Man City and Arsenal hold each other back in the Premier League

Both teams missed the chance to break away from their opponents, but the 0-0 draw did not leave either team behind in the championship race. After round 30, Liverpool occupied the top of the table with 67 points, two points ahead of Arsenal and three points ahead of Man City.

The draw showed Arsenal's maturity compared to last season - the season they led the league after 30 rounds but collapsed after the defeat at the Etihad. Despite scoring 33 goals in the last eight matches, Mikel Arteta's team still chose to play defensively for more than 90 minutes away to Man City. Reasonable tactics, knowing themselves and their opponents helped Arsenal achieve their goal of getting points in the big match.

Arsenal's proactive pursuit of a draw prevented Man City from scoring despite their determination to win. Pep Guardiola's players had 72% possession in both halves, passing three times more than their opponents, but always had difficulty approaching the penalty area because Arsenal had too many players in this area. They had 12 shots, twice as many as Arsenal, but Man City only hit the target once, half as many as the visitors.

Man City's only shot on target came in the 16th minute, when centre-back Nathan Ake headed in from close range. Ake was forced off early in the 27th minute due to injury and from then on, Man City were unable to force goalkeeper David Raya to show his skills again. For Arsenal, Gabriel Jesus was outstanding in the first half with a few moves and finishes. On his return to the starting lineup in place of Leandro Trossard, the Brazilian striker repeatedly caused trouble for Man City's defence.

The second half was not much different from the first. Man City attacked more diversely, combining long-range shots and wing attacks, but could not make a difference. Mateo Kovacic's dangerous curler early in the half went just wide of the post, before Jeremy Doku came on late in the half and created a few more problems. The home team's finishing from uncomfortable positions was ineffective. The highlight was Erling Haaland's close-range miss, partly due to the Norwegian striker's nervousness.

Captain Martin Odegaard was right to say that Arsenal should have won. Despite having little possession, the visitors created a number of chances on the counter-attack, notably Gabriel Jesus' failure to get a touch from Bukayo Saka's cross, or Trossard's powerful left-footed shot late in the second half.

Man City's 47-game scoring streak at the Etihad was ended on a day when they lacked ideas against an Arsenal side that played like Jose Mourinho's Chelsea. Arteta's men kept clean sheets in both games against Man City this season, earning four points. They are only the fourth team in history to keep a Guardiola side scoreless in both home and away league games.

Coach Arteta said this was a big step forward for Arsenal, while William Saliba was not satisfied with one point. The Gunners' centre-back has reason to say so, because Liverpool was the team that benefited the most from Man City's draw with Arsenal. According toOptaLiverpool's chance of winning the championship is now up to 47%, Man City is 34% and Arsenal is only 19%.

Line-up

Man City:Ortega, Akanji, Dias, Ake (Lewis 25'), Gvardiol, Rodrigo, Kovacic (Grealish 61'), De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden (Doku 61'), Haaland.

Arsenal:Raya, White Gabriel, Saliba, Kiwior (Tomiyasu 66'), Jorginho (Partey 66'), Odegaard, Rice, Saka (Martinelli 78'), Havertz, Jesus (Trossard 72').