Arsenal 0 - 0 City

• This morning I would have accepted our matching whatever result Spurs got at Old Trafford. So for there to be a one point swing in our favour is obviously good news. It was a dire, lifeless match - with none of the fire and storm of the 4-2 in September. But we didn't want it to be. Roberto Mancini had a very clear gameplan: to drain the tension, to kill the contest - and it worked. You might not like the tactics but there's no denying that a well-enacted gameplan is unambiguously good news. Much like the 0-0 with Liverpool the positives of the organisation and discipline outweigh any disappointment at the spectacle. We knew what we were in for when we appointed Mancini, and this was a triumph for his approach and methods.

• I actually had vain hopes that this would be a decent game. But with us desperate for a point, and Arsenal not desperate for anything at all there was very little fizz in the game. Mancini's wise decision to bench Emmanuel Adebayor enabled this in two ways. Not only did it give us the extra man in midfield, allowing the building of a three man wall in front of the back four, it also deprived the home crowd of anything to make a noise about. Killing the atmosphere is a key part of killing the game, and this was particularly astute on Arsenal's part.

• The first half was as dull a half of football as I have seen this season. Not only did Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry and Patrick Vieira set up camp on the fringes of our penalty area, but Craig Bellamy did a very admirable job tracking back: he spent most of the game within twenty yards of our own byline and closed down both Theo Walcott and Bacary Sagna. Arsenal didn't really look like scoring. Neither did we, but that wasn't too much of a problem. Once or twice we tried to release Craig Bellamy or Adam Johnson behind their full-back but we couldn't pull it off.

• Early in the second half Mancini removed Vieira for Adebayor, taking us back to the 4-4-1-1 shape we have seen in recent weeks. The game opened up a bit, Adebayor offered more of a focal point than Tévez had done, holding the ball and working some space for our other ideas. We never quite made a goal-scoring opportunity - the best positions came from Gareth Barry breaking down the left. But we could have played for weeks and not scored.

• It's good, though, that we held on for the point even with the late loss of Shay Given to a dislocated shoulder. Gunnar Nielsen was never tested too hard, such was the consistency of our defensive performance. But the injury to Given damages our prospects of fourth as much as our well-earned point improves it. We couldn't have won fourth today, but it could have been taken out of our hands with a three point swing for Spurs. We'll still need to beat Tottenham, but it's still within reach.
  

Micah gets goal

Interesting news for the sadder City fans out there (I count myself firmly with them) - Micah Richards has been awarded City's first goal against Arsenal back in September.

I know the Dubious Goals Panel must have put some serious thought into this, but it is a bizarre decision. The ball was quite clearly travelling away from the goal, after hitting the post, before Manuel Almunia headed it in. (Almunia is an expert, by the way, at scoring own goals in big games.)

But their decision stands and I will amend the stats down the right hand side of the blog accordingly.

Expert analysis of City v Arsenal

Srsly.

More Arsenal reax

James Lawton, The Independent

Adebayor was immense in this game, huge and luminous in his natural ability. Unfortunately, this only made his lapse into dangerous and shocking professional irresponsibility all the more dramatic and, for Hughes, disconcerting on a day when he might otherwise have been celebrating a significant and untrammelled step forward in a project that has invited so much scepticism.

The big man from Togo showed us the beauty that lies in his natural gifts and why Hughes parted so enthusiastically with £25m – and then the beast.

Oliver Kay, The Times

This should have been Emmanuel Adebayor’s day — and in one sense, as he helped Manchester City to secure the fourth consecutive victory that underlined the genuine threat they pose this season to Arsenal and the rest of the established elite, it still was. But his performance all afternoon was one that called to mind the famous quote from a French football official who said of Eric Cantona, another maverick centre forward who made his home in Manchester, that “behind you lies the trail of sulphur”. Like Cantona, Adebayor allowed the sulphur to intoxicate him.

Ian Ladyman, Daily Mail

It is regrettable that memories of Adebayor's own play will fade into the background. His remarkable run down the left side towards the end, leaving his arch enemy Nicklas Bendtner slashing fruitlessly at his ankles, was perhaps the season's best piece of individual skill so far.

Also, it is a shame that the contribution of Craig Bellamy - selfless, industrious and skilful - will not receive more column inches today. The Welshman was playing because Robinho is injured and he was fundamental to this victory.

Daniel Taylor, The Guardian

Amid all the recriminations, the rushed apologies and the rancorous fingerpointing, it was almost overlooked, for example, that City's fourth successive victory represents their best start to a season since 1961. Not many people seemed to pick up, either, that a record City of Manchester stadium crowd was there to see it, too – 47,339 shoehorned in to see the latest evidence that English football's Big Four are on the cusp of becoming a Big Five.

Mark Ogden, Daily Telegraph

Adebayor’s temperament, which proved flawed during his closing months as an Arsenal player, failed the test once more when he should instead have allowed his undoubted football talents to make his point against his detractors. But the Togolese was on a mission. Apparently 'unloved’ by his former club, Adebayor certainly made his mark, but apart from a stunning headed goal, the imprint he left behind was formed by brutality and incendiary self-indulgence.

Arsenal reax

David Walsh, Sunday Times

And the match was pretty sensational too. City’s victory was important and deserved. Hughes is doing a good job. Joleon Lescott is a fine acquisition and looked wonderfully composed for most of yesterday’s match. Hughes’s good judgement was reflected Nigel de Jong’s gritty and disciplined performance in midfield. There were times in the second half, with the game delicately balanced at 1-1, when Arsenal were outplaying their rivals. But with de Jong, you felt City would never be over-run.

Ian Herbert, Independent on Sunday

While each of City's goals were gifts - the visitors were "defensively shaky; when you mistake at that level you pay for it," Wenger admitted - Arsenal discovered what they lost when Kolo Toure, now City skipper, departed up the M1. A particular moment for City to treasure: Toure's immaculate challenge as Cesc Fabregas advanced into the box with them 1-0 up. His defence headers always reached blue shirts. And when City had, to quote Hughes' pre-match plan "battened down the hatches," they twice destroyed Arsenal on the counter attack. Further evidence of the way Hughes has instilled worldliness where once there was only prettiness.

Rob Draper, Mail on Sunday

A shame then that the headlines will be hogged by the misdemeanours of
Emmanuel Adebayor, whose idea of team unity is to ensure the entire event revolves around himself. Understandably fired up for the clash after his acrimonious departure from Arsenal over the summer, he might have relished this occasion to prove his detractors among their fans wrong

Instead, despite a magnificent performance in footballing terms, he simply displayed all the characteristics which made him so unpopular in north London.

Neil Ashton, News of the World

Mark Hughes' side are the new kids on the block, the emerging force in English football, putting away one of the established order.

Arsenal are all about top-four finishes and fantasy football, yet City are on the upturn after this exceptional performance.

Even without Robinho and Carlos Tevez they were free-flowing going forward, full of flair and without fear.

Louise Taylor, The Observer

After this, City have to be taken seriously as Champions League contenders and it is legitimate to wonder whether they might make the top four at Arsenal's expense. Granted Wenger's men were bigger on artistic merit, but a once frail City creditably refused to fold while playing some eminently decent stuff of their own.

"Who knows how significant this result will be," said Hughes, whose decision to replace Stephen Ireland with Martin Petrov during the second half proved inspired. "But there was some fantastic football from both sides and Emmanuel was outstanding.

Mark Ogden, Sunday Telegraph

Adebayor’s antics overshadowed a fine victory by Mark Hughes’s team, who maintained their 100 per cent record this term.

And he could now find himself suspended for next Sunday’s Manchester derby if the FA decide to punish him for either of his flashpoints this week.

Arsenal, unfortunate to lose 2-1 at Old Trafford two weeks ago, started brightly and dominated possession throughout the game.

Arsenal player ratings

Given For all of Arsenal's possession he had less to do than in previous matches. One or two routine saves, and one very good one low down in stoppage time. 6

Richards His best game for months, justifying Hughes' faith in him. He dealt with Diaby and Clichy very competently, and was beaten less often than usual. Going forward he was more effective than usual with two assists - setting up Manuel Almunia to head home in the first half and putting a perfect pass across for Bellamy for the go-ahead goal. 8

Touré The new captain was very solid against his old club. Some crucial tackles, and a marshalling of the back line which limited the possession-dominant Arsenal to only a few chances. 7

Lescott Generally very good but for one misjudgement which allowed van Persie in to equalise for Arsenal. Some time behind Touré in his settling in at City. 6

Bridge Another good game - he's starting to look more like a £10m player. Quick and alert at the back, giving Bendtner nothing. He was not as involved going forward as usual but still useful. 7

Barry An excellent first half from the TLDORC Player of August, whose competency in all aspects of midfield play shone through again: tackling and passing everywhere while gliding across the pitch. Suffered after the interval, though, as Arsenal pegged us back. 6

de Jong Possibly his best ever game in blue. He was brought in to stifle Arsenal, to replicate Darren Fletcher's 'anti-football' tactics against them - and he did it perfectly. He bullied and hassled Arsenal all over our half, and was crucial to Arsenal's failure to turn sufficient possession into only a few chances and only one goal. A must at Old Trafford. 8

SWP As good as he has been throughout this season. Like Bellamy his running up and down the wing never stopped, and while he was up against a better class of defender than usual he kept on trying. He was crucial in helping out Richards in defence, and was key to our late three-goal surge. First he surged down the right, crossing for Adebayor's header. And then he picked up Bellamy's through-pass and chipped Almunia. 8

Ireland Another quiet afternoon. One would hope that two holding midfielders (as we played last year) would give him the license to influence, but it never really clicked for him. Substituted in the second half for Martin Petrov. 5

Bellamy Almost identical to Wright-Phillips on the opposte wing. He followed Bacary Sagna all over the pitch, giving Bridge the help that he never gets from Robinho. Never has any team missed Robinho less. Bellamy's supreme stamina meant that he grew as the game went on: he slammed in the goal to put us 2-1 up, before finding Wright-Phillips for our fourth. 8

Adebayor Was always going to be newsworthy and did not disappoint. Rather than accept isolation as the lone striker he spent most of his time dropping and drifting into deep and wide areas, chasing the ball and pressuring Arsenal. All this was rewarded with a perfect header for 3-1, although any gloss is removed by an unfortunately ill-judged and rather silly celebration. 7

Subs:

Petrov Ran with the ball a few times late on, in his best run out for a while. n/a

City 4 - 2 Arsenal

• A famous, thrilling victory. I said before the game that we still had a lot to learn about City, and that we would be taught much by today's events. Much of what we saw fits with we what we already know, some of it was new. But it was a sign that we can live with the big boys - the first real test for this new City team. And that we may well re-create last season's exceptional home farm.

• How else to deal with this than chronologically? It was a game of distinct phases - no pattern lasted for too long, and momentum flowed like a Test match. Our best session of play was for the best part of the first half. After a brief impressive start from Arsenal, we controlled the play. Hughes' tactic of pairing the excellent Nigel de Jong with Gareth Barry (£30m worth of holding midfielders) in front of Joleon Lescott and Kolo Touré (almost £40m worth of centre back) worked perfectly. And both wingers - Bellamy and Wright-Phillips - impressed with their work rate, always tracking back when needed. Our goal was fair reward.

• As with the Wolves and Blackburn games, though, we surrenderred momentum after half time. We lost the ability to hold onto the ball, control gave way to chaos. In fairness, Arsenal significantly improved. They passed and moved as only they can, forcing us further back. Barry and Ireland went missing. And, on 66 minutes, Joleon Lescott slipped, Robin van Persie turned and Given conceded his first goal of the season. Arsenal continued to dominate, and looked most likely to win.

• Which I hope serves as context for the remarkable ten minute period when we won the game. We may have been on the back foot, but three counter-attacks transformed the game. All three goals started with rapid, tireless runs - Micah Richards, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Craig Bellamy, before good assists and consummate finishes from Bellamy, Adebayor and Wright-Phillips respectively. Not since Ronaldo's masterclass at the Emirates last spring have Arsenal been so cut to pieces on the counter.

• There was still time, though, for us to switch off and allow Arsenal back into the game. We only conceded one but it could have been more, and a harder finish would have followed. But this is a mere quibble. It was a thrilling win against a very good team. Not the perfect performance, yes, and maybe not enough for a result at Old Trafford next week, but excellent nonetheless. And with £96m of attacking talent out injured too.
  

Gameplan

Who needs the element of surprise?

Mark Hughes has made his plans for tomorrow quite clear:

"I know we have the capability to play football as expansive and creative as Arsenal. But you can't be successful if you just have that kind of player.

"Last season was an illustration. At times we played fantastic flowing, open football. But against certain other types of teams we could not compete.

"I have done OK against Arsene's teams in the past. I know what they enjoy and what they don't. We will try and exploit that."

Given how successful Darren Fletcher was against Arsenal two weeks ago - both in the ninety minutes itself but also in so clearly upsetting Arsène Wenger - it seems odds on that we will deploy an extra holding midfielder tomorrow. The choice is between Nigel de Jong and Pablo Zabaleta and I guess Hughes will go for the former. A front four would become a front three, with Adebayor leading the line, SWP on his right and either Martin Petrov or Craig Bellamy on the left. So I'm sticking with the team I proposed on Tuesday:

Arsenal preview

I feel like we don't know quite as much about this City team as we think that we do.

There is a very easy narrative to attach to the matches so far: that is a newer, more solid City team based around the new signings of Gareth Barry, Joleon Lescott and Kolo Touré, who have allowed us to keep four consecutive clean sheets. And while we may have only scored six goals in those four games, this is testament to a solidity and control that evaded our more cavalier 2008/09 side.

It certainly fits. But it's not watertight. Only at Fratton Park did Barry and Stephen Ireland control the midfield as they can - in the three other games we conceded more territory and possession to our opponents than we ought, and in all four matches only lax finishing prevented the opposition from scoring. Jason Roberts, Andy Keogh, Matt Jarvis, Victor Moses, Freddie Sears and David Nugent will all feel as if they could have breached our defences and ended Given's shutout streak. So are we as solid as we think we are?

Or how about this: that this team is even more attacking, and even more creative, than we were last year. Hughes has switched from 4-3-3 to 4-2-4 this year, dropping Nigel de Jong in favour of another forward. Six goals in four games could easily have been twelve or fourteen or sixteen. Imagine if Robinho had scored one of his chances early on against Wolves. Or Tévez in the first half at Selhurst Park. Narrow wins could have become routs with little having to be different.

The point is, I just don't know what exactly what this team is like. And one of the reasons is that we haven't been seriously tested yet. Big games like this will, in time, define our season. But for now their purpose is more revelatory than anything else. Just how good are City? Is Lescott and Touré the perfect partnership? Is there a reason why a big club never picked up Gareth Barry or Shay Given? I honestly don't know the answers to these questions. But we should have a better handle on them tomorrow evening.

Arsenal are coming off the back of a revelatory moment of their own. Two weeks ago they went to Old Trafford, off the back of four straight performances of real pace and class. But we know they can play. Could they battle? Two fortunate goals from an underwhelming United side, and no Arsenal fightback suggests not. But then who's to say what the lesson to take for this is? Arsenal could well school us tomorrow: if they pass like they can we won't have a chance. But if we play Nigel de Jong, and if he does a decent Darren Fletcher impression, and if Thomas Vermaelen struggles against a striker of Adebayor's physicality, and if Almunia slips up again then Arsenal could well fold as they did at Old Trafford, or at Eastlands last season.

I just don't know. The more thought I put in to calling this result the less sure I am. I'm going with a close, exciting score draw.