Mikel Arteta was highly critical of Michael Oliver's inconsistent refereeing after the official sent off Arsenal's Leandro Trossard for a second yellow card offense of kicking the ball away, despite not booking Manchester City's Jérémy Doku for the same action during Sunday's eventful 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium. Trossard had already been cautioned when, after fouling Bernardo Silva near the halfway line in first-half stoppage time, the Belgian displayed dissent by kicking the ball. Arsenal had to defend their 2-1 lead with 10 men for the entire second half.

The visitors almost managed to hold on, conceding only to John Stones' 98th-minute strike that canceled out Gabriel Magalhães' header. Erling Haaland had opened the scoring before Riccardo Calafiori equalized for the Gunners. Arteta was asked about Trossard's booking and Doku's escape. "I prefer not to comment – I've seen it and it's obvious," the manager said. "It's not necessary to comment. If it's like that [today's inconsistency] I'm expecting 100 games to be 10 v 11 this season – that's it."

"Obviously, it is already a miracle we played 56 minutes at the Etihad with 10 men. It is unbelievable what we have done. It is obvious what happened when they made that decision, but it doesn't deserve my comment. I don't want to ruin anything else off the pitch." Arteta praised his team's adaptability and competitiveness, saying, "We adapted in the best possible way, the way we compete – I'm so proud of them. It couldn't be a more difficult situation and the way we handled it." Trossard is the second Arsenal player to be sent off in this manner after Declan Rice in August's 1-1 draw with Brighton.

After Stones' goal, Haaland rebounded the ball off the back of Gabriel's head, which is a yellow card offense at minimum. Arteta was asked about this. "I think it was emotions and that's it," he said. Before and after Trossard's red card, Arsenal slowed the game down and deployed blocking tactics at corners. Stones commented on Arsenal's tactics, saying, "I don't know if they have mastered it, they've done it for a few years, and we know to expect that. You can call it clever, or dirty, whichever way you want to put it."

"They break up the game, and obviously it upsets the rhythm for everyone. They use it for their advantage, and I thought we dealt with it really well. It's not easy when those things are happening, and you're trying to gain momentum, you're trying to get a foot in the game and get above them. Those little stoppages stop that, and I thought we dealt with it." Pep Guardiola criticized Kyle Walker for failing to mark Gabriel when the latter scored. "He has to [do better] and didn't," said the manager. Rodri was forced off with what appeared to be a knee problem. "I don't know [how serious] – I didn't ask the doctors," Guardiola said. Despite dropping their first points of the season, City are the leaders after five games with 13, two ahead of Arsenal.