33% possession rate + 5 shots! Encountered with nemesis, Guardiola is extremely conservative and pays a heavy price

A focus battle in the fifth round of the Premier League began, and Manchester City challenged Arsenal as a guest. Manchester City only achieved 2 wins and 2 losses in the first four league games. Such results are obviously failing for top giants like Manchester City. Manchester City played a Champions League match in the middle of the week and won Napoli at home. Now that Manchester City has returned to the league, they are facing Arsenal with a luxurious lineup. As a result, Manchester City played a very conservative tactic and finally got only one draw! Arsenal is really Guardiola's nemesis. Guardiola has not won against Arsenal for five consecutive Premier League matches.

Manchester City lined up 4141 formation. Haaland was in the front. The offensive combination of Doku, Reindez, Foden and Bernardo Silva jointly attacked. Rodri is single midfielder. O'Reilly, Gwadior, Ruben Dias and Husanov started the game with four defenders. Donnarumma serves as the starting goalkeeper. Savigno, Nunes and Ak were on standby on the bench.

Manchester City started this game with a very fantastic start and scored a goal in the 9th minute. Relying on counterattack opportunities, Reindez assisted Haaland to score a low shot. The early goals made Guardiola conservative. His subsequent tactical adjustments were all to maintain the lead, and he would sacrifice his possession rate and not be afraid of the ugly scene.

Facing with Manchester City's defense, it is difficult for Arsenal to create very good opportunities. Rice, Saliba and Maduaike all failed to score. At the end of the half, Manchester City led by 1 goal. Manchester City had only 32% possession rate in the first half, with three shots and two shots, scoring one goal. Arsenal also had few chances in the first half, with four shots and one shot direct, but failed to score. In the second half, Arteta had to make substitution adjustments. He first sent Saka and Eze to strengthen the offense. Guardiola became more and more conservative, replacing Foden with Ak and replacing Haaland with Nico Gonzalez. As a result, Guardiola's conservatism paid the price. In the 93rd minute, Martinelli, who came on the bench, seized the opportunity to score and scored, completing the ultimate tie! Arteta succeeded in fighting against the enemy! The final score is 1-1!

Manchester City's possession rate in this game was only 33%, which is relatively rare for Guardiola's team. Manchester City had only five shots in the game, while Arsenal had 12 shots. Guardiola's tactics in this game are not his own style at all, but more like Mourinho's style. Under the pressure of huge results, Guardiola still compromised and no longer blindly pursues beautiful football, but becomes more realistic. No one can tell whether such a change is a good or a bad thing.