Nottingham Guardian - Carragher sees Manchester City’s winning start as challenge to Arsenal

Jamie Carragher says Manchester City’s unbeaten start to the Premier League season has established an immediate challenge to Arsenal after City defeated Manchester United despite playing most of the derby with 10 men.

City’s September 13 victory gave them four wins from four league games and returned them to the top alongside defending champions Arsenal. It also extended their winning run across competitions to five matches under Enzo Maresca, who replaced Pep Guardiola in the summer.

Arsenal had beaten City 3-0 in the Community Shield in Cardiff the previous month. Carragher said City’s subsequent recovery could cause concern for Arsenal despite the confidence gained from winning last season’s championship.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the former Liverpool and England defender said Arsenal might now have the strongest squad. He cited Bruno Guimaraes’ impact from the bench as an option they had not possessed the previous season.

Carragher said the title could remove doubts about Arsenal’s ability to finish first and reinforce their belief in the quality of both team and squad. However, he regarded City’s derby result as evidence that a principal rival remained close.

He argued that City staying alongside Arsenal was useful for the wider competition, because any Arsenal lead of two, three or four points might be difficult for opponents to recover. He also said City had faced a more demanding opening schedule.

The Manchester derby included controversy over Erling Haaland’s second-half goal, for which United later received an official apology after the strike was wrongly awarded.

Phil Foden was sent off in the first half, forcing Maresca to change his tactical plan after about 23 minutes. Following the match, the City manager praised his players’ effort and their response to the dismissal.

Maresca said he had initially intended to create a numerical advantage in midfield. Going down to 10 players changed the approach for both teams. He said United were effective in transition but City’s altered shape prevented them from exploiting those opportunities.

Asked about Foden’s dismissal, Maresca said it could merit a red card but argued that Bruno could also have received one in the same incident. He emphasised that the players’ commitment had been more decisive than the original tactical design.

Arsenal had beaten Sunderland away 24 hours before the derby. Their next fixtures are a Carabao Cup trip to Ipswich at Portman Road followed by a Premier League visit to Brighton.

City will host Norwich in the Carabao Cup third round on Thursday, September 17, before playing Sunderland at home in the league three days later.

Maresca credited the altered approach with limiting United’s counterattacking opportunities after Foden’s dismissal.

O.F.MacGillivray--NG