Pep Guardiola's angry reaction against Arsenal can't hide obvious Man City problems
Manchester City manager was seen kicking a seat during his team's Premier League draw against Arsenal on a tough afternoon for the champions at the Etihad Stadium
by Andy Dunn · The MirrorWhen Pep Guardiola landed a karate kick into his bucket seat’s midriff, the main source of his anger was not immediately obvious.
It might have been that the Arsenal free-kick that led to the equaliser had been taken some way from where the offence was committed. Or that Michael Oliver had allowed it to be taken quickly, even though he had called Kyle Walker over for a chat. Just as likely was that Guardiola was annoyed with his defenders for switching off a little.
But if only subconsciously, what might have really been at the root of this particular Pep tantrum was that he had, moments earlier, seen his most important player limp from the field in tears. The length of Rodri’s absence will clearly have a hugely significant bearing on City’s prospects of making it five Premier League titles in a row - and Guardiola knows it.
But what Guardiola will also know is that after Rodri’s unfortunate departure, his City team produced one of their most unimaginative and uninspiring performances for some time.
Don’t get carried away by the drama of it all, don’t get distracted by the edginess, by the usual nonsensical hysterics in the technical area, by the snide time-wasting, by the standards fuss over the refereeing, don’t get carried away by Erling Haaland throwing the ball at Gabriel’s head. City were lucky to collect that last-minute John Stones leveller and, deep down, Pep will know it.
He won’t admit it, but he will know it. Yes, until they switched off in those dying seconds, the ten men of Arsenal defended with great discipline but there was nothing last-ditch about it, nothing desperate about it.
There was nothing out of the ordinary required from David Raya, as good as he was. You could make a case for his save from Josko Gvardiol’s volley being very decent but had he allowed that to find a way through, he would have been slaughtered.
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Ignore the possession statistics, for all but that last minute of a tortuous second half, Mikel Arteta’s side held on to a lead - given to them by Riccardo Calafiori’s beauty and Gabriel’s header after Haaland’s very well-taken opener - with some degree of comfort. And had Leandro Trossard not been sent off just before half-time, any fair-minded observer would have predicted an Arsenal victory.
That City did not have the ingenuity to properly take care of the depleted Gunners in the second half will not only give Arsenal serious encouragement, it will also be a fillip for Liverpool and for slightly less likely title challengers, such as Aston Villa and, don’t laugh, Chelsea.
Guardiola still has an array of talent to call on and for the first quarter of this contest, they were as good as they have been all season. But in the time when a full Arsenal complement scored twice, City’s defensive vulnerability and slackness was again exposed.
The champions deserve credit for somehow finding a way to take something from a game when their well of ideas - usually brimful - seemed to have run dry. They deserve credit for showing some patience when Arsenal’s time-wasting became silly. And the fact is that they sit on top of the Premier League table, having dropped only two points from a possible 15.
But regardless of how serious Rodri’s injury is - and let’s hope he is back soon - this is a City side that is not going to run away with the title. Bucket seats beware.
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