Mikel Arteta rages at Michael Oliver in frosty interview as Arsenal denied Man City win

Mikel Arteta was evidently furious with referee Michael Oliver after 10-man Arsenal’s dramatic 2-2 draw with Manchester City on Sunday evening.

The Gunners were moments from a famous win at the Etihad before John Stones’ 98th-minute equaliser. Arsenal had led 2-1 after a brilliant first-half comeback before Leandro Trossard was given a second yellow card and sent off.

The Belgian forward tugged the shirt of Savinho for his first yellow before kicking the ball away eight minutes into first-half stoppage time and being given his marching orders by Oliver.

Arteta was furious on the touchline, pulling his jumper up over his head in disbelief. And he was just as frustrated in his frosty post-match interview with Sky Sports.

“There were two incidents, very similar. In particular one was very different with a different outcome that forces you to play a game that nobody wanted to watch,” Arteta said.

The Arsenal boss was seemingly referencing the fact Jeremy Doku was not booked for kicking the ball away in a separate first-half moment.

Pushed further on whether he was talking specifically about Doku, the Spaniard added: “I’m not talking about anything – I’m just saying what happened. I think it’s very obvious. I don’t need to talk about it.

“I think it’s very clear. It’s very obvious, hopefully what 100 per cent of people think.

“It’s not my job to come here and judge what happened. My job is to survive in the most difficult environment you can have in football (10 men away at Man City) for 55 minutes.

“To get things done to survive was my job. The rest is out of my job and it’s already the second time it happened in five games which is really, really worrying. You want to see the best Premier League.

“It’s [Trossard kicking the ball away] is less than a second. The previous one [Doku’s] is more than a second. That’s it. It’s simple.”

Erling Haaland’s ninth goal of the season – and his 100th overall for City – had put the hosts ahead nine minutes in but the Gunners responded brilliantly through Riccardo Calafiori’s stunning curler and Gabriel Magalhaes’ close-range header.

The game was turned on its head when Trossard was sent off. City had 28 shots against the 10-man Londoners in the second half but Arsenal were resilient and looked set to record a memorable victory at the Etihad before Stones’ last-gasp equaliser.

Arteta was nonetheless proud of his squad and added: “It’s unbelievable what the players did, the way we played in the normal conditions which were already super, super difficult. It’s why City haven’t lost here for 40-something games.

“Then the contest we were thrown with 10 men for 55, 56 minutes. That’s the story of the character of our players and I’m very proud of them.

“[The red card] makes the situation impossible. It is very, very hard to play [vs City] with 11 players, with 10 it is impossible. With 10 you have to defend your six-yard box time, and time, and time again.

“The players did unbelievably well, I’m so proud of them. When you have survived for that many minutes, to concede in the last minute the way we did because we had to play 99 minutes, very disappointed.

“But at the same time I cannot be prouder of them and the way they competed today.”