Picture Credit: X
On Sunday, September 22, in a Premier League classic, Manchester City scored a late equaliser to hold Arsenal to a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium, but what happened moments after, captured the attention of everyone all over the world. Following a crucial goal from John Stones in the 90+8’ minute of the high octane contest, Erling Haaland took the ball from the back of the net before intentionally throwing it in the back of the head of Gabriel Magalhaes, causing a major blowout between Arsenal and Manchester City players.
In one of the biggest games of the Premier League 2024-25 season with title implications, Manchester City started on the front foot, and they were soon rewarded with the opening goal in the ninth minute when Erling Haaland ran in behind the Arsenal defence to put the ball in the back of the net. Arsenal got the equaliser in the 22nd minute when Riccardo Calafiori scored his first goal for his new club, unleashing a bullet strike from distance.
Arsenal were playing with 10 men throughout second half against Manchester City
During the injury time in the first half, Gabriel Magalhaes doubled the lead for Arsenal against the run of play with a header before Leandro Trossard was sent off due to picking up a second yellow card of the match. In the second half, Arsenal defended valiantly, but in the final minute of injury time, they conceded a late goal before the chaos ensued at the Etihad Stadium.
After the calmer heads prevailed, Manchester City players walked into their changing rooms quite relieved, salvaging a point from their title rivals, which didn’t seem to be the case at one stage. The champions of England are currently leading the pack in the 2024-25 Premier League season with 13 points in five matches, while Liverpool and Aston Villa are behind them in second and third place respectively with 12 points.
Arsenal are in fourth place with 11 points in five matches, a point ahead of Chelsea and Newcastle in the Premier League standings.
