Arsenal coach Albert Stuivenberg joked that he hoped isolating manager Mikel Arteta has good home insurance after the heartbreak of conceding a late winner against Manchester City. The Gunners had produced an admirable performance against the Premier League leaders but were undone by Rodri’s goal two minutes into added-time.
Arteta is self-isolating after testing positive for COVID-19 for the second time. The Spaniard was the first high-profile football figure to return a positive test result in March 2020.
It meant that he missed Arsenal’s clash with City on Saturday.
But without their boss, Arsenal played well at the Emirates Stadium and went ahead through Bukayo Saka’s first-half goal.
Ultimately, it was individual errors that cost the North Londoners a well-earned point against Pep Guardiola’s side.
JUST IN: Man City star Rodri details ‘big mistake’ from Gabriel after red card
Granit Xhaka conceded a penalty when he brought down Bernardo Silva. Riyad Mahrez slammed home the resultant spot-kick.
Centre-back Gabriel had already been booked for tampering with the penalty spot prior to City’s equaliser when his poor challenge on Gabriel Jesus saw him sent off. Rodri then scored the winner to stretch his side’s lead at the top of the division to 11 points, although Chelsea have a game in hand.
in Arteta’s absence, assistant coach Stuivenberg led the team. He admitted his frustration after the game and then joked that he hoped Arteta had sufficient ‘insurance’ at home in case he was angry at the result.
“Very frustrating,” he told BT Sport.
Arsenal lost their opening three matches, including a 5-0 thumping by Man City in August.
They have since only suffered defeat in just two of their last 17 matches and sit comfortably in fourth place.
This reverse ended a five-match winning run.
Arsenal are also in the semi-final of the EFL Cup and face Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round next weekend.
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