On 24 October, The English Premier League saw the clash between not just one of the top two clubs but in fact clubs who have opposite business models. The fixture between Arsenal and Manchester City was much anticipated by fans from both teams.
Arsenal, who have a self-sustaining business model, while others in the league have suffered huge debts (Manchester United and Liverpool), travelled to Manchester to compete with one of the top local teams, Manchester City, who have an almost unlimited supply
of funds, thanks to their owner, Sheikh Mansoor.
The beautiful thing about the Gunners is that they get to reinvest, whatever they earn, due to the fact that their shareholders do not take dividends. Hence whatever they earn goes back into developing the team. Recent results showed that Arsenal had a pre-tax
profit of 56 million pounds. All this shows that Arsenal is not relying on outside investment, but on its own.
However, one cannot deny the fact that Manchester City has proven their worth in the global football arena in the past two years. They currently stand proudly among the top brass of the English Premier League. With a good record, Manchester City were sure
they would give Arsenal a tough time, but on the other hand arsenal were travelling to Manchester with an impressive 5-1 victory in the Champions League.
The Gunners main guns, Cesc Fabregas, Nasri, Wilshere and Chamakh all scored in their last game before heading out to face Manchester city, but at the same time Arsenal faced some minor problems. They had to play Manchester City without Jack Wilshere, who
was red-carded in the last game, Thomas Vermaelen, Manuel Alumia, striker Robin Van Persie and Aaron Ramsey, due to various injuries.
Manchester City on the other hand also had their hopes high due to the impressive performance against a Polish club, Lech Poznan, and because Emmanuel Adebayor seemed in good form. During the same Fixture, City managed to run down the club with a 4-2 victory.
Manchester City’s dreams of winning against Arsenal were crushed when Samir Nasri, Alex Song and Nicklas Bendter scored to give arsenal a 3-0 victory over them on their home ground. The goal difference could have increased, had Cesc Fabregas taken a successful
penalty, but unfortunately for Arsenal, Manchester City’s goalkeeper did an amazing job by saving the 23-year-old’s shot.
With the victory, Arsenal proved a point. They proved that money is not the only thing that makes a team remarkable, experience plays a much important role. They learnt from their mistakes against the same team last season, stood up and showed their worth.
Tags: