Manchester Metropolis and Arsenal performed out a bore draw on the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, permitting Liverpool to take management of the Premier League title race.
The 0-0 draw ensures that Liverpool finish Easter Sunday with a two level lead forward of second place Arsenal and three forward of third place Man Metropolis, having crushed Brighton and Hove Albion earlier within the day at Anfield.
This is how the somewhat dour recreation of soccer performed out on the Etihad.
How the sport unfolded
The primary probability of the sport would fall to ex-Man Metropolis man Gabriel Jesus, who after controlling a dinked Ben White cross on the again put up, fluffed his strains by scuffing his subsequent volleyed effort huge of the put up.
After that missed probability, Metropolis had been capable of pin Arsenal again into their very own defensive third for a lot of the remainder of the primary half. For all their possession and territorial dominance although, David Raya remained principally untested all through the half.
Apart from Metropolis tapping the ball round in entrance of the Arsenal defence, the one different notable prevalence of the primary half proved to be an damage suffered by Nathan Ake. The gifted defender was drive doff contained in the opening 25 minutes with an obvious muscle damage, being changed by the younger Rico Lewis on the fitting of Metropolis’s again 4.
It could take Man Metropolis till the second minute of the second half to lastly come near opening the scoring, when Mateo Kovacic noticed a curling effort from exterior of the field whiz simply previous the put up.
The substitutions made by Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola on the hour make gave a transparent indication of how the remaining half-hour on the Etihad had been because of play out – Guardiola bringing on Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku whereas Arteta introduced on Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Following these subs, Metropolis expectedly continued to dominate proceedings, however continued to do with out creating something in entrance of purpose. A mix of Arsenal’s stable defensive form and Metropolis’s utter toothlessness within the remaining third ensured that Raya remained untested.
GK: Stefan Ortega – 5/10 – Largely a spectator on Sunday.
RB: Manuel Akanji – 6/10 – Jesus did not trigger him too many issues.
CB: Ruben Dias – 6/10 – The Portuguese star’s distribution was stable, finishing effectively over 90% of his passes from out of the defensive third.
CB: Nathan Ake – N/A – Went off injured early on.
LB: Josko Gvardiol – 6/10 – Confirmed a couple of moments of high quality within the remaining third, and coped effectively with Saka.
DM: Rodri – 8/10 – Completely dominated the midfield, making mild work of Delan Rice, Jorginho and Martin Odegaard. The Spain worldwide accomplished 105 passes and received a whopping 14 duels.
RM: Bernardo Silva – 5/10 – Some good touches however did not create a lot.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne – 5/10 – The Belgian’s supply was surprisingly wayward all day.
CM: Mateo Kovacic – 5/10 – Had one notable pop at purpose early within the second half, however did not do a lot else.
LM: Phil Foden – 5/10 – Did not pose any semblance of a risk to Arsenal’s backline.
ST: Erling Haaland – 4/10 – Pocketed by William Saliba on the day.
Substitutes
SUB: Rico Lewis (’25 for Ake) – 5/10
SUB: Jeremy Doku (60′ for Foden) – 5/10
SUB: Jack Grealish (60′ for Kovacic) – 5/10
Supervisor – Pep Guardiola – 6/10 – His group dominated however lacked any semblance of leading edge within the remaining third.
GK: David Raya – 6/10 – For all of Metropolis’s possession, Raya was not often compelled into motion.
RB: Ben White – 6/10 – Truly probably the most eye-catching Arsenal participant within the remaining third within the first half. Defended effectively within the second.
CB: William Saliba – 8/10 – Incredible efficiency up in opposition to the perfect striker within the Premier League, profitable seven duels, making 4 blocks and recovering possession eight instances.
CB: Gabriel Magalhaes – 7/10 – Like his defensive accomplice, Gabriel was incredible. Headed away principally each single cross that was looped into the field.
LB: Jakub Kiwior – 4/10 – Struggled a bit out on the left, regarded a bit out of his depth at instances.
CM: Martin Odegaard – 5/10 – Very sloppy on the uncommon event he obtained his foot on his ball. A couple of too many wayward via balls all through.
CM: Declan Rice – 6/10 – Battled exhausting within the center however was in the end out-duelled by the sensible Rodri.
CM: Jorginho – 5/10 – Labored exhausting in the course of the park, however could not actually get his foot on the ball.
RW: Bukayo Saka – 5/10 – Compelled to do extra defending than he was maybe hoping to on Sunday.
ST: Kai Havertz – 4/10 – Did he contact the ball in any respect? Undecided.
LW: Gabriel Jesus – 4/10 – On the uncommon event wherein Arsenal obtained ahead, Jesus often scuppered the possibility of scoring.
SUB: Takehiro Tomiyasu (65′ for Kiwior) – 6/10
SUB: Thomas Partey (65′ for Jorginho) – 6/10
SUB: Leandro Trossard (71′ for Jesus) – 5/10
SUB: Gabriel Martinelli (77′ for Saka) – 5/10
Supervisor – Mikel Arteta – 7/10 – Stopped the rot at Etihad with a defensively sound efficiency.
Participant of the match: William Saliba (Arsenal)
