'Wasted opportunity' - National media disagree on controversial Arsenal tactics vs Man City

If Arsenal's draw with Manchester City on Sunday proved anything, it was that Mikel Arteta is in this for the long haul. Unlike 12 months ago, when a mentally and physically bruised side turned up to the Etihad Stadium and shrunk in the face of inevitability, arriving with a chance to demonstrate champion material but leaving beaten up, this side went toe-to-toe.

Although the game had little in terms of true action, it was an attritional battle that mirrored the non-blinking face-off at the Emirates Stadium earlier this year. Neither side gave in on their stubbornness: City happy to control, dominate, suck the life out of matters and Arsenal determined not to let their hard work go to waste.

City brought the dullness of proceedings upon themselves in some sense. Their suffocating start pushed Arsenal into a corner they were only too happy to be in. Take the emotion out of things and the title could never really be won or lost here, but the impact of a result either way would be felt.

Did the potential risk of leaving Manchester with an eighth defeat in a row, a two-point gap to make up that grows more and more ominous when you consider that sweeping finishes are something of a yearly certainty, outweigh the benefits of winning this game?

A psychological battle was already won in some ways, the next step from beating City in the Community Shield to doing it in the league back in October to not rolling over here. That Arsenal showed the steely coolness needed in a moment like this, a stark contrast to their emotional overload all too clear against Brentford last time out, was surely important enough to warrant taking this stalemate and parading it as an achievement that could lead to more.

Well, not everyone thought that.