The Game

The question which is of course fair to ask after today’s game is what would have happened had Manchester City played the game with eleven men.

In a way, we’ve been there before where even though it wasn’t for the full 90 minutes we failed to take advantage of the extra man against Liverpool at Anfield in the first game of the season. Today was different, our players immediately realised that we simply couldn’t fail and despite missing a penalty and some good chances in the second half, we still managed to secure one of the most important wins so far this season.

What makes this win special is the fact that a quick look at our upcoming fixtures shows that we now have a set of “easy” games with the likes of Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott all back from injury and eager to do well. That is, I just don’t see us drop points against West Ham and Newcastle at home so in a way, I can accept being five points from Chelsea at this stage of the season.

Having said that, we again had to witness some shocking defending out of which we could have been easily punished. Laurent Koscielny’s presence on the bench means that he will soon be back in action alongside Sebastien Squillaci, which is good news.

As much as I believe that he will be a strong defender one day, Johan Djourou is simply not good enough to rely on at the moment. He lost almost every single challenge and his decision making – especially in the first half – was very, very poor.

To conclude, I wanted to highlight the brilliant performance of Denilson, very efficient and tidy on the ball, Samir Nasri who was simply outstanding and of course Lukasz Fabianski who keeps a clean sheet and made sure to block anything thrown at him even when City’s number 9 headed when in an offside position.

As always, whether you agree with my ratings or not, submit your own at Arsenal Interactive and make sure to share them on Twitter and Facebook.

Match Video Highlights

Match video highlights are available in the Videos section of our website. If not there yet, rest assured they will be up in a matter of hours.

Player Ratings

Fabianski: 9 – Apart from the mistimed punch on Adebayor, Lukasz had a perfect game as he keeps on showing how his confidence is back and there is no more room for Manuel Almunia.

Squillaci: 6,5 – Did his job well although could have done better in the early minutes of the game to deny David Silva’s flick.

Djourou: 4 – Very poor, after all there must be a reason if he’s only our 4th-choice back there.

Clichy: 6,5 – Impressed by his game, especially in the offensive department, but was guilty of some poor defending such as leaving his wing exposed early on and letting Micah Richards easily go away in the 63rd minute.

Sagna: 7,5 – Welcome back, Bacary. Sometimes I am critical of his crosses but seriously, sometimes I wonder why we should care about his crosses when he’s so strong defensively. Ironically enough, he delivered some nice balls in the penalty area today.

Song: 7 – Had a very poor first half in my opinion, though he did improve as the game progressed. Great finish, great goal.

Denilson: 7,5 – Nothing fancy, kept it simple and made sure to keep things balanced in midfield, which is just what we needed today.

Fabregas: 7,5 – It’s impossible not to notice he’s playing. Produced the pass to Chamakh in the move which led to the red card and was dangerous throughout. Can’t blame him for the penalty miss, credit should go to Joe Hart for a fantastic save.

Nasri: 8,5 – Scored, turned provider for Bendtner and more from one of our best players in this first part of the season.

Arshavin: 6,5 – Typical on and off game from the Russian who looked eager to impress as he defended near our corner flag and produced the assist for Nasri’s goal but still feel he could do more.

Chamakh: 7 – Another very good game from the Moroccan who made himself available when required and was involved in many of our moves.

(Subs)
Rosicky, Walcott and Bendtner: 6 – Nice to see Theo and Nicklas back. The finish from Bendtner was top class, clearly showing how he is ready to fight for a regular place.