Points shared at the Etihad

Manchester City 1-1 Arsenal

 

 

 

At the final whistle yesterday, Arsenal supporters were experiencing a range of emotions. There was great pride in a fantastic performance at the home of the Premier League Champions as well as the immense satisfaction of watching your side simply refuse to give in and ultimately achieve just reward for their endeavour. Yet there was also a tinge of frustration and disappointment as the Gunners created enough chances to have taken away all three points from the Etihad stadium.

 

Arsenal began the game extremely well, dominating the midfield with their slick one touch passing, manoeuvring the Manchester City players out of position and exploiting the space they had vacated. Santi Cazorla, as ever, was at the centre of the visitor’s attacking play. His vision and range of passing are simply exceptional, enabling the Arsenal attack to flow beautifully along the length of the pitch. Aaron Ramsey, starting the game on the right flank also had a good game, as he continually cut inside to help Arsenal control the middle of the park. Kieran Gibbs had the best chance in the early exchanges, a lofted ball over the top of the City defence, finding the English left back in acres of space in the opposition’s penalty area. However Gibbs lacked composure at the crucial moment and instead of taking a touch and firing on goal, he rashly volleyed the ball across the box and the chance was lost.

 

Sergio Aguero created the home side’s best opportunity, running in behind Jenkinson, before cutting inside and being allowed to shoot on goal as the Arsenal right back failed to apply any pressure on the Argentinian. Fortunately, Vito Mannone was able to parry Aguero’s shot straight to the feet of the Arsenal defence, who cleared the ball. Not to be outdone, the Gunners duly responded, with the impressive Aaron Ramsey sliding the ball through to Gervinho. Bearing down on goal, the Ivorian only needed to take one touch before powering the ball past Joe Hart. Unfortunately, Gervinho’s first touch was absolutely abysmal, enabling Hart to rush out and collect the loose ball. Then in the 25^th minute, Jenkinson highlighted this team’s never say die attitude, as he battled for the ball on the right wing with Joleon Lescott. Although the English centre back was favourite to win this tussle, Jenkinson refused to give in and somehow managed to steal the ball away from him. As he approached the edge of the box, the Arsenal right back showed great awareness, recognising there were no red shirts in the penalty area, he slid the ball back, into the path of Podolski, who blazed the ball high over the bar when he really should have produced better.

 

Although the away side had had the better of the first half exchanges, as half-time approached, City began to come into the game more and more as an attacking force and took the lead in the 40^th minute. A lack of communication in defence resulted in Gibbs needlessly heading the ball behind for a corner, from which Lescott headed home David Silva’s deep delivery. It was an extremely frustrating way to concede, with Mannone caught under the flight of the ball and Lescott running in between two Arsenal players. Up until that point, the Gunners’ defence had continued their fine recent form, with Per Mertesacker particularly excelling. The German had a difficult first season in English football, but his positional play was exceptional yesterday, as he managed to cut out through ball after through ball.

 

At the start of the second half, Roberto Mancini brought on Jack Rodwell in place of Scott Sinclair, in an attempt to curtail Arsenal’s midfield superiority. Although the Gunners were still able to enjoy plenty of possession, they were now finding it more and more difficult to create space in behind City’s midfield and play through them. As the time ticked on, it was clear that Wenger needed to make a change, and so it was with 19 minutes remaining, Wenger decided to bring on Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott in place of Diaby and Podolski. These changes resulted in Ramsey moving into the middle of the park, Gervinho switching to the left flank with Walcott deployed on the right. While the change in personnel was aimed at providing the Gunners with more of an attacking threat, it also opened up the game more, as Arsenal had to commit more players forward in search of an equaliser, making them susceptible to being caught on the counter attack.

 

With the Gunners still struggling to create any real clear cut opportunities, Yaya Toure strode forward ten minutes from time. The Ivorian had options to his left and his right, but as he approached the Arsenal penalty area, he seemed to hesitate before playing the ball to Aguero. This slight hesitation narrowed the angle significantly and the Argentinian, under great pressure from Koscielny, could not steer the ball past Mannone.

 

Arsenal had survived and two minutes later were back on level terms. Santi Cazorla was allowed time and space by the City defence and he duly directed a powerful 25 yard effort on goal. Although Joe Hart was able to get both hands to it, the ball squirmed through and agonisingly sailed over the bar for a corner. Having experienced such misfortune, it would have been easy for the Gunners to simply accept this would not be their day. However this side is brimming with grit and determination. From the resulting corner City were only able to clear the ball to Koscielny, who was ten yards out and without a moment’s hesitation, he rifled the ball into the top corner to restore parity and instigate a ten man pile up in front of the travelling Arsenal fans.

 

It was no less than Arsenal deserved, but within minutes they had nearly thrown it all away. Mannone was forced into a fine save from Vincent Kompany’s overhead kick and Koscielny’s attempted clearance fell straight to Aguero who somehow managed to steer his shot wide. Having escaped this, Arsenal almost stole all three points themselves as Gervinho managed to evade two tackles on the edge of the box but with the goal at his mercy, he blazed his shot high and wide, leaving the Arsenal faithful to ponder what might have been at the final whistle.

 

Arsenal produced an excellent performance yesterday and can take great heart from the fact they dominated large periods of the game at the home of the Premier League champions. The great spirit shown by the side, having fallen behind and the determination to continue to press for the equaliser as the game entered into the final minutes bodes well for the future. Once again the defence were excellent as they managed to keep City at bay for large parts of the game, while the Gunners also won the midfield battle comprehensively. In attack, although Gervinho was guilty of missing several opportunities, his movement up front was excellent as he continually moved along the front line, making it extremely difficult for the City defence to mark him. If he continues in this vein, the Ivorian will be presented with more and more opportunities in front of goal and hopefully improve his composure. While there are many positives to take from this game, you cannot help feel slightly frustrated, as the Gunners played so well but were ultimately unable to take all three points, possibly indicating that they are set to come up short once again. However the fact Wenger brought on Coquelin towards the end of the game highlighted that the manager was content with a point. He can see the bigger picture and at the moment the immediate future certainly looks bright.