Pep Guardiola’s animated discussions with the players after Manchester City drew with Arsenal were just for the cameras, according to Richard Keys.
City were held to a 0-0 draw by Mikel Arteta’s side on Sunday afternoon as their much-hyped match failed to live up to its billing. There were just three shots on target in the entire match, with the best chance coming in the first half when Nathan Ake failed to get any power onto a header from a corner.
Erling Haaland was kept quiet by Arsenal’s centre-back pairing of Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba and the Gunners created little of note at the other end. The stalemate saw Liverpool hold onto top spot, which they secured with a 2-1 win over Brighton earlier in the day.
There was little to discuss for the pundits, so beIN SPORTS presenter Keys took a different approach. Guardiola was shown having a passionate discussion with Jack Grealish after the final whistle, with the City boss explaining something he’d spotted in the substitute’s performance.
Guardiola then turned his attention to Arsenal defender Gabriel, who was deep in conversation with Haaland. The City manager moved Gabriel away and then returned to his own players in an exchange which really annoyed Keys.
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“Save it for the dressing room! It’s all for the cameras, isn’t it? It’s so tiresome!” he said angrily on beIN SPORTS’ coverage. “Go down the tunnel! He shouldn’t even be on the pitch… Urghhh – and then he’s got to go and tell everybody else what they did wrong of course.”
It was unclear exactly what Guardiola was telling Grealish, who came on for Mateo Kovacic in the 61st minute, but it seemed he wasn’t entirely happy with his performance. In truth, Grealish was far from the only attacking player who failed to provide the game with a much-needed spark.
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City came into the match on a 57-game streak of scoring at home in all competitions and while they extended their unbeaten home run to 39 games, they didn’t find the back of the net. They didn’t even come close, with David Raya untrouble in the Arsenal goal.
“A really competitive match as you can imagine. We made another big step today,” Arteta told the BBC. “They have the capacity to change formations to get you in deep in many moments. They are very physical but I think we coped with that very well.
“I think we had the best situations. We were really aggressive at times and getting the ball into great areas. The way we competed individually and as a team was phenomenal. Individually you have to be at your best. I think it is 2021 since they hadn't scored a goal here at the Etihad. It was a really tough test for us today. We wanted to win but when you cannot win you must not lose.”
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