Manuel Akanji hits out at referee Anthony Taylor for missing 'clear yellow cards' after Arsenal frustrated Manchester City in the title race

Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji has criticised the performance of referee Anthony Taylor after the reigning champions goalless draw with Arsenal on Sunday.

The stalemate at the Etihad Stadium saw Man City and Arsenal lose ground on Liverpool in the title race.

Man City appeared frustrated during the clash at Arsenal players avoiding sanction for a series of fouls that broke up the game.

Akanji claimed post-match that he 'didn't understand' some decisions made by Taylor, suggested the referee had missed 'clear yellow cards'.

‘I don’t understand. One in the first half [from Kai Havertz] was a very late tackle on Stefan. For me it is clearly a yellow card,' Akanji said. 

'I don’t want to say just against us. There were also some decisions against them that I didn’t understand that he gave a foul for.

‘There are some rules and I think there are clear yellow cards where it should be. I remember the action with Jorginho when he’d already done a tackle foul and did the second one and he didn’t even give a yellow card for one foul.

‘I didn’t understand some decisions but, in the end, we still should be able to score a goal.

'When we got through some times they stopped us with the fouls and if there’s no actions to it it’s hard.' 

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya and forward Gabriel Jesus were the only players booked in the match with neither shown for a foul.

Mikel Arteta's side were penalised for 20 fouls during the match, compared to nine by Man City players. 

Akanji admitted that Arsenal's approach at the Etihad had worked with Man City restricted to a single shot on target.

Man City failed to score for the first time in a Premier League home game since October 2021, ending a run of 47 straight games.

‘Today we know why a lot of goals didn’t happen because they played really defensively and we weren’t able to score a goal up front. I think that’s the reason,' the Swiss defender said.

‘In the end, one mistake can cost you a goal and you have to chase the opponent and try to score a goal up front. That’s probably why. 

‘There are a lot of videos for the other team on us and they try to minimise the mistakes.’

Man City remain one point behind Arsenal following their stalemate, but are now three points adrift of leaders Liverpool following their 2-1 win over Brighton.

The reigning champions host Aston Villa on Wednesday, with Unai Emery’s side the last team to have beaten Man City.