The Hoodoo
The Hoodoo
A comprehensive history of Arsenal's recent woes against Manchester City
March 2017. Donald Trump was two months into his presidency, Britain triggered article 50, reigning Premier League Champions Leicester City reached a Champions League quarter-final, and goals from Theo Walcott and Shkodran Mustafi earned Arsenal a point against Manchester City at the Emirates.
More than six years on, they are still waiting for their next one against the same opponent, whom they lead by five points going into Wednesday night's top of the table clash at the Etihad. If Arsenal's losing run against City extends to twelve games, their title hopes will surely be over.
Ahead of Arsenal’s biggest game in nearly two decades, I looked back on the eleven consecutive defeats that Arsenal have suffered to Pep Guardiola's side – their worst ever run against a single opponent.
November 2017: Manchester City 3-1 Arsenal
"I'm so, so pleased because we beat Arsenal, in the last nine times we played against Arsenal we won just once, today was the second one".
These were Pep Guardiola's words following a 3-1 victory for City against Arsenal in the autumn of 2017. It is easy to forget that Arsenal had been something of a bogey team for City going into that game, though this was the second consecutive season in which Arsenal had been defeated at the Etihad. Just like the 2-1 defeat that the gunners suffered in the previous December, in which both City goals appeared to be offside, City's win was not without its controversy – something that unsurprisingly wasn't lost on Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman, then in his final season as Arsenal manager, criticised the decision to award City a penalty for their second goal "we know that he (Sterling) dives well" and also lambasted the officials for allowing City's third goal to stand. David Silva was in an offside position as he cut the ball back for Gabriel Jesus to tap in. "It's the second time in two years now, we conceded two offside goals here last year and we concede an offside goal here again".
Arsenal did show some positive signs in the game, starting brightly, before falling behind thanks to a rasping drive from Kevin De Bruyne beyond the fingertips of Petr Cech. After Aguero's penalty made it 2-0, Wenger's side fought back thanks to a well taken goal from Alex Lacazette, who was named on the bench that day. Moments earlier, Ederson had almost spilled an Alex Iwobi effort from distance. Arsenal were cranking up the pressure ahead of City's third, which was part of the reason as to why Wenger felt so aggrieved.
Ultimately, Arsenal tried to go toe-to-toe with City in this game, pressing them high in the early stages. Guardiola highlighted after the game that this was something that City struggled with. Aaron Ramsey's high energy performance was notable on the day, on the stroke of halftime, he forced Ederson into a save after a trademark late run into the box. This was City's 15th in a row in all competitions, they would of course, go on to win the league with 100 points that season.
March 2018: Arsenal 0-3 Manchester City
Of all eleven defeats suffered at the hands of City in the last six years, this was perhaps the most soul crushing of them all (though it's a crowded field). It was the surely the nadir of Wenger's final season at the club. If there was any hope that Arsenal's longest serving manager would see out the remainder of his contract, which was due to expire at the end of the 18/19 season, two comprehensive defeats against the same formidable opponent in the space of a week certainly put an end to those.
City returned to North London just days after inflicting a chastening defeat on Arsenal, winning 3-0 in the Carabao Cup final. That signalled the beginning of the end for Wenger, but the Frenchman saw playing City for the second time in a week as an opportunity to right some wrongs. "I see it personally as a positive (that Arsenal faced City again) because we want to respond as quickly as possible". Arsenal did not respond. Apathy towards the club combined with awful weather conditions on a freezing cold and snowy night in which the pitch markings had to be painted blue meant that only 35,000 or so even bothered to turn up at the Emirates on the night.
Those that did at least witnessed arguably the greatest Premier League side of all time playing at their brilliant best. City were 3-0 up with barely half an hour gone, Leroy Sane, who delivered a performance for the ages that night, finished a 19 pass move for the third goal – one of the most impressive team goals the league has ever seen. To add insult to injury, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had a second half penalty saved by Ederson. That was the first of five spot kicks that the then record Arsenal signing failed to convert during his time at the club. Another curious quirk from that night - Arsenal made zero substitutions for the first time since 2013 (via Orbinho).
The game did at least provide us with all time classic quote from Wenger: "You go up by the stairs and come down by the lift. That's what confidence is".
August 2018: Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City
While March 2018's meeting with City was the beginning of the end for one Arsenal manager, City's second visit to the Emirates that year marked the first game of the Unai Emery era. Writing about how Emery might approach the game tactically in the pre-match programme, Micheal Cox wrote: "Arsenal might prove more reactive under Emery, and today's game should be a fine introduction to the new gunners coach".
From an Arsenal perspective, this game is best remembered for a near calamity from Petr Cech who in trying to play out from the back, almost scored one of the most comical own goals of all team. Arsenal's discomfort when playing out proved to be more than a simple teething issue under Emery's tenure, as this was something they never got to grips with under the former Sevilla coach. Emery wasn't happy with his side's use of the ball in the first half. "We didn't play like we wanted. We spoke at half-time about taking more responsibility for the second half, to do a little more."
Arsenal did have some joy off the ball, putting in a high energy displaying with an emphasis on pressing – a fresh faced Matteo Guendouzi caught the eye on his debut, but this wasn’t enough to stop a slick City side from claiming a winning start to their successful title defence thanks to goals either side of half time from Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva.
February 2019: Manchester City 3-1 Arsenal
Emery was often labelled a pragmatic and cautious manager at Arsenal and this game exemplified that approach. Arsenal have often tried their best to play their own game against City, but this was one such game in which they were happy to cede territory and hope for the best on the counter while also maximising set pieces. They were somewhat successful in the latter part of this plan – Laurent Koscielny's headed equaliser on eleven minutes was reminiscent of the type of goal scored by George Graham's teams of the late eighties and early nineties, the French centre back successfully got on the end of a Nacho Monreal flick-on from a Lucas Torriera corner. This remains Arsenal's last goal at the Etihad to date, and was about as good as it good from an offensive perspective that afternoon.
Arsenal ostensibly lined up in a 5-3-2 formation though City, who broke the deadlock after 30 seconds, were successful in pinning Arsenal back to such an extent that it became something of a 6-2-2. Alex Iwobi effectively played as a wingback in front of Stephan Lichtsteiner on the right hand side, while Lucas Torriera and Matteo Guendouzi were tasked with covering vast amounts of ground in the centre of the park.
City were able to exploit Arsenal's extremely narrow shape, constantly finding space down the flanks or in between wing back and centre back. All three of their goals were trademark City, cut-backs from out wide – either assisted or pre-assisted by Sterling and finished by Aguero, who's hattrick marked the last of his 11 career goals for City against Arsenal.
December 2019: Arsenal 0-3 Manchester City
As City won 3-0 at the Emirates for the second time in three seasons, one of the people who found the result and Arsenal performance particularly troubling was sat in the City dugout. "Last week I was here with Manchester City and I was little bit down after the game when I felt what was going on", said Mikel Arteta during his unveiling press conference as Arsenal manager.
In the game in question, Kevin De Bruyne was at his imperious best, scoring twice as City battered a reeling Arsenal side under the caretaker stewardship of Freddie Ljungberg who were fortunate to only be 3-0 down at the break. The low ebb that Arsenal found themselves at was emphasised by the fact that Guardiola wasn't even impressed by his team's performance on the night: "We made an incredible result but the way we played last week against United was better in terms of many, many things."
This defeat left Arsenal just eight points above the relegation zone. Challenging for titles again was unthinkable at the time, but many of the architects of their revival were present at Emirates Stadium that evening. Eighteen year-old Gabriel Martinelli started the game, while fellow teenagers Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe caught the eye off the bench. Arteta surveyed the club he would soon join from the City bench, while Gabriel Jesus harried the Arsenal defence and Olexsandr Zinchenko made a late cameo for City. How times change.
June 2020: Manchester City 3-0 Arsenal
Ahead of Arteta's first showdown with his great mentor Guardiola, Arsenal found themselves ensconced in mid-table, while City's league campaign was petering out as Liverpool ran away with the league title.
In spite of that, this particular game at the Etihad became the most anticipated sporting event of the year. The game was originally pencilled in for February before being rearranged for early March as a result of City reached in the Carabao Cup final, it was postponed for a second time as Mikel Arteta tested positive for COVID-19, before all professional football in England was suspended for three months. Following one of the worst 0-0 draws you'll ever see, between Aston Villa and Sheffield United earlier that afternoon, this was the second game to be played in post-pandemic Britain.
Arsenal made a bright start to the game with Saka, starting on the right wing for Arsenal for the first time, causing problems, while Joe Willock and Guendouzi provided energy in midfield. Arsenal were left to rue their luck as Granit Xhaka and Pablo Mari were both forced off with early injuries. The latter was replaced by David Luiz, who endured a nightmarish cameo. The curly-haired Brazilian was somewhat under-appreciated as useful stopgap signing during a transitional period for the club, but he was at his calamitous worst on the opening night of project restart – miscuing a clearance to allow Sterling to open the scoring for City on the stroke of halftime, before giving away penalty and receiving what was his third straight red card of the season after bringing down Riyad Mahrez in the area. De Bruyne duly dispatched the spot kick before Phil Foden added some gloss to the scoreline late on.
This was Arsenal's first taste of covid-football and a sign of things to come as Arsenal struggled in a this new sterilised environment. "It's so different, there's no atmosphere, no energy, and you have to find it… it's what we are facing, we have to adapt" said Arteta after the game.
October 2020: Manchester 1-0 Arsenal
Arsenal were in a confident mood when they travelled to the Etihad for the second time in 2020. Not only had they won three of their first four games of the season, leaving them five points above City in the early Premier League table, but they had finally gotten the better of Pep Guardiola's side in their most recent meeting. Winning 2-0 in a Wembley semi-final en-route to winning the FA Cup. Arsenal's win that day was based largely on defensive organisation, but a passing move from the back for Pierre-Emerick Aubamenyang's opener was a sign of what Arteta wanted to build towards, that is – beating City at their own game.
Arsenal made a good fist of doing just that in what was surely their best display at the Etihad in recent years. Arteta sprung some surprises in his lineup, naming Willian as a false nine, while Bukayo Saka stole the show with a man of the match performance on the left side of central midfield. Even at just 19, his immense talent was obvious for all to see. Though the game started in the way that many had come to expect – City were in control before Sterling put them ahead on 28 minutes, it was Arsenal who ended the first half much the stronger, with Saka twice being denied by Ederson, who also saved when one-on-one with Aubameyang. Just before the break, Arsenal were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty for a Walker high boot on Gabriel.
After the game, an enthused Arteta said: "We controlled the game really well…I've seen a lot of teams come here in four years, to do what we've done tonight is really difficult".
February 2021: Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City
With Arsenal sat tenth in the Premier League going into this game, their focus was on the Europa League, with this match sandwiched between the two legs of their round of 16 tie with Benfica.
City came out of the traps flying, creating 1.08 xG (data via infogol) in the first eight minutes. They were ahead after two as Raheem Sterling outjumped Rob Holding (who was otherwise impressive on the day, leading Arsenal in terms of defensive actions made) to score his third goal in as many games against the gunners. Arsenal came on strong towards the end of the first half, though they struggled to convert a period of dominance into one where they created clear cut chances.
Pep was full of praise for Arteta's Arsenal: "In the last few minutes of the first half they were much better than us, we could not press, we could not control the contact with Ødegaard and Saka… it's so, so difficult to play against Arsenal and Mikel". In the second half, both sides seemed happy enough with the 1-0 scoreline. Arsenal had lost to City again, but keeping the margin of defeat down to a goal in both in both games in 20/21 at least provided some encouragement that the gap was closing.
August 2021: Manchester City 5-0 Arsenal
A trip to the Etihad in August 2021 marked the end of a daunting looking trio of games to start the season, when Arsenal lost the first two of those games, people feared the worst ahead of their trip to Manchester. It is easy to forget that it was just last season that Arsenal fielded a goalkeeper and back five of: Leno; Cedric, Chambers, Holding, Kolasinac and Tierney. Four of those six players have since left the club while both of the survivors warm the bench when everyone else is fit – though Holding will likely start on Wednesday.
Arsenal found themselves 2-0 down after 12 minutes and were reduced to ten men just past the hour when Granit Xhaka was sent off. Some of the Arsenal fans that made the trip for the Saturday lunchtime kickoff left their seats before the break, by which time it was 3-0, and did not return for the second half. By adding a fourth and fifth in the second half, Arsenal, who were yet to score a goal that season, saw their goal difference drop to minus nine as they fell to the foot of the table.
Once again, Pep Guardiola was effusive in his praise of Arteta at time where it felt like his former assistant's head was on the chopping block with regard to the Arsenal managerial position: "The people expect immediately good things.. I know completely his talent… I'm sure that the moment everything will be back he will do a job because he's an excellent manager."
January 2022: Arsenal 1-2 Manchester City
There was a lot of noise following the 5-0 drubbing at the Etihad, but those who understood the club knew that lineup fielded on that day was not a fair reflection of the type of Arsenal team that Arteta was trying to build. Amazingly, just four players (Tierney, Xhaka, Ødegaard and Saka) survived from the Etihad debacle to be named in the starting XI for the return fixture. This was not lost on Guardiola, who was the first to point this out after that game: "Mikel played today without Ben White and Thomas Partey, many, many important players who they've invested money in are injured, so without that it is difficult."
Guardiola's comments were not just empty words. With their best XI available to them, Arsenal blew City away for the first sixty minutes, producing what was comfortably their best performance against Guardiola's side. Arteta was missing from the dugout that day after once again testing positive for COVID ahead of a game against City, but in the weeks preceding this game he had finally found a settled XI who were fully in tune with one another and able to play the positional football that Arteta had aspired to develop.
Arsenal deserved their opener from Bukayo Saka on the half hour mark, before Martinelli at his relentless best was denied by Ederson after a gravity defying run. After scoring a league goal against City for the first time in almost three years and not trailing them at half time for the first time since 2016, it looked like Arsenal were finally set to end their hideous run of form against the champions. Enter Stuart Atwell.
In the first half, Ødegaard had been denied a strong penalty shout. It seemed as though the Norwegian had be felled in the area by City 'keeper Ederson, but after a VAR check, nothing was given, so in the second half, when Atwell waved away a penalty shout from Bernardo Silva following a shirt pull from Xhaka, everyone inside Emirates Stadium was expecting VAR to say no penalty. Instead, the Australian VAR official on the day, Jarred Gillet recommended a spot kick, which Mahrez duly dispatched. What followed was a manic two minutes. First, Nathan Ake prevented what would have been a bizarre own goal by Americ Laporte who miscued a header back towards Ederson. The dutch defender cleared the ball off the line but only into the path of Martinelli, who blazed wide with the net gaping. Moments later, Gabriel – still reeling from the penalty decision, received a second yellow card for grappling Jesus to the ground, and Arsenal once again found themselves facing City with ten men.
To rub salt into the wounds, the gunners defended heroically until the third minute of injury time, when Rodri poked home a late winner inside the box. This was not Arsenal's usual defeat to City, but it was a defeat nonetheless.
February 2023: Arsenal 1-3 Manchester City
In all previous ten defeats to City, going up against such illustrious opponents was seen something of a free hit for Arsenal. This was not the case for their most recent meeting; just as it won't be the case when the sides face eachother on Wednesday night. When Arsenal met City at the Emirates in February, it was the first of two top of the table clashes.
In that game at the Emirates, as well as the return at the Etihad, City will not be facing a full strength Arsenal. William Saliba has been ruled out of the game in Manchester, while Granit Xhaka is a doubt – Gabriel Jesus will at least get to face his former club this time, he missed the game in February as it fell during a period where he was sidelined for three months following an injury sustained during the world cup. Another injury meant that Jorginho had to deputise when the sides met back in February, being thrust in at the base of midfield for his full debut for the club.
Arteta made the bold decision to tinker further with his team by rotating in the more defensive minded Takehiro Tomiyasu for Ben White. It backfired. The Japanese international fatally underhit a backpass for Aaron Ramsdale, allowing De Bruyne to ghost in and lift the ball ahead of the goalkeeper to put City ahead. Arsenal overwise had the better of the first half and were level after a foul in the box by Ederson was this time penalised and Saka converted from the spot.
Arsenal were unable to punish City to the full extent as Eddie Nketiah missed a couple of big chances. With less than twenty minutes to go, an effort from Jack Grealish took a cruel deflection off the unfortunate Tomiyasu and past the despairing Ramsdale, before Arsenal were hit by the inevitable Haaland sucker-punch to make it 3-1.
April 2023 Manchester City ?-? Arsenal
Friday's exhilarating but ultimately costly draw with Southampton, off the back of letting two goal leads slip away to both Liverpool and West Ham, means that Arsenal know they must win at the Etihad on Wednesday night to keep their title hopes in their own hands going into the final five games of the season. They have shown in recent games against City that they can go toe-to-toe with them, even if they haven't had the results to show for it.
If Arsenal want to end their lengthy hoodoo, there is no time like the present to do it.