Arsenal had nothing but good defending to thank for their resilience against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday despite a late penalty appeal for Erling Haaland, a panel has explained.
The Norwegian striker went tumbling in the area with just minutes to go of a tense title battle that ended goalless and, despite his protests, nothing was coming.
Haaland had largely been kept quiet during the game thanks to some commanding defending from William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, but the Gunners were nearly made to pay for just a momentary lapse in the final seconds.
Reaching to get onto a whipped cross, Haaland felt that he was pulled down by Gabriel in a continuation of a tough one-on-one battle.
It was one of few nervy moments that came from City sending the ball into the box but even then was waved away quickly. Anthony Taylor barely took a second glance at the incident despite Haaland’s appeals with Gabriel also standing firm.
The Brazilian roared into Haaland’s face when leaving the box, making his stance clear that the forward was looking for a moment that didn’t exist.
VAR confirmed this, checking the incident as is procedure, but not finding anything untoward from the collision.
“There is a slight shirt pull but I think again it is quite strong defending,” said Sue Smith on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch on Monday, adding: “It was very half-hearted from Haaland, I think he knew it was very good defending in the box.”
Remonstrations aside, former Premier League official Dermot Gallagher was in agreement. “I think you used the right word, half-hearted, I think both players are very strong,” he said. “He goes to ground, there’s not a lot of feeling for it, certainly not from me.”
Remonstrations aside, former Premier League official Dermot Gallagher was in agreement.
“I think you used the right word, half-hearted, I think both players are very strong,” he said. “He goes to ground, there’s not a lot of feeling for it, certainly not from me.
Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock then added, “We talk about players looking guilty after they have done something, more often than not a player if he has done something wrong will get up to look at the referee to see what he is doing. Gabriel never looks at the ref once in this situation because he is just thinking it’s good defending.”
Ultimately Gabriel was proven right and it came as the crowning moment in a splendid display from the centre-back as he out-muscled and out-fought his opponent.
“Special mention for Gabriel,” said Gary Neville at full-time after awarding his partner Saliba with man of the match.
“He isn’t far behind Saliba in terms of his performance in this match. It has answered the question about last year, how much Saliba was missed in this game.”
Neville added afterwards: “I’ve never seen a team make it so difficult for Manchester City in the final third – there just didn’t seem to be any spaces. You see [Kevin] De Bruyne getting his head up to get that ball into the box, there just didn’t seem to be anywhere.
“I’m always cautious of being critical of Manchester City because even their level when not good is still a high level.
They still keep a clean sheet, dominate possession, press and try to probe, to try and do the right things. To say they didn’t get it right with the way in which Arsenal defended is unique.”
He continued: “Last year without Saliba they were harmed and that has been proven today. To me today Saliba was immense, so was Gabriel, and the work ethic of the two wide players and two forwards was incredible.
They really ganged up on Haaland – it was a classic ‘one go tight, the other drop off’, old-fashioned tactic. But, they had a lot of players around them that enabled them to do that.
“They had the full-backs narrow and tight, the midfield compact with them, then the two forward players when was needed tucked in. If you’re playing against world class players it often baffles me, don’t be embarrassed and think you need to double up.
You have to get someone else with you and that’s what [Gabriel] Jesus did. Jesus got [Jakub] Kiwior out of a lot of trouble today. He was having a difficult game early on, Jesus right next to him and Saka next to Ben White. They had a brilliant game.”
The frustration from Haaland at being so isolated, not getting this unsurprising decision go his way, and the reaction from Gabriel, led to the pair coming together after the game.
In a mixture of playful banter after the matter and hot heads in a heated environment, they had to be separated from an aggressive if not playful embrace by a mixture of Declan Rice and Pep Guardiola.
The match way have ended without a victor but it was Gabriel and his domineering confidence and ability that came out on top here.
