'Mentally, physically & tactically, Arsenal show why they are a force'

Mikel Arteta must be devastated that Manchester City equalised so late on Sunday but, given the circumstances, he will still be delighted with the attitude and performance of his players.

It took a 98th-minute John Stones goal to deny Arsenal what would have been a huge statement win over the Premier League champions, who have not been beaten at home since November 2022.

Even so, the way the Gunners came from a goal down to lead at Etihad Stadium before the break, and then hold out for almost the entire second half with 10 men, showed why they have become such a force - mentally, physically and tactically.

Their results and performances in three tough away games in the past seven days have underlined that, with a hard-fought win at Tottenham and a battling draw against Atalanta before this game, which they were unlucky not to win.

Arsenal and the art of the perfect corner

It was hardly surprising that it was a set-piece that gave Arsenal the lead against City. Everyone knows how dangerous they are now, particularly at corners, but because they are so good at them, they are still very difficult to stop.

As a player, I always knew there would always be opportunities in these situations, if not for me then for one of my team-mates.

My old Newcastle boss Bobby Robson would tell us “there is always one dope who falls asleep” and we would try to pick out the opposition player who would be slow to react or forget his job.

That’s not what happened against City, though, whether for Arsenal’s first corner against them - when Gabriel escaped Jeremy Doku and headed over - or for the next one, where he got away from Kyle Walker and powered the ball into the net.

Instead, while everyone knew what Gabriel was doing and where he wanted to go, his sensational movement meant they could not stop him, and he was also only one part of Arsenal’s plan.

So many things had to happen, in a certain order and in the space of a couple of seconds, for the ball to end up in the net and I know from experience they are not easy to put together. You have to work extremely hard at all of them to make them work.

Firstly you need a precise delivery, which is what Bukayo Saka provided here, then you have to execute the block, with four Arsenal players coming in from the back post and standing in the middle of the goal, in front of Ederson, to impede him and to nudge other defenders out of the way too.

Gabriel has to time his run perfectly and come through all of that crowd and then, if he does get on the end of the cross, execute his finish correctly too. He didn’t quite manage it with his first go, but he made no mistake a few minutes later.

Blocking has always been a part of the game

Putting that whole sequence together - and getting every part right - as often as Arsenal do is just amazing because there are so many different cogs involved, where something can go wrong.

As well as having a set-piece plan, and the players with the quality to carry it out, you are relying on them having the desire to keep on doing their part of the sequence, whatever their part in it.

All of this is nothing new, by the way. As a player, I was determined to get on the end of every set-piece, including the ones we faced, and all my teams did a lot of work on attacking and defending them.

Blocking was always a thing then too, a huge part of it in fact.

In my day, the Italians were always great at grabbing you and not letting go, and doing anything else they could to make it difficult to get away from them.

From my point of view, as a striker, it was frustrating at times. Attackers blocked goalkeepers then as well, but I suppose the difference now is that the microscope was not on them when it happened.

Now there are more TV cameras, which see everything, and from different angles, so people can highlight it afterwards and ask if someone has been fouled.

So, it has always been a part of the game, believe me. It is just something else that Arsenal are very good at.

A ‘masterclass’ in defending

I was just as impressed with the way Arsenal responded after Leandro Trossard was sent off. Up until Stones scored they had produced a masterclass in defending as a team in the second half.

Every player put in an incredible effort to frustrate City for so long, but again there was a plan behind it and the whole team was working together.

When City were camped outside their box, Arsenal thought about the whole process, staying in position, working out who to give time to in possession, and who to close down straight away.

They gave no space to Doku or Savinho, for example, but they were always happy to give Ruben Dias the chance to shoot, or get on the ball.

It was brilliant game management, but I was slightly surprised that City did not try to stretch them more, move the ball quicker or try to get more players in one on one situations.

That is what happened with Jack Grealish at the end, when he found some width and got around the back of the Arsenal defence twice in 30 seconds, and won the corner that they scored from.

While Arsenal deserve a lot of credit for shutting City out for so long, you also have to admire Pep Guardiola’s side for the way they kept going to rescue a point because, for large parts, of the game it looked as if they were getting nothing.

Instead, what could have been an awful day for them, including Rodri’s injury that forced him off early on, ended on a really positive note.

Alan Shearer was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.