Manchester City’s Manuel Akanji critical of the referee after the top game against Arsenal

Yes, says Manchester City stopper Manuel Akanji.

– I do not get it. In the first half, there were very late tackles that did not receive yellow cards. There are obviously yellow cards, he says in the press zone after the 0-0 draw against Arsenal in Sunday’s big game.

Arsenal set a “season best” by making a total of 20 free kicks. Anthony Taylor gave them two yellow cards, one for wasting time and one for kicking the ball away.

And it took 65 minutes before they got the first yellow card. It was received with ironic applause from the home fans.

It was sometimes very intense in the important match in the battle for the title in the Premier League. Erling Braut Haaland was among those who expressed his frustration that Taylor did not punish the rule violations more severely.

In English newspapers, he receives criticism on the stock exchange – while Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is compared to José Mourinho after “parking the bus”:

– I don’t understand that he gave a free kick, but not a yellow card. There are rules here, and Jorginho did not receive a yellow card even though he made many free kicks. I did not understand several of these decisions, says Akanji.

– Did it work for them? asks the Sun’s reporter.

– Definitely. They stopped us with many free kicks, and when there are no sanctions against it, it becomes difficult, says the stopper.

The 0-0 result means that Liverpool have connected a small grip on the title in the Premier League, while Arsenal got rid of the ghost against the reigning triple champion.

Manchester City, for their part, must see that they are behind in the fight to defend the title for the fourth time. Nine games remain in this year’s season.

Henry Winter is chief writer in the major newspaper The Times, and commented ironically after just over an hour of the match: “This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not an exercise. First yellow card, after 65 minutes”.

He says Taylor is one of England’s two best referees and that he would not be the center of the match, but:

– De Bruyne held up four fingers (to signal the number of free kicks), they could have done something earlier. The biggest problem was nevertheless the corner kicks: Then Arsenal did everything they could to stop City in the box, says Winter to VG – and believes that it was here The referees really should have intervened.

And coach Pep Guardiola has a more diplomatic approach to it all.

– It is not my job (to comment on it). Taylor must be happy since nothing went wrong. Usually it happens when the referee becomes more important than the players. The referee was very good, he said after the match.

Did you catch this situation after the match?