Neville claims Arteta was ‘hampered enormously’ by two Arsenal stars vs Man City | OneFootball

Manchester United legend Gary Neville insists that Arsenal were “hampered enormously” by Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera in their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.

After a dazzling opener from Rayan Cherki for the home side, Kai Havertz pounced on a Gianluigi Donnarumma mistake to give Arsenal an equaliser on 18 minutes.

The match remained level until 65 minutes, when Erling Haaland finished inside the area to give Man City the lead and punish the Gunners for missed chances.

Man City are now just three points behind leaders Arsenal in the Premier League title race but Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand and will go top if they beat Burnley on Wednesday.

Speaking after Arsenal’s latest setback, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told reporters: “I believe today, I believe on Wednesday, I believed a week ago because I see them every day and I know the level that we have.

“But today, if they need to be more convinced, I think they are now more convinced. We are talking about it in the dressing room.

“It’s a new league now. We have three points of advantage, they have the game in hand.

“Everything is still to play for. We know how much we want it and we are not going to stop!”

Man Utd legend Neville singled out Bernardo Silva for praise after the match, he said on his Sky Sports podcast: “Bernardo Silva in the second half, what a performance that is just to grip a game.

“I think people sometimes become surprised when I’ve talked about Paul Scholes, in the last five or six years of his Manchester United career, gripping a football match by the scruff of the neck, controlling it and dominating the speed of it.

“What we’ve just seen there from Bernardo Silva is absolutely above and beyond.

“He just beat Viktor Gyokeres on a header at the back post, he’s then pressing two minutes later, and he epitomises what Manchester City are: that experience, that know-how but also that energy, that professionalism.

“I thought he was absolutely sensational in the second half and he just lifted it a gear.

“In some ways, Arsenal had some good chances. Eberechi Eze hitting the post, Kai Havertz’s header at the head, what a moment that is.

“But City just edged it with the victory but also just edged it in performance levels in the second half.”

Neville thinks Man City now have the momentum to win the Premier League this season but he was slightly encouraged by Arsenal’s performance in defeat.

The Man Utd legend continued: “My takeaway for Arsenal today is that’s the best way that they could have lost.

“I know the big talk before the match was the bottling, the freezing, the anxiety, the nervousness, the pressure… I actually think they handled the occasion very well and that’s positive.

“They didn’t come here today and not play, they didn’t come here today and have no idea. I thought they played a good game of football, one of the best performances I’ve seen here from an away team to be fair.

“So for Arsenal, it’s as good as it can get. But you’re up against a juggernaut and that juggernaut is Pep Guardiola.

“Manchester City have won title after title in these last seven or eight years and they’ve just stole ahead at the right time, they’ve got that momentum, and they will go in front on Wednesday. They’ll beat Burnley at Burnley.

“There’s still a way to go, it’s going to be difficult now for Arsenal, but how they psychologically recover from this is going to be really important.”

And Neville thought Arsenal badly missed Jurrien Timber with Arteta’s side “hampered enormously by their full-backs” against Man City.

Neville said: “Arsenal were hampered enormously by their full-backs.

“I thought actually they did a good job, Hincapie and Mosquera, they really stuck to their task, but they’re limited on the ball.

“So if you think about Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly for City, or how Jurrien Timber or Riccardo Calafiori or others are for Arsenal, they were just blocked off.

“You haven’t got that subtlety on that ball or that ability, that safe, consistentand reliable ability, to feed the ball in, good touches and passes and getting it into your front players and midfield players because they’re centre-backs effectively, they’re not full-backs.

“So I thought they stuck to the task really well, the two full-backs for Arsenal, but you lose a lot when you lose Timber, you lose a lot. He’s a bit of a powerhouse going forward, he links really well.

“I’m not mentioning Bukayo Saka because every player can get an injury so Noni Madueke is there, Gabriel Martinelli is there, you can’t whinge about Saka.

“But I think losing both of their full-backs would have cost them today in terms of on the ball and being able to get forward.”