Arsenal 4 Money City 2
Arsenal 4 Money City 2
Silvestre (41), Diaby (50), Song (66), Bellamy (80), van Persie (81), Zabaleta (82)
By Aashish Siwan
My FIFA 10 score? City wish. That of course is the yellow card count. The score, well we kept a clean sheet, and Money City did the same. This match ended up being a storm in a tea cup really, with this guys much awaited return to the Emirates failing to live up to expectations (mine and a few other gooners no doubt).
Robin van Persie started with Arsenals 65 year old centre back paring of Campbell and Silvestre but Mancini benched @debayor. His absence took the sting off the first 45 and gooners waiting to let @debayor know exactly what they thought of him, were kept on hold.
The opening 45 was as dead as Wayne Bridges leg and Bridge was subbed on the 27th minute. The half also saw Theo fall and hit his head on the turf pretty hard, Campbell end up in City’s goal (without the ball), Nasri put clean through by van Persie only to incorrectly be denied by a very late flag, Paddy go clean through on goal only for Campbell to put an a fantastic last ditch tackle, Paddy take on Song, Paddy take on Diaby, Paddy take on Song and Diaby, Paddy take on the ref and Paddy kick out at and elbow an on song Song (that’s ok Paddy, you can have ONE free go. Everyone else is kicking our players, why shouldn’t you join in too?). Dare I say it, Paddy was made to show his age by much younger opponents.
Nasri sent van Persie clear as early as the second minute, only for Toure (the City captain) to get a block in as van Persie tried his best with this “chocolate leg”. Sagna headed wide form the resulting corner. City parked the bus in front of their goal for the rest of the football match, looking to hit us on the counter, though their opportunities were few and far between and any that did arise, Campbell and Silvestre dealt with comfortably.
Meanwhile Walcott shot wide and Nasri saw his effort in the hands of Given. Nasri failed to get to the end of a marvelous van Persie cross. Nasri had no chance (easily out muscled and short in height) against Kompany but Bendtner would have faired much better. Just before halftime, Bellamy put Viera clear only for Campbell to put in a well timed last ditch challenge (so good was this moment that I just had to mention it twice). That’s about as exciting the first half got.
Then came the moment we’d all been waiting for. Mancini finally decided to make a game of it and subbed Paddy for @adebayor in the 52nd minute. Paddy got a rapturous farewell while @debayor met a chorus of boos and was jeered with his every touch. Up until then, @debayor and his new hair style tried hard to make @debayor’s return to the Emirates a welcome one. Soon after, Bellamy managed to get on Song’s nerve, as only Bellamy can, and the handbags were out. Campbell interrupted and for a second I thought he was going to floor Bellamy. A man can dream can’t he?
@debayor’s introduction seemed to liven up City. They started to press, but it was Rosicky who tested Given at the other end. With 20 minutes left, Eboue came on for Walcott and Bendtner for Rosicky. Diaby barged his way though the City midfield, as only Diaby can, and let fly. This was probably the first shot in anger from any one of the 20 outfield players. His shot was low and destined for the bottom right-hand corner, only for Given to make a smart save. This save came at a cost as Given injured his shoulder trying to stop the gunners for taking the lead. Play was stopped for some time while the medics attended to the fallen City keeper.
City’s mega million dollar attack force still failed to conjure up a decent threat and the defensive work of Song had a lot to do with that, breaking up play and even driving Arsenal forward whenever he could. Robin van Persie managed to pick up a booking for what the ref deemed a harsh challenge on @debayor. Come on ref, I said to myself, that doesn’t even compare to what @debayor left van Persie with at Eastland in September 2009.
Arsenal had a chance when Zabaleta fouled Eboue. Now, normally we’d expect van Persie to put all his power behind his set-pieces (especially if the free kick is from 25 yards out) but he opted for a clever chip, which nearly paid off.
The match officials added eight extra minutes on during which Bendtner nearly fashioned himself a shot at goal, but the City defenders dealt with him.
The match ended goalless. We kept a clean sheet but we couldn’t score either. I have a feeling that Fabianski needed just this to boost his confidence. He completed the match without an error and comfortably dealt with whatever little City had to offer that went beyond Campbell, Silvestre and Song.
All in all, we managed to stop the 3 match loosing streak, while claiming a moral victory over City’s millions. We have dented their chances of fourth (although City seemed they were only interested in one point out of the match) and much will depend on when the two suitors to the fourth spot meet. The point taken from the game means that we are pretty much guaranteed third spot.
I was hoping to have a bit more (match action) to write about, but that’s as much I could get out of the match.
Meanwhile, in Jack Wilshere related news, Jack Wilshere created a goal for Bolton in their 2-2 home draw with relegated Portsmouth and in Cesc related news, Cesc has lost out on the PFA player of the year, which Rooney took out and the PFA young player of the year, which went to James Milner. How Milner got more PFA votes then Cesc, I don’t know, but there you go.
Up next, we travel to Big Sam’s place and say good day to Mr. Ryan Nelson, who scored with his knee in his last match. We could have done with a knee to the ball that ended up in the back of the net (yep, I know how that sounds and am sticking with it).
Player of the match (for me): We’ve only got one song Song and most improved must be Fabianski, for not making a single error, not that they City attack force tested him much.
