Manchester City 4 (Almunia o.g. 20, Bellamy 74, Adebayor 80, Wright-Phillips 84) – Arsenal 2 (van Persie 62, Rosicky 88)
Match Report | Highlights
Manuel Almunia – Could have done a bit better on the first goal although to be fair he did see it very late and had quite a bit of bad luck. Not at fault for any of the others though, but he did look like he lacked any sort of presence in the box. 5
Bacary Sagna – Completely anonymous on the ball, but did not make any noticeable defensive errors apart from being caught out by a counter attack on more than one occasion. 6
Thomas Vermaelen - The best of an average bunch in the backline, although it was his worst performance thus far. Was not troubled as much as William Gallas and he did test Shay Given with a long-range effort, but had a number of momentary lapses of concentration. 6.5
William Gallas – Should have done better with his header early on but did force a save from Given on another attempt. Tried desperately to get on the scoresheet, and his constant pushing up the pitch led to us being caught on the break on more than one occasion. 6
Gael Clichy – Pushed forward quite a bit, but with zero end product. Defensively, he was skinned repeatedly by Sean Wright-Phillips. 5
Alex Song – Respectable performance. Imposed himself on the game early, and showed toughness and grit that most of the other players on the pitch lacked at times. Did his best to protect the shoddy backline. 7
Denilson – Gave the ball away far too easily for my liking, particularly in the opening stages of the match. However, when he did manage to keep posession he did spray some nice balls around the pitch. 6
Cesc Fabregas – Took quite a while to find his feet in the game, however once he did he was finding angles that hardly anyone else in world football would have spotted. Sadly for Cesc, none of his teammates seemed to be on the same wavelength. 6.5
Nicklas Bendtner – Looks isolated and awfully awkward on the right flank. I do feel for him, as he is never going to play his best as a winger. Does look good running at defenders though, and showed much more persistence than the vast majority of his teammates (particularly late on). 6.5
Robin van Persie – Finally off the mark this season. Took his goal well and was unlucky not to have a second late in the game when his shot cannoned off the far post. Showed true professionalism in the way he dealt with the disgusting actions of Emmanuel Adebayor. 7.5
Abou Diaby – Greatly restricted on the left but, like Bendtner, does look dangerous when running at defenders. Was goal-shy today, as he failed to get a couple of shots off when it would have been best to have a pop. Still, respectable performance. 7
SUBSTITUTES
Tomas Rosicky – Great to have him back. Changed the game as soon as he will introduced and will no doubt be buoyed by his goal. 7.5
Eduardo – 6
Emmanuel Eboue – 5.5
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Rvp showed professionalism?? how by screaming obsenities at City fans,
Ade was undoubtedly ott, but about time you take some blame yourselves,
some of your fans were a disgrace yet don’t recall them kicking up a fuss
when Henry did the same against Spurs.
Denilson and Diaby are sh** … End of.. If Arsene continues to invest in them after atleast 2 seasons of first opportunities its at the cost of Arsenal Football club … they are there more due to Arsene obstinate ideologies than for anything else ..
Bellamy ran the show, worked endlessly as did De Jong. Arsenal equalised and City replied by thumping 3 goals in 9 minutes. City had plenty in their locker to turn it on whenever deed be. Big gap between these two clubs now – City are certainly top 4 material where Arsenal look top 8
@1.
I honestly don’t give a shit about his celebration, more the fact that he kicked Robin van Persie square in the face while he was on the ground.
RvP showed professionalism by the way in which he received treatment, played on, and vented his frustrations via the right outlets rather than retaliating on the pitch.
What exactly do Arsenal fans have to blame themselves for?
Arsenal fans need to look at themselves for throwing the chairs and for ripping our stadium to pieces. I went to the Emirates last season and came back with flowing reports and no damage to your stadium!!
I do not condone the stamp (it was one no matter what anyone say) or the celebration but god that all it was!!
Arsenal fans have always been good with us but it now seems that was because they were always beating us.
bendtner and denilson were totally bullshit! and almunia sucked ass.. rvp and rosiscky were easily the best.
MR BLUESKY .What game where you watching an own goal for the first and at 1-1 we were all over you use just sat back and countered us .big gap between the clubs total bull only big gap around is the one in your head where your brain should be.Stumpy not even your stadium you only got it through commenwealth games and we never liked you lot anyway.
To be honest city lacked any real attacking prowess except on the counter. They are not a better team than arsenal, but i think the loss of arshavin was abit of a devastator, as the team may have become abit reliant on him. Playing bendtner and diaby out of position was just stupid. Jack wilshere and eduardo should have been given the wings, as both are highly creative and have an eye for goal. neither diaby nor bendtner did anything overly good the whole match.
I still think we are unlucky we didnt end up equalising, but dropping both song and denilson was just stupid. our 2 defensive midfielders gone, and we expected to hold an opposition which is completely incompetent at anything except a counter.
Anyway, thats that. Hopefully wenger learnt something (i think ive been hoping hed learn this lesson the last 10 times we have experienced it).
I’m thinking arsenal will switch back to 442 or 4411, as having rosicky return will probably mean denilson will get benched and instead our midfield will be composed of fabregas, song, rosicky/arshavin/nasri/walcott (on the wings. you choose) and eddy and van persie at the front. Far out we have alot of attacking personel, too bad 4 of them are injured (the good ones) are injured
MR BLUESKY.You are right to point out the difference between the teams however you seem to have got them the wrong way round.Arsenal were comfortably the better side unless you think the stats lie.It was a good display of counter-attacking football that won the day.Adebayor should not have been on the pitch though and i.m.o.that would have resulted in an Arsenal win.The celebration did not concern me but the stamp is a straight red no questions asked!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Clichy had a shocker – he was at fault for their last 3 goals. Each time he lost the ball or let someone go past him and they scored.
Denilson had a very poor game. However when he went off we let in 3 goals on the counter (Song was off for the last one as well I think). The back 4 were not shielded once these two went off and was the reason we conceded.
I think everyone needs to calm down a bit.
We lost, but we should have got at least a point – we had 20 shots they had 10. There first goal was offside, their 4th goal came after a blatant handball by Barry, Adebayor should have been sent off. Now I acknowledge that they are weak excuses, but they are the truth. I though we could have showed a bit more fight when they countered but really, Arsene was attacking so we had no DM. While City countered well, they had very little when we were defeding our own box. Now that other teams will sit up and notice them, they will park the bus in front of City’s goal. It will be interesting to see how they cope.
I said many times we could not use Diaby. When we play a small team, maybe diaby does work but against big teams when i see diaby in the starting eleven i feel we will lose! Every time he touches the ball makes me really nervous.After the edu incident i feel denilson went back to the denilson of last season.Edu was a hero after coming back a injury but now is a “cheater”. Every thing looked so good for us before the edu incident in the celtic match,after that i saw back luck came… why?
Almunia is the 1st mumu, Clichy is the 2nd mumu, Diaby is the 3rd mumu, Denilson is the 4th mumu, Bendtner is the 5th mumu.
this five of them caused us our soorows as they were just lagging in all aspects. Arsene Wenger shuold rest them 4 a game or two for them to go back to their drawing boards and learn more football lessons. i just couldn’t sleep bcos of these five frying fools. it’s so early this season 4 such sleepless moments and heartbreaks 4rm a team we are better off than.
My ratings
Almunia 5 – not mobile enough. Not dominat at set-pieces
Sagna 5 – needs to practice crossing
Vermaelen – 6 – He and gallas struggled with Adebeyor and Richards for the first goal
gallas – 6 – see vermaelen
Clichy – 5 – not good in attack or defence
bendtner 4- I usually love this guy but he was hopeless yesterday. No effort whatsoever
Song – 6.5 – didn’t do too much wrong but was a bit anonymous at times
Denilson 6 – not his best game, but the midfield fell apart when he went off
Fabregas – 5 – Another performance well below his best
Diaby – 3 – Shocker! Didn’t try hard, lost the ball too often
RVP – 5 – had a few good touches and a nice goal, but he just aint a striker. kept falling over. Yet another few freekick without end product
Sub
Rosicky – 7 – at least he tried
Team overall – 5 – Really lacked the closing down, enthusiasm and guile. Missed arshavin!
Wenger – 5 – Should see that RVP is not a striker and should have taken diaby off after 30 mins
Ade did not set even set a foot in a classroom thats why he is so stupid
his behavior is wanting king Kolo is a professional and his behavior was ok
the only liability in our team is alumunia because their is no one to give him competition in his number
clichy is another one his marking is wanting
fabregas i think he no longer wants to play for arsenal his heart is not in arsenal
gallas congrats for the hard work
RVP thanks a lot for the work
bendner should go to academy
sagna should be keen in his crosses
diaby is holding the ball for so long plz try to shoot from long range because he has the power to do that plz
rosisky good man u are the one now to lead us
song good job man
denilson work more harder
veemee thomas good same sprit
ebue has the ability and his crosses is bettergive him a chance and sagna on bench
lastly alumunia is our main liability in the team …………………………………
I think wenger is becoming a problem.He is gradualy lossing his coaching skills.May be he has even lost it all.he makes the wrong team selectiön,wrong substitution(like when he took off our two DM and we allowd more goal.RVP was stranded up front as he tend to adapt to his new role as a point man.He is not a finisher but a provider or assitant striker and the more reason why he should have bought a player like Charmak or any other replacement for Adebayor.O.K,How can he play a player like Bentner on the for a whole 90mins.When Wilshere proved himself in a similar position during the Emirate Cup.Merida was not injured neither was Ramsey so what the Hell did wenger keep an invalid Diaby and a goal shy Bentner for a whole 90mins.I think its time we look for a replacement for the likes of Almunia,Clichy,Denilson&Sagna.Mr Wenger Stop been foolish take corrections atleast for once…Or he go else where to continue managing the rubish he doing at the moment and Leave our darling Arsenal for Trophy minded coach and stop braking our hearts each season only to give us stupid Excusses for his bad results.
We lose 4-2 and we’re the better team? When is this nonsense going to end?
Stats read 56% possesion to City half time (I was there and saw it with my own eyes). If there had been a quality reading it would have read City 90% Arsenal 10%. if you only saw match on MOTD please do not comment because you won’t have a valid comment to make.
I’m not calm. We tell Wenger all the time that the Goalie is shit and the defence are shit and we need another midfielder. That display shows that time and time and fucking time again.
I’m off to Rugby league. I can’t take this shit anymore. Fuck The Arse.
Honest John, well at least someone speaks sense yes your defence is about as good as Wigan’s if that.
Rosicky and Van Persie shone on the pitch in an otherwise poor display by the Arsenal team
almunia did the mistake as he did in the last match.. he is the one to blame.. he has to go..
one thing i dont understand about the arsenal’s gameplay in first half : number of uneffective crosses given by sagna.. no effective gameplay at all..
y all the passes given to him at the end.. he is not bothered to give a one perfect cross..
for the past 2 seasons im seeing this, whenver we lose a match!!! no one goes through the defence..
im giving up as a fan of arsenal as a result of this.. total humiliation…disgrace.. wat else..
I sadi befoer the MU game and again for this one – it is now my rallying cry. – I would love to be proved wrong but …
Any game we start with Diaby and Denislon together – WE WILL LOSE
PET said it simply above –
They just aren’t good enough to keep investing time in – together – one ast a time is bad enough – but doable.
MY RATING
ALMUNIA- 4
VERMALEAN- 7
GALLAS- 5
SAGNA- 6
CLICHY- 3
FABREGAS- 6
VANPERSIE- 6
SONG- 7
BENDTNER-6.5
DIABY-5
DENILSON- 6
ROCKY- 8
EDUARDO-6
EBUOE-N/A
gunner of the game- TOMAS ROCKY- MADE A GOAL AND SCORED A GOAL
You guys I have seen the biggest problem we have is team selection by AW. Frankly i didn’t understand why he took off first Denilson and later Song yet he left the likes of Diaby and Bendtner on who were not in the game at all. Honestly Diaby should have been substituted before second have to give way for Eduardo. If this is the way AW is going to select his team this time then we are in for serious problem. AW please go back to the drawing and have your team selection.
Hey I was watching the game from aust. and was throwing shit at the t.v when I saw ade. He is disrespectful and proved it. We will see how long his form runs for with city and how he deals with pressure when he stops performing and I cant wait to see you city fucks at emirates I hope we rip up our own seats and chuck em at ya. Ha fuck im booking a ticket and jumping the fence….
Oh yeah it seems that while the rest of the team has gone up a notch excluding sagna and denilson…. Almunia hasnt Cezny looked pretty good in some of the warm up games I think Almunia really needs a rest.
My player rating
ALMUNIA – 0 (NO LEADERSHIP SKILL)
SAGNA – 3 (WILL NEVER PRODUCE GOOD CROSSES MASSIVE FLAW)
GALLAS – 5 (TRIED BUT CANT DO EVERYTHING)
VERMAALEN – 6 (ABOVE AVE. BUT NEEDS TO STICK TO HIS MAN)
CLICHY – 5 (PRONE TO FALLING OR SLIPPING, POOR CROSSING)
SONG – 7 (VERY STRONG AND PRESENT VERY GOOD PASSING BUT NEEDS TO BE MORE CREATIVE AND ATTACKING)
DENILSON – 3 (NO REAL PRESENCE AND ALWAYS PRODUCES COSTLY TURNOVERS WITH BAD PASSING)
DIABY – 7 ( WOULD LOVE TO RATE HIM HIGHER BUT HE HAS TO SCORE OR ATLEAST PROVIDE ASSISTS GREAT PLAYER ALWAYS THOUGHT SO. NEEDS TO RESTORE HIS CONFIDENCE WITH GOALS AND SHOOT FROM OUTSIDE THE BOX)
CESC – 6.5 ( MAYBE LACK OF FITNESS BUT HE WILL BE BACK TO HIS BEST SOON ENOUGH JUST COULDNT LINK UP WELL ENOUGH WITH THE OTHERS DIFFERENT LEVEL AND NO ARSHAVIN TO FEED)
V.P – 7.5 – 8 (GAVE AND GAVE BUT REALLY NEEDS TO BE MORE SELFISH AT TIMES AND CAME TO FAR UP THE PITCH COS OF SHIT GAME FROM DENILSON)
BITCH – 5-6 (OUT OF POSITION NOT A WINGER NEEDS TO BE MORE CENTRAL BUT GOOD WHEN HE HAD THE BALL)
EDUARDO – 4 ( SHOULD OF STARTED IMO, LINKED UP WELL WITH V.P CESC AND ROSICKY)
ROSICKY – 7-7.5 (CANT WAIT TILL HE IS BACK TO MATCH FITNESS HE POSSESSES THE ABILITY TO PRODUCE THE FOOTBALL WE EXPECT TO SEE FROM INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALLERS AND MAKES IT LOOK SO EASY)
EBOUE -3- (IM ONE OF HIS BIGGEST CRITICS AND ONE OF HIS BIGGEST SUPPORTERS BECAUSE WHEN HE IS GOOD HE IS GREAT BUT WHEN HE IS BAD HE IS TERRIBLE. HE LOOKS VERY FIT AND STRONG BUT HE MAKES BAD DECISION AND JUST LOOKS SO UNKO WHEN HE HE TRIES TO SHOOT AND CAN BE SELFISH INFRONT OF GOAL HE COULD OF AND SHOULD OF HAD AN ASSIST AND HAD US BACK IN THE GAME BUT HIS BLINKERS WERE ON AGAIN)
give a chance for merida or wilshere in the strting line up rather than denilson… our team was at cross raods.. we are already 9 points behind chelsea.. i think we dont finish in the top 5… if so,we will lose champions league. .. after tat fabregas gonna leave.. AW gonna scratch his head like a half witted bitch..