Man City v Arsenal review – Gritty Gunners grab vital point

Well it was far from Arsenal at our best but at this crucial point of the season it is points and results that matter and somehow Arsenal managed to hold off a determined and dominant Man City to claim the point that all but secures a third placed finish and a Champions League place.

With our north London rivals having lost earlier the door was open for Arsenal to ruin Tottenham´s season by beating them into second place. We also needed a result to confirm our own brilliant record of qualifying for the Champions League, but you would not have known it by the way Arsenal started this game away to Premier League rivals Man City.

Or maybe you would, because there were so many nerves on show from the Arsenal players that we just could not do a thing right and when City took the lead in the 8th minute it had been coming from the start and the ball had hardly been in the City half.

We then got a massive gift from the home team who were clearly feeling the nerves themselves. Clichy had nearly scored an own goal with a bizarre back header that beat Hart but just crept past the post but from the corner Giroud broke his goal drought with a well placed header after Mangala gave him the freedom of the box from the resulting corner.

The Arsenal injury curse then struck again as Welbeck had to go off with a knee problem and Arsenal struggled to get anything going for the rest of the half. The only good thing about that first 45 minutes was that we were somehow level at the break but we had been second best in every other way.

It was pretty much the same after the break and a brilliant solo effort from De Bruyne put the home side back in the lead, but after that the gunners really dug in and even though we could not get our flowing football going we did produce a moment of magic with Alexis scoring a second equaliser with a massive assist from Giroud.

After that it was all about holding on and Arsenal showed the grit that was required, while riding our luck and the nerves of the Man City players as well. Our subs Walcott, Wilshere and Coquelin all played their part and in the end we sighed a big sigh of relief and got the result.

Tags Alexis Giroud Sanchez welbeck

66 Comments

  1. My pet dog has got more aggression than the whole arsenal squad.

    My pet cat has way more COMPOSURE than the whole arsenal squad.

    My neighbor’s teenage daughter makes smarter decisions than Ramsey and several others.

    A convict knows how to defend his wrong in court better than arsenal defending.

    The rat plaguing my house shows more hunger than arsenal.

    1. The positives:
      1. Good result
      2. A rusty Jack is better than a fit Ramsey
      3. Coming back twice
      4. The performance will not permit Arsene to deceive himself that we are really good enough.

      The negatives:
      _________________________pill in the blank.

      1. Harder to catch Tottenham
        It could be a better result for getting a change in ownership and management

        But this was an OK result for me. Not too good, not too bad

    1. Now tottenham HAVE to lose against Newcastle, who also HAVE to win if they want to have any chance in stealing their biggest rival’s spot outside relegation zone. In other words, it’s Arsenal & Newcastle vs. Tottenham & Sunderland @St.James’ Park.

      1. we have to first hope that Sunderland either draw or lose to Everton midweek to set that up

    2. @sevenitti……..Hahaha…. Tag team championship …… I’m going with Roman reign and the shield

    1. cech should have saved the second goal and may be first one ( according to his standard).same happend in crystal place game he poor on near post all season cech is good for crosses but ospina have great flexiblity to save near post goal

    1. In my eyes 2nd and 3rd position are the same. May be a bit more cash to Kronke’s pocket.

      1. I agree, who remembers the teams that come second, so it is all about guaranteed CL place.

    1. It definitely should be, but if we go say thirty odd minutes without scoring it could become restless or nervy. Giroud played well today but now we need him to bring the same again with Danny sidelined. I think like you it should be in the bag. Villa have nothing to lose and we’re a big scalp, not over til fat lady bracewell sings.

  2. Like always Ramsey and Walcott did nothing on the pitch except wrong passing and being bullied at any contact.Sell them both.

    1. that assist . he is a squad player .
      unique not a first teamer but something different.
      good to have

      1. That’s why I say buy a top CF but keep Giroud as a back-up and sell Walcott instead

      2. that assist is something that 95% of strikers can not do. Not only did he set up Alexis but he took out the defender as well.

  3. Looks like a dog fight between the two Manchester clubs for the last championsleague spot!

    1. weirdly i would prefer city for fourth as i reckon man u will go for alotta players were looking at an our champs league push may sway it.

      but then if they do make top 4 perhaps van gaal gets another season…a win for everyone except them .

      damn its complicated

      1. Yeah, I was thinking that myself. Also Pep with his bag of tricks would now have one big focus ..league domination.

        1. Aa’aaa…..Pep will then have to negotiate Europa cup matches on Thursday,and league matches on weekends, which Spuds I must say, have done extremely well this season…..Still, I dont really care who from manchester qualifies, I just hope MU will not win at West Ham becoz that will guarantee our CL spot, and with that, hopefully the arrival of a new tall pacy centerback, a tall power dm and top quality finisher in the summer…….huhhhhh….(wishing that David Dein is still around instead of the current useless money men in Arsenal board)…..

  4. Some of our players should man up or we get some physical players in the middle of the park. We get bullied easily in matches and we leave spaces a lot for teams to explore. Oh well, maybe the players are already thinking of holiday. Petr Cech there, ending the season for
    Arsenal the way he started.

  5. UCL………UCL……….we are coming!…..couldn’t finish 1st….. But there’s always Top 4

    we have a mission!!! We have a vision!!!
    #UCL#
    #Top4#
    #FinishAboveSpuds#

    1. Why do you want the league so badly now that a promoted Leicester has won it. #Birmingham.

  6. I have a feeling that next season,,we will get better. Otherwise the fans will chew Wenger alive. People will now watch Arsenal n Wenger with a close eye. We really need to sell Walcot n get a hungry winger who can ship in goals. As for Ramsay we no Wenger loves him than his wife.

    1. this window will show his intentions . most of us said when last summer closed he failed an we are top 4 …it came to pass.

      its been that way for a decade all we can do is sit tight an hope for the best…like every season.
      not optimism just positive realism

    1. I said it this week that Cech looks very ordinary,nothing special except his helmet..
      He got his reputation from a defensive team in Chelsea..
      Or would you say Athletico Madrid’s GK is the best in the world bcos he has the highest clean sheet in Europe this season….OoooooSpina! #keepospina

      A good match btw,Giroud really tried today…
      Elneny never stops running..
      Gabriel still unconvincing
      Give Chambers some chance.
      Nice game from Wilshere
      Walcott???????

      1. Last season Ospina stats in PL per 90 minutes played were awesome. For every two goals ospina conceded the likes of hart, de gea and courtois conceded three. All his other stats were better as well, like saves per goal conceded.

        He is too good to sit on the bench so I expect he will leave in the summer.

        Some of his saves for columbia have been awesome.

        1. Ospina does have outstanding reflex and shot stopping ability and have made some ‘gordon bank vs pele’ like saves in his AFC career but he also have one obvious weakness….watch david luiz goal in the world cup against colombia and then watch some of the goals he conceded in the epl and you would know what kind of shots would have a high percentage of beating him….

      2. Cech and Drogba dragged that CL trophy back to che. If Che had of had a Szczezzer in goal, Chelseas defenders wouldn’t have been nearly so calm, and we would’ve seen all sorts of calamities. You underestimate a solid no messing about calming presence to have around. And you overestimate a flashy over exuberant way of doing things. How anyone can believe Cech an ordinary keeper is beyond me. He’s obviously not as sharp as when he had youth on side but hands down he is one of the prems finest. Certainly the best GK we’ve had in an age. I could keep going here but I feel you should know this already. Ospina is decent but he needs to be playing every week to keep on song. Some players can just come into a side and look like they’ve never left it, but I’m not sure Ospina’s one of these players.

        1. Last season Ospina took his chance and immediately impressed and kept his place. According to the stats he was standout keeper on PL. Any player needs to play regularly to maintain form. Our most underrated player on my opinion.

          I watched him in the last WC before he was linked to arsenal and was very impressed. Was absolutely delighted when he signed for arsenal, and said so on here.

  7. Giroud did pretty well today. Scoring a goal (his last goal was in January) and he had an assist today as well and also an assist against Norwich..

    So kudos to Giroud for playing well today. I give it to Him…

    Having said that, We need a mobile striker with skills.

    Um, time to let Walcott go I think. Anyone?

    The love Wenger has for Ramsey. You just can’t beat it.

    Cech, Oh Cech….seems like you dislike low level shot. Got to work on this.

    Better point for Arsenal, not Mancity. Manu has a chance now if they win their remaining two games…Pep might be going to Europa with his new boys. 😀

    1. can u imagine that.

      150 million in one window added to the half a billion squad and pep guardiola in…europa league

      loooool

      crikey guv’nor

    2. Hey muff…….. Pls dn’t talk bout money, else wenger won’t spend!…..money dn’t guarantee trophies he would gloat!

  8. Lol. Walcott’s weak. Someone here once said that he has no footballing brain. I take my hat off for you. Misplaced passes. He rather kicks the ball out in his attempt to go past city’s defenders. Need I say more? Giroud on the other hand trips over his own feet instead of passing the ball to Walcott on the right hand side whilst he was open. Great point though. It’s up to Swansea now. A Swansea win against the Spuds and a victory for Arsenal against Villa will make my season. COYG!!

    1. Hahaha……. “will make ur season” ….huh?

      If u’d been told at the start of the season that u won’t come any closer to the title…… Wondering how u coulda reacted to that

      As 4 me, i knew this was going to be another “worthless” campaign…

      [The moment wenger got Cech and neglected the Outfield- The eye opener]

    2. Theo hasn’t stepped up like a lot had hoped, it isn’t his attributes that fail him, nor his intelligence, it is his lack of fight.

      When Theo has his determined moments (that’s all they are, moments) then we see the potential and it is good to watch, he just isn’t mentally strong enough to take responsibility and as such tends to be quiet in games apart from the odd flicker.

      I’ve been a stout defender of Theo but even I can’t defend keeping someone who is on such a wage but fights so little for the team, he is no longer a kid and this year he should have stepped up.

      Would you swap him for Sturridge?

    3. Beating spuds will not make my season. After the poor performance of manc, manu and chelsea we could and should be champions. We have had numerous opportunities which we have thrown away.

      If we come second it will not alter the fact that we would probably be 12 points behind the winners, leicester. It will not change the many opportunities we have thrown away or the many times we have not responded to a challenges.

    4. The comment about theo Walcott not having a football brain originated from Chris Waddle and was followed up by Aan Hansen back in 2010.

  9. Why isn’t Joel Campbell getting any game time? Did he commit a criminal act or something?

  10. Does anyone else think it was a bit sly of city watering our half of the pitch and leaving theirs slow and dry. De Bruyne’s shot flew off top of surface, I think Quinny was right, Cech would have covered but for that. It was great accuracy all the same. They scored two good goals and we scored a great second equalizer. Fair result in my opinion. Felt bad for Pellegrini, with most city fans not staying late to say good bye’s. Miserable fan base who struck the lotto.

  11. My protest will continue as long as Wenger is in charge. #down with TV ratings!!
    They may hold the Fort within the Emirates but not outside. From Africa, Asia, America, Australia, All around the world, we should boycott watching games on TV. This will force TV ratings to drop.

    #DownArsenalratings

    1. TV rating will not affect Arsenal, we are not La Liga.

      The FA do the TV deal, the clubs get money from the FA for TV, see the issue here?

      FA will show what draws in the numbers, if Arsenal can play ‘pretty football’ and get the neutrals to watch then they will be shown on TV… more games on TV means more potential views.

      Hmm, could be why last 16 in as many comps as we can is more of a target than winning any 1 of them?

  12. If we lose to Aston Villa, manc and manu win, we will be out of CL. A draw will give us third. So we are not there yet.

    Lets hope that Arsenal can at least beat AV at the emirates. After some of our performances this season though, nothing would surprise me

  13. Giroud can not play as the lone CF, he would probably do a lot better in a 4-4-2 where he can link up and feed a CF… Like how he and Alexis linked up for Alexis goal.
    Giroud would probably be a great CF 20 years ago when teams played 4-4-2 more often, players like a young Owen would have thrived feeding of him.

    He isn’t made for Arsenal and we need to get rid of him, although he had a good game today, he hasn’t progressed this season and it wasn’t like he was good enough to regress. If he had a better this season than he had previously then I could at least keep respect for him, could argue that he has progressed each season blah blah… But what a waste of space!

    Ramsey was poor yet again, what happened to the Ramsey a few years ago when he had a fantastic half season? If he could get that form back then I will sing his name again, until then he has become a liability, he had a couple good moments but overall he was too quiet. Sell him while we can still demand some kind of respectable price for a young player that is HG.

    Elneny didn’t have his best of games, shown some good and poor moments, overall he didn’t have enough of a physical presence in CM. I personally think we should have started with Elneny and Coquelin in CM, a pair of fighters. Our CM didn’t stop their CM from controlling the game.

    It would have been nice to see Cazorla come on in Ozils role, there was the risk that he wasn’t match sharp so I shall leave it as a would have been nice to see him.

  14. No CL for Pep. And he didn’t even need a mile to get that out there…..

  15. happy with a point.praying Newcastle do us a huge favour.lets finish strong then we ask serious questions.

  16. nice to see OG get a goal after 15 epl matches without one, but to go down twice at man city only to come back twice is fantastic, especially when city needed it and threw everything at them.. my concern is gabriel, second goal was his fault, also he is a hot head… reckless,

    1. Kos was a hot head when he 1st came, it is taking Gab a bit longer but there is still plenty of good about him, we could do with a commanding CB to make the best out of him I think, like Keown had Adams…

      And Gab is just as ugly as Keown 😛

  17. higuain would have been a great pick up, 3 goals from breaking the all time serie A record….

  18. GRITTY ARSENAL MORE LIKE LUCKY ARSENAL. They were bad second best all day long.

    1. When listening to the commentators after a match, the comments generally follow the results with no account taken of those incidents which could have gone either way, deflection resulting in goal or not etc. A team playing with determination but not at their best and getting a draw will be called gritty. Same situation but lucky deflection resulting in a loss and team will be described a playing poorly and getting the result they deserved.

      We came back twice from being a goal down and that is “gritty”. We needed a draw as a minimum and got a draw. Now a draw at home against aston villa and we have third place and guaranteed CL place.

      Still a poor result and probably 12 points behind Leicester, but the best we can get in the circumstances

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