Manchester City 0-2 Arsenal: Santi Cazorlas penalty and Olivier - TopicsExpress



          

Manchester City 0-2 Arsenal: Santi Cazorlas penalty and Olivier Girouds header earn Gunners rare victory at Etihad Stadium Arsenal took the lead through Santi Cazorlas penalty after Nacho Monreal was fouled by Vincent Kompany Olivier Giroud headed home the crucial second goal in the second half to ensure a vital three points Arsenal have closed the gap on fourth- placed Manchester United to one point in the Premier League table But Manchester City now trail Chelsea with five points after a disastrous weekend for Manuel Pellegrini Santi Cazorla looked dead on his feet. The first Arsenal substitution had been made and more than a few were surprised it had not been his number called. Not that he was playing badly. He had been quite, quite brilliant, but had run himself into the ground keeping the champions quiet. All of Arsenal’s midfield were relentless in their commitment to this cause. Still, there was a free-kick to be taken and Cazorla is Arsenal’s free-kick taker. He chipped a curling ball into the Manchester City area, where Olivier Giroud outran, outthought and outmuscled Fernando to apply a delightfully weighted glancing header. Joe Hart was nowhere. Two goals clear, the game was won. MATCH FACTS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE BY NEIL ASHTON Manchester City: Hart 6, Zabaleta 5.5, Kompany 5, Demichelis 5, Clichy 6, Fernandinho 4, (Lampard 63, 6), Fernando 4, Jesus Navas 5 (Dzeko 76, 6), Silva 5.5, Milner 6 (Jovetic 46, 6), Aguero 4.5. Subs Not Used: Sagna, Kolarov, Caballero, Mangala. Booked: Kompany, Fernandinho, Aguero. Manager: Manuel Pellegrini 4. Arsenal: Ospina 7, Bellerin 7, Mertesacker 7.5, Koscielny 7, Monreal 7, Coquelin 7.5, Oxlade-Chamberlain 6 (Rosicky 66, 7), Ramsey 7 (Flamini 84), Cazorla 7, Sanchez (Gibbs 84), Giroud 8. Subs Not Used: Szczesny, Ozil, Walcott, Chambers. Booked: Koscielny, Ramsey, Bellerin. Goals: Cazorla 24 pen, Giroud 67. Manager - Arsene Wenger 8. Referee: Mike Dean 4. The best Arsenal performance of recent years? Quite possibly. Certainly it is hard to recall a more effective one. Cazorla was magnificent, the man of the match. Close behind him was Francis Coquelin, a wonderfully effective destroyer in central midfield. Laurent Koscielny was outstanding in the heart of defence, but a back four that included Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin barely wavered. Before the game all the talk was of Alexis Sanchez, the one that got away, considering he shares his Chilean nationality with City manager Manuel Pellegrini. Yet it was Arsenal’s humble foot soldiers who were the heroes here. Sergio Aguero was smothered, so too David Silva. The supply line was cut and City looked insipid. There was no-one with the drive of Yaya Toure, reduced to tweeting good luck messages from Equatorial Guinea, and even Frank Lampard had no impact from the bench. While the second-half performance was an improvement on the first, by the end City were reduced to pumping high balls to Edin Dzeko. By then, Arsenal were too practised at containment to be worried. They cantered towards the conclusion, deserved winners. Manchester United and fourth place are very much in their sights. EA SPORTS DISTANCE STATS MINS KM MILES Manchester City 112.9 70.2 Fernando 90 11.6 7.2 Gael Clichy 90 11.1 6.9 David Silva 90 10.8 6.7 Arsenal 114.8 71.3 Olivier Giroud 90 11.9 7.4 Hector Bellerin 90 11.7 7.3 Santi Cazorla 90 11.7 7.2 This was a huge result, not just for Arsenal, but for English football. Chelsea have not just gained an extra three points, but seven goals at the top of the table. Add their 5-0 win at Swansea City to Manchester City’s 2-0 defeat and this is the biggest weekend of the season so far. Chelsea face City at home on January 31, their next league game. Win that and they can begin planning the parade. If City do not bounce back speedily from this, or find a way to cover Toure’s stint with Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations, the title race could be over sooner than many imagined. That Jose Mourinho has been aided by Arsenal’s ‘specialist in failure’ Arsene Wenger is an irony that should not be lost on him. This was a Wenger team few expect to see, an Arsenal with guts and resilience. So many of the qualities it has been felt Arsenal lack were present in this game. This was an Arsenal that stuck at it, that grafted, that played City on the counter- attack, that soaked it up, that were tenacious, determined, superb without the ball. And yet they had the best chances, too. Arsenal in possession were quick and had purpose. City were ponderous, hesitant. A first-timer, told that one of these teams was chasing the league leaders would have instantly plumped for the band in yellow. They may not have seen as much of the ball but, when they did get it, they knew what to do. If the criticism is that Arsenal cannot play a clever, containing game on the break, here was Wenger’s eloquent response. At times in the first half Arsenal’s possession statistic dropped as low as 21 per cent, yet they look dangerous with the ball, goalkeeper David Ospina did not have a save of consequence to make until the 47th minute, and the midfield worked devilishly hard at making City’s forwards look pedestrian. It was a performance that left the locals noisily frustrated. By half-time they were in a snit with their team, and Mike Dean the referee, news clearly having reached the Etihad of the contentious nature of Arsenal’s lead. It was a minute from hell for Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany. He brought the ball out from the back, seemed uncertain what to do with it, kicked the floor as he made his mind up, then fell over. (This is perhaps why you don’t give your Ballon D’Or votes to tenacious, robust defensive types.) Soon after he was shaping up to Arsenal’s Monreal, who slipped the ball inside and ran for the one-two. Kompany didn’t stick a foot out, but he didn’t entirely avoid contact either. He stood his ground — as is his right — but with the tiniest movement to slow Monreal’s path. The pair made minimal contact but it was enough for Monreal to throw himself to the ground, and Dean bought it. He pointed to the spot to Kompany’s astonishment, and Cazorla planted the ball to Hart’s left, leaving him no chance. City’s initial response was innocuous. Indeed, the only chance worth a shout before Pellegrini regrouped at half-time fell to Arsenal. An Alex Oxlade-Chamberl ain cross after 19 minutes was deflected wide by Kompany after Giroud’s header. Of course, they couldn’t be as poor in the second half and so it proved. Having not had a shot inside 36 minutes, they applied real pressure after the restart. Ospina — again included ahead of Wojciech Szczesny but hardly inspiring greater confidence — tipped round from Aguero, perhaps unnecessarily, and a fierce effort from Jesus Navas was parried moments later. But Arsenal always looked more likely to score, thanks to resolute defending and the uncertainty of a City back line that has now conceded more league goals than Manchester United this season. The visitors could have been two clear even earlier after a fine move involving Sanchez and Giroud ended with Aaron Ramsey spare on the left but shooting over. Soon after, a quite brilliant touch by Koscielny denied Aguero again, following a cross from Navas, but this was Arsenal at their finest this season. Not always beautiful, but intelligent and efficient, with a strength that had been presumed beyond them. No one was jeering Wenger as he made his way back to London this time. Arsenal keeper David Ospina celebrates the morale boosting victory at the Etihad with Gunners skipper Per Mertesacker
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 22:19:22 +0000

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