There are a thousand things that stand out about the brilliant and unexpectedly dramatic draw between Manchester City and Arsenal.

It was neck and neck from start to finish: Kai Havertz shoulder-butted Rodri with Richard Ashcroft in the first five seconds, and Erling Haaland celebrated by firing the ball off the back of Gabriel’s head in the 98th minute after John Stones had scored the equaliser that never seemed to come.

When City’s centre-backs weren’t shooting (they scored 13 goals in total, most of them in the second half), they were trying to send crosses into a box that was full of pretty much everyone but them. This only seemed to cause Arsenal’s players to cramp.

Arsenal clearly travelled north to make a statement and prove that they have the mentality to take on City, not just in the title race but also throughout the season. And in some ways they did the latter, despite Stones’ last-gasp goal.

City’s dramatic goals are usually reserved for the biggest games, when they are needed most: Sergio Aguero’s title decider against Queens Park Rangers in 2012, Ilkay Gundogan’s brace against Aston Villa a decade later. They have usually wiped teams off the pitch long before the heroics were needed. But this goal was one they needed, and in that moment it felt almost as great.

This may also have served as a reminder to Arsenal that no matter how well City play, they can do just enough to disappoint them.

And yet, if we know from last season what we can read into this game and what it meant to both sides – when Arsenal beat City earlier in the season to show their title chances – it didn’t really matter in the end. That’s not a criticism of Arsenal, but of reading a little too much into individual games.

What we saw last season was that despite that defeat, and even a series of draws after that, City just continued to beat everyone else and came within a whisker of picking up more points than Arsenal.

One of the reasons they continued to score so many points – at the risk of oversimplifying things – was because they had Rodri on the team.

Amidst all the chaos, tactical questions, pushing, shoving and goals, perhaps the biggest moment came in the 21st minute when Rodri was forced off injured.

Rodri is carried off the field (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

At first, it looked like another clash off the ball. The first with Havertz was surely a reaction to Rodri’s statement that Arsenal players did not have the mentality to come to the Etihad Stadium and beat them in that game last season, which ended 0-0.

But as he ran to the near post to contest a corner, the Spaniard’s leg appeared to buckle and after a few moments of treatment he looked as if he had been crying or feeling ill, perhaps both. Shortly afterwards, he signalled to Pep Guardiola as he walked away that he needed to be substituted.

“Rodri is a strong man,” Guardiola said afterwards. “If he left the field after this incident, it was because he felt something, otherwise he would have stayed there.”

Guardiola did not want to give any details about the injury. He stressed that he had not spoken to the doctor, as he always says in such situations. But he did talk about its significance.

“He has a strong presence, is the best defensive midfielder in the world. I would say he has the potential to win the Ballon d’Or. He deserves it.” He then spoke about the temperamental nature of the game and how to deal with it.

Would City have been better with him for the rest of Sunday’s game? Without a doubt. Especially in the second half, when they only had shots from outside the box, many of which fell to his replacement, Mateo Kovacic.

Was his withdrawal the main factor in Arsenal turning the first half around and taking the lead? Well, you have to give them credit too; surely any team, let alone one like Arsenal, would have weathered the storm to some extent.

“We had problems in the first 20 to 25 minutes,” said Mikel Arteta. “After that we understood better what we had to do.”

There was obviously a connection between the successes of the two teams, although this hardly gives rise to any reason for caution.

But let’s forget about this game with its many twists and turns and talking points. What about a majority of the games in the coming weeks or months if the injury is serious?

We have to be very careful with such things because there is a lack of information and rumours could spread instead. There is no official suggestion that it is the most serious knee injury – a cruciate ligament – but that is often the biggest fear in such situations and in the hours immediately after the game, these were the discussions that took place in the press rooms and pubs.

Whatever the truth may be – and we are sure to find out in the next few days, not least because City play again on Tuesday – the biggest consequence of this game would be an injury lay-off for Rodri of more than a few games.

Just the thought of a few games without him would have horrified City a few weeks ago.

One reason City lost at Arsenal last season was that they were missing their key player. They were missing him the week before when they lost at Wolves. So they went to Arsenal and tried to screw it up and get away with a 0-0 draw, but were undone by a distraction. When Rodri was suspended for the trip to Villa in December, they looked weak and lost again.

The only league game they won without Rodri last season was against Luton in April, and they lost the other three.

This season, it was quickly taken for granted that they could win without him. He missed the first three games and City won them all without being particularly fazed. Against Brentford, he came on at half-time with City leading 2-1 and helped them to victory.

They may be better off without him this season, especially with Gundogan back on the scene, but if we’re looking for meaning in all this chaos, we’re probably better off waiting to see how Rodri’s knee fares.

(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)