Richard Keys 'astounded' at what Mikel Arteta did in Arsenal vs Man City, he could cost them the title
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(Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media/BeIN Sports.)
Ciaran Morrison
Sun 21 September 2025 18:50, UK
Mikel Arteta could have cost Arsenal the title with a major decision he made against Manchester City.
Arsenal have come second in the Premier League under Arteta for the past three seasons as the Gunners chase their first title in over 20 years.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring for Man City at the Emirates inside the opening ten minutes.
Gabriel Martinelli equalised in added time in the second half as Arsenal nicked a point which may prove crucial come the end of the campaign.
Credit: Imago
Arteta decided to drop Eberechi Eze to the bench against Man City despite Martin Odegaard’s shoulder problem.
Leandro Trossard was preferred on the left flank, with Martinelli also a substitute.
Speaking on beIN SPORTS [21 September], Richard Keys, and Andy Gray were left stunned at Arteta’s decision not to start Eze.
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“I’m astounded… I said to you last week if they don’t win the title he’ll [Arteta] be the reason!
You’ve got to start Eze, unless he’s injured, you have to be starting Eze in this game and every game,” Keys stated.
Andy Gray continued: “Martinelli did play well when he come on in midweek and got himself a goal.
Martinelli is not even picked, he’s [Arteta] picked Trossard.
“Now you can debate whether he would pick Trossard because he is more disciplined and he’ll work harder defensively than the other two, I don’t know, but I’m amazed that you don’t pick Eze to go and cause them problems.”
Ebereci EzeStatsAppearances150Goals34Assists25Eberechi Eze’s Premier League record.
Keys believes the decision defines Arteta’s time at the club.
“You’ve [Gray] just then summed Arteta up in many ways, he’s more solid and more disciplined,” Keys said.
“When you’re playing at home you’ve got Eze who’s a crowd pleaser set the place on fire you’ve spent big money on him and you’re playing Trossard, he’s a sub he’s not even first on.”
Eze’s arrival in the second half, alongside Bukayo Saka, injected greater attacking threat into Arsenal and the former grabbed the assist for Martinelli’s equaliser.
Arsenal lacked creativity in the final third until the second half, when Eze and Saka looked hungry to make an impact off the bench.
Eze showed Arteta that he must be braver against title rivals if Arsenal are to claim important results.
In the end Arteta was indebted to Martinelli’s smart finish over Donnarumma, but his starting XI showed he had not learnt from the Liverpool defeat and that Arsenal cannot win the title under his leadership.