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Manchester United legend Gary Neville insists that Arsenal were \u201champered enormously\u201d by Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera in their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.<\/p>\n
After a dazzling opener from Rayan Cherki for the home side, Kai Havertz pounced on a Gianluigi Donnarumma mistake to give Arsenal<\/strong> an equaliser on 18 minutes.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Man City are now just three points behind leaders Arsenal in the Premier League title race but Pep Guardiola\u2019s side have a game in hand and will go top if they beat Burnley on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Speaking after Arsenal\u2019s latest setback, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told reporters: \u201cI 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.<\/p>\n \u201cBut today, if they need to be more convinced, I think they are now more convinced. We are talking about it in the dressing room.<\/p>\n READ: 16 Conclusions from Man City 2-1 Arsenal: Cherki, Bernardo, Haaland, O\u2019Reilly, bottle<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a new league now. We have three points of advantage, they have the game in hand.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything is still to play for. We know how much we want it and we are not going to stop!\u201d<\/p>\n Man Utd legend Neville singled out Bernardo Silva for praise after the match, he said on his Sky Sports<\/em> podcast: \u201cBernardo Silva in the second half, what a performance that is just to grip a game.<\/p>\n \u201cI think people sometimes become surprised when I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve just seen there from Bernardo Silva is absolutely above and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just beat Viktor Gyokeres on a header at the back post, he\u2019s then pressing two minutes later, and he epitomises what Manchester City are: that experience, that know-how but also that energy, that professionalism.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought he was absolutely sensational in the second half and he just lifted it a gear.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some ways, Arsenal had some good chances. Eberechi Eze hitting the post, Kai Havertz\u2019s header at the head, what a moment that is.<\/p>\n \u201cBut City just edged it with the victory but also just edged it in performance levels in the second half.\u201d<\/p>\n Neville thinks Man City now have the momentum to win the Premier League this season but he was slightly encouraged by Arsenal\u2019s performance in defeat.<\/p>\n The Man Utd legend continued: \u201cMy takeaway for Arsenal today is that\u2019s the best way that they could have lost.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the big talk before the match was the bottling, the freezing, the anxiety, the nervousness, the pressure\u2026 I actually think they handled the occasion very well and that\u2019s positive.<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t come here today and not play, they didn\u2019t come here today and have no idea. I thought they played a good game of football, one of the best performances I\u2019ve seen here from an away team to be fair.<\/p>\n \u201cSo for Arsenal, it\u2019s as good as it can get. But you\u2019re up against a juggernaut and that juggernaut is Pep Guardiola.<\/p>\n MORE MAN CITY VS ARSENAL COVERAGE ON F365\u2026<\/strong> \u201cManchester City have won title after title in these last seven or eight years and they\u2019ve just stole ahead at the right time, they\u2019ve got that momentum, and they will go in front on Wednesday. They\u2019ll beat Burnley at Burnley.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s still a way to go, it\u2019s going to be difficult now for Arsenal, but how they psychologically recover from this is going to be really important.\u201d<\/p>\n And Neville thought Arsenal badly missed Jurrien Timber with Arteta\u2019s side \u201champered enormously by their full-backs\u201d against Man City.<\/p>\n Neville said: \u201cArsenal were hampered enormously by their full-backs.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought actually they did a good job, Hincapie and Mosquera, they really stuck to their task, but they\u2019re limited on the ball.<\/p>\n \u201cSo if you think about Matheus Nunes and Nico O\u2019Reilly for City, or how Jurrien Timber or Riccardo Calafiori or others are for Arsenal, they were just blocked off.<\/p>\n \u201cYou haven\u2019t 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\u2019re centre-backs effectively, they\u2019re not full-backs.<\/p>\n \u201cSo 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\u2019s a bit of a powerhouse going forward, he links really well.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not mentioning Bukayo Saka because every player can get an injury so Noni Madueke is there, Gabriel Martinelli is there, you can\u2019t whinge about Saka.<\/p>\n \u201cBut 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.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/div>\n
* Arteta feels title is \u2018there for the taking\u2019 as Guardiola makes \u2018bad momentum\u2019 claim<\/strong>
* Keane, Murphy explain why Man City have \u2018momentum\u2019 after \u2018eight or nine\u2019 elite games<\/strong>
* Arsenal delivering biggest bottlejob yet as Guardiola, Haaland, Silva show title-winning mettle<\/strong><\/p>\n