After a week of late summer sunshine, the rain came to Manchester and so did the two best teams in the country. This electrifying, visceral and deeply-felt football match appeared to indicate the real start of the Premier League season.
On top of that, this also felt like the day a rivalry grew real. This felt like an escalation, a corner turned. There will, we feel, be no turning back after this.
They have been the two most well-equipped teams in the country for a while, Manchester City and Arsenal. Two seasons ago, the gap between them at the top was five points in City’s favour.
Last May it was only two. Still, though, the two sets of players seemed to be a little unsure of each other. There was a polite distance, a cautious and rather uncertain respect. At times it has felt a little like two top tennis players sitting in opposite corners of a locker room. The odd look up, a slight glance.
This was not that, though. This was different. This was close combat, nose to nose, physical and occasionally underhand. It was nasty at times and the outcome – a desperately late equaliser for City by substitute John Stones – will have been felt more keenly by both sets of players than anything they have shared for many years, if indeed at all in the Premier League era.
Sunday's clash saw the rivalry between Manchester City and Arsenal reach another level
Tempers flared as both sets of players clashed after Man City equalised late on in the game
The game was filled with goals and plenty of controversy, with Leandro Trossard being sent off
And this is the way it goes sometimes. Sometimes a rivalry needs a spark to really ignite it.
With Manchester United and Arsenal two decades ago it only needed a word from the two managers. City’s beef with Liverpool grew slowly, fanned towards inferno by incidents both on the football field and off.
Here, at an increasingly agitated Etihad Stadium, a game that began with a player being barged to the floor in the first three seconds ended in exactly the same fashion more than 97 minutes later.
A game book ended by ugliness but one that had sandwiched in between some fabulous goals, some brilliant goalkeeping and some resolute and superbly organised defending that stood for so long between a City comeback and the victory that perhaps felt inevitable once Leandro Trossard was shown a red card for a second booking just before half-time.
Arsenal present a different challenge to Pep Guardiola’s City than Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool did. Liverpool were all about energy and speed and emotional power. Arsenal are more complex and it is a burgeoning mental toughness and physicality that currently presents the bones of their threat to City. That is not to undersell the technical and tactical charm of Mikel Arteta’s players. Not at all. Arsenal have some marvellous footballers who are, crucially, getting better.
Man City's players were left incensed at referee Michael Oliver, claiming that he had not allowed Kyle Walker to get back into position before Arsenal scored
The tension between the two teams was clear to see during an electrifying affair while members of the backroom staff also were animated on the touchline
But they are also one of the most physically imposing teams in the Premier League and if Guardiola were asked to recall the last time he played a side as adept at attacking set pieces as Arsenal then he surely would be hard pressed to remember.
After this game, he was asked by Mail Sport if Arsenal’s minutely orchestrated blocking tactics at offensive corners were legal and refused to get involved. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. What means, of course, is that he knows damn well.
What is certain is that Arsenal play right on the edge of legality where all that is concerned. Here, City couldn’t cope. In the 38th minute, Arsenal’s giant Brazilian defender Gabriel headed over. Four minutes later, he arrived like missile after getting rid of Kyle Walker to head in from the side position.
The game was simmering at this point. It had been from the moment Rodri stepped in the way of Kai Havertz from the kick off and was bundled to the ground. He took a while to get up and as the game weaved its way along a path littered with goals, chances, fouls, arguments and talking points, there was plenty of that.
In the second half – as Arsenal’s ten men tried to keep City’s eleven at bay – much of it came from Arsenal
There are all kinds of words for it these days but ultimately it’s called time wasting and – along with their own efforts – it almost got Arteta’s team to where they wanted to be
Perhaps there was some justice in Arsenal being downed by John Stones (left) in the added time that had been largely caused by their own prevaricating
In the second half – as Arsenal’s ten men tried to keep City’s eleven at bay – much of it came from Arsenal. There are all kinds of words for it these days but ultimately it’s called time wasting and – along with their own efforts – it almost got Arteta’s team to where they wanted to be.
Some may say there was some justice in Arsenal being downed in the added time that had been added on to the added time that had been largely caused by their own prevaricating. Arteta was asked about that afterwards but by then had long since lapsed into no comment mode to such a degree it was tempting to remind him he was not under arrest.
This was indeed one of those afternoons that ended with seemingly everybody carrying some kind of beef with the officials. The general atmosphere of irritation could perhaps best be summed up by the booking of Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly, cautioned for something he was doing while warming up as a substitute. This meant the 17-year-old found himself booked before he had even made his Premier League debut. That may be a first.
Lewis-Skelly was bizarrely shown his first Premier League yellow card before coming on
Lewis-Skelly confronted City star Erling Haaland (second right), who responded dismissively
Arteta and Guardiola may act as the fire blanket for this match-up, but the rivalry is alive and real for now
Arsenal, despite their disappointment, should be delighted with this result. It’s another sign of progress. After falling behind early they were comfortably the better team by the time they led.
They almost did it, too, They almost held back the ocean. And when Erling Haaland celebrated the equaliser by throwing the ball at Gabriel’s head, they had their confirmation that after years of trying they had finally made their way under City’s skin.
This may never get to City-Liverpool levels or those of United-Arsenal. The two managers used to work together at City, after all. They are friends. So Guardiola and Arteta may ultimately act as the fire blanket. But this rivalry is lit for real now and English football feels the better for it.