Before this game, despite my positive attitude, I was nervous as hell. City were on a good run, we were losing points left and right and the level of our recent performances left a great deal to be desired. Besides, you are always gonna have a hard time fighting top teams with half your squad out. What I saw on the pitch surprised me.
Arsene made one change to the side, replacing Oxlade-Chamberlain with Podolski. It were the Citizens, however, who dominated the first half. Sabaleta wasted a chance after going clean through, Garcia shot just wide and then Silva scored. He had a bit of luck with the goal, though. Podolski lost the ball upfield, City broke, Dzeko was left all to himself and his shot cannoned off the post. Silva happened to be in the way of the rebound and the ball rolled in.
It was a blow, but hardly a surprise. City were by far the better side and their goal, however much of an accident it looked, came on the back of a dominant opening period.
We tried to muster a response and, to our credit, I can't say City had clear-cut chances to extend their lead during the first half. We were unable to make it count, as our only opportunities boiled down to a distance effort from Giroud and a penalty shout when Rosicky was tripped in the box. Looked a penalty to me, but Dean had other ideas. Oh, there was also a goal from Flamini, rightly disallowed for offside.
Arsenal stepped the tempo up in the second half and scored almost immediately after the restart. Giroud held the ball up on the left, worked it back into midfield, a short interchange led to a low cross from Podolski and Flamini was on hand to send the ball home. His celebration was even better than the goal itself and it was the least the Frenchman deserved after a hard week.
Spurned on by the equaliser and urged on by the home crowd (I've never heard anything close to such support) Arsenal could have gone ahead just minutes later. Podolski found himself on the end of a great move, but his goalbound effort hit Hart's heel on the way in and deflected for a corner.
Cazorla then went close to putting us ahead, but Hart saved with his legs.
Smelling blood, Arsene threw Oxlade and Sanogo on (for Podolski and Giroud respectively) and these two nearly nicked a winner in the dying moments, only for the Englishman's overhead kick to be blocked by one of the defenders.
For all this effort City only had a good cross and a distance Fernandinho shot to show. In the end, the game ended with teams level, which was probably a fair result. Arsenal looked the better team in the second half, but our inability to conjure up more chances was what made the difference.
This is what Arsene said on the result:
"We were a bit nervy at the start, insecure in our attitude by our last two results. But when even we when we were 1-0 down you could see the team was ready for a fight and we controlled the second half, we controlled the first 20 minutes and overall in the first half maybe they had another chance, in the second half we had a second chance. We could have won it in the second half but overall it was a game of quality between two good teams and the game was played with a great spirit on both sides".
This basically sums it up. Poor in the opening minutes, clawed our way back before the half-time whistle and could have won it in the second half. We didn't, which means our title bid is effectively over, but the main thing about this game was to show our grit and restore our pride and we did just that. Well done everyone, now we get a week to get ready for the clash against Everton and maybe get back some of the walking wounded. We're gonna need them.
Until later
Arsene made one change to the side, replacing Oxlade-Chamberlain with Podolski. It were the Citizens, however, who dominated the first half. Sabaleta wasted a chance after going clean through, Garcia shot just wide and then Silva scored. He had a bit of luck with the goal, though. Podolski lost the ball upfield, City broke, Dzeko was left all to himself and his shot cannoned off the post. Silva happened to be in the way of the rebound and the ball rolled in.
It was a blow, but hardly a surprise. City were by far the better side and their goal, however much of an accident it looked, came on the back of a dominant opening period.
We tried to muster a response and, to our credit, I can't say City had clear-cut chances to extend their lead during the first half. We were unable to make it count, as our only opportunities boiled down to a distance effort from Giroud and a penalty shout when Rosicky was tripped in the box. Looked a penalty to me, but Dean had other ideas. Oh, there was also a goal from Flamini, rightly disallowed for offside.
Arsenal stepped the tempo up in the second half and scored almost immediately after the restart. Giroud held the ball up on the left, worked it back into midfield, a short interchange led to a low cross from Podolski and Flamini was on hand to send the ball home. His celebration was even better than the goal itself and it was the least the Frenchman deserved after a hard week.
Spurned on by the equaliser and urged on by the home crowd (I've never heard anything close to such support) Arsenal could have gone ahead just minutes later. Podolski found himself on the end of a great move, but his goalbound effort hit Hart's heel on the way in and deflected for a corner.
Cazorla then went close to putting us ahead, but Hart saved with his legs.
Smelling blood, Arsene threw Oxlade and Sanogo on (for Podolski and Giroud respectively) and these two nearly nicked a winner in the dying moments, only for the Englishman's overhead kick to be blocked by one of the defenders.
For all this effort City only had a good cross and a distance Fernandinho shot to show. In the end, the game ended with teams level, which was probably a fair result. Arsenal looked the better team in the second half, but our inability to conjure up more chances was what made the difference.
This is what Arsene said on the result:
"We were a bit nervy at the start, insecure in our attitude by our last two results. But when even we when we were 1-0 down you could see the team was ready for a fight and we controlled the second half, we controlled the first 20 minutes and overall in the first half maybe they had another chance, in the second half we had a second chance. We could have won it in the second half but overall it was a game of quality between two good teams and the game was played with a great spirit on both sides".
This basically sums it up. Poor in the opening minutes, clawed our way back before the half-time whistle and could have won it in the second half. We didn't, which means our title bid is effectively over, but the main thing about this game was to show our grit and restore our pride and we did just that. Well done everyone, now we get a week to get ready for the clash against Everton and maybe get back some of the walking wounded. We're gonna need them.
Until later