Peter Schmeichel has questioned what some Manchester City fans did in the 72nd minute of the Premier League game against Arsenal on Sunday.
City and the Gunners played out a drab 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium, which has handed the advantage in the title race to Liverpool. The Reds beat Brighton earlier in the day to go top.
City really struggled to break Arsenal down.
The two centre-halves Gabriel and William Saliba were both very solid, and Mikel Arteta’s side restricted the hosts to half-chances. Creative players, like Phil Foden, were kept very quiet.
Most of the possession was in front of the Arsenal box, and the Gunners had all their men behind the ball to make life extremely difficult.
A draw was not the worst result, but Arsenal have now provided a potential blueprint for other teams to potentially copy.
There was one slightly intriguing moment in an otherwise very boring game, when Gabriel Jesus was substituted off for Arsenal. This led to some boos, which Peter Schmeichel couldn’t understand…
Peter Schmeichel questions why some Manchester City fans booed Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Jesus started for Arsenal on Sunday on the left wing, having not started in the Premier League since January.
The Brazilian has been working his way back from a knee injury.
He operated to the left of Kai Havertz, and was probably Arsenal’s biggest threat in the game. In the first-half, he had a few fighters of Stefan Ortega‘s goal, but could not provide the clinical finish required.
City fans know all too well that Jesus is not a particularly clinical finisher.
The star, of course, spent four-and-a-half seasons at the Etihad, making 236 appearances for City.
On 72 minutes, Arteta decided to take Jesus off for Arsenal and this led to some City supporters to boo the 26-year-old.
Commentating for BBC Radio 5 Live, former City goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel said (6:02pm): “I don’t get why the Man City crowd are booing Gabriel Jesus, he didn’t ask to leave. It’s just what happens. They should be applauding him. He did a lot here.”
It is worth pointing out though that many City fans did actually applaud Jesus after some initial booing.
Jesus did not deserve boos
Realistically, you are always going to get some people who boo former players, regardless of how they left the club.
It is just the nature of football and so, it was unsurprising that a few people did boo Jesus as he was substituted off at the Etihad Stadium.
But he did not deserve them.
Ultimately, Jesus gave four-and-a-half seasons of great service for City, and a haul of 95 goals and 46 assists in 236 appearances for the club is pretty good.
He had the capacity to frustrate at times, with his lack of a killer finish and his tendency to be offside quite a lot.
But Jesus always worked his socks off in a City shirt, and he did have some big moments for the club, and made important contributions to winning trophies.
He left the club in a professional manner and should not really have had any jeers.
