What Oleksandr Zinchenko did to Takehiro Tomiyasu after Arsenal mistake in Man City title clash

Arsenal suffered a major Premier League title blow on Wednesday evening as they were beaten 3-1 by Manchester City at Emirates Stadium. Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland were all on target as Pep Guardiola’s men moved top of the table on goal difference, with Bukayo Saka on the scoresheet from the penalty spot for Arsenal.

The Gunners do still hold an advantage though as they have a game in hand over City, but Mikel Arteta will undoubtedly be worried about the direction his team are heading. After City beat Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round, they have not picked up three points in the Premier League since the 3-2 victory over Manchester United on January 22.

In that time City have also dropped points, but a weekend triumph over Aston Villa gave the reigning champions the momentum to end Arsenal’s unbeaten streak in the league at Emirates Stadium. Surprisingly, given their impressive defensive performances so far this season, Arsenal were the masters of their own downfall handing two goals on a platter to City, with Arteta detailing how low the margin for error must be to beat the top teams.

“That’s the frustration,” he said. “It’s exceptionally difficult to play at the level they require you to play to have a chance to win. I thought in many moments we did and we had them, but if you give three goals the way we did and don’t put away the big chances that we had the margin for error is almost zero. It’s a shame because we really had them.”

The first mistake of the night was immediately punished by City with Takehiro Tomiyasu, making his first Premier League start since October, seeing his under hit back pass intercepted by De Bruyne. The Belgian midfielder still had a lot to do but using Aaron Ramsdale as a marker, who had rushed out to close the angle, he expertly fired a looping effort beyond him and into the back of the net.

With City celebrating, Arsenal players trudged back to their starting positions with Tomiyasu clearly upset because of his role in the opening goal. His opposite full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko was not having any of that though as he rushed over to the Japan international to give him a quick pep talk and a firm pat on the head seemingly ordering him to not dwell on the error and focus on the game.

Tomiyasu was perhaps a surprising inclusion given the form of Ben White at right back this season and when asked why he selected Tomiyasu, Arteta gave a very simple response, “the same as when he played against Liverpool here when we won.”

With no win in four, Arteta was quick to point out what his team must improve on if they hope to get back winning ways soon. “We have to pick the points, because the performances are there for sure,” he told reporters. “What we’ve done today against this team, believe me that wasn’t the game that they wanted to play.

“But we wanted the points and we didn’t get them and at the end the games are decided in the boxes and we have given too much away today and weren’t ruthless enough to convert our chances. That’s what we have to improve.”