MANCHESTER (Reuters) – Arsenal took another step forward despite conceding a 98th-minute equaliser in a full-blooded 2-2 draw away to champions Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday, according to manager Mikel Arteta.
The London club played the entire second half with 10 men after Leandro Trossard was sent off in first-half stoppage time for kicking the ball away, having already been on a caution.
They came agonisingly close to holding on to the 2-1 lead given to them by first-half goals from Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel but John Stones levelled at the death for City.
Arsenal would have gone top of the table with a first league win at The Etihad since 2015 and it would have been a huge statement in this year’s title race.
Arteta said he was proud of his team’s resilience in the face of adversity.
“They put their heart and soul into every single action and at the end to be punished in the last minute, it was the 99th, they are gutted,” Spaniard Arteta told reporters.
“But as well, they know that they have made another big step today as a team and individuals to be able to do what they’ve done today here. We were given a context to the game that made it almost impossible for 56 minutes, but we adapted to that context in the best possible way.
“The way the team competed was unbelievable.”
Arteta steered away from commenting on Trossard’s second yellow card, but said he expects 100 Premier League games to be “10 against 11 or 10 against 10 or nine.”
His opposite number Pep Guardiola said his players had been smart as they laid siege to the Arsenal goal — refusing to cross long balls into Arsenal’s dominant centre backs.
“We were so brilliant, to interpret these kind of things and afterwards it was a question of patience, a question of talent, question of luck,” Guardiola said.
“(Arsenal keeper David) Raya made three or four important saves and the ball didn’t drop but the last one John was there.”
Guardiola was asked about Arsenal’s tactic of breaking up play as the minutes ticked down.
“They bring us this type of game Arsenal and we have to handle it. They bring in that type of game. Had to handle it, and we did it,” he said.
“We did really well. They wanted to stop the game. We were patient enough. At the end we were fortunate.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
