It’s not the first time this week that Mikel Arteta is indebted to his ‘finishers’.But Arsenal’s last-gasp rescue act does not entirely let their manager off the hook for picking the wrong team in the first place. GettyArteta must be braver in big matches after a late rescue act to salvage a point against City[/caption]For the best part of 93 minutes, it looked as if Arteta’s dumbfounding decision to leave out Eberechi Eze in favour of Leandro Trossard and to start Mikel Merino as the No.10 would backfire spectacularly.Just as in Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at Liverpool last month, the inclusion of Merino suggested Arteta saw the visit of City as a ‘must not lose’ as opposed to ‘must win.’While Eze did not cover himself in glory in the Gunners’ midweek Champions League triumph in Bilbao, even he must have been surprised to find himself benched.After all it was Eze who decided Crystal Palace’s FA Cup final win over City in May.Pep Guardiola was probably the most delighted man inside the Emirates when the team-sheets were traded pre-match.It took Arsenal until the 32nd minute to register their first shot attempt through Noni Madueke – the first time since April 2021 [vs Liverpool] that they had passed the half-hour mark without managing a shot on goal.While Arteta deserves credit for realising the error of his ways at half-time and hooking Merino and bringing on Eze, that cautiousness will only play into the hands of the Spaniard’s critics.However, you have to wonder if Arteta would have been as decisive had his side not found themselves trailing to Erling Haaland’s brilliantly-crafted and clinically finished ninth-minute goal.After that early fillip, Guardiola appeared willing to trade the football principals that have made him the awe of rival coaches for three precious points.The City boss has become well-versed in seeing opponents use dark arts and ‘housery’ to try and stifle his all-conquering teams but this very quickly became a role reversal.GettyMartinelli came off the bench to score an injury time equaliser at the Emirates Stadium[/caption]GettyEze supplied the assist having come on for Mikel Merino at half-time[/caption]Brazilian winger Martinelli has two scored goals in as many games off the benchGettyGianluigi Donnarumma, City’s towering goalkeeper, annoyed the Arsenal fans by testing the new eight-second rule to its very limit before belatedly being booked late in the second half.Abdukodir Khusanov rolled off and then back onto the pitch to successfully hold up play soon after Haaland had broken the deadlock and Tijani Reijnders did likewise.Bernardo Silva looked almost embarrassed as he went crunching into a tackle with Gabriel, earning himself a deserved yellow card.City ended the game with four centre-backs and no striker after Guardiola sacrificed Haaland for Nico Gonzalez in an attempt to see out the win.Groans of frustration filled the air among a disenchanted home crowd before super-subs Eze and Gabriel Martinelli combined to rescue a share of the spoils.The pass from Eze and dinked finish from Martinelli with the monster-frame of Donnarumma bearing down on him was worthy of the occasion.Arsenal dominated the match, but failed to create many clear cut-chancesMikel Arteta on Arsenal's draw with CitySpeaking exclusively to talkSPORTOn whether squad depth will prove key this season:“Very important. There are very long matches when you see the level and the physical demands and how much detail there is in these games.“You’re going to need to change it and adapt the game.“I’m very happy with what the players have done again.”On Viktor Gyokeres’ performance:“He did a lot of good things.“I think he was very unfortunate in two situations where he was just in front of goal and the ball doesn’t hit him for millimetres.“But I think he had a very strong performance today.”But ultimately, Liverpool were the real winners.Arne Slot’s men are yet to hit top gear, but still find themselves five points clear of Arteta’s pragmatic Arsenal – and a massive eight ahead of Pep’s new-look City.Liverpool sit five points clear at the top of the table