Manchester City will be gutted about drawing 1-1 against Arsenal after having managed to keep them at bay before Gabriel Martinelli’s late equaliser.
However, elite sport is defined by the fine margins and despite Pep Guardiola’s pragmatic approach against Arsenal almost working to a tee, the visitors had to share the spoils with the hosts.
Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku, who shone against Arsenal must be gutted that their side could only take home a single point despite their tireless efforts.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was kept busy on the day as well and he would have hoped to keep his third successive clean sheet in a Sky Blues shirt.
Gary Lineker blames Gianluigi Donnarumma for Gabriel Martinelli’s goal during Arsenal vs Man City
Gary Lineker gave his two cents on Martinelli’s 93rd minute leveller for the Gunners against City during the latest episode of The Rest Is Football podcast.
Lineker initially praised Donnarumma’s showing against Arsenal, claiming that he has been a revelation for Manchester City.
However, the retired striker felt that the Italian rushed off his line unnecessarily, allowing the Brazilian to dink the ball over him.
“I thought Donnarumma, who was brilliant in the game and has been since he joined, couple of games that he’s played. But it’s just what you want, when you go through with the goalkeeper, one on one like that, the one thing you want them to do is be in no man’s land.”
“You don’t want them in the six-yard box because there’s no way he could have finished first-time and it would’ve been more difficult. But I think he was anticipating the through ball and then had. It was a little bit like the positioning of Sanchez in the sending off for Chelsea [against Manchester United].”
How Gianluigi Donnarumma reacted after Gabriel Martinelli’s goal
Mikel Arteta lauded Donnarumma’s display against Arsenal but ultimately, the Manchester City goalkeeper may side with Gary Lineker about his poor positioning for Martinelli’s goal.
Perhaps the former Paris Saint-Germain number one was caught in two minds at the time as City decided to play a high line despite spending much of the game camped inside their box.
As a result, Donnarumma may have decided to push on to sweep up any signs of danger but he was caught in no man’s land for the eventual equaliser
Manchester Evening News revealed that the treble-winner looked visibly upset after the goal.
Donnarumma was seen putting his gloves over his face and punching the ground as he realised that Manchester City were minutes away from earning a statement victory.
David Raya praised Donnarumma by naming him as one of the world’s best goalkeepers and while that is true, even elite players can have the odd lapse of judgement.
