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New report reveals feeling within Arsenal camp and text messages exchanges after Manchester City anger
Manchester City’s anger towards Arsenal’s approach in the second-half of the 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium has provoked a reaction from within Mikel Arteta’s squad.
Erling Haaland’s opening goal inside the first 10 minutes of last weekend’s clash at the Etihad Stadium was responded to by Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhaes, before the dismissal of Leandro Trossard for kicking the ball away in frustration changed the approach from Arsenal.
The entirety of the second-half saw Mikel Arteta instruct his players to deploy football’s ‘dark arts’, placing nine-man behind the ball and in front of David Raya’s goal, feigning injuries at all opportunities, and delaying the restart of play on set-pieces and goal-kicks.
That led to a stream of frustrated comments issued by Manchester City in the aftermath of the affair, with John Stones, Bernardo Silva, and Manuel Akanji among the names to hit out at Arsenal’s approach towards the Premier League champions’ attacking output.
That reaction has provoked its own reaction from within the Emirates Stadium camp, with a new report detailing one text message issued by an Arsenal player in response to comments from the champions’s squad.
According to the information of MailSport’s Sami Mokbel, the irritation Manchester City expressed towards Arsenal’s approach to the second-half of the 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium has left Gunners players ‘detecting a chink in the armour’ of Pep Guardiola’s squad.
The report goes on to reveal one text message sent by an Arsenal player in reaction to Manchester City’s post-match comments, which read, ‘They are fuming!!’
The most significant feeling to have emerged from the Arsenal camp in recent days, as highlighted by MailSport’s report, is the notion that with 11 men, Mikel Arteta’s side would have beaten Manchester City.
To surmise, there is also the belief from within the North London club that Arsenal now sense the noise that emanated from Pep Guardiola’s camp in the aftermath of the draw points towards a team that is ‘rattled’, according to Sami Mokbel.
One comment that is likely to have provoked the most frustrated reaction from within Arsenal is one issued by Bernardo Silva, who was quizzed on the key differences between Manchester City’s Premier League title battles against the Gunners and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
In an interview that has since gone viral on social media, the Portugal international pointed out that Liverpool have already won the Premier League as part of their battle with Manchester City, and has claimed the UEFA Champions League in that time – unlike Arsenal.
“Perhaps because Liverpool has already won the Premier League and Arsenal hasn’t. Liverpool, at that time, had also won a Champions League, while Arsenal hasn’t. Liverpool always faced us head-on, to win matches,” the 30-year-old said.
“From that perspective, our games against Arsenal haven’t been like the matches against Liverpool were, and still are!”
Manchester City will be reunited with Arsenal in the Premier League in February at the Emirates Stadium, in a contest that is still likely to come too early to be an indicator as to who will claim the Premier League title this season.
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