John Stones rescued a possible Premier League title-defining point for Manchester City against Arsenal on Sunday at the Etihad.
With seconds left on the clock, it wasn’t Erling Haaland scoring the equalising goal for Manchester City, but their new chief poacher, Stones.
With ten-man Arsenal defending for their lives, Pep Guardiola brought on Stones for Kyle Walker with 12 minutes left on the clock and he bundled home the equaliser in a game full of drama and talking points.
From Leandro Trossard’s red card to Arsenal’s opening goal, which infuriated Walker, because he was out of position talking to the referee in the lead-up to Riccardo Calafiori’s stunning left-footed effort from the edge of the box.
Just like in the north London derby against Tottenham, Gabriel Magalhaes was causing problems again from corners, and because Arsenal were down to ten and leading, they came out with a clear plan in the second half.
They defended as deep as they could, protected their penalty area like it was made of pure gold and even stopped play as many times as they could.
When David Raya claimed a high ball from a corner in stoppage-time, Arsenal fans would have thought that was it and they were taking home an incredible three points.
But that’s when Stones broke their hearts and he had some interesting comments to make after the match.
The England defender shared how Guardiola told him to play ‘as a number ten’, so his team could ‘get more crosses’ into the box.
But Stones controversially claimed that, in recent years, Arsenal have brought into the game where there are ‘a lot of stoppages’, as he told Premier League Productions (22/09/24 at 7:10 pm).
John Stones rescues a draw for Manchester City against Arsenal
“The manager told me to go and play in front of Erling (Haaland) as a number ten,” said Stones. “Try to get more crosses.
“As you said, emotionally, I felt we dealt with it really well. A lot of changes in the game. A lot of stoppages which we know of the past few years Arsenal have brought into the game and make it difficult. Stop the flow.
“Obviously, the sending-off is a big thing as well when they go even deeper on the edge of the box. Emotionally, to stick with it and not lose your heads and get frustrated with shooting from outside of the box. Being more patient around that. They made it difficult for us, obviously. It’s never easy to find spaces when they have got a back six, with a few in front. We had to change up – and luckily enough, the quick corner from Jack (Grealish) paid off.”
Who is happier Manchester City or Arsenal?
Manchester City won the Premier League title on the final day of last season. There is every chance that will happen again, in regards to it being decided on the last day.
From Arsenal’s perspective, they will see it as being down to ten men for so long, yet they came out of it with a point.
READ MORE: Pep Guardiola hails two ‘incredible’ Arsenal players and reacts to Raheem Sterling signing
But, on the other hand, Stones has been involved in these big moments before – go back to his goalline clearance against Liverpool many years ago – and that proved to be title-defining.
You suspect that their showdown at the Emirates in the reverse fixture could now be the ultimate changer, unless one of these sides drops unnecessary points from now until then.
The post ‘We know’: John Stones controversially claims what 'Arsenal have brought into the game' in recent years appeared first on HITC.
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