Only 11 months have passed since Oleksandr Zinchenko, a force of nature in those final weeks of Manchester City’s campaign, cut back for Rodri to equalise against Aston Villa and haul them to within one goal of the title. The player who retrieved the ball from Robin Olsen’s net and ferried it back towards halfway was Gabriel Jesus, not a scorer that day but far from redundant during the run-in. Jesus would have an indirect role in Ilkay Gündogan’s winner, making a run in behind that forced Tyrone Mings into a loose touch.
These moments will live in City’s folklore for decades. They are snapshots, too, of exactly why Mikel Arteta was so intent upon bringing Zinchenko and Jesus to Arsenal at £75m for the two.
