Manchester City’s frustration was laid bare at the Stadium of Light as a goalless draw with Sunderland denied them the chance to cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League back to two points, with tensions spilling over after the final whistle.
City arrived on an eight-match winning run in all competitions, with momentum building behind them, but left four points behind Arsenal at the halfway stage of the season after failing to convert possession into goals against stubborn opposition.
Their irritation was evident at full time, when Gianluigi Donnarumma squared up to Sunderland substitute Luke O’Nien, following an earlier clash involving Josko Gvardiol.
The confrontation summed up a night in which City struggled to impose themselves.
On the pitch, Erling Haaland was kept quiet by Sunderland’s centre backs and failed to add to his league leading tally of 19 goals.
City’s clearest chances fell to Gvardiol, who struck the post and saw a close range header saved, while Bernardo Silva had a goal ruled out for offside.
City captain Bernardo Silva admitted the performance fell short, though he defended the side’s recent consistency.
“You can’t be perfect every time, every half, every minute,” he said. “The team is showing a lot of resilience at the minute, in the moments when we don’t play that well, we are still very consistent, very stable.”
But in another interview he also said, “We are not happy because we wanted better than this.”
Pep Guardiola insisted the point should be viewed positively, despite City’s failure to close the gap to Arsenal.
“Good, take the point,” he said. “Second half was excellent. We missed. We could not score in the six yard box. They are so physical. They’re so strong, so it’s not a surprise. We take the point.”
The draw came despite the return of Rodri, who made his first appearance in two months after a hamstring injury.
His introduction brought greater control, but not the breakthrough City needed.
Elsewhere, Liverpool were held 0-0 by Leeds United and are now 12 points behind Arsenal.
At Brentford, Tottenham Hotspur also drew 0-0, leaving them 19 behind the Gunners after 19 games, while Fulham scored late to draw with Crystal Palace with both sides now level on 27 points in 11th and 10th place respectively.
For City, the result halted a run that had begun to resemble an all-too familiar title charge.
Instead, the evening ended in visible frustration for Pep Guardiola and his men, and a reminder that Arsenal remain firmly in control of their own destiny at the halfway point.
About being four points clear ahead of this weekend’s matches, Arteta said, “It’s where we are and we are really happy in the position that we are.
“It can always be better. There are things to improve and the only thing we know is that it’s always the next game and we know how tough it is for every opponent to beat them.
“We are still in early January so we have another five months to go and so far we have to do much more.”