Manchester City sought to defend an early Erling Haaland goal, but Gabriel Martinelli came off the bench to equalise.Arsenal equalised in the third minute of stoppage time through Gabriel Martinelli to snatch a 1-1 draw in their match on Sunday with Manchester City, whose rare defensive performance under Pep Guardiola narrowly failed to deliver a win in the Premier League.Erling Haaland scored an early goal on the counterattack, and City went on to frustrate Arsenal with a defensive approach that was unlike any team coached by Guardiola, who is famed for possession and attacking football.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThere was a late twist, however, when Eberechi Eze played a ball over City’s packed defence and Martinelli latched onto it before lobbing goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.It left Liverpool, the defending champions, with a five-point lead after just five games, with Arsenal in second place on goal difference over Tottenham and Bournemouth. City are already eight points off the pace.Arsenal controlled the opening exchanges until City scored from a rapid counter in the ninth minute.Tijjani Reijnders broke from deep with Haaland on his shoulder before he played the Norwegian striker in to finish coolly past David Raya.Arsenal looked short on ideas before a double change at half-time gave them more impetus, with substitute Eberechi Eze forcing a sharp save from Donnarumma as the hosts swarmed all over City.The visitors recorded 32.8 percent possession, the lowest-ever possession average by a Guardiola team in his 601st top-flight league match, according to Opta.City had seemed to have weathered the storm, …
