Manchester City and Arsenal managed to keep observers around the world on the edges of their seats as they played out a cracking 2-2 draw.
The contest at the Etihad Stadium well and truly had everything; goals, a red card, controversial refereeing decisions, brawls and a last-minute strike.
Erling Haaland and Gabriel Jesus’ war of words perhaps summed up how fired up both sets of players were.
Considering the heavyweight clash only emerged five games into the season, it could have been possible that a battle of such magnitude came too early for both sides.
However, that was far from the case on Sunday.
Instead, both the Manchester City and Arsenal players did not need any motivation to get up for such a game.
Manuel Akanji makes title prediction after Man City-Arsenal
Both sets of players were willing to put their bodies on the line in a game that felt like a cup final.
It would be fair to claim that on the balance of play, a draw was the fair result.
Manchester City were the dominant team in the second half but they struggled to create too many chances; but for their perseverance, it was fair that their effort was rewarded with a last-gasp equaliser.
As for Arsenal, the fact that they managed to take home a draw at one of the toughest away stadiums in Europe was impressive as well.
Both teams could perhaps be hungrier than ever to win the Premier League title after the intense affair.
Manuel Akanji took a swipe at Arsenal’s mastery of the dark arts every time they face Manchester City.
Akanji was quoted by Manchester Evening News journalist Joe Bray: “That’s what they’re looking for. Always when we play against them, that’s what they’re looking for: the drama.”
“It worked for them so if they’re happy with the one point. We’re not, we tried to get more but that’s what they’re happy with. At the end of the day, we’re still top of the league. We haven’t lost a game yet. We tried, especially in the second half with one man up but it’s hard with ten players defending in their own box.”
The £15 million man also boldly backed City to win the title.
“I don’t think there are many better than them at it. But in the end, we always won the title and I don’t think it’s going to be different this year.”
“Like I said, it’s still early in the season, I think again, we’re going to win the league again, and we don’t focus too much on Arsenal. Obviously, the focus today was on them because we played against them, but now we don’t play them for half a year, so still focusing ourselves on our games, and then we will see.”
What Akanji said will be the Manchester City mentality now
The way that Manchester City have started the season, there seems to be no drop-off in terms of their desire to defend their crown.
But if there was any sense of complacency creeping into the dressing room, such feelings might be over and done with based on Akanji’s assessment.
For the Swiss international to make such a brave statement five games in reflects how fired up the City players might have been after the game.
There seems to be a growing animosity between both clubs as exemplified by Akanji’s jabs at Arsenal potentially being happy with a point and their tactics to see out a win.
The neutral will be hoping that the return fixture at the Emirates Stadium is a title decider.
After their latest encounter, an equally intense affair could be in store.
