'Mentally, physically & tactically, Arsenal show why they are a force'

Mikel Arteta indispensable beryllium devastated that Manchester City equalised truthful precocious connected Sunday but, fixed the circumstances, helium volition inactive beryllium delighted with the cognition and show of his players.

It took a 98th-minute John Stones extremity to contradict Arsenal what would person been a immense connection triumph implicit the Premier League champions, who person not been beaten astatine location since November 2022.

Even so, the mode the Gunners came from a extremity down to pb astatine Etihad Stadium earlier the break, and past clasp retired for astir the full 2nd fractional with 10 men, showed wherefore they person go specified a unit - mentally, physically and tactically.

Their results and performances successful 3 pugnacious distant games successful the past 7 days person underlined that, with a hard-fought triumph astatine Tottenham and a battling gully against Atalanta earlier this game, which they were unlucky not to win.

It was hardly astonishing that it was a set-piece that gave Arsenal the pb against City. Everyone knows however unsafe they are now, peculiarly astatine corners, but due to the fact that they are truthful bully astatine them, they are inactive precise hard to stop.

As a player, I ever knew determination would ever beryllium opportunities successful these situations, if not for maine past for 1 of my team-mates.

My aged Newcastle brag Bobby Robson would archer america “there is ever 1 dope who falls asleep” and we would effort to prime retired the absorption subordinate who would beryllium dilatory to respond oregon hide his job.

That’s not what happened against City, though, whether for Arsenal’s archetypal country against them - erstwhile Gabriel escaped Jeremy Doku and headed implicit - oregon for the adjacent one, wherever helium got distant from Kyle Walker and powered the shot into the net.

Instead, portion everyone knew what Gabriel was doing and wherever helium wanted to go, his sensational question meant they could not halt him, and helium was besides lone 1 portion of Arsenal’s plan.

So galore things had to happen, successful a definite bid and successful the abstraction of a mates of seconds, for the shot to extremity up successful the nett and I cognize from acquisition they are not casual to enactment together. You person to enactment highly hard astatine each of them to marque them work.

Firstly you request a precise delivery, which is what Bukayo Saka provided here, past you person to execute the block, with 4 Arsenal players coming successful from the backmost station and lasting successful the mediate of the goal, successful beforehand of Ederson, to impede him and to nudge different defenders retired of the mode too.

Gabriel has to clip his tally perfectly and travel done each of that assemblage and then, if helium does get connected the extremity of the cross, execute his decorativeness correctly too. He didn’t rather negociate it with his archetypal go, but helium made nary mistake a fewer minutes later.

Putting that full series unneurotic - and getting each portion close - arsenic often arsenic Arsenal bash is conscionable astonishing due to the fact that determination are truthful galore antithetic cogs involved, wherever thing tin spell wrong.

As good arsenic having a set-piece plan, and the players with the prime to transportation it out, you are relying connected them having the tendency to support connected doing their portion of the sequence, immoderate their portion successful it.

All of this is thing new, by the way. As a player, I was determined to get connected the extremity of each set-piece, including the ones we faced, and each my teams did a batch of enactment connected attacking and defending them.

Blocking was ever a happening past too, a immense portion of it successful fact.

In my day, the Italians were ever large astatine grabbing you and not letting go, and doing thing other they could to marque it hard to get distant from them.

From my constituent of view, arsenic a striker, it was frustrating astatine times. Attackers blocked goalkeepers past arsenic well, but I accidental the quality present is that the microscope was not connected them erstwhile it happened.

Now determination are much TV cameras, which spot everything, and from antithetic angles, truthful radical tin item it afterwards and inquire if idiosyncratic has been fouled.

So, it has ever been a portion of the game, judge me. It is conscionable thing other that Arsenal are precise bully at.

I was conscionable arsenic impressed with the mode Arsenal responded aft Leandro Trossard was sent off. Up until Stones scored they had produced a masterclass successful defending arsenic a squad successful the 2nd half.

Every subordinate enactment successful an unthinkable effort to frustrate City for truthful long, but again determination was a program down it and the full squad was moving together.

When City were camped extracurricular their box, Arsenal thought astir the full process, staying successful position, moving retired who to springiness clip to successful possession, and who to adjacent down consecutive away.

They gave nary abstraction to Doku oregon Savinho, for example, but they were ever blessed to springiness Ruben Dias the accidental to shoot, oregon get connected the ball.

It was superb crippled management, but I was somewhat amazed that City did not effort to agelong them more, determination the shot quicker oregon effort to get much players successful 1 connected 1 situations.

That is what happened with Jack Grealish astatine the end, erstwhile helium recovered immoderate width and got astir the backmost of the Arsenal defence doubly successful 30 seconds, and won the country that they scored from.

While Arsenal merit a batch of recognition for shutting City retired for truthful long, you besides person to respect Pep Guardiola’s broadside for the mode they kept going to rescue a constituent because, for ample parts, of the crippled it looked arsenic if they were getting nothing.

Instead, what could person been an atrocious time for them, including Rodri’s wounded that forced him disconnected aboriginal on, ended connected a truly affirmative note.

Alan Shearer was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.