Manchester City vs Arsenal: 5 talking Points

Even though it was Arsenal and Manchester City that faced off in the Sunday night showdown, it was Chelsea fans who were celebrating after the match, as Arsenal defeated City away at the Etihad 2-0 and helped Chelsea extend their lead at the top of the table by 5 points.In a match that saw both sides starting off cautiously, Arsenal took the lead in the 24th-minute from a Santi Cazorla penalty, after Nacho Monreal was fouled by Vincent Kompany inside the penalty box. Even though City started the second half positively and really threatened to score, Arsenal improved their lead following a set-piece situation in the 67th minute, with Oliver Giroud calmly nodding in Cazorla’s delightful cross as the City defence watched on. In spite of City playing with 3 forwards towards the end of the match, Arsenal held onto their lead as well as the clean-sheet and secured 3 valuable points.Here are 5 talking points from the game:

#1 Cazorla emerges from Sanchezs shadows

Cazorla nets Arsenal’s 1st goal with a penalty

Alexis Sanchez’s scintillating form this season has meant that much, that his teammates contributions have been gone unnoticed. One man, who has been consistently delivering good performances yet has been an unsung hero is Santi Cazorla. Ever since Ozil has been out injured, Cazorla has been moved to a more central role and has been performing admirably.

Against City, he was just unstoppable. Even as Sanchez got pretty much locked up by an impressive Zabaleta, Cazorla ran rampage through the middle and gave the likes of Fernandinho and Fernando a very hard time. Cazorla completed a total of 10 successful dribbles in the match and had a passing accuracy of 91.5%, a clear indication of how easy he was on the ball. What made Cazorla’s performance even better was his defensive contribution. Cazorla completed 2 important tackles, made 2 clearances, 1 block and 3 interceptions and was easily the Man of the Match.

#2 Coquelin is the answer to Arsenal\'s defensive midfield woes

Coquelin celebrates after the match

Defensive midfield is one position on the ground that Arsenal have failed to fill in since he departure of Patrick Viera. The fans have been vocal every transfer window about bringing in a defensive midfielder and with Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta not up to the task, Wenger was under a lot of pressure to bring in a defensive midfielder this winter.

But things seemed to have changed as Francis Coquelin has done a remarkable job in the position ever since being brought back from his loan spell at Charlton Athletic. Against City, Coquelin showed a lot of attitude and character and made a whopping 11 clearances, 1 block and 6 interceptions and made 2 successful tackles during the match, thus providing solid cover to an Arsenal backline that has looked vulnerable several times this season.

Although it might be too early to pass a final judgement, it seems like Arsenal might have found the perfect man for the defensive midfielder role in their own backyard.

#3 Arsenal finally has a Plan B

Mertesacker organizing the defense

As one of the commentators mentioned during the match, Arsene Wenger finally had a Plan B. The usual Arsenal way of playing emphasizes mostly on attack with quick movements and a lot of players committing forward and even though it is attractive to the eyes it never produced the necessary results, especially against stronger sides that could break down their attack and hit them on the counter.

Against Manchester City, Arsenal was happy to stay deep in their own half and looked really compact, especially in the first half. The full-backs, Hector Bellerin, and Nacho Monreal checked their forward dashes and never looked at the risk of getting caught out of position. Even the late substitutions by Wenger, sending on Gibbs and Flamini for Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey symbolized a rare defensive approach, which has been missing so far and will now be essential for Arsenal.

#4 Manchester City missed Yaya Toure

City haven’t won a game during Yaya Toure’s absence

There is no denying that Yaya Toure is currently an irreplaceable figure in the City line-up and the game against Arsenal highlighted this once again. City clearly missed the imposing presence of the big Ivorian as neither Fernando nor Fernandinho could replicate his quality both defensively as well as going up front.

Toure has the ability to dictate the midfield as well as make decisive passes forward and also make darting runs into the opposition box himself. Against Arsenal, the Brazilian midfield duo never looked comfortable in possession and lost the ball easily a few times, allowing the likes of Cazorla and Ramsey enough time and space to control the game.

Currently away with the national side for the African Cup Of Nations, Toure is likely miss a couple of matches, and given the fact that City has failed to win all 4 of the matches during his absence, Pelligrini needs to find an immediate solution.

#5 Citys title hopes hang on the balance

Manchester City players look dejected after Arsenal scored their second goal

With the loss, Manchester City trails by 5 points behind league leaders Chelsea who seems to be on a rampage after their 5-0 win over Swansea City on Saturday. City play Chelsea at the Etihad on the 31st of January in what will probably be the most important game of the season and City will need to win that fixture, as a loss for them would open up an 8-point lead for Chelsea, which would be almost improbable to cover up.

Meanwhile, Arsenal is now just 1-point shy of 4th placed Manchester United and seems to be back once again in the run for finishing in the top 4. With a relatively kind run of fixtures and the injury issues slowly clearing up, Wenger would be confident of finishing at least in what has become their favourite position, the 4th place.