When his old superior seemed to have got the better of him again on the pitch, it was the Arsenal manager’s quality options off the bench that made the difference
With more than 90 minutes played it was still 1-0 and it looked like Arteta and Arsenal had been outwitted by Pep Guardiola’s machine. The two Spaniards go back a long way, even before Manchester City, at Barcelona when Arteta was in the academy as a littlun in the grand game, Guardiola being 11 years older and always very many steps ahead.
Even after Arteta had graduated from his apprenticeship as the City boss’ assistant and set up on his own, Guardiola maintained that overwhelming edge.
But over the past year the one’s power has waned while the other’s has been on the rise, even if there are a few buts here and there. If their points over the past four Premier League seasons are combined, there is just a single point’s difference between the two managers. But while Guardiola has won six trophies in that time, Arteta has won nothing.
Guardiola’s side have recovered from the disastrous form that saw them collapse 5-1 earlier this year when they faced Arteta’s Arsenal, but as a hit song went: They are no longer the team supporters used to know.
Not necessarily all in a negative way. They have transformed, possessing now more of the attributes of a machine as Guardiola pointed out. Machine-level excellence, that’s what his side are aiming for. At the Emirates they hit low power mode to conserve their lead, soon after Erling Haaland had burst down the middle and finished clinically past David Raya.
Not that it was by choice. From the outset, Arteta’s side were intent on having a vice-like grip on proceedings. Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino were aided by Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber in choking the centre of the pitch and stifling City. And so they settled in for the long game, human versus Deep Blue.
Guardiola’s side anticipated every move, applied prophylaxis, were there to disrupt every passing sequence that got deep enough to be dangerous, chased down second balls, put bodies in front of every possible shot.
It was a bit strange, but also fascinating, to see a team headed by a manager long known for his obsession with midfield control give up the reins completely. By the end of the game City were in a low block, playing a 5-4-1. It’s difficult to know what to make of it, like watching a Lego replica of the Death Star. Yes this is supposed to be a highly destructive object, but it’s not. So what is it? What does it remind you of? How is it supposed to make you feel?
No player typifies Guardiola’s attacking setup and aggression more than Haaland. He scored the opener in the 9th minute and spent over an hour after that flitting across the pitch, attacking and defending, chasing down Arsenal defenders, heading away from corner kicks, like a multi-functional robot. But by the end even he had been removed.
Arteta walked up and down his technical area desperate to find a way through. The high praise of the season for the Spaniard is the options he has in reserve, the bench swelling with talent. In the second half he immediately threw on the returning Bukayo Saka, seeking an upgrade on what Noni Madueke was producing on the right. Merino is a hard worker, but to recreate some of Martin Odegaard’s quality on the right half space Arteta tried Eberechi Eze.
Nothing seemed to work. In goal Gianluigi Donnarumma is a huge upgrade on James Trafford, although he was barely tested as City lined the penalty area with bodies. The enterprising Jeremy Doku, an outlet for holding the ball up in forward areas, was removed as the machine went into all-defensive mode.
It looked like the away side would leave with all three points, but there were still a few more options in reserve for Arteta. Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri were thrown in with only minutes to go.
It was the Brazilian who would make the difference, running onto a ball floated in by another substitute Eze, and then raising it beyond Donnarumma and into the far corner to earn his manager a well-deserved point, and show that the distance between him and his old superior has narrowed to nothing, at least tactically.
