Two great footballing sides, toe to toe, as one looked to usurp the other in their quests to win the Premier League title.

Manchester City, of course, have won five out of the last six top flight titles, with their swashbuckling football and have been, perhaps, the best team to compete in the Premier League since its inception 32 years ago.

Arsenal, whose boss Mikel Arteta learned most of what he knows about the management game while number two to City chief Pep Guardiola, is hoping to lead the Gunners to a first top league title in 20 years.

Yet both teams ended up cancelling each other out here, and both remain behind leaders Liverpool, with Arsenal two points off first and City, three.

It was also the first time in nearly three years that the home side have not scored at the Etihad Stadium.

City dominated the early stages, but it was Arsenal who went closest to scoring in the seventh minute through Gabriel Jesus., but the former City striker fizzed his shot wide of the post.

The visitors’ astute defending saw City restricted when it came to clear cut chances.

And the hosts suffered a blow on 24 minutes when Nathan Ake was forced off and replaced by Rico Lewis, with City already missing the injured Kyle Walker, while fellow defender John Stones was on the bench.

Arsenal began to push forward, and Jesus tried to create another goalscoring opportunity, but his next effort, on the half-hour mark, sailed wide.

The closest City came in the first-half was on 36 minutes after Erling Haaland got in ahead of the Arsenal defence, only to see his chance restricted by centre-back Gabriel.

The Blues upped the ante at the beginning of the second-half.

Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic was played through, but he curled his shot from outside the area.

Arsenal were sitting deeper in their own half – and must have let out a collective groan when Guardiola introduced more talent from the bench in the shape of Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish, with Phil Foden hooked for the latter, having surprisingly contributed little to the game. City had won eight consecutive home matches against Arsenal in all competitions since a 2-2 draw in May 2016.

But they could have played another eight years and not score, with Arsenal resolute at the back and seemingly happy to come away with a point, while City – so many times an unbelievably-talented attacking force – were way off the pace. Arteta said: “It was a tough match against a demanding opponent.

“I thought we coped really well and created a lot of difficulties.

“We had some situations to score, but we didn’t make the most of it.

“If we couldn’t win, we needed to make sure we drew, which we did, because City are the best team in the world by far and have the best manager in the world, by far.”

Guardiola said: “We would have preferred to have won, but it was a hard game and I am so proud of my team.

“Arsenal pressed well in the first half and we lost some balls.

“We didn’t create much as it was not easy to break them.

“The intention was there.”

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