John Stones made a big impact off the bench for Manchester City as he scored late to salvage a 2-2 draw for the Sky Blues against visiting Arsenal on Sunday.
The teams have finished first and second in the Premier League, respectively, in each of the last two seasons, making Sunday's match at the Etihad Stadium a massive one as the clubs are once again occupying the top two spots in the standings in the current campaign.
City took an early lead though a ninth-minute Erling Haaland strike but Arsenal went into the halftime break up 2-1 after goals by Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhães, but the turning point in the match may have been Leandro Trossard's ejection after the Gunners' attacker was shown a second yellow card in the dying moments of the first half.
That set up a second half in which Arsenal were pinned inside their own end and defending waves of City attacks. The North Londoners did well to thwart each foray, with goalkeeper David Raya playing a major part in the defensive stand, but they could not deny the hosts for the entire match as Stones poked home a loose ball in the eighth minute of stoppage time to secure the draw.
Stones, who entered the match in the 78th minute, was glad to play an influential part in the result despite the disappointment of not starting.
"You are frustrated that you don't get to start in these big games and before the game I tried to channel it and have a positive attitude if needed to come on," Stones told Sky Sports.
"Over the years we have learned as a team to stick together, no matter who is playing and to always be ready - I'm sure you have heard the manager say that plenty of times.
"I came on and tried to be inside the box for more crosses. One dropped to me and thankfully I put it in the back of the net. I'm really pleased to have scored the goal like that."