– A game of chess – Dagsavisen

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Earlier on Sunday, Liverpool turned to victory and took three points at home against Brighton at Anfield. The red shirts from Merseyside now lead the Premier League by two points to Arsenal. City trail a further point behind.

Sunday’s match between Erling Braut Haaland’s City and Martin Ødegaard’s Arsenal was marked by two teams that wanted to avoid defeat at all costs.

Haaland fought, among other things, an intense duel with Arsenal centre-back Gabriel Magalhães. With a few minutes left to play, the Norwegian wanted a penalty after a duel with the Brazilian. The latter instead directed a few glares at the jærbow.

After the match ended, the discussions between the two fighting roosters continued, before they finally gave each other a hug.

– The two who zeroed each other out the most were Haaland and Gabriel. They continue to do so after battle. That’s how it should be. There should be a temperature in top matches, and then you should be good friends afterwards, said Viaplay expert Pål André Helland after the match.

Seven minutes into the match, the visitors from London launched a fine attack, and at the back post, former City player Gabriel Jesus came close to causing trouble for Stefan Ortega. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, the finish went wide.

– A game of chess

Just before the clock passed a quarter of an hour, the hosts had a great chance after a corner kick, but David Raya averted the opportunity. Two well-organized teams otherwise managed to nullify each other, and it was 0-0 at half-time in Manchester.

– It is a chess game we have witnessed here between two grandmasters in Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta, said Viaplay’s Jan Åge Fjørtoft during the break.

During the first ten minutes after the break, both teams were in front, but neither Mateo Kovacic nor Jesus found the back of the net. Towards the end of the match, City put pressure on Arsenal, but there were no goals in Manchester. Just before the end, Haaland received a blow to the head, but Jærbuen got back on his feet after a few minutes.

Also read: Liverpool turned to victory against Brighton – put pressure on City and Arsenal

Joking Guardiola

The light blues from Manchester have won the league three seasons in a row, and Pep Guardiola’s crew are chasing a historic fourth straight title. No team has done that in the modern Premier League era.

– Experience gives you 3-0 before the match starts, the Spaniard joked in an interview with Sky Sports.

Before this weekend’s series round, only one point separated Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City in the intense gold medal match in the Premier League.

Read also: The number crunchers have analyzed the gold match – this is how the key weekend will affect the title race

New injury in the defensive link

Guardiola had to do without the important defensive duo of John Stones and Kyle Walker in Sunday’s game.

– There are important players. “All coaches want their players available, but unfortunately this is something that happens during a season,” Guardiola said before the match.

During the first half, Dutch Nathan Aké joined the light blues’ injury list.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side had won eight straight league games before Sunday’s game in Manchester. Thus, the red shirts from London were in the driver’s seat in the gold match ahead of this weekend’s round.

– You want to be in this situation, and then we have to go for it, Arteta said in an interview with Sky Sports before kick-off.

Also read: Ajer saved Brentford from United robbery eight minutes into overtime: – Sick game