Man City finally find their best Rodri replacements at Arsenal after it's too late

Given recent decisions in the Premier League, Mateo Kovacic must have feared the worst when he caught Martin Odegaard with his studs up on the follow-through in a fiercely-contested first half at the Emirates between Manchester City and Arsenal. Liverpool's Curtis Jones and Chelsea's Malo Gusto saw red for similar challenges - which lacked any intent but still made contact with their opponent. However, VAR decided there was no clear and obvious error so opted against sending Kovacic off.

If he was lucky to escape with a yellow, he was pushing that luck to the limit minutes later when he slid in and caught Declan Rice late. Michael Oliver immediately signalled a foul, but made it clear there would be no booking, to the anger of every Arsenal fan, player and coach. To dive in in that manner, in the circumstances, was reckless and won't have impressed Guardiola in the same way Rodri angered him to get sent off a fortnight ago and miss this game.

But in a week where VAR has been at the forefront of debate, its lack of consistency would benefit City at Arsenal as they were perhaps fortunate to keep 11 men on the pitch. The general consensus was that the Jones and Malo reds were harsh, so was this VAR learning? Or were they showing inconsistency again to complete a bad week for the technology? City didn't stop to ponder.

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In one respect, John Stones started his new season as he finished the last - dictating a big game in defensive midfield. Almost four months since the Champions League final, Stones has had to wait to play again, with his only other outing coming in the Community Shield. Injury has disrupted his summer, and