As expected ahead of this fixture, Arsenal vs. City proved to be a thoroughly entertaining game of football as two teams coached by legendary managers but at different phases in their growth, faced off at the Emirates.
Leroy Sane delivered a crushing blow to the hosts, giving the Citizens a lead just five minutes into the game but Theo Walcott’s strike six minutes before the end of the first half gave voice – and hope - to a lulled home crowd. But Kun Aguero did what he does best, restoring the visitors’ lead going into the break.
Also read: Twitter explodes as Arsenal fans exchange blows after 2-2 draw with Manchester City
Arsenal fought back valiantly in the second half and ten minutes in, Shkodran Mustafi towered over everyone else to score a lovely header and level things for the Gunners.In this piece, we take a look at the five talking points from the game.
#5 Defence a worry for both teams
Both Arsenal and City were short on defensive solidity and their midfield play (or lack of it) only accentuated the trouble for the backline.
On this evidence, it is clearly not surprising the Gunners are struggling at sixth while the team representing the blue half of Manchester is nowhere close to the league leaders.Arsenal were carved open too often. The double pivot of Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin left a lot to be desired in the centre of the park, losing balls for fun and often misplacing passes.
Hector Bellerin – who seems to have lost a yard of pace – was slow to react and catch up with Sane for the opening goal. The hosts’ first strike was a fairly scrappy affair as Walcott was allowed to take a touch, turn and then nutmeg Gaël Clichy who was ball-watching.
Nicolás Otamendi jumped into thin air, clearly missing his man and the ball, while allowing Mustafi time and space to take a good shot for Arsenal’s second.
#4 Entertaining game for neutrals; outcome of interest only to four of the top six
While Arsenal and City fans rue missed chances and some neutrals pity the fact that such an enthralling end-to-end game finished level, a handful of Premier League teams and their fans will welcome this result.
Liverpool, Manchester United, the Gunners’ arch-rivals Spurs and Chelsea will have nothing to complain about after this stalemate – the first three are part of one of the fiercest top four races in recent Premier League history along with the two teams featured in this piece, while the league leaders will appreciate some breathing space after a loss against Crystal Palace yesterday.
While Liverpool deal with teams outside of the top seven in the rest of their games, some of the rest of the top six have to take on each other and fixtures like these could have a say in how things pan out come May.
#3 Wenger’s men show guts and gumption to fight back twice
Five minutes in, in front of a seething, silent home crowd, Arsenal fell behind to Manchester City as Leroy Sane left Bellerin in his wake to put the visitors ahead.
Despite some blatant mistakes, the Gunners fought back as Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck used their strength, stamina and pace to help out the defence as wave after wave of City attack came in.
A few minutes ahead of half-time, Walcott received the ball in the box and stood his ground firmly to take a touch, turn and poke it through Clichy’s legs for the equaliser. Thereafter, the players received serious backing from the stands as the supporters were encouraged by signs of a fightback.
City led again through Aguero’s strike, but the Londoners were cheered on by the fans as they stepped onto the pitch in the second half. The players rose to the occasion – quite literally – as centre-back Mustafi jumped to meet Ozil’s corner and placed the ball into the bottom corner.
The visitors were fast, rampant and often unlocked the Gunners’ defence with little or no trouble. However, despite an injury to Laurent Koscielny ruling him out for the second half, Arsenal refused to be bogged down and a point seemed a fair reward for their spirit.
#2 City and Guardiola will rue the two dropped points
It was a game the Citizens could and should have won, having led twice through Sane and Aguero.
Two goals – one quite scrappy and the other not entirely faultless – were conceded to allow the Gunners back into the game, giving away a point instead of taking away three.
Additionally, they missed a host of scoring opportunities and although David Ospina was kept fairly busy (compared to his opposite number), Guardiola’s men failed to deliver the killer blow.
David Silva, Aguero, Sane, Fernandinho and Sterling all came close but their attempts were blocked/saved/thwarted. In what is proving to be an exciting race for the top four slots this season, such are the games that prove to be 6-pointers against direct rivals. Instead, this one will count as two dropped points.
City were the better team at the Etihad when Liverpool paid them a visit but that ended all square too; another day and another draw is not exactly what they need.
Will these results come back to haunt the Citizens at the end of the season? Only time will tell.
#1 Arsenal in serious danger of missing out on top four
Arsenal are currently sixth in the league table with 51 points and 28 games played while Spurs are second in the table with 62, having played a game more.
Liverpool are third with 59 points but have played 30 games (the most of the current top six), while United – in fifth place – are six points shy of their arch rivals with two games in hand. Manchester City have played as many games as Spurs and are right on Klopp’s men’s tails with 58 points.
Of the current top six, Arsenal are yet to visit Spurs and host Manchester United – with these fixtures slated for the last week of April and first week of May respectively. In addition to this, Wenger’s men host West Ham next before a tricky outing to high-flying Crystal Palace.
It was not only City who missed chances, the Gunners had their share too. Walcott came closest as his chip went just over the crossbar while Sanchez, Ozil and Iwobi were all guilty of not doing enough when presented with opportunities to score a winner.
There is a serious threat of the Londoners finishing outside of the top four for the first time in over two decades under Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman will have to dig deep to galvanise this side if they are to harbour any hopes of finishing this season on a relative high.
With 8-10 games to go for each of the teams, the business end of the season surely promises to be a feast. Manchester United are the only team of the six currently engaged in European competition and all the others except Liverpool will also have FA Cup distractions to contend with.
Will the current top four finish the season as is? It is going to be a nail-biting finish, this one!
