Man City assist that never was showed their biggest improver this season

Jeremy Doku had an excellent game for Manchester City at Arsenal and might just be the most improved player this season.

Manchester City were clinging on for most of the second half at the Emirates yesterday, but it could have been a different story had they taken the one big chance they created after the break.

It was an afternoon when the Blues had to show a different side of their game in North London. After scoring early through Erling Haaland, it was a diligent and determined defensive effort, with attacking threats few and far between.

But after Gabriel Martinelli’s injury-time equaliser, minds will cast back to the chance Haaland didn’t take just before the hour mark. For 12 minutes of the second half City had been penned in, but from an Arsenal corner they delivered another electric counter-attack.

Jeremy Doku carried the ball from the edge of his own penalty area towards halfway and although his run took him to the left touchline, he had the patience to slow and look up, spotting Haaland’s run.

The pass was exceptional, slicing through a couple of Arsenal defenders and sending Haaland on his way, only for Eberechi Eze to get back and pressure the shot, and David Raya was able to make the save.

Haaland was probably right to take the shot on, although he had Phil Foden for support. Had City scored it would have almost certainly killed the game off, given how well they defended, and Doku deserved to cap his excellent week with another goal involvement.

As it is, he will have to settle for another excellent performance. This might well be Doku’s best week at the club since his £55m move from Rennes, having created two goals against Manchester United and scored against Napoli before his display at the Emirates.

The winger has excelled for Belgium recently but the opposition he has been running ragged on international duty have generally been poor. The question has always been whether he would ever be able to consistently up his game at the highest level, adding the goals and assists to his dribbling threat.

The signs are positive this season. He was good during the Club World Cup, particularly against Juventus, and after a slow start to the Premier League campaign he has gone up a gear this week.

His work rate against Arsenal was outstanding and on the few occasions he got the chance to run with the ball, he generally protected it well. That ability to carry it long distances was vital to easing the pressure every now and again, either trying to find an option with another forward pass or drawing a foul.

City have also excelled on the break at times this week. Guardiola doesn’t believe this team is built to play on the counter, but it does offer Haaland space to run into and in Doku they might well have a player who can now exploit space and get away from players as well, offering another threat in transitions.

"It is an option. I had a feeling that playing three days, three days, three days and this amount of effort you cannot sustain it,” said Guardiola.

“You have to control more of the game and then you make less effort and actions. Always I have said we have to use the actions and counter attacks for a break. We have to. When we had Leroy and Raheem, David Silva and Kevin we use it a thousand, a million times.

"But is it the way I think this team has been built? The way the manager believes or the players we brought in believe? No, no, no. But in the Champions League against the top teams you have to defend against the top teams and you have to grow as a team with the ball and as a team without the ball. You have to do it."

City had plenty of practice playing without the ball at Arsenal, but when they did get it Doku once again looked like a threat.