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Gary Neville believes Manchester City will be disappointed after their 1-1 draw against Arsenal on Sunday. He claimed Ruben Dias and John Stones needed to do better for the hosts' goal and also pointed out Nathan Ake's mistake.
The Gunners hosted the Cityzens at the Emirates in a crucial Premier League clash on Sunday. Erling Haaland gave Manchester City the lead in the ninth minute. Arsenal put plenty of pressure on City in the second half in search of an equalizer.
In the second minute of stoppage time, Eberechi Eze found some space in the middle. He delivered a good long ball over the top of the City defense for a perfectly timed run by Gabriel Martinelli. The Brazilian finished over Gianluigi Donnarumma, who found himself in no-man's land.
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After the game, Manchester United legend Gary Neville spoke about the goal and said on The Gary Neville Podcast:
“It’s a great run from Martinelli, it’s the best run in football from a wide player. Mane and Salah perfected it for years, great wide players like Arjen Robben, all the ones I played against [had it too]. That little run inside the full-back and inside the centre-back, it’s very difficult to know when to pass over from a full-back to a centre-back, or to hold your line or whether to go back and he made it brilliantly.
“I just don’t know why a Stones or Dias in the middle, when Eze gets on the ball, didn’t drop [back] together. If they moved five, six yards back, they could have just headed the ball clear. Or if it goes further over the head, it goes through to the goalkeeper. It was a real big mistake.
He added:
“And the other thing that Ake didn’t do was block the run. When someone runs like that, make sure you disrupt his movement and his stride. I’ve been there and I’ve made those mistakes. But I’m sat here from a point of frustration as if I had made that mistake. They’ll be absolutely kicking themselves. They will be going back on that plane or bus or train back to Manchester and wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight thinking about the fact that they were so close to winning.
“It’s bloody hard to win these big matches and City were so good defensively in the second half. Those two lads would be thinking, ‘oh no’ and it will make their stomachs sink. That’s how I used to feel at moments when I made such mistakes. It’s a big error.”
Manchester City have now won just two of their opening five Premier League games this season, while Arsenal have won three.
A look at Arsenal and Manchester City's remaining games before the October international break
With the draw on Sunday, Arsenal are second in the Premier League standings while Manchester City are ninth. They are five and eight points off the leaders Liverpool, respectively. Both sides now have four more games before the international break.
Arsenal will next face Port Vale away in the EFL Cup Third Round on Wednesday, September 24. Manchester City, meanwhile, will face Huddersfield Town away in the competition that day.
Arsenal will then face Newcastle United away in the Premier League on September 28. They will host Olympiacos in the UEFA Champions League on October 1 before hosting West Ham United in the league four days later.
Manchester City, meanwhile, will host Burnley in the Premier League on September 27. They will then face AS Monaco away in the Champions League on October 1 and Brentford away in the league on October 5.
