Speaking on TalkSPORT (9/10 8:09am), Townsend and Ally McCoist were reflecting on a thrilling match at the Emirates on Sunday.
In the end, Arsenal came out on top thanks to a deflected Gabriel Martinelli strike that could have huge implications at the top of the table come the end of the season.
Manchester City came into the match after back-to-back losses in domestic competitions.
They were without Rodri and Kevin de Bruyne and as a result looked bereft of ideas in attack and vulnerable on the counterattack.
Arsenal looked assured in all areas despite the absence of Bukayo Saka on the wing.
Primarily, Mikel Arteta will be happiest with how Arsenal dealt with Erling Haaland as he failed to test David Raya in goal.
Despite Gabriel Magalhaes having a fantastic game for Arsenal, Andy Townsend admitted he’s always worried he’s going to make a big mistake.
He wasn’t initially in Mikel Arteta’s team at the start of the season but now looks nailed on to play every game alongside William Saliba.
Arsenal star Gabriel always has a mistake in him – Townsend
Speaking about Arsenal’s centre-back pairing, Townsend said: “[William] Saliba’s been brilliant, he’s been fantastic.
“Gabriel [Magalhaes] has been prone to a rick every here and there, he’s got one in him that’s for sure.
“But yesterday I thought he also was focused and really concentrating and defender and did everything nice and neat and tidy, without any unnecessary silly errors.
“He’s prone to one or two of them, Saliba looks great, what a player.”
Gabriel received plenty of praise for his performance against Manchester City at the weekend.
Gary Neville was really impressed with his first-half performance, while Martin Keown urged for his performance not to go under the radar.
According to the Premier League, Jorginho is the only Arsenal player to make a mistake leading to a goal which will be a relief to Gabriel.
He did make one last season but it’s unlikely that was the sole reason why he wasn’t in the team at the beginning of the campaign.
Whatever the reason was, he’s put it behind him and is now back at the same level he was playing at last season.
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