English Premier League - Match Recap: Manchester City cling on to earn tame draw at Emirates
Manchester United pulled away at the top of the Premier League this Tuesday with a win over Stoke City at Old Trafford. And against the Potters, it was once again Javier Hernandez who proved influential. But United’s victory just meant that one of either
Arsenal or Manchester City had to keep the pressure on the Red Devils, to make sure they don’t run away with it.
Arsenal faced Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night. The Citizens were second in the table whilst Arsenal were third, both were separated by two points although City have played a game more than the Gunners.
Arsene Wenger, for this match, stuck to his best starting eleven, putting out the same team that recently thrashed http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Johan-Djourou-c18779, Gael Clichy and
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Samir-Nasri-c32360. This was a very attack minded team put out by Wenger, who decided it was
better if Arsenal took the game to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mancini-c23323’s men.
Manchester City were sent out to be defensively sound. In the absence of David Silva and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vincent-Kompany-c36184 and Zabaletta formed the backline,
while http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/James-Milner-c17706 and Jo started as wingers and Carlos Tevez was left isolated up top.
The Gunners started the game extraordinarily brightly. In the first minute, Nasri raced into the box and left three defenders for dead, and just as space opened up, he rolled the ball to Wilshere who was clear on goal. Wilshere decided to square the ball
for Van Persie, but it was just a tad in front of the Dutchman and the chance was subsequently squandered.
Then ten minutes later, Van Persie got the ball from Fabregas, he then proceeded to side step two defenders before unleashing a powerful low drive that struck the woodwork. It was another let off for City who seemed intent upon riding their luck. Later in
the half, Nasri and Fabregas combined on the left wing before the Frenchman rolled the ball on for the Spaniard. Fabregas raced onto the ball and shot it first time, and it was unfortunate that again his low rasping shot struck the upright. Joe Hart was completely
beaten and as the ball rebounded of the post, Walcott lurked to bury the chance, but even his shot struck the woodwork before going out of play.
It was a miracle City had survived till then as Arsenal could’ve and probably should’ve been in the lead. After the break, it was the same story again. Arsenal looked to attack while City clustered as many bodies behind the ball as they could. Arsenal fashioned
more good chances, like when Van Persie stung Hart's palms, but could not breakthrough. Wilshere passed to Van Persie, and the attacker seeing himself in space let fly from thirty yards out. The shot was struck with immense venom and was destined for the back
of the net but http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Joe-Hart-c18699 produced a brilliant diving save that just about kept City in it. The match ended as a disappointing 0-0 draw for Arsenal, but for City, it seemed they had gotten just what they had hoped for.
With both teams playing out a draw, it meant United just gained more freedom at the top of the table. Sir Alex Ferguson would’ve been the happiest due to this result and now has a 4 point lead over Arsenal with a game in hand. For Arsenal, this result was
undeserved. They made chances, they kept possession admirably well and they didn’t let City trouble them at the back. Wenger rightly pointed out that his team had the performance but not the result. City though employed negative tactics, instead of trying
to match Arsenal in terms of playing, they just decided to sit deep and keep them out by eliminating any space in and around the penalty area. But they did have a game plan and it worked for them, they didn’t concede albeit they didn’t even produce a single
shot on target for themselves either. The question is, can a team with title winning aspirations succeed with tactics like these?
Tags: