Goading and mockery often go hand in hand with the heat of battle. Outside the stadium here, they were selling water bottles emblazoned with the Arsenal crest.
Whether the Gunners are ‘bottling’ it or not, there is little doubt that the pressure of a Premier League title race has well and truly got to them. It has spilled over, scalded Mikel Arteta’s men.
Just ask Gabriel. Arsenal have yet to receive a red card in the league this season; they were given six in the previous campaign.
Indiscipline has been an issue in the past for the Gunners — but it had been put firmly in the past. Yet, of all times, it reared its head here — quite literally.
Gabriel and Erling Haaland, the two physical monsters who typify much of the gladiatorial duel between Arsenal and Manchester City, had come together on 84 minutes, their heads right up against each other’s. Suddenly, the Brazilian decided to nudge his, with some weight, into Haaland’s face.
It was stupid, to put it kindly, and on another day a red card. Referee Anthony Taylor made the decision to issue yellow. Gabriel was lucky. A sending-off would have spoiled the end of what was a fantastic contest, yes, but the rules are rules.
The Premier League’s Match Centre official account wrote on X: ‘The referee’s call of no red card was checked and confirmed by VAR — with the action from Gabriel deemed not to be excessively aggressive or violent.’
How the action wasn’t ‘excessively aggressive’, who knows. On that barometer, maybe a full-on headbutt is just about enough to breach the mark.
Anyhow, the image could well go on to define Arsenal’s campaign — leading the way for months but when crunch time arrives, they lose control, the weight of expectation too much to bear.
With one win in their last six matches across all competitions, the north London club are faltering just at the moment when they need stability.
It does not bode well for them, as City have form for stealing away in the latter months of a campaign.
Before yesterday, City’s league record under Pep Guardiola in April read: 31 wins, five draws and three losses. That’s a win percentage of 79.
In contrast, Arteta’s came in at 11 wins, seven draws and eight losses across 26 April matches — a win percentage of 42. That does not make for pretty reading.
Still, the title race is not over yet. Of course not. There are tricky upcoming fixtures for both of these teams, particularly City, who still have to go to Bournemouth and face Aston Villa at home on the last day of the season.
But if Gabriel had been banned for three of Arsenal’s remaining five games for violent conduct, that would have been a hammer blow to their title bid.
The visitors were good in periods and could have taken a point had luck gone their way. Gabriel struck a post with a header, while Eberechi Eze’s left-foot drive rattled the goal frame and somehow dribbled away from the goal-line, rather than over it.
If Arsenal are to get over the line this season, Kai Havertz showed just why he is the man to lead their attack from now.
He was picked ahead of £64million man Viktor Gyokeres — and that seemed to pay off even if the result went against them. This was only Havertz’s fifth league start, a knee injury having badly hampered his campaign. Since his return earlier this year, the striker’s minutes have had to be carefully managed. That meant Gyokeres had started 24 of Arsenal’s 32 league matches before yesterday.
But the Gunners have looked meek in attack recently, with the Swede often going missing for long stretches in games.
There was nothing meek about them at the Etihad. Havertz led the frontline with a real presence, bringing team-mates into play — something which Gyokeres struggles to do — and physically pinning back the Man City backline.
His goal, deflecting Gianluigi Donnarumma’s kick into his own net, was a result of relentless anticipation. From there, he bullied Abdukodir Khusanov in the aerial battles and played neat, crisp passes both in midfield and across the frontline. Havertz is a handful to deal with.
So, the race is not yet over. But if City are to kick on from here, Gabriel’s moment of madness will be the image that sums up Arsenal’s faltering campaign.
