Arteta sinks City

Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City

Arsenal produced a magnificent display yesterday to re-claim third place in the league and effectively end Manchester City’s hopes of winning the title. The Gunners were absolutely fantastic, so much so , it was hard to believe that this was the same side who had been so abject the week before in their 2-1 loss away at Queens Park Rangers. Although Yossi Benayoun was brought into the starting line up to replace Aaron Ramsey, the main difference between the two games, was the way Arsenal’s players approached yesterday’s game.

From the very first minute it was evident that the home side wanted to right the wrongs of the previous game, where they had been listless and their desire had been found wanting. The Gunners completely dominated City as they fought for every ball in the heart of the midfield and moved it around the pitch quickly and with purpose as they created chance after chance. During the first fifteen minutes in particular, Arsenal hemmed City back in their own half and simply refused to allow the visitors to cross the half way line. Alex Song, a few stray passes aside, was absolutely magnificent as he controlled the midfield, flying into tackles to win back possession and completely nullifying any threat from the utterly useless Samir Nasri. The Frenchman’s £24million price tag now just looks ridiculous and the Emirates crowd delighted in making him aware of this as they continually chanted “What a waste of money!”

It wasn’t just Song, the whole team put in an excellent performance, Benayoun worked tirelessly on the left wing, Rosicky continued his fine recent form, while Arteta pulled the strings in the middle of the park. Then there was the defence who between them did not allow City even one clear cut chance on goal. As an entire unit the Gunners were just too good and too strong for the richest club in the world. Yet all the while the home side dominated they just could not seem to find the back of the net, with every glorious opportunity missed, the feeling grew that this would not be our day. Robin Van Persie was denied in the first half, when his goal bound header was somehow cleared off the line by Vermaelen and then in the second half another header by the Dutchman hit the post, with Joe Hart beaten all ends up. On reflection Van Persie had so much time and space in the box, he could have brought the ball down before rifling it past the England goalkeeper. The Premier League’s leading goal scorer did have the ball in the back of the net moments later but his effort was ruled out after he had narrowly strayed offside. This proceeded the miss of the game, which left most of the crowd open mouthed, arms on their heads as they were left unable to comprehend just how Arsenal were still not in the lead.

A low ball into the box had found Theo Walcott, whose first time shot across the goal was well saved by Hart. However as the ball hit the post it fell straight into the path of Vermaelen. With a gaping open goal, it seemed all the Belgian had to do to score, was make contact with the ball, yet with the Emirates ready to erupt, Vermaelen somehow slipped as he struck the ball, slicing his effort across the goal where a combination of Hart and Kompany managed to deny Benayoun a simple tap in. As one we all turned to the big screens to see the replay as we all tried to comprehend why we hadn’t seen the net bulge. As the time wore on, it appeared all the more likely that the game would end in a frustrating draw or worse, as had happened in their Carling Cup encounter, a lone City attack which would win them the game. Yet with only four minutes of the match remaining, all our fears were allayed. Mikel Arteta stole the ball from David Pizarro, the City defence ran towards him, looking to close down the Spaniard as he shaped to shoot. However their efforts were in vain, as Arteta’s wonderful strike flew past Hart and into the bottom corner to send the Emirates wild. All the pent up frustration which had built up throughout the game was removed in one glorious moment. The home crowd celebrated by performing their own version of City’s famous celebration the Poznan and then asking “Nasri, what’s the score?”

 In the dying minutes Mario Balotelli earned a second yellow card and his marching orders, for yet another foul on Sagna, although the Italian should have been sent off in only the 20^th minute following a horrendous challenge on Song. Then with barely seconds remaining Arsenal broke in the search for a second, killer goal. The ball was fed through to Ramsey who had Oxlade-Chamberlain and Van Persie screaming for the pass which would set up a tap in for them. However the Welshman passed up this opportunity and instead decided to shoot on goal himself, wildly blazing his effort high and wide of goal. Luckily for Ramsey, the final whistle soon followed.

Arsenal’s performance yesterday was magnificent, enabling the fans to forget about the horror show at QPR. However the Gunners cannot now sit on their laurels in their next game away to Wolves. Despite their recent poor form, Wolves are a team who are fighting for their lives and Arsenal will have to earn the right to play. This fantastic victory will mean nothing if the Gunners do not consolidate it with another win at Molineux.