Arsenal held Manchester City to a scoreless draw at the Etihad on Sunday, leaving Manchester City frustrated.
Anthony Taylor fives a free-kick during the Man City v Arsenal clash. (Image: Getty)
Manuel Akanji, a defender for Manchester City, has taken aim at referee Anthony Taylor following the Premier League champions’ 0-0 draw with Arsenal at the Etihad. With nine games left, the Gunners’ resolute performance in a match that was deemed crucial in this season’s title race has dropped City to third place, three points behind leaders Liverpool.
The intensity of the confrontation was evident despite the lack of goalmouth action, as players engaged in some heated exchanges. Additionally, Akanji has maintained that Taylor did not appropriately penalize the opposition for a string of fouls.
He declared: “Kai Havertz committed one (foul) in the first half after a very late tackle on Stefan Ortega. It’s obviously a yellow card in my opinion. There are some guidelines, and in my opinion, there should be obvious yellow cards where they belong.
“I recall the incident involving Jorginho wherein he committed a tackle foul and then another one, and Taylor did not even issue a yellow card for a single infraction. Some decisions were beyond my comprehension.
The 28-year-old Akanji further charged that the Gunners were intentionally setting up poorly to impede City’s attack. Erling Haaland, the home team’s striker, did, in fact, look frustrated for the most of the afternoon as Gabriel Magalhaes hounded him closely.
“They played a lot of long balls and defended with six players in the back, so it was difficult to get through,” the City defender continued. It’s difficult if there are no actions involved when they stop us with fouls after we make it through.”
During the ninety minutes, only Arsenal’s keeper David Raya and forward Gabriel Jesus were shown yellow, but Mikel Arteta was criticized by commentators for his team’s lack of attacking ambition even though his team held firm. The Spaniard acknowledged that his team didn’t take full advantage of their possession opportunities, but he later defended his strategies.
“We are improving, we are competing better and we are understanding how to compete in these games,” he stated. “You must win in order to complete the second step in order to win championships.
“We managed to draw today, but we still need to get much better in order to win. We had some situations to score, which is a drawback. We didn’t take full advantage of it. I believe maintaining composure while handling the ball is the next step.”
