The numbers are incredible, really. Even accounting for the fact that Arsenal were down one man at the home of the best team in the land, they spoke volumes. Sample these: Manchester City had 28 shots in the second half alone. They had 87.5% possession. Arsenal had two outfielders who played 90 minutes and completed zero passes. This was the second-best team in the league sitting back and absorbing blow after blow after blow... and for 52 minutes in that second half, they did it rather well.
Bernardo Silva may have said after the match that Arsenal had come to play for the draw, but with the score 2-1 in their favour and a man down, the onus was never going to be on them to force the play. With the onus on City, they tried everything. Pass-pass-pass trying to move the Arsenal back four (or ten, really) around. Quicker through balls attempting to find players in channels swarmed by men in red and white. Dribbles down the wings that ran into dead ends. Crosses that were headed away repeatedly. Those tried and tested methods that had seen Guardiola's teams rack up hundreds of goals on English soil came up a cropper continually. They were basically parked in Arsenal's defensive third but could do nothing about the scoreline that refused to change from City 1 - 2 Arsenal.
Then in the 98th minute, they scored with their 28th and scrappiest shot of the game. John Stones, a late second-half substitute, turned in a rebound from close range to equalise. Three points dropped became a point salvaged.
Now the goal itself stemmed from the one moment all half that Arsenal had left multiple players free: Ilkay Gundogan who came short to take the corner off Jack Grealish. Grealish himself who was allowed to run into the box undisturbed. Mateo Kovacic who was completely free inside that box. It was Kovacic who smashed the ball goalward, where Jakub Kiwior dove desperately in front of David Raya to block it and it bounced out back into the six-yard area where Stones was just that touch quicker than William Saliba to the ball. A sweep of his left foot and off it went off a prone Raya.
On an individual level it was a cathartic goal for Stones. A series of injuries and the multitude of options at Guardiola's disposal had meant he'd missed large parts of last season and the one before and he'd not been able to win back his starting place for City this season. But the English centre-back (who can just as easily play defensive midfield) has often come up clutch for City in big games at either end of the pitch. In fact, the last time City beat Arsenal at the Etihad, he had scored the second goal in a 2-0 win. This was him reminding his manager of his innate big game sense.
On a collective level, this was a reminder that even the most aesthetically pleasing teams, units that chase the perfect goal every time sometimes need the scruffiest of finishes to take a point (or three). And whether they value others who celebrate draws, often a draw salvaged in the face of defeat can feel like a big triumph: which was how they celebrated the goal.
The moment, the result, was a reminder that the champions are not ready to let go of their stranglehold on that Premier League trophy, no matter how close the challengers get.
For that, John Stones takes our Moment of the Weekend.