Arsenal and Manchester City: How a rivalry descended into 'war'

“You want a war? Now we war.”

Well, that escalated quickly. After an incendiary encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, the rivalry between Manchester City and Arsenal has burst into flames.

Across the past six days, the so-called ‘dark arts’ have been applied on and off the pitch. This is a textured and multi-layered conflict; one that extends from the grass all the way up to the boardroom and pits two former colleagues against each other in City manager Pep Guardiola and Arsenal counterpart Mikel Arteta.

The Athletic has spoken to multiple people on both sides to build a complete picture of what has happened and reflect the situation as accurately as possible. These sources have asked to remain anonymous for professional reasons.

What happened in Sunday’s 2-2 draw to cause so much controversy?

When it came to acrimony, the game started as it went on. Within four seconds, Kai Havertz of Arsenal and City’s Rodri had collided off the ball. The Spaniard appeared to step across the German, who declined to adjust his path.

Two restarts were at the heart of the on-field hostility. City were furious that Thomas Partey took a free kick early while Kyle Walker was out of position having moved infield to talk to the referee in the build-up to Arsenal’s equaliser.

The visitors were equally aggrieved that Leandro Trossard was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away 0.84 seconds after the whistle, and that dismissal led to an attritional second half — one in which City were decidedly unimpressed by what they deemed to be gamesmanship from Arsenal.

City accused Arsenal’s players of feigning injury. Teenage substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly was shown a yellow card before he came on for appearing to advise goalkeeper David Raya to go down to force a break in play. Arsenal contend the injuries they suffered were legitimate — as evidenced by the absence of Raya and Jurrien Timber from the midweek Carabao Cup tie against Bolton Wanderers, the former forcing Arteta to field 16-year-old Jack Porter in goal.

John Stones’ late equaliser for City provoked more unedifying scenes. Rodri returned to the touchline to celebrate raucously in front of the Arsenal bench. At full time, City striker Erling Haaland was captured on camera telling Arteta to “stay humble”. The shouting match continued into the tunnel, with security personnel ensuring things did not boil over.

And things did not stop there.

What are both sides saying about Arsenal’s tactics?

“They’ve done it for a few years and we know to expect that,” Stones told Sky Sports, the game’s UK broadcaster. “You can call it clever or dirty — whichever way you want to put it.

“(City’s main title rivals for several seasons before Arsenal assumed that role two years ago) Liverpool always faces us trying to win the game,” argued City midfielder Bernardo Silva, who was said to be fuming in the dressing room after the game. “From this perspective, the games against Arsenal haven’t been like the ones we had, and have, against Liverpool.”

Those views were also broadly shared among City players and staff, with many expressing surprise and disappointment at the extent of Arteta’s pragmatism.

After the past two games between these two teams, there is a feeling that Guardiola’s former City assistant has moved far away from the idea of implementing a clear football philosophy. To them, Arteta’s emphasis on defence and pragmatic measures is more reminiscent of ex-Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho than Guardiola.

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Privately, Arsenal’s players scoffed at that criticism. They felt they were simply doing what was necessary to get a result — and that the approach was largely vindicated by them keeping City at bay until deep into second-half stoppage time, despite being a man down for more than 57 minutes.

Speaking ahead of that midweek cup tie against Bolton, Arteta responded to City’s criticism of Arsenal’s approach by saying, “I’ve been there before. I was there for four years. I have all the information, so I know, believe me.”

The inference appeared to be an element of hypocrisy on City’s part — and it was a remark which upset the Etihad hierarchy.

Arteta, though, spoke from a place of authority: in the 2018 documentary series All Or Nothing: Manchester City, he is seen urging their players to make tactical fouls to snuff out counter-attacks.

Stones’ late equaliser rescued a point for City against Arsenal (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

What do we know about the behaviour of club officials at the end of the game?

This is a multi-layered rivalry. While it seems there is animosity between the two sets of players, Arsenal and City are also effectively in an ideological battle over the Premier League’s governing rules.

Arsenal are supportive of the Premier League’s spending limitations, while City are facing allegations of 115 breaches of those rules. This friction is about far more than just the events in one football match.

An intriguing subplot this week has been the supposed conduct on Sunday of Arsenal vice-chair Tim Lewis. In the aftermath of the game, a report in UK newspaper The Sun has alleged, Lewis “stormed out” of the directors’ box at the Etihad and refused a handshake with City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak. Shortly afterwards, video footage emerged of Lewis hastily leaving his seat following City’s late equaliser.

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, centre, and City chief executive Ferran Soriano, right, before the Arsenal match (Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)

Arsenal contend that Lewis spent considerable time in the presence of City officials, including Khaldoon, before the game, and that when City equalised, he chose to head down to the away dressing room to console and support Arsenal’s players and manager.

What is the history between these two clubs?

The current tension feels like it has been building for some time.

City still have some grievances over the manner of Arteta’s departure from their coaching staff to take the Arsenal job midway through the 2019-20 season, with the London club’s executive team having been pictured outside his house before they had been granted permission to discuss terms with their prospective manager. These issues were seemingly settled when Arteta’s appointment was made official but it has not taken much for those old wounds to reopen.

Arteta is not the only Arsenal staff member with history in Manchester, either. Last October, after Arsenal’s 1-0 win at the Emirates, full-back Walker refused to shake hands with Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, who had also previously worked under Guardiola at City. Jover was hired on Arteta’s recommendation but never settled at City and Guardiola’s players did not warm to him.

It has been dramatically different at Arsenal, partly because Arteta is such a strong proponent of Jover’s methods but also because he has swiftly delivered outstanding results. He will have been particularly delighted that Arsenal scored their go-ahead goal at the Etihad on Sunday via a set piece.

Arteta and Jover in August 2022 (Robin Jones/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)

Also, Rodri’s comments at the end of last season certainly caught the attention of the Arsenal squad. Broadcaster Optus Sport asked the Spain international the secret of City’s title success. “To be honest, I think it’s in here,” said Rodri, pointing to his head. “It’s the mentality.

“Arsenal, also they deserve (to win the league). They did an unbelievable season but I think the difference was in here (pointing to his head again).

“When they came here (in the April, with 10 games to go), they faced us at the Etihad, I saw them and said, ‘Ah, these guys. They don’t want to beat us. They just want a draw’.”

Haaland also came into the match with a point to prove, having failed to score in three games up against Arsenal centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel last season. Although Haaland scored an impressive opening goal early on, some of his conduct during Sunday’s game and after the whistle left Arsenal with a sour taste in the mouth.

What happened at the managers’ press conferences?

On Friday afternoon, Arteta faced the media in his pre-match press conference for their weekend meeting with Leicester City, shortly before Guardiola’s own session with the press in Manchester ahead of City’s trip to Newcastle United.

When asked whether the increased intensity of the rivalry between the two teams would affect his relationship with his friend in the opposing dugout, Arteta was emphatic. “I love him, I respect him, I admire him, and I admire his team and everything that he does,” he said of Guardiola.

“This is sport. One thing is our profession, another is our personal relationship. If our relationship was damaged because one draws and the other one wins, (then because of) the amount of times that they’ve beaten us, I would not talk to him any more. So that’s not our relationship, especially the relationship that I consider both of us have. Sport will never get in my way (of) a personal relationship. That’s for sure.”

Arteta during an Arsenal press conference this week (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

He also defended the pragmatic approach he took once Arsenal were down to 10 men against City and brushed off the criticism.

“Honestly, it’s part of what we do,” he said. “I don’t want to be on YouTube because we’ve been so silly. I want to be on YouTube because we’ve done the right thing in May (when the title is likely to be decided) and for the right reasons, and lifting what we want to lift and achieve, so in order to do that, we have to be very efficient in what we do.

“So I didn’t predict to play with 10 men, and we had to do that, and we have to accept that. And sometimes, the opponent is better at doing something in the game — that doesn’t mean they are playing better, they are being better at doing a specific thing inside the game. We are interested in doing all the things that can help us to win the game.”

Later, Guardiola was asked specifically about Arteta’s comments about having “been there before” from earlier in the week. Here is a transcript of that exchange for clarity…

Journalist: Hi, Pep. So Arteta said the other day he was here for four years. He has information about how, basically, Manchester City maybe do the same kind of fouls and time-wasting and everything that Arsenal did against your team. So what do you think about that? Because he’s your friend, he was your assistant, it seems a little bit of a betrayal of trust or information.

Guardiola: Did he say that?

Journalist: Yeah.

Guardiola: What did he say specifically?

Journalist: “I was there for four years.”

Guardiola: Yeah, he’s right. And?

Journalist: It was to a question about his tactics and time-wasting and so on. The implication was, “Yeah, I’ve been there four years. I know what goes on there.”

Guardiola: Next time, Mikel has to be more clear.

Journalist: You’re not aware of him saying that at all?

Guardiola: No. Next time he has to be more clear exactly what does it mean. He said he was here four years and we know exactly what happened here, because it can be related in all the process now with 115 charges — maybe it’s about that. He knows information about that maybe, or maybe he had something like… I don’t know, because really, next time I have to see more clearly exactly what happened.

Journalist: I think he said it this way on purpose. I think he left it hanging. So, to cause people to think, ‘Oh, what does he mean?’.

Guardiola: OK, next time, like a good relation I have with him, hopefully this question has been asked. He can answer exactly what does it mean when he said he was here and ‘I know what’s happening here’, and instead of being in the clouds there (points above him), to be more precise.

Journalist: Will you ask him?

Guardiola: No, no, no, because we spoke by text after the game and that’s all.

Guardiola challenged Arteta to expand on his comments (James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)

Guardiola seemed to be genuinely unaware of what Arteta had said, even though the Arsenal manager’s remarks had displeased others at City.

Amid that confusion, Arteta’s point about City’s own pragmatism was conflated with insinuations about the 115 charges they face — an unfortunate twist that will do nothing to ease relations between the two clubs. If City are found to have been in breach of the rules, Arsenal could argue they have been unjustly beaten to the past two Premier League titles, after all.

Guardiola also made mention of post-match comments by Arsenal’s Gabriel. In the celebrations after City’s late equaliser, Haaland had thrown the ball against the back of the Brazilian international’s head.

“It’s normal,” said Gabriel. “But anyway, congratulations to the team for the draw. As I said, battle, war, provocation is normal in football and it is part of the game. It’s over now. Now we are waiting for them at our ground (the return fixture on the first weekend in February).”

“I would say that sometimes the emotions are there,” Guardiola concurred on Friday. “Gabriel said it perfectly after the match, ‘This is a war, we have to provoke the opponent, to push them’ and at the end, what can you do?

“We have to be, ‘OK, you provoke me? OK, I’m there. You want a war? Now we war’. So, what do I have to do? After, the emotions are the emotions. I’m pretty sure he (Haaland) is not proud but listen — the type of challenge that Arsenal challenge us, I understand it.”

He was not aggressive in his tone, merely matter of fact. The choice of words from both Gabriel and Guardiola, however, feels significant.

It is not only Gabriel who will be looking forward to that rematch in four months’ time.

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(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Meech Robinson)