Mikel Arteta defends Arsenal tactics as Man City accuse Gunners of ‘dark arts’ in fiery Etihad Stadium draw

Mikel Arteta has hit back at accusations of “dark arts” in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City and claimed he would have been “thick” not to learn from previous encounters with the champions.

Arsenal had to play the whole of the second half with 10 men at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday after Leandro Trossard received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away in first-half stoppage time.

John Stones and Bernardo Silva accused the 10-man Gunners of “time-wasting” and “dirty” tactics after a string of their players went down to receive treatment during a stormy second period.

Arsenal’s resistance was eventually broken when Stones scored a dramatic equalising goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time but Arteta insists the issues afflicting his players were genuine.

“I always prefer the facts rather than words, so let’s see who’s available tomorrow and then we can talk about dark arts,” he said ahead of their Carabao Cup tie at home to Bolton on Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, some players won’t be available tomorrow.

“Tomorrow you will find out, as soon as I give the line-up.”

Asked if any of the injuries are serious, Arteta said: “We have to wait on one of them.”

Of the players who went down, Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber and Gabriel Martinelli were substituted, while goalkeeper David Raya, who also received treatment from the club’s physios, was pictured limping as he left the ground with a bandage around his knee.

An injury to Raya would be a particular concern to Arsenal ahead of the meeting with Bolton given Neto, their second-choice goalkeeper, is cup-tied, while third-choice Tommy Setford has a suspected injury, leaving the 16-year-old Jack Porter next in line.

Arteta offered more positive news on Martin Odegaard, saying his captain is “a matter of weeks” away from returning despite fears of a longer lay-off with his ankle injury. But Oleksandr Zinchenko is expected to miss another “few weeks” with his calf problem.

Pressed further on the “dark arts” accusations, Arteta added: “It’s opinions and that’s it.

“Whoever says what they say are not going to retract their words. We will use the facts.”

In what could be interpreted as a reference to Rodri receiving treatment after colliding with Kai Havertz in the first few seconds of the game, Arteta said: “If a player is [feigning] something, he will carry on, he will be involved in the squad and he will play.”

Arteta also claimed City would have used similar tactics, highlighting the brief period between Rodri being withdrawn with his knee injury and Mateo Kovacic coming on to replace him in the first half.

“We had to play the game that we had to play,” Arteta said. “In the first 10 or 15 minutes we couldn’t, then we got much better.

“And then we were thrown into a very different context. Every team does it. They played 30 seconds with 10 men, you look at what they did. It’s normal. We had to do it in a different way.”

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Arteta referenced previous meetings with City in which his side were reduced to 10 men, when they were beaten 5-0 in 2021 after a red card to Granit Xhaka, then lost 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium later that season following a red card to Gabriel Magalhaes.

“We learned from the past as well because unfortunately, we’ve been in that situation with them three times very recently,” he said.

“One was with Granit [Xhaka] after 38 minutes, and we conceded how many? I would be very thick if we didn’t learn from it.”

The 2-2 draw at the Etihad was the final leg of a gruelling week for the Gunners which saw them beat Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and play out a goalless draw away to Atalanta in the Champions League.

“The desire the team have to compete in any context, to win, to adapt to different circumstances, different competitions, different ways of playing, and handle that emotionally and physically in the way we have done is superb,” he said.

“Happy? No, because we wanted to win the game [against City]. But understanding how tough that context is and how difficult it is and the things we have to deal with. And not only that, but issues as well with the amount of players we had out.

“I think it’s a significant improvement and we have to be proud of that. But not happy because we want to win.”

Watch Arsenal vs Bolton live on Sky Sports + from 7.15pm on Wednesday, kick-off at 7.45pm