Gary Neville waded in on two major talking points during the first few stages of Arsenal's huge Premier League clash against Manchester City
16:45, 19 Apr 2026Updated 16:54, 19 Apr 2026
Rayan Cherki hits the post for Manchester City against Arsenal
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Gary Neville slammed Arsenal's players early on in the game against Manchester City(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Arsenal were blasted by Gary Neville just moments into their huge Premier League clash against Manchester City with VAR controversy following soon after. The first incident saw the Gunners nearly lose possession inside their own box, which left Neville fuming.
On Sky Sports, describing the incident, he said: "That could not happen for Arsenal, what the hell are you playing at.
"The one thing that you would say Arsenal cannot do in the first five or ten minutes is play a stupid little pass along their six-yard box and they have gone and done it."
Almost within the same attack, Rayan Cherki saw his deflected effort strike the post. It was Gabriel Magalhaes who got the vital touch with claims of handball made, though penalty appeals were waved away with the incident also cleared by VAR.
Neville added: "It's been cleared. He just sort of leans down doesn't he, Gabriel. Maybe it's a shoulder, it's not easy to see what part of the arm/shoulder it is. It's high up, you can see why they've waved it on."
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Arsenal responded extremely well to their nervy start but went behind after 16 minutes with Cherki scoring a delightful solo goal.
However, their lead was very short-lived with Kai Havertz pouncing on Gianluigi Donnarumma's reluctance to clear the ball quickly just minutes later, with his block nestling into the far corner of an open goal.
In the build up to the clash, Neville spoke on a number of topics with his thoughts on what Arsenal must do made perfectly clear before the clash.
He said: "You saw what Pep Guardiola did at Chelsea last week and at Wembley in the Carabao Cup game - they came out a different team after half-time."It wasn't necessarily a game plan. Arsenal came out so passively in that second half, they were playing passes backwards, playing in their own defensive third today
Gary Neville looks on
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Gary Neville has had plenty to say on Arsenal this season
"They can't do that today. They have to play high up the pitch and cause their own problems. It's difficult to play against City. Cherki, Semenyo, Doku in behind Haaland is amassive threat.
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"It's going to be tough for them. But it's now or never. I don't like saying that in football, because Arsenal are a great club and will be here for 100 years.
"But for this team, this group, this coach, it does feel like a massive moment in their journeys as football players and how they'll be viewed in the future."
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