3 positives & negatives from Arsenal’s 3-1 loss to Manchester City

Positive #2: Control

Arsenal may have lost, but they played their match well, particularly in the first half. For the most part, the Gunners were the better team; just ask Jack Grealish.

https://twitter.com/ESPNUK/status/1626185878560276480?s=20

This is a game of moments, and if the hosts were just a touch more clinical in the final third, it would be able to alleviate some nerves and cut out some of those errors that would end up costing them.

Negative #2: Individual errors

This hasn’t cost Arsenal in a long time. Long gone are the days of the Gunners playing well but losing the match in moments. Unfortunately, that came back against City.

Takehiro Tomiyasu got his first league start in a long time, and an individual error put a blemish on a decent performance as he gifted City their opener with a poor back pass.

Gabriel has managed to avoid those “bozo moments” we would see more often earlier in his Arsenal career. Still, it was an uncharacteristically shaky performance from him, nearly giving away a penalty and giving the ball away to set up City’s second goal of the match. These are the moments in which the Gunners lost the contest.

If Arteta’s side are to continue their title push, mistakes like these must be kept to a minimum.

Continued on the next slide…