Arsenal boss lives in hope
– Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (above) expressed hope his side’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City will represent a turning point after a testing period in the club’s recent history.
Criticism of Wenger from angry fans escalated during a run of four defeats in five Premier League games that saw the club slide out of the top four.
But while uncertainty about his future continues to linger, he hopes Sunday’s battling performance against City will help the team move on.
“Overall I felt it was a mental test and you could see the team was touched on the confidence front,” he told his post-match press conference.
Arsenal are seven points below City, who are in the fourth and final Champions League qualifying berth, but they have a game in hand.
Fans protested against Wenger once again before the game.
Arsenal fell behind in the fifth minute when Leroy Sane swooped onto Kevin de Bruyne’s hopeful pass and rounded goalkeeper David Ospina to score.
Theo Walcott levelled, only for Sergio Aguero to restore City’s lead 131 seconds later, but Shkodran Mustafi brought Arsenal level again with a header from Mesut Oezil’s 53rd-minute corner.
Wenger was unable to provide a prognosis on the Achilles injury that forced centreback Laurent Koscielny to leave the fray at halftime.
Arsenal appeared to be at City’s mercy in the first half and visiting manager Pep Guardiola explained his side’s failure to capitalise by saying his players “forgot to play”.
Guardiola heralded Yaya Toure for bringing poise to City’s play after replacing Raheem Sterling in a half-time tactical switch.
“If you want to play, you need this quality of pass,” he said.
“Yaya in there is a master. That is why he helped us a lot in the second half to do that.”
The City manager also hailed Jesus Navas after an injury to Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta’s lack of fitness saw the Spanish winger surprisingly selected at rightback.
“His performance was outstanding. He faced one of the best players in the league by far, Alexis (Sanchez),” Guardiola said. –