Thought Stuart Atwell was mostly fine today for Arsenal-Manchester City. I'm beyond tired of all the grabbing from behind in football, though. Lately, it seems to be Arsenal players repeatedly prevented from breaking away / being hauled to ground and that's particularly annoying.

mikel arteta views mikel merino as an attacking player and when people think and talk about attacking players, they mean creative ones. merino is not that. he's probably not an attacking player in the other sense, either.

it's like the anfield stats. people expect arsenal to waltz into anfield and win stylishly and then act horrified when they don't. they'll act like arsenal should be blowing manchester city away when the reality is liverpool and manchester city are really hard to beat! so is arsenal!

whats worse than Dark Arts FC? asking for manchester city.

would like for mikel arteta to realize that he has declan rice to cover the entire pitch and erase mistakes as well as martin zubimendi, who reads the game as well as anybody in the world, and not play mikel merino along with them. those two can handle it. get some creativity (eze) on the field.

liverpool have played... home to bournemouth away at a poor, isak-less newcastle side (as they were tapping up the player and should have drawn) home to arsenal (a lucky win) away to burnley (1-0, late goal) home to everton c'mon, pump the brakes

only one team tried to win the match.

Really pathetic for a club with Manchester City's resources and talent to park the bus and play to preserve a 1-0 like some kind of relegation side.

fulltime. 1-1. not really sure what to make of that other than mikel arteta needs to play with more creativity and flair earlier.

and now we won't have an end to this match because city have decided to throw themselves to the ground at every opportunity and the referee is giving every single one of them as a foul.

brother, matheus nunes is grabbing bukayo saka. and he has whistled saka for the foul.

lol @ that goalkeeping from donnarumma comically poor to be caught there

Manchester City absolutely deserve that. They deserve NO points from today's match and they're probably getting one. Cowardly, anti-football crap all match.

GABRIEL MARTINELLI! WHAT A FUCKING FINISH!

Really would like for Mikel Arteta to realize that he needs more creativity on the pitch at all times. No reason for Arsenal to have wasted 45 minutes of the match without much threat at all.

Why has O'Reilly been allowed to walk all the way across the field?

Ethan Nwaneri replaces Leandro Trossard.

That's just blatant and ridiculous from Gonzalez. How has he not been booked for that shirt grab?

How is that not a card for pulling Bukayo Saka back?

And that's why the time-wasting by the keeper doesn't matter. Donnarumma is just waved to play the ball as he bleeds seconds off the clock.

The conviction that they had about Trossard going early when there was a City defender basically level at the top of the box...

Gabriel Martinelli replaces Jurrien Timber.

Oh look, Donnarumma is finally booked for time-wasting. A completely meaningless gesture.

If that's not a foul on Timber, it surely has to be a booking for Doku, yeah?

Grabbing a player and slinging them to the ground should ALWAYS be a yellow card.

Am I imagining things or did Bernardo Silva control that ball on the near side with his hand?

Also, this is why cards for time-wasting matter! O'Reilly should have been on one from the first half for taking so long on every single throw-in. He can't commit that foul if he's been properly booked.

How many times are you allowed to grab / foul Bukayo Saka from behind to stop him breaking away without showing a card?

Not really sure how Arsenal haven't score on that sequence.

Could have booked Bukyao Saka for attempting to stop that counter. Really not a fan of not showing the card if the attack continues.

There was no advantage! The ball went backwards! The only advantage on the play was Manchester City escaping a nailed-on yellow card!

So that advantage call to Arsenal will probably save Rodri from a yellow card that he 100% should have been shown for that foul on Eze!

O'Reilly lifts his back foot on every throw-in.

Zubimendi just over the bar. Very close for Arsenal.

Jurrien Timber booked. Absolutely hate that kind of refereeing. It's a fine yellow to give, but Phil Foden gets to escape a yellow card in the first half because Declan Rice didn't go to ground? Ridiculous.

Mikel Merino and Noni Madueke make way for Ebere Eze and Bukayo Saka at halftime.

Bernardo did the kind of thing that in the past we've said "well, the Arsenal player shouldn't give the referee the option to show the second yellow" said most often after an Arsenal player has been shown that second yellow. Bernardo is still on the pitch, though.

The referee was totally fine and justified to tell both players to stop with the shenanigans. What Trossard did was silly, no doubt. But let's not pretend like Bernardo didn't do something incredibly stupid for a player on a yellow card.

yep. bernardo was time-wasting. he saw a chance to waste time and took it, along with the happy benefit of hitting an opponent with the ball to try to start something.

Just realized: That ball is into touch for a City throw. Ball off the pitch. Bernardo off the pitch. Why is he picking it up and rolling it ONTO the pitch (and at an opponent) to begin with?

Halftime. 1-0 to Manchester City. Poor defending on City's only attack of the half. Manchester City have been time-wasting since their goal. No booking for it yet.

The referee ALWAYS has a choice.

There is one reason Leandro Trossard hasn't been booked there. It's because he'd have to give Bernadro Silva a second yellow and he doesn't want to do that.

That's now twice that Arsenal have won a goal kick in the midfield directly into a teammate and lost possession.

Big Vik arriving late on that Jurrien Timber cross. Buddy, that's what you're here for. To be in that space!

How long do Manchester City get to delay every single restart without a booking? I remember David Raya being booked in the first half.

Oh wow, that was a PERFECT example of why lowering your head to waist level should be a whistle against you. You saw how the Arsenal player pulled out of the challenge because of the ducked head from the City defender? Yeah, that's not allowed.

Bernardo Silva gets away with a red card challenge on Gabriel. Just no need or place for that. Super late. Just slides through him. Nasty. That's the player he's been his entire career. Filthy, disgusting player.

Take a hike, Phil Foden. Asking for that throw in when everybody with a brain understands it is not possible for that to be your throw.

Ben White / Jurrien Timber would have been shown one already, without a doubt.