Arsenal's astonishing Rorke's Drift re-enactment undone at the very, very last

Man City (1) 2 Haaland 9 Stones 90+8

Arsenal (2) 2 Calafiori 22, Gabriel 45

Arsenal so very nearly achieved what no team normally would have a right to hope for - surviving a whole half with only 10 men against the champions, who normally gobble up all and sundry at the Etihad.

Having fallen behind early on to an Erling Haaland goal, the Gunners hit back to take an unlikely lead against the run of play - Gabriel heading home a corner after their Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori had scored a spectacular equaliser.

But then came the twist which would make for a heart-stopping second half as Leandro Trossard was sent off for a second yellow by ref Michael Oliver, who had his hands full during a fiery, full-blooded encounter.

It needed a second half of near immaculate defending, discipline and superb saves from David Raya to deny the massed ranks of blue assembled in front of them.

We were in Zulu territory here. The famous film which depicted the battle of Rorke's Drift came to mind. Arsenal had quite a few in the ranks who might have been worthy of the Victoria Cross for their incredible efforts to keep City at bay.

Somehow, they almost made it. Only a scrambled John Stones equaliser in the eighth minute of injury time from a quickly taken corner denied the Gunners one of their most memorable victories of recent years.

Not since November 2022 had City lost at home - Brentford achieving that feat. Not since January 2015 had Arsenal won here. We were so close to seeing a miracle.

The Gunners had a start they would have dreaded - the sight of an onside Haaland bearing down on Raya, nostrils flared and with only one objective in mind. Savinho's pass paved the way for the Norwegian to make it 100 goals for City.

So much for the pre-match hopes that the Gunners might repeat last season's clean sheet at the Etihad. So much for the statement of intent at kick-off when Kai Havertz barged straight into Rodri, who was trying to block the German's path.

The hosts scented blood. Ilkay Gundogan, who had already sliced a volley wide from a good position before Haaland's goal, clipped the outside of a post from a free-kick.

Rodri came off after twisting his knee following a collision with Thomas Partey, which offered a lift for the Gunners and they drew level almost immediately when a quickly taken free-kick allowed Gaby Martinelli to scamper away down the left and dink the ball back for Calafiori to whip in a beauty from the left edge of the penalty area.

City were furious as they felt the space vacated by Kyle Walker to talk to Michael Oliver was exploited unfairly - the defender having been ushered forward to speak to the official.

More encouragement came by way of a Gabriel header at a corner just clearing the bar in a near reprise of last week's goal at Spurs and Trossard not far away from converting a Martinelli pass.

Then came the half's bitter-sweet finale as Gabriel did manage to power in a Bukayo Saka corner at the far post to put Arsenal in dreamland - only for Trossard to get his marching orders deep into first-half stoppage time for a second yellow.

Having picked up a booking not long before for holding back Savinho, the Belgian collected the ultimate punishment after barging into Bernardo Silva before compounding the felony by kicking the ball away.

Arsenal somehow now had to find a way of surviving the inevitable second half onslaught. Ben White replaced Saka to try and reinforce the barrier.

And so came the relentless City pressure. Walker stung Raya's palms and the keeper made an acrobatic dive to his left to push out Haaland's downward header. Raya did brilliantly to smother a Josko Gvardiol lash from inside the box. Twice.

Escape routes for Arsenal were there none. Their only recourse - apart from massing on the 18-yard line - was to stop the game with calls for players to receive medical time outs and to belt the ball upfield on the rare occasions they had the ball. What else could they really do?

The thicket of defenders forced an increasingly frustrated City to shoot from distance - usually over the bar - or loft crosses that were easily dealt with. City looked to have run out of ideas as well as time but they managed to save themselves.

Last season, settling for a 0-0 draw after taking a beating eight years in a row suddenly became a stick with which to beat the Gunners during the title run-in for some critics.

Ridiculous theories abounded of having blown a great opportunity to land a telling blow in the title race. As if taking only four points off the champions and achieving two shut-outs was not impressive enough.

There can be no such griping about the work they put in to get a draw this time around. And they were within a whisker of getting away with even more.

City: (4-2-3-1) Ederson - Walker (Stones 78), Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol - Rodri (Kovacic 21), Gundogan - Savinho (Grealish 78), Silva, Doku (Foden 70) - Haaland

Gunners: (4-4-2) Raya - Timber (Lewis-Skelly 90+2), Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori (Kiwior 74) - Saka (White h/t), Partey, Rice, Martinelli (Jesus 86) - Havertz, Trossard