Man City defender Manuel Akanji vows to hit back at Arsenal with another title

Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji has vowed to hit back at Arsenal by beating them to the title again.

The champions needed a last-gasp John Stones equaliser deep into stoppage time to snatch a 2-2 draw against the 10-man Gunners in an absorbing Premier League contest at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

That brought relief for City after a frustrating second period in which the visitors had sat back to protect a 2-1 lead earned before Leandro Trossard was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Arsenal, runners-up for the past two seasons, did their best to disrupt and slow City, not only by playing deep but by time-wasting at every opportunity.

That brought some needle to the surface and intensified a growing rivalry but Akanji is confident his side will ultimately have the final say.

Asked if Arsenal had mastered the game’s ‘dark arts’, the Switzerland international said: “Yes, I don’t think there are many better than them at it, but in the end we always won the title and I don’t think it’s going to be different this year.

“Always when we play against them, that’s what they’re looking for – going hard in the duels, defence, 11 players in their own box and then go on set-pieces and try to score a goal.

“It worked for them so if they’re happy with the one point. We’re not, we tried to get more but that’s what they’re happy with.

“At the end of the day we’re still top of the league. We haven’t lost a game yet.”

Akanji’s thoughts echoed those of team-mates Stones and Bernardo Silva, who also hit out at Arsenal’s tactics immediately after the game.

Silva even aimed a dig at the Londoners by pointing to the lack of trophies in their cabinet compared to another of their chief rivals in Liverpool.

The Portuguese said: “Liverpool have already won a Premier League, Arsenal haven’t. Liverpool have won a Champions League, Arsenal haven’t.

“Liverpool always faced us face-to-face, to try to win the games, so by this perspective the games against Arsenal haven’t been like the ones we have had against Liverpool.”

City had started superbly with Erling Haaland scoring his 100th goal for the club on his 105th appearance after just nine minutes.

Arsenal hit back with a superb equaliser from Riccardo Calafiori on his full debut, although not without controversy with Kyle Walker caught out of position moments after being summoned to speak to the referee.

Gabriel then headed Mikel Arteta’s men in front from a corner but the tone of the game changed when Trossard received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away after committing a foul.

Gunners defender Jurrien Timber told the club’s website, arsenal.com: “It felt like two hours of defending. It was hard but (would have been) all worth it if we’d have won it.

“Even with this draw we can be proud of ourselves. We’re gutted, disappointed, but also proud of the team because we gave everything we could.

“There’s one moment and they score, which is really sad for us, but I think we can look back on a good game from us.”