Arsenal began their 2015 with a confident,
season-defining 2-0 victory at Manchester City in
January, proving to opponents -- and themselves
-- that they could produce tactically disciplined,
intelligent and ruthless performances against
good teams away from home. Monday night's
victory, coming towards the end of a fine year for
Arsene Wenger's side, showed they were capable
of taking the game to the opposition on home soil
as well, outplaying City in a good, technical game
of football.
Having defeated both Manchester City and
Manchester United convincingly here, they should
be capable of turning the Emirates into a fortress
for the rest of the campaign. Arsenal are a
"confidence club" both in terms of their players
and supporters -- momentum seems to count
more there than almost anywhere else. The fans
responded to the team performance, resulting in
a tremendous atmosphere throughout the second
half.
Arsenal were solid and compact without
possession, clinical in the first half with few
chances and then dangerous on the break after
the interval. They should have extended their
advantage to 3-0 and put the game beyond City's
reach; Joel Campbell blasted over the bar and
forced Hart into a fine save with his feet, while
Aaron Ramsey couldn't quite dink the ball over
the goalkeeper to round off some lovely interplay
on the break. Ramsey, in truth, probably should
have been sitting deeper alongside Mathieu
Flamini by that stage of the game.
It appeared Arsenal were closing out the game
nicely. Arsene Wenger's favourite defensive
substitution -- Kieran Gibbs on as a defensive-
minded left winger -- was used yet again. Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain replaced Mesut Ozil for extra
midfield energy, while Hector Bellerin sat deep
and nullified half-time substitute Raheem Sterling.
City's other replacements didn't help change the
game: Jesus Navas did his usual thing of passing
to no-one when in a good shooting position, while
Wilfried Bony offered little in and around the box.
Then out of absolutely nothing, Yaya Toure
produced a looping, side-footed first-time shot
that dipped perfectly beyond Petr Cech and into
the far corner. Arsenal started to panic. Kevin De
Bruyne couldn't convert a good chance, Bony's
rebound was deflected wide. The pressure
continued, home supporters started praying
rather than singing. Toure raced through the
defence and slid in to poke a shot wide. Crosses
rained in -- Cech made a decisive punch, Flamini
a crucial clearance and Olivier Giroud a crunching
tackle inside his own box.
Four minutes of stoppage time produced a
noticeable groan but the final whistle prompted
one of the biggest cheers of the season. Arsenal
secured the three points thought the belief
earned from this victory might prove even more
important.
2. De Bruyne's miss proves a turning point
The best football matches often unravel slowly
rather than starting at 100mph, and this was a
good example as both sides started cautiously,
albeit in different ways.
City retreated into two banks of four, with
surprise starter Fabian Delph tucking into a left-
sided position rather than a third central
midfielder. With this passive approach, Arsenal
had plenty of time in deep positions, allowing
Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Aaron
Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini to swap plenty of
conservative passes. This was a classic
heavyweight bout: two contenders trying to work
one another out.
In the opening 15 minutes, City were a little
timid. The use of Delph rather than Sterling was
cautious, and the overall game plan was really
about counter-attacking. David Silva, generally
tracked by Flamini, launched one break that
didn't quite produce a true goalscoring chance,
while De Bruyne dribbled dangerously down the
right, producing a good low, left-footed shot that
Cech turned around his near post.
After half an hour, the game exploded into life.
The game's first major chance came from a direct
City attack: Koscielny followed Sergio Aguero into
a deep position but didn't quite get tight enough
and Aguero flicked the ball around the corner
first-time to De Bruyne, breaking in behind Nacho
Monreal. He was 50 yards from goal but the lack
of Arsenal defenders on that flank made it a
genuine opportunity. The crowd went silent, the
Belgian steadied himself and approached Cech
calmly, but then dragged his right-footed shot
agonizingly wide.
The miss proved crucial. Two minutes later, Theo
Walcott drifted in from his left-sided starting
position, collected the ball on the edge of the box
and bent an absolute beauty of a shot past Joe
Hart into the far corner. Arsenal had scored with
their first shot on target.
It wasn't dissimilar to a goal Walcott scored
against City in Arsenal's 6-3 defeat at the Etihad
two seasons ago, and it shows the benefit of him
starting from that side. It also made De Bruyne's
miss absolutely huge not just in the context of
this game, but in the context of the overall title
race.
3. Silva vs. Ozil battle produces a clear
winner
Monday's game was a clash between the Premier
League's two title favourites, and the division's
two best playmakers. David Silva has recorded
more assists than any other player since he
arrived in England five years ago, but Ozil is the
new assist king and collected two more vs. City.
Both playmakers have occasionally been used in
wide positions but here, both were deployed in
their favoured No. 10 roles, given license to drift
laterally between the lines where they could link
midfield and attack.
Silva was tracked very closely by Flamini in what
sometimes looked like a man-marking job. It was
a dangerous tactic, especially with the somewhat
indisciplined Ramsey playing alongside him -- on
paper, at least. Usually Ramsey was higher up the
pitch and Flamini's pursuit of Silva often opened
up space between the lines that Toure and De
Bruyne threatened to bomb into. But Silva himself
found it difficult to receive passes in tight spaces
and was more of a threat when carrying the ball
forward on the break. Considered by many to be
an inadequate Francis Coquelin replacement,
Flamini performed very well once again.
For long periods, City succeeded in stopping Ozil.
Fernandinho didn't stick to him as tightly as
Flamini did to Silva but City were extremely tight,
the defence pushing up and holding a reasonably
aggressive line, minimising the space Ozil had to
work in. The German's first assist wasn't really a
proper assist in the true sense of the word. Ozil
played the pass into Walcott's feet, certainly, but
it was basically just an outrageous goal.
The second, though, was classic Ozil. With City
squandering possession cheaply inside their own
half, the ball fell to Ozil in the situation he loves:
an opposition defence still recovering their
position, time on the ball and space between the
lines, a striker running into the channel. The
striker was Giroud -- not the quickest, meaning
the pass had to be perfect. And it was -
beautifully weighted, onto the Frenchman's left
foot. Giroud smashed it past Hart.
This week Ozil had spoken about his assist figures
this season, claiming it wasn't necessarily only
due to his personal development but due to an
improvement from his teammates. "Our forwards
now convert my assists. You have to put the
numbers into perspective," he said. "I've also
played a lot of good final passes in the last two
seasons, but nobody converted them. This year,
our attackers turn my assists into goals, and
those assists appear in the stats."
His point was proven here: two shots, two goals. If
Arsenal can be this clinical in all their major
matches this season, they'll win the title.
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