Arsenal stars will be questioning ‘strange’ Mikel Arteta decision against Man City, says Paul Scholes

Paul Scholes says Arsenal players would likely have been scratching their heads over Mikel Arteta’s ‘strange’ decision to take off Eberechi Eze in the side’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City.

Erling Haaland steered City to within three points of league leaders Arsenal with the decisive goal in Sunday’s showdown, but the visitors had their fair share of opportunities to come away from the Etihad with at least a draw.

Kai Havertz squandered a golden chance to equalise in the dying moments, having earlier cancelled out Rayan Cherki’s sublime opener, while the impressive Eze also struck against the woodwork in a compelling second period.

But second-placed City held on to preserve their narrow advantage in front of a euphoric home crowd, ensuring they will dislodge the Gunners at the top of the Premier League table if they get the better of Burnley on Wednesday night.

The result means Arsenal – runners-up in each of the last three seasons – have won just one of their last six games in all competitions ahead of their encounter with Newcastle this weekend.

Jus nine days ago, a win over Bournemouth would have sent Arsenal 12 points clear at the summit. However, a pair of crushing losses in as many games mean City have all the momentum ahead of their trip to Turf Moor.

‘I think Pep Guardiola might put winning the league this season down as one of his biggest achievements as a coach,’ Scholes said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.

‘You think where City were in December, they were struggling. Last year, they were struggling.

‘One thing I would say is they spent well in January. You think of Antoine Semenyo, Marc Guehi…

‘I think Arsenal were decent yesterday but when you play big games, you can lose them. You know that you can.

‘But I’ve just seen with Arsenal, over the last few years, if they’re going to win the league then they’re going to have to beat them and they’ve failed to do that again yesterday.

‘They had big chances and you talk about difference in centre-forwards, I think if those chances come to Erling Haaland then it’s a goal. You’ve got to be ruthless in those situations and unfortunately Kai Havertz just wasn’t.

‘I think Arteta changed a little bit yesterday and it’s not always easy to do that when you’re going a certain way, playing a certain way. All of a sudden, he played quite an attacking team, a very attacking team.

‘It was exciting but you can’t just switch it on and off like that.’

Considering Eze’s impact up until that point, ex-Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira was left puzzled by Arteta’s decision to substitute the England international for Leandro Trossard in the 74th minute.

According to Scholes, Eze’s team-mates on the pitch may have been similarly confused when they saw the number ten raised on the fourth official’s board.

‘To show a bit of intent they should have brought Declan Rice or Martn Zubimendi off, just go for goal,’ Scholes argued.

‘When you’re looking at the game, you’re thinking, “Eze’s playing well here, Eze is having a big influence on the game”, and I would’ve thought the other players will be thinking, “That’s a strange one”.’

Later on in his analysis, Scholes made sure to highlight the ‘unbelievable’ impact Bernardo Silva made in Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash.

‘You talk about big players standing up. Look at who stood up yesterday… Bernardo Silva. Unbelievable,’ the 11-time Premier League winner gushed.

‘Where are Arsenal’s players that are going to win you the league in big games like that? Where’s your Declan Rice? Declan Rice is a great player but he wasn’t quite there yesterday.’

Speaking shortly after Arsenal’s setback in Manchester, a defiant Arteta insisted his ‘belief’ had not waned given the quality he continues to see from his players on a daily basis in training.

‘I believe today, I believe on Wednesday, I believed a week ago because I see them every day and I know the level that we have,’ the Arsenal head coach told reporters.

‘But today, if they need to be more convinced, I think they are now more convinced. We are talking about it in the dressing room.

‘It’s a new league now. We have three points of advantage, they have the game in hand.

‘Everything is still to play for. We know how much we want it and we are not going to stop!’

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