Poor decisions prove Gunners undoing

Man City 3-1 Arsenal

A number of poor decisions cost Arsenal dearly on Sunday afternoon as they left the Etihad Stadium empty handed for the second year in succession.

While Arsene Wenger chose to highlight the decision making of the officials as the main reason for defeat, the Arsenal manager must also shoulder some of the blame for a number of bizarre decisions of his own. When the team sheet was released an hour before kick off, the inclusion of Francis Coquelin in place of Per Mertesacker suggested that Arsenal were going to set up with a back four instead of the five which has become customary so far this season. Although the result of Mertesacker suffering from illness, Rob Holding having suffered a slight injury and Debuchy having only recently returned to action after a lengthy period out injured, the decision seemed to make a lot of sense. The back four of Kolasinac, Monreal, Koscielny and Bellerin all had pace to deal with City’s lightening quick forward line and with Coquelin, Xhaka and Ramsey in midfield to provide a more defensive look to this area, Arsenal could conceivably withstand City’s attack and launch counter attacks of their own with Sanchez and Iwobi providing pace up front.

The reality however was somewhat different. As soon as the match began it became clear that Coquelin was actually being deployed in the middle of the back three, a decision which simply did not make any sense. Not only did this mean that Arsenal’s centre midfield of two would be outnumbered by City’s three but also Coquelin is simply not suited to this role. The central defender in a back three is required to be able to pass the ball out from the back and on occasion, if the opportunity presents itself, to also carry the ball out from defence and into midfield. Francis Coquelin is not a player blessed with great passing ability and his performances so far this season in the Europa League and League Cup have only served to cement this view further. The decision to deploy him in this position against a side which is notorious for its high pressing game was therefore rather ridiculous as Coquelin’s decision making and lack of ability to play the right pass at the right time and with the right weight, only served to heap more pressure on his side. 

The fact that Arsenal were largely overrun right up until the point that Wenger finally acknowledged the error of his ways and reverted to a back four by bringing on Lacazette in place of Coquelin only served to highlight just what an error this was. The decision to have Lacazette on the bench rather than in the starting eleven was laughable in itself. Wenger did the same thing away to Liverpool and Arsenal lost 4-0 having failed to register a single effort on target. This time around the team were 2-0 down by the time the Frenchman entered the field of play, but it could easily have been 4 had city not been so profligate in front of goal, while Arsenal had largely posed the same level of attacking threat as they had done at Anfield. Surely a front three of Lacazette, Sanchez and Iwobi, would pose far more threat with their pace than if Ozil were included in place of the Frenchman. Unsurprisingly Ozil offered very little to the side, both from an attacking and defensive sense, letting his manager down once again, but you can be sure that he will start the next league match should he be match fit.

Once Wenger had switched to a back four, Arsenal suddenly sprang into life and began to pose a danger to the home side, with Lacazette looking particularly menacing. The Frenchman’s constant movement alone caused the City defence problems and he took his goal particularly well, collecting a pass from Ramsey before firing an effort in between the goalkeeper’s legs and into the net to reduce the deficit and bring the Gunners right back into the game. At this point in the game it appeared as though Arsenal were the more likely to score the next goal but, having earlier incorrectly awarded City a penalty, the officials intervened once again to take the game completely away from the visitors.

As David Silva collected the ball deep inside the penalty area, the Arsenal defenders stopped as one to catch the Spaniard offside. At the time he appeared to be miles offside, but replays showed that it was a closer call, although still offside. Although the linesman was in line with the play and had absolutely nothing obscuring his view, he inexplicably failed to make the correct decision, deeming Silva to be on side and therefore allowing him to pull the ball back to Gabriel Jesus for the Brazilian to apply the simplest of finishes to seal the victory.

On its own this decision was bad enough but coming off the back of the earlier penalty decision, it was a call that was hard to swallow for Arsenal. The second half was barely five minutes old when Raheem Sterling was sent clear in the Gunners box and Monreal raced towards him in an attempt to apply pressure on the Englishman before he unleashed his shot on goal. Monreal’s challenge was a clear shoulder to shoulder challenge, the like of which is seen time and time again in every game. However, referee Michael Oliver inexplicably decided to point to the spot, affording Sergio Aguero the opportunity to send City two goals clear, making Arsenal’s task all the more difficult.

Petr Cech has never saved a penalty during his time at Arsenal and therefore it was no surprise to see him diving the other way when Aguero struck his penalty. It may be harsh to criticise a goalkeeper for diving the wrong way when facing a penalty, but there is no denying that Cech’s form has not been great this season. The goalkeeper was at fault when City took the lead in the first half through Kevin Debryne, as Cech got a hand to the ball but failed to steer it around the post. Cech did make a good save in the build up and there were also defensive failings which led to the opening goal, but he really should have done better.

After the game the message from the media was largely that City had outclassed Arsenal and shown the gulf between the two sides, almost as though this had been a surprise. City spent in excess of £200 million during the summer transfer window, strengthening the team in key areas. However were it not for the poor decisions of the officials and Wenger, Arsenal may well have left the Etihad having secured a creditable point. Wenger may have bemoaned the questionable decisions of the officials but he must also take a long, hard look at himself.