Arsenal – Manchester City Match Thread

Boring, boring Citeh. Enough said.

In other news, I recently got into a very interesting debate with my brother. From a neutral point of view, if both teams had the perfect day(no injuries, full fitness, etc.), who do you think would win: Real Madrid or Arsenal? And why do you think who would win?

c'mon, what was the answer! from your borther.
IMO I d say Arsenal (underline no injuries, so TV5, Djourou, RVP, Ramsey, Theo, etc ect?

or no injuries, i was thinking with Benzema up top not way they gonna score

Haha my brother said Real Madrid.

A draw

Have to take the good with the bad.

I continued to use my reverse jinx betting strategy against big teams but this time we only got a draw. Interesting sidenote - I bet just before the game for a ManC win and the odds were 5.3 which I thought was really on the high side; the bettors seem to like our team a lot.

As for the game, fantastic 1st half and decent 2nd half. Djorou was immense (allergic to losing headers?) and our team defending was excellent - often Tevez & Co easily got past the 1st man but there was always someone to cover. It's a shame we were on the bad end of variance today considering 3 points would've been vital but I'm glad that the team played so well and especially Walcott, despise his poor decision making in their half, was immense defensively. 9/10 times we win this game.

I've tried in the past to semi-defend Arshavin. But I don't know that I can anymore. After he went on for Walcott, instead of bringing more running and pace, he brought a ton less. Aren't subs supposed to have the energy to run all over the place for 15 or 20 minutes? It was just sick. I think I'm done with him. Leave Theo on for 90 minutes in situations like this, please.

I thought bringing on Arshavin on a high intensity game like this was, frankly, stupid. Threatened our right side much more. Chamakh should have come on instead.

I heard Juvnetus wanna buy him, i will give them some of my money to help them with the Transfer fee

Man, what a disapp...a draw with a taste of defeat as we say over here.

And Sagna sent off....ouch.

So now we must win everything but even if we do, if Manu also does, it stays put, at best 2nd place because we have a game in hand vis à vis City...but those 2 ManU has vis à vis us..hurts.

1) The positive thing is we did not lose
2) @THeo14 you say you like Arshavin when inform do thing Wenger should had brought him on of left Walcott on.
3) I think we should take a book out of ManCity book and play defensive against the Big teams cause i don't think they have loss to any as yet besides us and that probably
because they were on 10 men
4) That Wigan game was real important and we blew it ha, Just home we win the league cup

all valid points, granted, I will focus on 1) :) its better for my spirit.

Hard to beat a team that has was basically playing 8 players back. Needed someone like Chamakh on to give us that extra option when them crosses were coming in.

I'm gonna write up the review. Keep calm people it's not the worst thing ever ok?

Yeah you are right.

I look fwd to your report, and ratings (pleaaaseee, pretty pleeeaaasseee).

A draw isnt bad, taking into consideration that we beat them at home and they were in form lately, I could have seen a defeat/ revenge coming. The bad thing is maybe that we really wanted those 3 points.

What about a report and a review/ pre view, looking at what we have in front of us, stats and probabilities; compared to City and Manu (and I d say also Spurs and Chelsea, I dont rule them taking more points and fighting)

Yeah but that was sooo frustrating- the team was great out there but the post and Hart denied us a well-deserved victory :/

Hart only made one good save from RVP to the upper corner. All our other shots were wide or straight at his chest. I know that with the other results from tonight, this draw doesn't really change anything, but we SHOULD have won this game. Toure and Kompany were impenetrable tonight and really the only thing that prevented us from winning. Oh to still have Toure in our side....The one positive I take from this game is that even with the insane amount of talent and money in the Man City team, they were so terrified of us that they played, yet again, for the draw and didn't even try to score a goal for fear of us tearing them to shreds. Which, to be fair, we still did in the first half and should have put the game beyond them in 20 minutes had it not been for bad luck/poor finishing.

Most frustrating match ever. Hart best keeper in the EPL, no doubt.

I agree that Hart is good, but we didn't put him to work very much, did we? (Remember his performance opening day against Spurs?) We spent the whole game camped on the edge of their box, but couldn't get through. The most frustrating match of the season.

I will agree that midway through the 2nd half, we lost tempo and therefore Hart wasn't tested as much. But the saves he made were absolutely stunning. The team should see this as 2 points lost, and come back guns blazing against Ipswich and Leeds.
Also, it's probably good we got 4 points out of City early on- Dzeko has reportedly completed a medical and a Silva-Tevez-Dzeko partnership would be absolutely deadly.

If only we had that goal at 1:20! Great effort on our part, negative play from City. Four points on the season from them isn't bad.

Well... Man Utd is happy at all of this. Ugh.

Sagna got sent off with Zabaletta... for a head butt after the tackle... both players playing with 10 men...

I also follow Napoli, and all I can think is where is Edinson Cavani? We need a 93rd-minute cannon for the win...

Brian in Brooklyn

true, Van had a good shot because he missed he stop shooting

Ah, well done, Sagna. He's had a good game, but that was just stupid.

Bad decision by the ref there on both players. But dumb by Sagna too. That loss will hurt a bit.

I agree with Steve McManaman, our system isn't working, and putting Bendtner out wide on the left is a really wasteful move.

How was the system not working? Arsenal was dominate and were unlucky to lose. Hard to argue with not wanting to change the shape of the team when so dominate.
It's so easy to look at the result and moan 'should've done this, should've done that. Had to figure we would break through eventually, but luck was against us.
That's how the game goes.

We were unlucky to not score in the first half. In the second half we created fewer chances, I thought. The big 0-0 means our system wasn't working, if the intent of any system is to create actual goals. I'm not saying we should have switched to a 4-4-2, but if the only changes to be made were personnel, then Wenger failed. Arshavin created nothing, and Bendtner was wasted out wide.

Just because you didn't score, doesn't mean the system wasn't working. Arsenal created many chances in the 1st half and should've scored. the 2nd half they dominated as well, created alittle bit less. ManCity sat very deep and thus rendered Walcott fairly useless, as he was never going to get behind anymore, rendering him expendable. Arshavin on for Walcott was completely understandable, especially when you consider Arshavin's talent and control, and Walcott's lack of close control.
Bendtner could've gone more central, I agree, but I do find it hard to argue with a system that is dominating the opposition all over the pitch and game (except on the scoreboard).

Not scoring is one indicator that the system isn't working. Few real chances (in the second half) is another. I agree that in close quarters Arshavin wasn't a bad idea, but his performance demonstrated that it wasn't a great choice in the end. Putting Bendtner out wide should have led to a change in tactics, but sticking him out wide and staying with the system meant the system was less effective.

Just looking at the score and coming to a conclusion is simple wrong. The score is very often not indicative of the whole game, just the end result. There can be a million reasons why a team failed to score.
If you agree putting Arshavin into the game wasn't a bad idea, then wasn't it simply a tactical substition that didn't come off, not simply a poor choice? We can all look bad and critisize, but that's unfair. At the time, it was a very understandable substution, and sadly, didn't work the way Wenger was expecting.
And Bendtner, I agree with you there. Might as well have put him centrally. I think Wenger was loathe to lose the battle in the middle of the pitch. But yea

I'm not saying just look at the scoreline. Look at the scoreline, chances created, etc.

Yea the formation should have change to a 4-4-2

Argh. Bendtner on for Jesus Jack. 83rd minute.

Man am I suffering...

....Why is Arshavin coming on for Walcott??? Chamakh for RVP would have made much more sense!!

Johnson on for Jo. Weird that he didn't start.

And am glad he did not lol

van Persie with a scorcher, great save from Hart. I feel like we'll be undone by a shit City goal.

Yep, another day and we're up 3-0. Let's hope Adam Johnson doesn't do any trouble.

Van Persie is sucking...please sub!

Djourou exposed a bit.

HT, 0-0. Route one football, all Arsenal save for one or two City counters. If we can keep the focus and tempo into the 2nd half, we're clear winners.

Route one? We're passing on the ground all over the pitch, with an occasional long ball to Theo.

Maybe I used the wrong term. I mean route one as in all of the play is going in City's pitch. One route, perhaps?

Too often football journalists rely on stock phrases to convey fairly complex situations, but in this case I think route one is a useful and apt description of the long-ball style.

Stock phrases that describe the first half would be "one-way", "all Arsenal", etc. It's a ridiculously simple profession, sports journalism.

Why cant we get lucky its been all of us

We are playing at an extremely high tempo. It's a travesty the game is still 0-0

Oh my God, I am waiting for a party to negotiate..I am sending a quote to an important client...and I am biting my nails off i hardly have any fingers left...

I know, nobody cares..but it feels like if I write it here someone else will their feelings as well ,)

It's been all us so far, pretty unlucky not to have two goals.

OHHH MY GOD...... Fab and Theo heartbreak...

What happened??
People comment! Man I hate the fact that I suck in Twitter...are you guys following any twitter for this game.-.?

Cesc hits an absolute stunner which beats Hart but hits the post, then Walcott unleashes a cannon that also hits the post on the rebound, but Walcott was off-side

Heart attack stuff!!!!!

From what i've seen, numerous chances for us that Hart and bad luck have prevented us from scoring. We're pressuring on the entire pitch, which is great, and City is making a lot of mistakes. feeling great so far.

Thanks for your great work on this blog. It's unbelievably appreciated.

We're looking excellent early on. A couple of near goals. Hopefully our first goal is coming soon.

Time to get our groove on.

Never thought I'd read the name 'DaMarcus Beasley' in a match thread for a huge Arsenal match. Unbelievable research. Thanks for all your work on this blog, I really enjoy it.

Yeah, I think we dont mention it enough!

No problem. I follow a few stats tweeters on the twitter who give helpful nuggets before games. Thanks for reading!

Isn't he a basketball er playing for Minnesota Timber-wolves

Jack Wilshere: Top Man.

Shame Balloteli can't see him perform today

hEHEHE, I think Ballobelly didnt want to meet him so he wouldnt have to shake his hand..after Jacky's classy answer thats all he had left to do!

Not watching the game, so appreciate any comment...again, my shoulders feel heavy..

Well we're dominating play so far, and have had a few near goals. But as long as it's 0-0, I'm nervous about it.

Thx dude. Feels good up to a certain point, but like you say..its still nerve wrecking..

A big shout out to Adebayor, wherever he is.

Theo is going to tear it up.

You Done know

Who say Hatrick

Come on you rip-roarers.

Welcome back Kolo and Paddy! Hope you have a terrible game today! Love ya!

Come on, Arsenal!