By Andrew Cawthorne
MANCHESTER (Reuters) – Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was happy his title-chasing team managed to stop Manchester City from scoring at the Etihad Stadium but frustrated they did not convert chances to retake top spot in an enthralling Premier League race.
Sunday’s 0-0 draw was the first time Pep Guardiola’s men had failed to score at home in the league since October 2021 and followed eight wins over Arsenal at the Etihad since a May 2016 draw.
“Very tough match against a very demanding opponent,” Arteta told reporters of the latest clash with his friend, fellow Spaniard and former boss Guardiola.
“We defended really well. We were really good … The first time they haven’t scored at home in three years. The downside is that we had some big situations to score and didn’t make the most of it .. No way can you be fully happy.”
Former Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus, in particular, had two great opportunities to score but sent the ball wide on both occasions against his former team, then narrowly failed to miss a delicious cross from Bukayo Saka.
“You want to win the game, you prepare to win it. If we don’t win it, make sure we draw it. You have to continue to make steps as a team and try to improve, and today we’ve done that,” said Arteta, whose team lost 4-1 in the league at the Etihad last season but won this season’s earlier encounter in London.
“They are the best team in the world in my opinion by far … and we have to catch up and try to be better than them.”
CHASING CITY
The Arsenal boss said he had told his team to expect to be chasing the ball for long periods.
“I said to them – ‘Are you ready to follow 30 passes? If yes, then you are ready to play Manchester City. If you are not ready for that, you cannot play against them.'”
With nine games remaining, Arsenal are second in the league on 65 points, one ahead of Manchester City but two behind leaders Liverpool who won earlier on Sunday.
“It generates belief and continues momentum. We are improving, we are competing better,” Arteta said of Sunday’s game, declining to be drawn on his side’s title chances.
“We will try out best to continue what we are doing … Today we were able to draw, and we still have to improve a lot.”
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard echoed his boss’s reticence to speculate about the title. “So much can happen before the end of the season, we have to take it game-by-game,” he said.
“We want all the three points obviously, and we tried our best to get the win, but we’ll take the point and move on,” he added. “We had to defend a lot, a bit more deep than we would have liked. It was a tight game and a tough one.”
(Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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