According to Jamie Carragher, Manchester City's triumph over Arsenal can be attributed to their dominance in the midfield. City's 2-1 win has narrowed the gap with the leaders to just three points, with a game in hand, setting the stage for a thrilling conclusion to the Premier League season. On Monday Night Football, Carragher praised the outstanding performances of City's experienced midfield duo, Rodri and Bernardo Silva, who outmaneuvered Arsenal's Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi.
"Rodri and Bernardo Silva delivered one of the most impressive performances I've seen from a pair in the Premier League," said Carragher. "The game was decided in midfield." Carragher noted that Arsenal's press was effective early on, winning possession in the final third six times within the first 15 minutes, the most by any team in the Premier League this season.
However, Rodri and Silva's bravery in taking possession by dropping deeper changed the course of the game. "Silva and Rodri ended up in the back four, taking the ball and acting as centre-backs," said Carragher. "They demonstrated real courage by getting on the ball and playing through Arsenal's press." Arsenal were unable to match the ingenuity of Rodri and Silva, despite previously facing City's four-man press, and opted for long goal kicks.
"There's been a lot of talk about Arsenal's adventurous approach, but that was without the ball," said Carragher. "We saw in the Carabao Cup final a few weeks ago that Arsenal struggled to play past City's front four, so they changed their setup for goal kicks." While Rodri and Silva were willing to receive the ball in the six-yard box from goal kicks, Arsenal were unable to play out despite having a three-man advantage. Carragher said: "It's easy to show courage without the ball, but the courage to receive the ball in your six-yard box from your goalkeeper in a game of this magnitude is outstanding." Carragher also highlighted Zubimendi's role in Cherki's impressive solo goal that opened the scoring for City. In the same phase of play, Zubimendi helped crowd out Cherki, but then failed to recover quickly enough to prevent him from scoring in a near-identical situation.
"You've got five players around him in this space, and Zubimendi shadows Cherki out," said Carragher. "He moves from one side, deep on the defender's toes, and fills the half spaces.
The ball comes across quickly, and Zubimendi can't get over. As Cherki gets the ball, it's now four players, which is still a difficult proposition, but with one player less, there's slightly more space." In the build-up to City's second goal, Zubimendi gave away possession with a ball forward that went through to Donnarumma, allowing the goalkeeper to initiate a City attack.
"I think about Rodri and Bernardo Silva's courage on the ball and compare it to Zubimendi, a European champion for Spain, who was brought in to get on the ball and take it in difficult situations," said Carragher. "You're going for the league away at Man City, and that's not good enough. That's what you're in the team for, and that's what you've been bought for." Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola praised the performances of Rodri and Silva, saying: "They have been very important in the last few games.
They are experienced and have huge personalities in the team. They can man-mark and have composure with and without the ball.
They are not young guys anymore; they are experienced and have played many games like this. They know how it must be played, and they were exceptional."