Man City held by Arsenal
Written By: Robert Halter
Reigning Premiership champions Manchester City had got off to an unbeaten start in the league as they defended their title but visitors Arsenal to the Etihad Stadium, had also yet to taste defeat ahead of their Super Sunday showdown but with the Citizens still reeling from a 3-2 loss at Real Madrid in a midweek UEFA Champions League encounter, the Gunners were buoyed by a 2-1 away win at Montpellier on the same night. In the thirteenth minute, Vito Mannone was tested in the Arsenal goal with a stinging low strike by Sergio Aguero, who had been put free by a Gael Clichy through ball. Two minutes later, Gervinho over ran the ball, after Aaron Ramsey had cleared the path but Joe Hart was on hand to collect. On thirty three minutes, Santi Cazorla gave Hart an easy save to make from a free kick following the Blues captain Vincent Kompany’s foul on Ramsey. Two minutes later, Gervinho drove a shot against the side netting from a Ramsey pass, as the Gunners pressed again. But it was City that got the breakthrough on thirty eight minutes when Mannone failed to deal with a David Silva right wing corner and Joleon Lescott deceived the Arsenal defence with a looping header that sent the ball high into the net. The Citizens mounted further pressure on the Gunners goal within two minutes, when Aguero spread the ball out to Edin Dzeko, whose fizzing shot from long range curled just over the bar after a slight touch by Mannone. Four minutes into the second half, a careless foul by Gunners captain Mikel Arteta on Dzeko, gave Silva the chance to float in a free kick that Laurent Koscielny was unable to clear, and from a tight angle, Aguero fired over. On sixty five minutes, Cazorla found Gervinho in space but he miss cued wide of the target. When Yaya Toure tore into the Arsenal defence in the seventy ninth minute, it took an instinctive save by Mannone to keep out Aguero’s fierce strike at goal. But at the other end of the field, Arsenal reacted with a cracking shot by Cazorla that was acrobatically tipped over by the agility of Hart. Although the Citizens were back to all square, when from Cazorla’s corner, Lescott’s failed clearance fell to Koscielny, who blasted the ball into the top right hand side of the goal for an equaliser in the eighty second minute. City mounted another attack moments later when Kompany’s over head kick produced a dynamic save by Mannone and from Koscielny’s mistake, Aquero drove the rebound wide. Although in the end, both Manchester City and Arsenal had to settle for a point apiece as spoils were shared following an evenly contested 1-1 draw.