Rodri snatches dramatic win for City at Arsenal
Rodri struck a stoppage-time winner as Manchester City came from behind to snatch a dramatic 2-1 victory over 10-man Arsenal.
In the absence of manager Mikel Arteta after a positive COVID-19 test, Bukayo Saka put Albert Stuivenberg's Gunners ahead at Emirates Stadium with a neat finish in the 31st minute.
However, Riyad Mahrez equalised from the penalty spot just before Gabriel Magalhaes was dismissed for a second yellow card.
And there was to be one final twist in the third minute of stoppage-time, as Rodri prodded home to give Pep Guardiola's side an 11th straight league win.
The Gunners felt hard done by after they were denied a penalty in the first half when Ederson was adjudged to have got the ball when he lunged in on Martin Odegaard, before City was awarded its spot-kick after a VAR (video assistant referee) check shortly after the restart.
Bernardo Silva went down under the challenge of Granit Xhaka, with referee Stuart Attwell changing his decision not to award a penalty after going to the pitch-side monitor.
While Arsenal should perhaps consider its own indiscipline – Gabriel's dismissal took the Gunners to 100 red cards in the Premier League, the first team to reach that tally – goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale hit out at the use of the video technology.
"I am basing it on both penalties – the inconsistency of going to the screen, the referee might have ruled it out straight away when he looked at it," Ramsdale said.
"But it is the fact he went to look at it. Both in real time he said no penalty, but only gets told to look at one. Theirs was soft for me, but he gets told to look and has given it.
"I am at the other end of the pitch for our penalty shout. The goalkeeper comes out with his foot and he either catches him or the ball. The Bernardo one, he stood him up and it got given. Penalties are penalties, but for us it is getting told to look at the screen."
No Premier League team has seen more players sent off than Arsenal (11) since Arteta took charge of his first game on Boxing Day 2019.
