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Arsenal twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Manchester City in a tense Premier League encounter on Sunday and stayed seven points behind its fourth-place guest.
Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero twice fired City into the lead in the first half, but Arsenal equalized through Theo Walcott before Shkodran Mustafi’s header after the break ensured the points were shared.
Against a background of fan discontent over the form of Arsene Wenger’s side as he decides his future, Arsenal was nervy from the start.
The Gunners fell behind in the fifth minute when Sane rounded ’keeper David Ospina and finished elegantly after Arsenal’s defense was dissected by a sublime through-ball from the excellent Kevin De Bruyne for his 13th assist of the season.
City lost impetus after the goal and Walcott leveled from close range in the 40th minute after being played onside by Arsenal old boy Gael Clichy, who tried desperately to make amends after his former teammate was played in by Mustafi.
“We didn’t play in the first half, after the goal we forgot to play,” Pep Guardiola told Sky Sports. “The desire went.
“In the second half we played more. We suffered a lot in the first half because we didn’t make those passes together.”
While the defensive frailties of both sides were regularly exposed, they also demonstrated their attacking brilliance in spells.
Pep Guardiola’s first season in England has not been an unqualified success, but he has succeeded in giving City one of the Premier League’s sleekest attacks, and Arsenal’s equalizer spurred the visiting club back to life.
Aguero restored City’s lead two minutes later after being picked out by David Silva before finishing with aplomb.
Arsenal defender Mustafi again restored parity eight minutes after the break when he rose above Nicolas Otamendi to head Mesut Ozil’s corner past ’keeper Willy Caballero with City’s defense seemingly frozen.
“The test was mental,” Wenger told Sky Sports. “We had to come back after half time and we got a point after a time that has been so stressful for us.”
The draw takes City, which visits Chelsea on Wednesday evening, on to 58 points, five clear of fifth-place Manchester United, which has a game in hand, and a point behind Liverpool, which has played a game more than Pep Guardiola’s side.
Arsenal, in sixth, now has 51 points and is in danger of missing out on a top-four finish for the first time since 1996. The Gunners will bid to end a three-game winless streak in the Premier League when they host West Ham United on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Swansea City missed the opportunity to pull away from the relegation zone when it was held 0-0 at home by Middlesbrough in a tetchy encounter on Sunday.
Swansea had conceded 63 goals before the visit of its fellow struggler, but even the home side’s defensive failings could not prompt an improvement from goal-shy Middlesbrough, which has now drawn 0-0 on six occasions this term, a league high.
Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson looked the player most likely to make something happen, but a thumping effort from outside the area was saved spectacularly by Victor Valdes on 64 minutes, while a free kick by the Iceland international flew just wide four minutes from time.
The draw pulled 18th-place Swansea up to 28 points, one clear of the relegation zone ahead of the visit of Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, while Middlesbrough, in 19th, moved up to 23 points, five off safety.
Boro, which has not won in 12 league games, visits Hull in the middle of the week. (Reuters)