Mikel Arteta has defended Arsenal’s time-wasting tactics in the second half of their 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
Arsenal were reduced to 10 men at the end of the first half when Leandro Trossard was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away.
Arteta’s side battened down the hatches in the second period, fiercely defending their box as they clung on to a 2-1 lead and a potentially season-defining victory over the champions. But officials added on nine minutes of time at the end of the game and City substitute John Stones scored with one of the last kicks to earn a dramatic draw.
In their attempts to keep City at bay, the Gunners were accused of deploying “dark arts” by feigning injuries to waste time and disrupt City’s rhythm. “There was only one team that came to play football,” City midfielder Bernardo Silva said after the game. “The other came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee, unfortunately.”
But Arteta insisted they did what any team would do in the same situation.
“We had to play the game that we had to play. They played 30 seconds with 10 men, and look what they did,” Arteta said, referring to the brief period when City stalled as the injured Rodri was replaced by Mateo Kovacic in the first half.
“It’s normal what they did. Unfortunately we’ve been in the same situation [before]. We were in that same situation with Granit [Xhaka, when the midfielder was sent off] and we lost 5-0. We’d better learn. If not I would be very thick.”
Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup tie with Bolton Wanderers on Wednesday night, Arteta also hinted that some of his players had picked up injuries as a result of City’s physical play in the game.
“Let’s see who is available tomorrow and then we can talk about dark arts. Unfortunately there will be a few players not available… If a player is feigning something then that means he will carry on and he will play. Tomorrow you will find out [who is injured].”
Asked about his post-match confrontation with Erling Haaland, Arteta added: “It was a very emotional game, but they all are in different ways. It’s part of football, part of sport, and after the game we move on.”