ARSENAL twice came from behind to earn a draw against Manchester City that keeps alive their hopes of a top four finish.
Arsene Wenger’s side got off to the worst start possible when Leroy Sane fired City into a fifth minute lead, only for Theo Walcott to level for the Gunners.
But City hit back through Sergio Aguero within 90 seconds to restore their lead – only for a Shkodran Mustafi header to earn a share of the spoils.
Here’s what we learnt from a result that does neither side too many favours.
Six weeks of nerves for both
There is nothing in each of these teams to suggest either is going to be a certainty for a top four finish this season.
Arsenal and Manchester City have the explosive attacking power to blow any team away – but they are just too inconsistent for them to be relied upon to make easy work of the last six weeks of the season.
Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola sacrifice anything close to defensive stability in the pursuit of attacking excellence, which makes for a great spectacle but does nothing for the nerves of the fans.
City look better set to ensure they are playing Champions League football next season, but you just know they will throw in a shocker when you least expect it.
And Arsenal have plenty to do before they convince anyone they have got over their dismal run of performances to overhaul Liverpool and Manchester United in the table.
No defending the defences
Arsenal and Manchester City are supposed to be two of the strongest teams in European football, made up of the cream of the crop of the world game.
Except neither team has any idea who to defend well enough to really be regarded as a class side - in England let alone Europe.
The Gunners were exposed within five minutes when they went missing to allow Leroy Sane to score - but City were just as abject in the way they allowed Theo Walcott in for the equaliser.
There isn't enough space in this article to describe what went wrong for Arsenal when Sergio Aguero restored City's lead, though special mention should be made for the bungling roles Mesut Ozil and David Ospina played in that sequence of play.
And City were once again exposed for not being up to the job defensively as Shkodran Mustafi climbed unmarked to make it 2-2.
You do wonder just what these teams do on the training ground each week.
At least Theo cares
Arsenal were so slow out of the blocks in the first half, and you would be forgiven for thinking Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin were not on the pitch so anonymous were they.
But Theo Walcott showed he still had the fight as he dragged his team kicking and screaming back into the contest.
Walcott was everywhere, crunching into tackles, running at the City defence and scoring the equalising goal.
The Gunners improved as the half wore on and it was all down to Walcott - no questions over a lack of commitment can be aimed at him.
And there were plenty of heads being scratched when he was taken off for Olivier Giroud by Wenger, while Mesut Ozil remained on.
Bell isn't ringing
At the start of the season Hector Bellerin was being talked about as the next great right-back in world football.
Now he is looking a liability as a defender, as he appears to have forgotten the basics and only looks to be concentrating on getting forward.
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Bellerin has relied on his electric pace to get him out of trouble in the past when his positioning has been questioned, but he couldn't save himself when he got it horribly wrong letting Leroy Sane run past him just five minutes in.
The Spaniard lacked defensive nous in the build up, failing to cover round and leaving a huge gap which Sane breezed through to latch on to Kevin de Bruyne's pass to open the scoring.
Maybe all the acclaim has gone to his head.
Pep too clever for his own good
Maybe he was making a point to his board about needing new players, or maybe he was looking to expose a weakness in the Arsenal side.
But whatever the reason behind his decision to play Jesus Navas at right back, Kevin de Bruyne as a holding player and dropping Yaya Toure, Pep Guardiola was being far too clever for his own good.
Navas has been a disaster at City on the wing, and he wasn't much better at full-back - and had Andre Marriner seen his challenge on Nacho Monreal from a different angle he could could easily have been sent off.
City lacked defensive cover and were exposed by Arsenal's counter attacks at times, and they were fortunate to escape the gamble by going in at the break 2-1 up.
Toure's introduction for the second half was all you needed to know that Guardiola's gamble had not worked out.
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