Gabriel Martinelli’s last-gasp equaliser rescued a 1-1 draw for Arsenal at home against Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday, cancelling out Erling Haaland’s early strike and earning the Gunners a point, though they lost ground on early leaders Liverpool.
City opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Tijjani Reijnders broke from deep, with Haaland on his shoulder, before playing the Norwegian striker into space to finish past David Raya.
Arsenal struggled to find rhythm in the first half, but a double change at halftime injected energy into the side. Substitute Eberechi Eze forced a sharp save from Gianluigi Donnarumma as Arsenal pressed City’s defence.
City appeared to weather the storm, finishing the game with five at the back, while Arsenal probed without creating the killer chance. But Martinelli – who had delivered a goal and assist off the bench against Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday ran onto Eze’s speculative ball and produced a superb lob in the 93rd minute to secure a point.
The draw leaves Arsenal on 10 points from five games, five behind Liverpool, while City moved up to ninth with seven points.
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said:
“I’m extremely proud of the players and the team, that’s the overall feeling. I’m very disappointed with the result.”
The early-season clash carried added significance in the title race, with Liverpool continuing their perfect start against Everton on Saturday.
City’s opener stemmed from a messy passage of play, with Haaland’s pass to Reijnders initiating the move that led to his 13th goal in eight games for club and country.
Arsenal toiled for long periods, and a tepid contest seemed to be slipping away until Martinelli’s late intervention. Declan Rice described the strike as:
“A moment of magic. A lot of players can sulk if they get put on the bench, but every time he comes on he shows his heart and desire. The run and finish is just unbelievable.”
The goal set up a frantic finish, but neither side could find a winner. Notably, City recorded just 32.8% possession, the lowest-ever average by a Pep Guardiola team in his 601st top-flight league match, according to Opta.
Rice said City’s approach reflected their respect for Arsenal, pointing out differences in their performance against Napoli two days earlier. Guardiola added:
“Our resilience was fantastic, otherwise we can’t survive. Arsenal was better … one time in 10 years is not bad, right?”
