Stones rescue Manchester City with last-minute equaliser against 10-man Arsenal | Premier League

It was a tense, physical game, full of drama and storylines, and that was before the momentum in this Premier League title decider swung again, pulling away from Arsenal just before half-time. Mikel Arteta's side had recovered from an early storm in which Erling Haaland put Manchester City ahead with his 100th goal for them, in just his 105th appearance.

Riccardo Calafiori's long-range equaliser in the 17th minute Arsenal The opening was a thing of beauty, City fuming at the ethics of a quickly taken free-kick by Thomas Partey in the build-up and the visitors feeling the surge of chance when Gabriel Magalhães headed them in front – from a set-piece, of course. No team does it like Arsenal these days.

Now the lines of the match had been redrawn once again. It was the seventh minute of added time in the first half and Leandro Trossard, who had already been booked, had committed a foul on Bernardo Silva. But what was this? Trossard received a second yellow card for, as it turned out, having thrown the ball out.

It was a decision that was implemented to the letter, one that overturned Declan Rice's offence for his second booking in Arsenal's 1-1 draw. Home draw against Brighton By the end of August, though, Trossard had really cleared his lines this time. Arsenal had been bitten, but they were neither cowed nor made any wiser.

So we entered a ridiculously high-stakes match between City's attack and Arsenal's defence. Throughout the second half, Arsenal kept all 10 men behind the ball. It was hard to recall them crossing the halfway line. But the important thing was that they held on to the pressure. If that meant using the dark arts (time-wasting, players lying on the ground with cramp), so be it.

Could England's weakest defence hold on to the slender lead? Right to the end, the answer seemed to be yes. For all City's territorial dominance, they created just three big chances and, on each occasion, David Raya saved. He saved a Haaland header and two Josko Gvardiol rockets.

And then came the decisive moment. Seven minutes of extra time had elapsed when City won a short corner; one substitute, Jack Grealish, passed to another, Mateo Kovacic, whose shot was blocked. Another City substitute, John Stones, came on to force in the rebound, save City and shape a post-match investigation that was always likely to be long and noisy.

The tone of the aggression had been set within seconds, Kai Havertz bursting at Rodri moments after kick-off; the City midfielder needed treatment. His team responded as if they felt affronted. Ilkay Gündogan could have scored after receiving a pass from Silva but volleyed home powerfully; then City took control. The first goal looked important when it came in and it was a surprise that it had come so soon. It was not clear who the scorer was.

The move began when Savinho received a ball from Kyle Walker and weaved his way in and out of Calafiori. The winger saw space open up between Gabriel and William Saliba – a rare occurrence – and the weight of the release for Haaland was perfect. Once Haaland got his body in front of Gabriel, the game was over. He didn’t miss a beat and finished first-time with the outside of his left boot.

City went on a rampage, Gündogan curling a 14th-minute free-kick wide of Raya's post and Arsenal's equaliser was a silver lining. City had lost Rodri; he was stopped again, this time by Partey at a corner, and appeared to injure his knee.

Passions were running high when Arsenal won a free-kick in midfield and referee Michael Oliver called on captains Kyle Walker and Bukayo Saka to call for calm. That, of course, did not happen.

City were clearly not prepared for Partey to whip a quick free-kick inside the left-hand side for Gabriel Martinelli; Walker was out of position. But Oliver let it go and the repercussions would be seismic. Martinelli passed it to Calafiori and it was a spectacular moment for the Italian, his curling finish from distance looping into the far top corner. Guardiola fumed on the touchline. So did his players.

The situation changed abruptly and Arsenal felt their confidence return. Gabriel headed wide when unmarked from a corner and, after Trossard rose from Martinelli's pass, Gabriel found the net from another corner. He broke away from Walker and seemed to want the ball more than any of the City defenders.

Remarkably, there was more before the break with Trossard being sent off. At first, it looked as if he had been shown a second yellow card for a lunge at Silva's back, which would have been very harsh. His real offence was hitting the ball hard as Arsenal prepared to defend the free-kick. Let's just say it was a torrent of blood. Trossard, whose first booking had been for pulling Savinho back, did not want to leave the field. Arsenal were stunned, partly because City's Jérémy Doku had escaped a booking earlier for kicking the ball away.

Areta's team was accused of parking the bus in Last season's 0-0 Here they did. As the second half began, with Ben White replacing Saka, the formation was 5-4-0, with White at right centre-back and Jurrien Timber on the wide side. City tried to find a way through and for long periods looked like they had run out of ideas. Arsenal looked confident. Then they broke through.