Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber has given his thoughts on the outcome of their outing at the Etihad where they were denied a famous three points by a last-gasp John Stones goal.
The defender scored Manchester City’s second and their equaliser in the eighth minute of added time which effectively ensured that the spoils were shared on the afternoon.
Arsenal went behind in the ninth minute thanks to Erling Haaland, who bagged his tenth goal in five Premier League games. Riccardo Calafiori equalised in his first start of the season for the Gunners in the 22nd minute before Gabriel Magalhães headed in the Gunner’s second on the stroke of half-time.
Leandro Trossard was sent off a few minutes later which made sure Arsenal were forced to defend for the entire duration of the second half as they tried to hold on to their lead. They would have gotten away with the three points too until Stones capitalised on a rare loose ball to salvage a point for the hosts.
Timber, who was at his defensive best all game, spoke about the feeling of losing two points at the ver last minute.
“It felt like two hours of defending!” Timber said to the media. “It was hard but it was all worth it if we would’ve won it. Even with this draw we can be proud of ourselves.
“We’re gutted, disappointed, but also proud of the team because we gave everything we could. I think there’s one moment, and they score, which is really sad for us, but I think we can look back on a good game from us.
“We feel like we could win this game. That moment with the referee in the first half changed the whole game so, but those are sometimes things you don’t have in hand. What we had in hand, we gave everything. In the second half, we did everything we could, we left it all out there, and it wasn’t enough. Hopefully next time it will.
You want to win. Thursday, today, we didn’t but still, it was a long and hard week for myself. It’s been a long time since I’ve played so many games, especially in seven days, so that’s really good.
“We just need to keep going and keep improving. I think we showed a huge performance today. No win, unlucky, but I think we can build on this for sure.”