It was a change made by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta that proved decisive.
Gabriel Martinelli rescued Arsenal as the Brazilian’s last-gasp equaliser salvaged a 1-1 draw against Manchester City on Sunday when Pep Guardiola’s defensive tactics backfired at the Emirates Stadium.
With City clinging to the lead given to them by Erling Haaland early in the first half, Guardiola made a series of unusually cautious substitutions that left his side without a recognised striker on the pitch in the closing stages.
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It was the kind of rearguard action that is rarely associated with the attack-minded Guardiola, but his willingness to sacrifice his purist principles for a more pragmatic approach came back to haunt him.
It was a change made by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta that proved decisive as Martinelli came off the bench to spare his team from a second defeat to a title rival after their loss at champions Liverpool in August.
Arsenal moved up to second place, five points behind Liverpool, while City are languishing in ninth with just two wins from their first five league matches.
Already eight points adrift of Liverpool, it will take a significant improvement from Guardiola’s men to catch Arne Slot’s pace-setters, who have won their first five league matches.
Liverpool were the real winners from the slugfest in north London, which left Guardiola without a league win in five successive matches against an opponent for the first time in his reign.
Despite grumbling about City having to play their Champions League opener against Napoli 48 hours after Arsenal were in action at Athletic Bilbao, Guardiola named an unchanged side.
Guardiola had said City might as well go “hiking” in the 66 hours between the Napoli and Arsenal games, such was the lack of consideration for his players’ fitness.
But if Guardiola felt City had a mountain to climb, the trek looked more manageable after just nine minutes.
– Guardiola pays the price –
Haaland’s muscular hold-up play launched a blistering City break as Tijjani Reijnders sprinted towards the Arsenal area slipping a precise pass to the Norwegian, who applied the finishing touch with a clinical low strike from eight yards.
Haaland resisted the temptation to use his zen celebration after Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly had mockingly copied the pose when he scored in the Gunners’ 5-1 win over City in February.
Haaland’s fifth goal in seven league appearances against Arsenal took the 25-year-old to 12 goals in eight games for City and Norway this season.
Having conceded from open play for the first time this season, Arsenal were nearly breached again when Haaland teed up Reijnders for a powerful drive that forced David Raya to save.
Arteta was criticised for being too cautious when he picked Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino at Liverpool, but he selected the same midfield trio and once again the move was far from a resounding success.
Noni Madueke’s blast from 12 yards finally forced a save from Donnarumma just before half-time.
A feisty clash threatened to boil over when City captain Bernardo Silva kicked the ball into Leandro Trossard’s groin before the Arsenal winger threw the ball back at him in retaliation.
Arteta sent on Bukayo Saka, back from a hamstring injury, and Eberechi Eze at half-time and the England wingers immediately lifted Arsenal.
Zubimendi lashed just over from the edge of the area before Eze unleased a stinging strike that Donnarumma pushed away.
City spent much of the second half clinging to their lead and Guardiola switched to five at the back as he sent on Nathan Ake for Phil Foden to batten down the hatches.
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Even Haaland was removed for the last 15 minutes as Guardiola parked the bus, but the Spaniard paid the price for his caution in stoppage-time.
Eze’s lofted pass sent Martinelli sprinting away from Ake as he tried to play offside and the substitute chipped a fine finish over the advancing Donnarumma to spark wild celebrations all around the Emirates.
