Arsenal vs Man City: Damage limitation, not ambition

Arsenal hosted a Manchester City side in scintillating form and Raheem Sterling’s early goal seemed ominous, an indication of the drubbing the Citizens were about to lash on the hosts. In the end, it didn’t pan out that way. Not conceding for another hour and a half should be taken as a positive, but against a side that played in a lower gear than usual, should Mikel Arteta’s side have been more ambitious?

Apart from the opening 15 minutes, Arsenal were arguably on par with City, bar both the boxes. In the final third the lack of quality hurt as well as the lack of ambition. It seemed as if Arteta sent out his team to not lose heavily and have their confidence shattered because a team like City can inflict such damage so easily. Logical, considering our priorities elsewhere.

It should be acceptable to sit deep and hit on the counter against such opponents, but around the 70-minute mark, with correct substitutions and a bit of risk-taking, there was something to be eked out of the tie.

Unfortunately, Arsenal didn’t go for it and it was disappointing to see a team known for their attacking instincts stay down after just a single punch.

Arsenal’s Premier League defeat to Manchester City was more about damage limitation than ambition

With one eye on the second leg against Benfica, resting Emile Smith Rowe was sensible. But he should’ve been brought on much earlier, even more so as Martin Odegaard was distinctly poor in the match. Gabriel Martinelli is a livewire and the kind of player who can hurt big teams with his pace and unpredictability, thus he could have started or at least been introduced later in the second half. It’s a shame he hasn’t played much even when fit.

Hector Bellerin is a burden to the team in both an attacking and defensive sense. Left-wingers of every opponent we’ve faced this season usually have a field day facing him, Sterling as well. He has been booked eight times in the season, joint-most of any player in the league.

Pace left him after the injury and he has never been a good crosser. Nicolas Pepe also can’t link up well with him and every match they play together feels like their first time doing so. Cedric taking the role for now and then recruiting a good right-back in the summer should be on the checklist.

It would be expected that we didn’t go for the win from the get-go. There were also certainly some positives from the defeat. Most disappointing, then, is the fact that we never looked like scoring. Manchester City stretched their arms slightly, held us in clutches, and kept us there.

The litmus test of our progress back to the top will be matches like this, and based on last night’s result, Arsenal are nearer the starting line than the finish line. It’s madness to think that we can beat City but is it too much to ask to go for it? This is not criticism, rather the warranted ‘what-ifs’.