Coach Arteta proud of Arsenal's record against Man City

(Dan Tri) - Coach Mikel Arteta has defended Arsenal's starting lineup in the 1-1 draw with Man City, asserting that the Gunners were "completely dominant" despite not being able to take all three points.

Speaking after the match, Mikel Arteta dismissed criticism of a lack of ambition, insisting his side had set a record for possession against Pep Guardiola's side.

Arsenal are now five points behind leaders Liverpool after Gabriel Martinelli equalised in injury time at the Emirates, levelling Erling Haaland's opener in the ninth minute. Remarkably, the Gunners had 67.2% possession throughout the 90 minutes, the highest rate ever recorded against a Guardiola side.

Martinelli celebrates after bringing the equalizer for Arsenal (Photo: Getty).

Asked about leaving Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka and Martinelli on the bench, Arteta told reporters: "I leave that to you, but that team has a lot of attacking players. It's easy to say we lack ambition, but we started the game very well and were completely dominant. Man City scored a goal and then did nothing. Everyone tried their best to get the result, that's fine."

He continued: "However, we controlled the game and dominated, the second half was similar to the first. I am extremely proud of my players and my team, but also very disappointed with the result. My pride is that we dominated the game. One chance for Man City was a corner, another was a counter-attack and another was a loss of the ball. That's it. To put Man City at that level, congratulations to the boys."

Coach Arteta directs his players in the match against Man City (Getty Images).

Striker Viktor Gyokeres, a £63.5 million ($85.7 million) signing from Sporting CP, failed to get a shot on target against City. Arteta blamed his side's inability to find the decisive pass to the Swede. "There were a lot of good passes in the box and Gyokeres was very close to them. Against City, it was difficult to get clear chances. There were a lot of situations, a lot of chances, but the final pass was not accurate," Arteta said.

Despite Arsenal being five points behind Liverpool and having lost 1-0 at Anfield this season, Arteta is confident his players will be "fine" in the title race. "We can't control that. Liverpool still have a perfect record. It will be difficult, but if we play at this level, like we did against Man City, we will be fine," Arteta said.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/hlv-arteta-tu-hao-ve-ky-luc-cua-arsenal-truoc-man-city-20250922082831730.htm