Manuel Akanji criticises Arsenal's tactics while Manchester City is outraged by the dark arts of their Premier League rivals

A collective nerve was definitely touched at the Etihad Stadium. After Sunday's last-minute 2-2 draw, a number of Manchester City players complained about Arsenal's tactics, cynicism and willingness to settle for a point. For John Stones, it was “dirty”. Bernardo Silva said that “only one team had come to play football”. Since Kendrick Lamar in 2017, no one has made such a forceful call for humility as Erling Haaland. After all that, Manuel Akanji concluded with Rodri's familiar refrain from last season. Arsenal may be happy with a point, but the champions are not.

“It worked for them if they are happy with the one point,” said Akanji after John Stones' 98th-minute strike secured a point for City. “We didn't, we tried to get more but they are happy with that.”

City had certainly tried, particularly in the second half, where they were outnumbered following Leandro Trossard's red card just before half-time for kicking the ball away. Mikel Arteta was furious at the final whistle at this second Arsenal dismissal in their last three Premier League games, but City were no less annoyed at Arsenal's cynicism.

Certainly there were plenty of Arsenal players who lay on the ground in need of treatment as they fended off wave after wave of Sky Blue attacks with relentless tenacity. A cynic might argue this gave them a rare respite in a half where City simply wouldn't let the ball out of play. David Raya was unafraid to lie on the ground and take his time, having saved eight balls after the break. It was no wonder he and Arsenal felt the need to lie down. As City worked towards an equaliser, they fired 28 shots at the Arsenal goal and tilted their pitch to the point that five of their players made more passes into the final third in the second half than any outfield player in red on the entire pitch.

Equally, it's worth noting that Arsenal's tactics go beyond the cynical. Whether with 11 or 10 men, Arsenal show a real understanding of how to get City to take the shots they want to allow. Since the start of last season, the champions' xG per shot in the Premier League is 0.118. Their mark against the Gunners, at 0.075, is by far the lowest of any opponent. Almost 45% of City's shots on goal have come from outside the box. Over 16% were headers, with 37% blocked. City's numbers are getting worse and worse, with their last three meetings with Arsenal producing just seven shots on goal from open play. No wonder their shot conversion rate is a paltry 4.1%.

Arteta's side could have been beaten by Haaland this time, a storming run after the brilliant skills of Savinho, but in the other 269 minutes of his recent appearances against William Saliba and Gabriel he was under control. No wonder he was so keen to tussle with Myles Lewis-Skelly and Arteta after the final whistle. Those were battles he could win. Meanwhile, none of City's wingers and playmakers have been able to keep out a shot from Raya. When Haaland doesn't get a shot on the Arsenal goal, it's often an attempt from one of the defenders.

Arsenal defended quite brilliantly, knowing which players to give space to and which to double up on. Considering the other methods they had at their disposal, it was almost a surprise that they eventually found a way through the 10 men.

When asked if Arsenal was a master of the so-called dark arts, Akanji said: “I don't think there are many who are better at it than her.”

There may be some in north London who welcome such an assessment, particularly when it comes from a team with a reputation for expertly stopping opposition attacks by fair means or fouls.

Arsenal's collective personality has long been defined by its naivety. It is difficult to believe that a team under the previous management would have stuck with a 5-4-0 system after Trossard's red card. Indeed, Akanji's assessment of Arteta's side's play against City reads like the antithesis of Arsene Wenger's late era.

“When we play against them, that's exactly what they're looking for: drama. Going hard in the tackles, defending, eleven players in their own penalty area and then trying to score a goal from set pieces,” said Akanji.

It almost worked, although Akanji believed Michael Oliver could have done more to stop Arsenal from breaking the game.

“That's what they want in the end. We have to defend because every tackle, every free kick that was given, they went down to the ground. Players go down to the ground to get up, sprint back, go down to the ground again, one of their team went over to tell the goalkeeper to go down to the ground and things like that,” he said.

“I mean, there's nothing we can do about it. Ultimately, it's the referee's job to keep these situations under control throughout the season. But yeah, there's nothing else we can do about it.”

Akanji was not the only one unimpressed with Oliver. Silva, who was unimpressed with new rivals Arsenal, compared Liverpool to a team that “always came face to face with us to try to win the games”, saying: “There was only one team that came to play football. The other came to push the limits of what was possible and unfortunately what the referee allowed.”

Arsenal could well argue the opposite. After all, they ended the first half in front after a stunning Riccardo Calafiori goal and Gabriel's header from a corner cancelled out Haaland's early opener. Arteta may have exaggerated when he said that “99 times out of 100” a team that plays a half against City with ten men loses, and by a lot – Leeds beat the champions in those circumstances in April 2021 – but most at the Etihad agreed at half-time that even Europe's best defence had been unable to avoid defeat.

That they did it was a triumph Arsenal will only realise once the devastation of Stones' late equaliser has worn off, and that they were so determined to infuriate City in the process should only heighten their sense of pride.