Gary Neville felt Jurrien Timber was badly missed against Manchester City and Arsenal were ‘hampered enormously’ by Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera’s apparent shortcomings going forward.
Arsenal came out fighting after picking up just one win in their previous five contests in all competitions, but Erling Haaland’s second-half strike ultimately proved decisive at the Etihad.
Kai Havertz’s leveller – gifted to Arsenal by Gianluigi Donnarumma – had given the visitors hope of a statement victory away from home, with the forward’s effort cancelling out Rayan Cherki’s sublime opener just moment earlier.
Mikel Arteta’s men were punished for their wastefulness in front of goal in the second half, though, ensuring hosts City closed the gap at the summit to just three points.
Pep Guardiola’s side, who have a game in hand over Arsenal, will claim top spot should they get the better of struggling Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday night.
‘I believe today, I believe on Wednesday, I believed a week ago because I see them every day and I know the level that we have,’ Arteta told reporters shortly after Arsenal’s setback.
‘But today, if they need to be more convinced, I think they are now more convinced. We are talking about it in the dressing room.
‘It’s a new league now. We have three points of advantage, they have the game in hand.
‘Everything is still to play for. We know how much we want it and we are not going to stop!’
Arsenal will be eager to get their title charge back on track when they return to action at home to an out-of-form Newcastle side next weekend.
Dissecting Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash on his Sky Sports podcast, ex-Manchester United and England full-back Neville made sure to single out Bernardo Silva for special praise after an ‘above-and-beyond’ display.
‘Bernardo Silva in the second half, what a performance that is just to grip a game,’ Neville said.
‘I think people sometimes become surprised when I’ve talked about Paul Scholes, in the last five or six years of his Manchester United career, gripping a football match by the scruff of the neck, controlling it and dominating the speed of it.
‘What we’ve just seen there from Bernardo Silva is absolutely above and beyond.
‘He just beat Viktor Gyokeres on a header at the back post, he’s then pressing two minutes later, and he epitomises what Manchester City are: that experience, that know-how but also that energy, that professionalism.
‘I thought he was absolutely sensational in the second half and he just lifted it a gear.
‘In some ways, Arsenal had some good chances. Eberechi Eze hitting the post, Kai Havertz’s header at the head, what a moment that is.
‘But City just edged it with the victory but also just edged it in performance levels in the second half.’
Neville, who backed Arsenal to win the title at the start of the season, was encouraged by the Gunners’ performance in the context of their recent performances.
But the eight-time Premier League winner is confident City have now wrestled the ‘momentum’ firmly in their favour ahead of their trip to struggling Burnley in midweek.
‘My takeaway for Arsenal today is that’s the best way that they could have lost,’ Neville went on.
‘I know the big talk before the match was the bottling, the freezing, the anxiety, the nervousness, the pressure… I actually think they handled the occasion very well and that’s positive.
‘They didn’t come here today and not play, they didn’t come here today and have no idea. I thought they played a good game of football, one of the best performances I’ve seen here from an away team to be fair.
‘So for Arsenal, it’s as good as it can get. But you’re up against a juggernaut and that juggernaut is Pep Guardiola.
‘Manchester City have won title after title in these last seven or eight years and they’ve just stole ahead at the right time, they’ve got that momentum, and they will go in front on Wednesday. They’ll beat Burnley at Burnley.
‘There’s still a way to go, it’s going to be difficult now for Arsenal, but how they psychologically recover from this is going to be really important.’
Neville picked out Havertz for special praise, while applauding Hincapie and Mosquera for ‘sticking to the task’ and frustrating City from a defensive perspective.
But according to Neville, the full-backs’ deficiencies going forward meant Arsenal were ‘blocked off’ when it came to building attacks from the left and right flanks.
‘Arsenal were hampered enormously by their full-backs,’ he explained.
‘I thought actually they did a good job, Hincapie and Mosquera, they really stuck to their task, but they’re limited on the ball.
‘So if you think about Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly for City, or how Jurrien Timber or Riccardo Calafiori or others are for Arsenal, they were just blocked off.
‘You haven’t got that subtlety on that ball or that ability, that safe, consistentand reliable ability, to feed the ball in, good touches and passes and getting it into your front players and midfield players because they’re centre-backs effectively, they’re not full-backs.
‘So I thought they stuck to the task really well, the two full-backs for Arsenal, but you lose a lot when you lose Timber, you lose a lot. He’s a bit of a powerhouse going forward, he links really well.
‘I’m not mentioning Bukayo Saka because every player can get an injury so Noni Madueke is there, Gabriel Martinelli is there, you can’t whinge about Saka.
‘But I think losing both of their full-backs would have cost them today in terms of on the ball and being able to get forward.’
Who will win the Premier League title?
Arsenal came close to equalising for a second time at the death as Havertz missed a golden chance to head home and cancel out Haaland’s earlier strike.
Neville was impressed by Havertz’s all-round performance but has no doubts the German will be ruing his missed opportunity at the death over the coming days.
‘I thought Arsenal lost the game because you can lose here. You can play well, do okay in the game and still lose here,’ he continued.
‘I’m sure Mikel Arteta will point towards chances, Eberechi Eze’s one where he hits the post, Havertz’s chance at the end… they had really good moments and they’ve not taken them.
‘The Havertz chance towards the end is a big moment.’
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