1 hour ago
34
Most Liverpool fans probably watched Gabriel Martinelli's exquisite equalizer drop in with a feeling of quiet satisfaction. A late goal for a title rival is rarely a good thing, but Arsenal and Manchester City sharing the spoils meant dropped points for two sides that could yet develop into threats.
After all, it would be wrong to assume that Arsenal is automatically the challenger-in-chief just because it came second last season. It has started the campaign looking bereft of ideas from open play; Liverpool has been accused of winning unsutainably by virtue of its late winners, but the same tag could just as easily apply in North London.
So Arne Slot can be happy enough with the draw, even though it looked as though Arsenal was heading for defeat. But new Match of the Day pundit Wayne Rooney has a more positive spin for the Gunners, drawing from his time at Manchester United to suggest this could be a valuable point for Mikel Arteta.
"It was a real positive that Arsenal kept going and got the late equalizer," Rooney said on the Wayne Rooney Show. "Arsenal will be pleased the way the game finished.
"It is a decent point after going 1-0 down. Any point against City is a good point.
"There was a game we drew with Fulham when I was at United. We all went into the dressing room afterwards annoyed and the manager said "that point will win us the league"."
Rooney could be referring to one of two games: a 1-1 draw midway through 2004/05, or a 2-2 draw in the second game of the 2010/11 season. You'd have to assume it's the latter — Man Utd did indeed go on to win the title in that campaign.
But they did so with just 80 points. The nearest challenger had 71.
Last year, Liverpool made it to 84, and Arsenal's tally of 74 was a full 10 points off the pace. And that was a low title-winning points tally by modern standards.
The fact of the matter is that Rooney played in a different era of the Premier League, one where the benchmark for finishing top was far lower. By now, Arteta has learned time and again that he needs to get much closer to perfection if he wants to lift the trophy.
Perhaps a draw at home to Manchester City would always have been a good point in Rooney's playing days. But Arsenal has fallen into the trap of celebrating a point against Pep Guardiola before.
"You never know, this title can be won on goal difference and the finest of margins," Rooney insisted. "Only time will tell but sometimes points will be massive —if Arsenal wins the league by a point, it will look back and realize what a big result this was."
Rooney is right: the margins could be very tight. And that's exactly why a genuine title contender can almost never be satisfied with a draw in today's Premier League.
Martinelli's goal was exquisite, and Arsenal can obviously feel pleased to have at least got something out of a game that was heading for defeat. But no matter what Rooney says, this match is more likely to be a point of regret than celebration for Arteta at the end of the campaign.
English (US) ·