had to play with a nine-man defence for the entire second half, while Arsenal tried all sorts of dark tricks of football: delaying the restart, feigning injuries and stopping play to receive instructions from the touchline.
Unsurprisingly, Arsenal’s antics caused great joy among Manchester City players as they denied their opponents victory, with some venting their anger in comments about Mikel Arteta’s team after the game.
Following the dramatic 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium at the weekend, Manuel Akanji reiterated his belief that Arsenal were the only team that would have settled for a draw in this tie given their defensive tactics.
“That’s what they’re looking for,” Akanji replied when asked about Arsenal’s time-wasting after the game. “Whenever we play against them, that’s what they’re looking for: drama.”
He continued: “It worked out for them so they are happy with the one point. We are not, we tried to get more but they are happy with that. At the end of the day we are still top of the table. We have not lost a game yet.”
“We tried, especially in the second half with one more man, but it is difficult when ten players are defending their own penalty area.”
Although Manchester City have drawn their last two games in the UEFA Champions League and Premier League, Akanji and his teammates at the Etihad can see every reason for positives in what is a difficult time for the club.
The strength of Pep Guardiola’s team will be tested to the limit in the coming weeks, even though the team has already gone into the upcoming games with tough challenges ahead of them.
Watford visit the Etihad Stadium in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening, just 49 hours after the conclusion of Manchester City’s match against Arsenal, before a trip to the north-east to face Newcastle on Saturday lunchtime.
