Arsenal vs Manchester City: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis, Premier League 2018/19

Arsenal Man City highlights
Unai Emery failed to beat Pep Guardiola yet again

#3 Man City do not allow Arsenal to play out from the back

Arsenal FC v Manchester City - Premier League
City's forward line pressed the centre-backs and goalkeeper to force errors

It seemed like Emery had instructed his players to play out from the back no matter what and that did not go according to plan.

As the two centre-backs stationed themselves on either side of the box when Petr Cech had the ball, City's wide forwards waited for them to receive the ball before pressing them into making mistakes.

Time and again the ball went back to Cech and Sergio Aguero seemed to relish challenging him to get rid of it quickly. At one point, Cech almost scored what would have been one of the most embarrassing own goals of all time when an attempted pass just went wide of his own goal for a corner.

Granit Xhaka, who dropped deep to receive the ball, did not fare too well either. He misplaced passes that put Arsenal at a disadvantage when City won the ball back high up the pitch.

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