Gary Neville Praises Arsenal’s Title Credentials
Arsenal held Manchester City to a goalless draw at the Etihad Stadium, showcasing their defensive resilience and mentality.
The team limited City’s shots, becoming the first to keep a clean sheet at the Etihad since 2021.
This performance contrasts with their poor performance at the same ground last season, when City won 4-1.
Despite missing William Saliba due to injury, Neville named him player of the match on Sunday.
Sky Sports pundit reveals Saliba’s performance highlighted the missed opportunity during last year’s run-in and demonstrated the Gunners’ strength as stronger contenders, despite being two points behind leaders Liverpool.
“I think they answered two big questions today,” Neville said on Sky Sports. “One is on their mentality. Could they live in a big game against Manchester City?
“They folded here last year and they were all over the place, whereas today they withstood a lot of pressure and looked like a team that could go through a title challenge and have a lot more mental strength.
“That’s a big question answered, because it’s difficult to come here.
“The other one is on the defensive side of things. Last year, it was suggested that without Saliba they were harmed, and that’s been proven today.
“Saliba was immense, there’s no doubt about that. So was Gabriel.
“But for me, the work ethic of the two wide players and the two forwards was also incredible.”
Erling Haaland failed to score in a third consecutive game against Arsenal, including the Community Shield and a 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium in October.
“The two centre-halves were fantastic,” added Neville. “They headed everything away, they really did gang up on Haaland. It was a classic one go tight and one hold off, old-fashioned tactics.
“But they had a lot of players around them to enable them to do that. They had the full-backs narrow and tight, they had the midfield compact with them.
“The two wide players tucked in and did a really good job, and then they had the two forward players, [Kai] Havertz and [Martin] Odegaard, when it was needed as well.”
He added: “When you’re playing against a world-class player, don’t be embarrassed to think you need to double up. I quite regularly, when playing against [Marc] Overmars or [Robert] Pires, had to get someone else with me to gang up.
“That’s what [Gabriel] Jesus did. Jesus got [Jakub] Kiwior out of a lot of trouble today. He was having a bit of a difficult game early on.
“Jesus was right next to him. [Bukayo] Saka next to Ben White. They did a great job collectively.”
Manchester City were left to lament Nathan Ake’s missed opportunity from close range in the first half and Haaland’s uncharacteristically unsuccessful attempt to connect with the ball late on. However, Neville attributed their goal-scoring difficulties to their opponents.
“I just think Arsenal made it so difficult for them. I’ve never seen a team make it so difficult for Manchester City in the final third. There didn’t seem to be any spaces. The way in which Arsenal defended was quite unique.”
Gary Neville Praises Arsenal’s Title Credentials