The home crowd was optimistic, and a win for Arsenal would have put them just behind leaders Liverpool in the table.

For Manchester City, a third win of the season would have moved them up to fifth place, level on points with Tottenham and Bournemouth in third and fourth, respectively.

William Saliba returned to the starting lineup for Arsenal, which boosted their chances, as they had won 68% of their games since his debut in the Premier League in August 2022 (70/103) compared to 47% without him (7/15).

However, Manchester City's Erling Haaland had other plans, scoring the opening goal just nine minutes into the game with the first shot on target. It was his fifth goal in seven games against Arsenal and his sixth of the 2025/26 campaign.

This was the earliest goal Arsenal had conceded in the top flight since September 2024, when Haaland also scored in the ninth minute.

Arsenal dominated possession, with 68.3% of the ball after 30 minutes, but it took them 32 minutes to get a shot on goal, a rare occurrence since April 2021.

Despite their possession advantage, Arsenal struggled to create chances, and they trailed at halftime, having failed to win any of their previous 12 Premier League games in which they were behind at the break.

Manchester City came out strong in the second half, forcing Arsenal to adopt a more defensive approach, and they created six shots in the 10 minutes after halftime.

Arsenal regained control of the game and possession, with Declan Rice's 14 line-breaking passes opening up the pitch for his teammates to attack the City box.

Despite their efforts, Arsenal struggled to get star striker Viktor Gyokeres involved, with 10 shots coming from seven different players with 15 minutes left to play, none from Gyokeres.

A late substitution, Gabriel Martinelli, had a say in the game, scoring a goal in injury time to salvage a point for Arsenal.

Martinelli has now been directly involved in four top-flight goals against Manchester City (two goals, two assists), more than any other Arsenal player since 2016/17.

Jeremy Doku put on an impressive display, completing five of seven dribbles, winning 13 one-on-ones, and regaining possession five times, but ultimately, the draw suited neither team.