Plucky Arsenal Survive First Big Test But Not Unscathed
As if that wasn’t enough, with seven minutes left to play, zonal marking’s weakness was brought to the fore again, as we surrendered our lead from a set piece. Kolarov’s ball in found Demichellis in acres of space, a free header, despite being one of only four City players in the box. His header was excellent and though Szczesny got fingertips to the ball, it went in off the post. I’m pretty incredulous as to how we let him have a free header with our entire team in the box, we had enough people back to have two men on each man and still have people on the posts. Surely one of our eleven players could have attacked the ball and at least pressured Demichellis on the header, but no, we stood and watched the points slip through our fingers and it nearly galvanised City into finding a winner, as Kolarov struck the post and then Koscielny nearly scored an own goal, diverting the ball onto the post too. Dzeko had the best chance to win it, clean through against Szczesny, but the keeper came out on top and Samir Nasri’s follow up was ruled out for offside. In the end we were a little lucky to escape with a draw.
A mixture of positives and frustrating mistakes, but probably our most positive performance of the season so far. Both teams had a few players missing and in the end, a draw was a fair result considering that both teams had a number of clear chances. There is a certain amount of disappointment that we couldn’t lay down a marker with a win and we are already six points behind Chelsea. We have to start picking up some wins and Aston Villa away next week looks a really important game if we want to gain some momentum for the season. But before that, Dortmund away looms and with the home side in the middle of something of an injury crisis, we have a golden opportunity to win our most difficult group stage tie.
Teams
Arsenal (4-3-3)
Szczesny, Debuchy (Chambers 81’), Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal (Y), Flamini (Y) (Arteta 95’), Ramsey, Wilshere, Alexis (Y), Özil, Welbeck (Chamberlain 88’)
Subs
Ospina, Chambers, Gibbs, Arteta, Chamberlain, Podolski, Cazorla
Man City (4-2-3-1)
Hart, Zabaleta (Y), Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy, Fernandinho (Y) (Kolarov 77’), Lampard (Y) (Nasri 45’), Navas, Silva, Milner, Aguero (Y) (Dzeko 67’)
Subs
Caballero, Sagna, Mangala, Kolarov, Nasri, Dzeko, Sinclair
Player Ratings
Szczesny - 7/10 - Made some important saves to ensure we got a point
Debuchy - 7/10 - Another solid game until he wrecked his ankle
Koscielny - 7/10 - Mostly solid, kept Aguero quiet, but could have done more for their second
Mertesacker - 7/10 - Generally a solid performance
Monreal - 7/10 - Again, solid, although slightly culpable for the first
Flamini - 6/10 - Did some good, some bad, really poor for their first goal
Ramsey - 6/10 - Not looking the same player, maybe not quite fit following his ankle knock
Wilshere - 8/10 - Man of the match, brilliant performance that’ll keep Redknapp quiet
Alexis - 7/10 - Not stop working, a few poor passing decisions, but a stunning goal too
Özil - 6/10 - I don’t care what you say, he’s playing out of position and making a decent job of it
Welbeck - 6/10 - A decent debut, should have scored, but hopefully the start of big things
Subs
Chambers - 7/10 - Despite our injury worries, he’s an excellent back up to have
Chamberlain - N/A
Arteta - N/A
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