How Arsenal achieved a rare feat

For Manchester City fans hoping for a win and neutrals wanting entertainment, this match was a disappointment. But for Arsenal fans and those concerned with tactical intrigue and application, there was much to appreciate. Having been annihilated in the same fixture last season, when City effectively ended Arsenal’s title hopes, this time round the visitors were far more robust. It may not have been a victory, but it left the title race finely poised. Liverpool, Arsenal and City are separated by three points with nine games to go.

It marked the third time this season that Arsenal have taken something from City, having won 1-0 at home and edged the Community Shield on penalties. Keeping a clean sheet at the Etihad Stadium was also no mean feat for the visitors. City’s blank was the first time Pep Guardiola’s team had failed to score at home in 58 games. That made Arsenal the first away team to keep a clean sheet there since October 2021, when Crystal Palace won 2-0.

How the managers saw it

“They allowed us to go to our left side, the side from [Martin] Ødegaard and [Bukayo] Saka,” said Guardiola. “After, they make incredible pressing. When we contact with the last line, they drop really well. They defend the low block really well. The space was really difficult to find. We cannot press much because they played mainly long balls.”

“Defensively, I think we were outstanding,” said Mikel Arteta. “We had to go and put them under pressure higher up the pitch – I think we were really good and created a lot of difficulties. When they are that good that they get you in this low block, it’s very difficult to get out of that. They drop a lot of players, and I think we prevented the spaces really well.”

Below, our coaching experts highlight the key tactical points from this match-up of title contenders…

City’s build-up

Guardiola set Manchester City up in a 4-2-3-1 shape, with Mateo Kovacic and Rodri as the double pivot and Josko Gvardiol and Manuel Akanji as the full-backs. In their build, Kovacic often dropped to the left of the two centre-backs, with the full-backs pushing forward to create width. Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden then dropped into midfield around Rodri (below), with Kevin De Bruyne supporting higher around Erling Haaland.

These movements helped City build around Arsenal’s 4-4-2 defensive shape with ease. The visitors didn’t track Kovacic, which left Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard underloaded against City’s adapted back three. As a result, City dominated possession, with Arsenal dropping into a low block for considerable periods of the first half.

Arsenal forced back

Breaking Arsenal’s low block became the main challenge for City. Once in the final third, Silva held his width on the right. On the left, however, Foden remained narrow to support De Bruyne and Haaland (below). Kovacic continued to widen from his central-midfield position and, with Gvardiol playing high, Saka was often dragged all the way back on the Arsenal right. The visitors thus often ended up defending with a back five – and sometimes even a back six, if Gabriel Jesus was similarly pushed back on the opposite flank. Unlike Saka, who had minimal counter-attacking input in the first half, Jesus did offer some threat in transition. The former City attacker was Arsenal’s brightest spark in the first period.

City’s full-back problem

Arsenal worked hard to limit the threat posed by City in their inside left channel, with Saka often narrowing to screen passes from Kovacic into Foden and De Bruyne. Ben White also defended narrower, with Jorginho in support (below), while Declan Rice operated much higher out of possession – often as the first Arsenal player behind the front line to jump out to press. This narrowing on the Arsenal right naturally created space out wide for Gvardiol, who advanced forward and often found himself up against White.

Despite this, City lacked the killer final ball or cross on both sides. They struggled to maintain the speed of their attacks, and repeatedly failed to find the players who could increase the tempo. The reality is that operating with two full-backs who are more natural centre-backs, and so more limited in possession once they reach the final third, limited the hosts’ attacking threat – particularly with Arsenal happy to sit in such a compact low block.

Arsenal’s higher press

Arsenal were clearly instructed to press higher at the start of the second half, with Saka now joining the first line of the press and jumping on to the widening Kovacic. Arteta’s team had managed a few dangerous regains towards the end of the first half, mostly as a result of rare City errors on the ball. Now, though, they duelled with increased aggression to limit City’s left-side progressions. White followed Saka to press Gvardiol much higher, with William Saliba joining in, too. The right-sided centre-back pushed deep into the City half (below), leaving Gabriel in an aggressive and often entertaining 1v1 against Haaland. Arsenal managed more high regains and created some dangerous moments before Guardiola reacted.

Guardiola’s changes

The City manager’s response to Arsenal’s improved press was to introduce two genuine wingers, in the shape of Jack Grealish and Jérémy Doku. Both now held the width as long as possible, while Silva moved into central midfield to play as a second number eight behind Haaland. Rico Lewis, an early replacement for the injured Nathan Aké, pushed into midfield to work alongside Rodri, with Arsenal again reacting by dropping back into a lower block.

Despite the increased attacking talent in City’s final third, Arsenal’s block remained solid. Havertz and Ødegaard remained compact in front of Rice and Jorginho (later Thomas Partey); the tight defensive box (below) worked to congest the central area and cover any passes through. Wingers Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard – respective replacements for Saka and Jesus – offered fresh legs to help with the threat of Grealish and Doku. This allowed the full-backs behind them to provide extra support against City’s number-eight runs in the inside channels.

Arsenal’s big chance

Due to their defensive duties and much deeper positioning than normal, Martinelli and Trossard offered very little attacking output. Arsenal’s low block was designed to disrupt and frustrate City, with the aim of punishing one positional mistake or sloppy error on the ball late on. The visitors did have one major chance to steal all three points, when Ødegaard and Havertz dropped to make use of central spaces between the lines. With Lewis not in position to create a back line of four, City were left with a stretched back three (below).

Trossard was able to penetrate into the huge spaces in behind, but despite Martinelli making an identical run in support on the far side, Arsenal failed to make the chance count. The game finished goalless, leaving Liverpool as the day’s sole winners.

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