The expectation – maybe the worry – had been that Manchester Metropolis towards Arsenal can be like their two league conferences final season: of undoubted top quality and rigidity, however a bit of tepid, missing the blood and thunder to reside lengthy within the reminiscence for neutrals. As an alternative, what performed out was a basic, a sport of 1,000,000 subplots, of controversy and brilliance and doziness that grew to become, in the end, virtually a re-enactment of José Mourinho’s Internazionale eliminating Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona within the 2010 Champions League semi-final.
Arsenal had saved 9 clear sheets in 11 away league video games this 12 months with the win over Tottenham final week, by way of a header from a nook after a stifling defensive show, making clear that Mikel Arteta, though he served an apprenticeship as Guardiola’s assistant, is in no sense a Guardiola clone. Many even stated he has a streak of Mourinho (who himself, after all, was schooled within the Barcelona technique earlier than adapting it) however, nonetheless, few thought that by Sunday afternoon he’d have embraced the position with such gusto.
In 2010, Inter went to the Camp Nou 3-1 up from the primary leg of their Champions League semi-final and, after having Thiago Motta despatched off after 28 minutes, a call they disputed vehemently, retreated into their bunker, defending deep, scarcely bothering to current a menace on the counter, spoiling and time-wasting at each flip. Inter misplaced 1-0, however that was sufficient to undergo on mixture which, in his personal eyes, was Mourinho’s best hour, to the extent that he had a life-size cutout of his finger-raised celebratory dash on the ultimate whistle put in in his workplace when he was supervisor of Actual Madrid.
Inter had 19% possession in that sport; Arsenal had 12% within the second half on Sunday. Metropolis had been predictably livid with Arsenal’s gamesmanship (and rightly so – what could also be virtually comically brazen in a one-off sport would quickly lose its attraction if it grew to become routine) with John Stones calling them “intelligent, or soiled” and Bernardo Silva accusing them of taking part in “to the boundaries of what was doable to do and allowed by the referee”.
However what was extraordinary was how badly Metropolis handled the scenario. They’d 28 pictures within the second half. Of these, 13 had been by defenders – the final of them, from John Stones, the late equaliser, which adopted the precedent of Gerard Piqué’s late purpose in 2010. An extra 4 had been by Mateo Kovačić, who has solely scored 18 league objectives in a profession that started six months after Mourinho’s triumph on the Camp Nou. Eighteen of the 28 pictures had been from exterior the field. Just one, earlier than the purpose, had an xG of upper than 0.1.
Partly, that’s testomony to how nicely Arsenal defended, the diligence with which they dropped into their 5-4-0 form, sometimes a 6-3-0, simply exterior their very own field. There was a second in harm time when the ball was labored to Rúben Dias on the sting of the field and Arsenal, for as soon as, had no one in place to shut him down. It was a real alternative however so frazzled was Dias after 4 misses from vary, the final of which had provoked a grumble of frustration from the group, that he paused and performed a sideways cross as a substitute.
But it surely additionally highlighted the oddity of the trendy Metropolis. Guardiola is the nice manipulator of form; his whole philosophy is about creating overloads and getting gamers into the positions during which they are often at their handiest. But the 2 gamers who had essentially the most touches within the second half had been Dias and Manuel Akanji (152 between them, versus 120 for each Arsenal outfielder put collectively); advantageous gamers although each are, are they actually the boys most certainly to have the ability to choose their manner by a low block? Of Metropolis’s 13 league objectives this season, 10 have been scored by Erling Haaland, which on the one hand speaks of his extraordinary potential, however on the opposite, with all due caveats about how few video games have been performed, might trace at dependency. On the very least it speaks of how far Guardiola has moved from his outdated imaginative and prescient of a staff of 11 diminutive and virtually interchangeable midfielders.
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The opposite participant on whom Metropolis rely is Rodri and his extended absence with a knee harm might find yourself as essentially the most vital consequence of the sport. The one staff Metropolis beat within the league with out him final season was Luton. He’s important to how they play and his absence will make it tougher for Metropolis to manage video games.
Arsenal would virtually actually have taken a draw earlier than kick-off, and once more after Leandro Trossard’s purple card. There was one thing magnificent of their resistance, and but it proved not fairly sufficient – which is turning into an unlucky trope for Arsenal. A win would have lifted Arsenal above Metropolis; as it’s, the sense given how the sport went is that, for the second season working, they maybe missed a chance on the Etihad.
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That is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US on the sport in Europe and past. Subscribe free of charge right here. Have a query for Jonathan? Electronic mail [email protected], and he’ll reply the very best in a future version