Report: Man. City 0-3 Arsenal
Arsenal moved up to second in the Premier League with a brave and relatively ruthless 3-0 win over Manchester City at Eastlands.
In a game that was expected to be a test of both sides’ credentials at the top end of the table, the contest became an uphill struggle for City as Dedryck Boyata saw red after just five minutes, following a professional foul on Marouane Chamakh.
The Gunners did not immediately take advantage of their numerical superiority but were in front after 20 minutes when Samir Nasri played an excellent one-two with Andrey Arshavin to fire past the helpless Joe Hart.
Hart was the hero five minutes before the break though, as at full stretch he managed to keep out a Cesc Fabregas penalty after the Spanish midfielder had been brought down in the area by Vincent Kompany.
City battled valiantly but gaps began to appear in the second half and Alex Song finished emphatically in the 66th minute, before substitute Nicklas Bendtner put the gloss on with a cool effort in the dying stages after being fed through by Nasri.
The momentum all appeared to be with City prior to the match, which was preceded by a memorial service and minute’s applause for their late manager Malcolm Allison.
David Silva could have put Arsenal behind after just 59 seconds if not for a smart save from Fabianski after the Spaniard looked to flick home Tevez’s low cross.
But within five minutes into the match, fortunes perhaps turned in Arsenal’s favour as Boyata was rightly sent off for a last-ditch tackle on Chanmakh who had been teed up by Fabregas.
Even so, Wenger’s men failed to immediately capitalize on their numerical advantage and indeed, City, through the menace of Tevez and Silva, forced a couple of heart-in-mouth moments in Arsenal’s defense before the Gunners grabbed the big goal after 20 minutes.
Nasri continued his recent excellent form as he picked up the ball outside the area on the right, before playing a quick one-two with Arshavin and finishing emphatically past Hart.
Arsenal were then in the ascendancy but almost paid the price after switching off at the other end when the lively Micah Richards raced through to cut inside and hit a left-foot curling effort which flew past the far post.
The opening period continued to be played out in a fiery manner and in the 40th minute the away side were handed a gilt-edged chance to put the game to bed when Kompany brought down Fabregas just inside the area.
The Gunners captain stepped up to take the resulting penalty but was denied by a great save from Hart, who dived to his left and at full stretch managed to get both hands to the ball to keep City in the game.
Mancini made a change at the break as Toure made way for Wayne Bridge, but Arsenal came out firing and Fabregas almost doubled the lead in the 48th minute but instead scuffed his effort straight at Hart from inside the area after good work from Chamakh and Nasri.
Mancini was then forced to make a change as Tevez, who was struggling with a knock in the first half, came off for Adebayor, to an obvious mixed reception from the two sets of supporters.
And the arrival of the Togolese striker lifted the home fans at Eastlands and the team responded in a positive manner.
Fabianski denied Silva with a fine stop in the 57th minute, as the Spaniard drove into the box from the right to poke a shot that was flying into the bottom corner, and from the resulting corner Adebayor had a great chance to pull one back but headed over.
Soon the Gunners had breathing space as Alex Song netted a crucial second in the 66th minute – smashing the ball into the top corner after an unlucky ricochet off Bridge into his path.
A succession of changes saw Tomas Rosicky come on for Arshavin, before Gareth Barry made way for Mario Balotelli. Bendtner and Theo Walcott were then brought on for Chamakh and Fabregas.
The icing on the cake for the Gunners came in the 88th minute when Bendtner produced a lovely finish after beating the offside trap thanks to a nice pass from Nasri.
There was still time for Adebayor to miss a chance and Fabianski to deny Boateng with a fine stop, but the game was already won.
For more of this, join us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Great Arsenal great fabianski great nasri great song
Great victory ! I’m so happy and proud of be a gunner!
BRILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
we(Man city) will get one back in the return fixture…..the match ended as a contest when boyata got sent off.
ohh welll…shite happens.
excelent! at last a scalp in a big match.
who said fabiansky is not world class?????
Nearly everyone, including you probably.
Well said,
the lad is proving himself to be world class,
go gunners
plz shut up n dont jinx him…plz
We do not buy talent,we manufacture it. May the doubting thomases come bak behind the team for greater things to come. Lets keep the fire burning and stop the -ve publicity. Lets now focus on newcastle and maintain the winning mentality. Song and Fabianski have improved. GO U GOONERS!
What has happened to Fabiansky? He looks like a completely new person. If he can keep it up like this than I think Arsenal fans will be feeling very confident about their double Polish goalkeeping team. If he does than Almunia will be sold in January. Now is the time for Szczesny to shine as well. He will get the Carling Cup games and maybe the remaining CL group fixtures as well. If he does well than he can get the FA cup as well and end the season with some ten games to his name
Has wenger instructed our players not to shoot and only score perfect goals? I don’t understand we could have won 5 if only our players have had the gut to shoot. Come on now great gunners we can’t afford to lose points against inferior teams like Wolves.
just 2highlight fabianski’s super reflexes that makes him a very very good keeper…one,his first half save from silva’s flick.alert,aware and good anticipation..two…though in an offside position,of which adebawhore never knew,his reflexes 2keep that out was a joy 2watch..three…with all those bodies infront of him,his save on boateng’s last minute cracker was exceptional and breathtaking..the guy is developing in confidence game by game..i would dare say we’ve seen the last of almunia..LF21 is gunner be world class..after song,diaby,denilson who by the way had a good game today,wenger keeps doing what he is best known for.PROVING ALL OF US WRONG!
Hamad; are u a gunner at heart? What did song and bendtner do if not SHOOTING? Get behind the team and stop runting. When will u ever b happy if not today? Away with u pessimist!
This kind of performance will help Fabiansky go a long way. His self belief and confidence is back and he showed us what he is capable of especially his sharp reflexes. Nasri recent form has been fantastic while our captain Fabregas as usual makes the team ticks. A very good week for The Arsenal winning 5 -1 in the Champion League and now this. Go Arsenal Go!!!
its a close call between cesc , samir and lucus as they were all brill, the whole team played great, well done guys, absolutly FAB
I really proud of being arsenal fan, i told u guys before that this fabianski will be our number 1 in future, Today we saw Great abilitys in him, i hope arsenal and fabianski continue this unbeaten form. Be A Real Gunner.
Great performance by the gunners.This victory will defenately boost our confidence. Up gunners 😀
I remember we had a discussion about who should be the goalkeeper this season, back when Red London had the chat function. I think all the participants of that discussion had given up on Lukasz, and ridiculed me for wanting him between the sticks (of course out of our GKs).
Needless to say Fabianski has played really well the last couple of games and looks a completely different and reliable goalie. Such a difference a little bit of confidence can make. I’m really happy for him and I sincerely hope that he can keep this up.
In the future, please try to get behind the team rather than needlessly blasting the players. Yes, Fabianski had really poor games last season but his confidence was really low and it didn’t help that the fans were so critical. Now he has got a fresh start at the start of this season. I’d like to remind you that people were really critical of Song in 2006/07. And Flamini before that.
While we all are happy with the win today and the performance of the team in general,it would be umwise to overlook the weaknesses which have to be corrected to make the team true championship contenders.The defense,especially the left side is suspect,and that is putting it mildly.Both Clichy and Djourou were ragged in patches, allowing Silva,Tevez and Richards of all people,to run rings around them.I hope this situation will be remedid when Vermalean returns from injury and young Gibbs is given a run.I remain optimistic.