After Manchester City and Arsenal’s enthralling Premier League showdown on Sunday, you already can’t wait for round two.
This growing rivalry has been getting more and more intense, but the Etihad witnessed its most drama-filled encounter between Manchester City and Arsenal yet.
You don’t know where to begin because, on both sides, there is an argument to be made that they got done over by on-field referee, Michael Oliver.
From Leandro Trossard’s red card to Arsenal’s opening goal which annoyed Kyle Walker, it was all going off and the drama lasted to the very end.
Ian Wright and Michael Owen were somewhat in disagreement with one of the incidents and Pep Guardiola‘s reaction to it all.
Walker is the Manchester City captain and he was summoned by the on-field referee near the centre circle, he then proceeded to jog back towards his position, whilst also giving out instructions to his teammates, after talking to Michael Oliver.
But Arsenal, and Thomas Partey in particular, proceeded to play a quick free kick, with Gabriel Martinelli in acres of space on the left flank because Walker was still getting back.
Martinelli laid the ball into the path of Riccardo Calafiori and he curled a stunning effort into the top corner to the annoyance of the Manchester City players.
They protested at the referee, but he waved it all away, with Ian Wright admitting that he ‘sympathises’ with Walker and how he wouldn’t have liked a goal like that to be scored against him.
Whilst Michael Owen agreed that the official didn’t help himself and he should have ‘delayed’ the restart, he pointed towards Guardiola’s actions instead.
The former Real Madrid player claimed that the Manchester City boss was ‘blaming’ Walker for the goal and not the referee.
But Wright questioned if that was really the case by asking ‘are we definitely sure Pep was upset with Kyle, though’, as he told Premier League Productions (22/09/24 at 19:00 pm).
Kyle Walker’s role in Riccardo Calafiori’s goal for Arsenal against Manchester City
“I agree, I think he (referee) could have delayed it just another couple of seconds,” said Owen. “I don’t think Kyle Walker sprinted to get back into position. I think he was walking, he was jogging and he was talking to people.”
Wright then interrupted: “Maybe he thought that the referee would give him the opportunity to get back into position – you should also be standing in and around the ball. That’s why them things that happen just naturally. I think, even when Kyle is running away and pointing, he might have been saying to somebody ‘get on the ball’ because it’s something you naturally do. In the end, it was great play from Partey to get it in there. I wouldn’t want that goal scored against me, especially with the referee. I do sympathise, because if you are going to do that, and we are going to go to the letter of law, in respect of what you are doing. Surely, if you are calling the captains in, you have to give them both the opportunity, whilst the game is dead, to get back into position and then you blow the whistle. That just seems very, very logical to me.”
Owen added: “We saw Pep Guardiola. At the outset, he was blaming Kyle Walker. He was like ‘Kyle get back in’. Screaming at him to get back in – I made the point that I thought Kyle Walker was a little bit sleepy himself. Yes, it was unfortunate.”
Wright then asks ‘Are we definitely sure Pep was upset with Kyle, though?”, with Owen responding: “Yeah, he was screaming at Kyle.”
Manchester City and Arsenal tensions
Guardiola and Arteta know each other very well and you aren’t going to see them falling out on the touchline, even if it would make for great drama.
But you sense the tension between the Arsenal and Manchester City players is really growing and this stems back from a few years.
READ MORE: Arsenal and Chelsea snubbed as £55m striker becomes Barcelona’s Erling Haaland alternative
Gabriel Magalhaes scored a huge goal for Arsenal and he was in the thick of the action when the two teams kept clashing.
Either way, you can’t wait for the reverse fixture in February because Martin Odegaard will be back from injury and Kevin de Bruyne should also be available after missing out.
The post 'He was blaming': Ian Wright doubts Michael Owen's claim about Pep Guardiola amid Arsenal controversy appeared first on HITC.
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