Arsenal showed their improvement isn’t just a case of flat-track bullying the small teams with a well deserved draw with Man City at the Middle Eastlands this afternoon.
Arsene Wenger’s team selection saw Aaron Ramsey chosen on the right hand side, with Gervinho deployed down the middle, and the two combined to give Arsenal a great chance in the 16th minute.
Ramsey’s perfectly weighted through ball saw the Ivorian with just Joe Hart to beat but his first touch was like that of a club-footed mule and the keeper collected the ball easily.
Soon the Gunners began to dominate the game in terms of possession with City sitting deep. When the home side did come foward, Arsenal defended well with Mertesacker standing out alongside Laurent Koscielny who started in place of the ill Thomas Vermaelen.
We had another half decent chance in the 24th minute. Fantastic work down the right from Carl Jenkinson saw him hold off Joleon Lescott and cut a clever ball back for the onrushing Podolski on the edge of the City box. However, hit shot was hit high over the bar with his right foot.
It looked as if the half was going to end goalless, but when Kieran Gibbs gave away a corner we could probably have avoided, Lescott’s header put the home side 1-0 up. Vito Mannone came and didn’t get it, while Podolski and Koscielny will both feel they could have done better to stop the England international scoring.
It was very much against the run of play but a lesson that you can’t switch off in any way against a team as good as City and they went in ahead at the break.
They started the second half better as we struggled, at first, to gain a foothold in the game. Aguero and Dzeko worked hard up front but defensively Arsenal were outstanding. Carl Jenkinson looks a player transformed at right back while Per Mertesacker made countless interceptions and tackles at the heart of the defence.
Santi Cazorla tested Joe Hart with a stinging drive, the England keeper just putting the ball over the bar, and as the half went on Arsenal got more and more into the game. Diaby and Podolski were replaced by Walcott and Giroud with Ramsey moving back into the centre of midfield where he continued to combine well with Cazorla.
Eventually the pressure told. Arsenal won a corner and when the poor clearance fell to Koscielny the Frenchman took a touch and lashed it into the top corner as he fell backwards. It was no less than Arsenal deserved.
Both sides had a chance to win it late on. City firstly when Mannone saved Kompany’s overhead kick and Koscielny’s miscued clearance came to Aguero but when it looked easier to score the Argentine rolled it just wide.
Then Gervinho compounded his own misery when, after doing well to make space on the edge of the box, whacked his shot high and wide when a bit more composure could have won the game.
Still, a point away at the champions is no bad thing and Arsenal showed good character to come from behind to take a well deserved point.
gervinho! no!
oh what a shame 🙁
never mind, still unbeaten and still on for the invincible mark 2
MERTESACKER = MY MOTM.
Agreed. Time and again, City tried to get in behind the back line but Per cut them off every time.
Anybody thinks carl jenkinson should be motm, bossed sinclair,garcia, and rodwell,set up podolski and played like a champ the whole 90 mins, what a player he has turned out to be, coming an unbelievable distance from that 8-2 loss last year to one of our best defenders these early few matches this season.
Indeed. I can recall three or four VERY timely interventions by the Big German that stopped nice Citeh pushes upfield.
This was a tight games that would have gone either way. Jenks was awesome with the attacks and I salute him for that.
Then there was mertesacker who intercepted majority of the citeh attacks, even where you didn’t expect mert to be, he was there! (midfield). yaya through balls had first to go through mert. Almost a citeh midfield there. Haha.
BFG!
Yeah carl jenkinson was so good today, so much that javi garcia decided to HUG him when he was counter-attacking.
did anyone else notice how many times BFG intercepted their so called “best player and best passer” Silva’s passes? MAN was he good!!!
He was PERfect .
We got the best defence in the league may be in the whole world.
I think we have a city fan amongst the readers. Who else could give Dan’s comment a thumbs down.
Yes! Hope his interceptions turn up in ‘By the numbers’
Thought Jenkinson had a very solid game.
THE INVINCIBLES 2: UNITED STRIKE BACK
THIS TIME ITS PERSONAL.
no it really is… because van pursee went to united who cheated to end our unbeaten run.
You make it sound like Utd are going to be the invincibles with your title ‘UNITED STRIKE BACK’.
looool Well thats not what I meant. They’ve lost already this season anyway.
http://qkme.me/3r1ai1 Seriously.
gervinho is such a poor finisher it’s not even funny. and his touch is sometimes too clumsy. May not make a great striker but I’m sure he can be a good stop-gap till we buy a proper good striker.
Yeah terrible finisher, 3 goals in 3 games….
I thought Giroud’s hold-up play was excellent when he came on too, let’s hope he gets a goal from a Terry mistake.
The look on that creep’s face Lescott after he assisted KOS the BOSS for our goal was priceless. Is it me or does he look retarded with that head of his?
I think an accident left him with that hairline, I heard.
An accidental birth?
KOS is indeed the Boss!
Do we have to be a dick to every single player that doesn’t play for Arsenal? Lescott injured his head in an accident when he was a kid. What the fuck is wrong with you?
Yeah. Dont insult him, infact thank him for the assist.
Rooney on the other hand, had no accident but jesus!
Frankly, sometimes we’re dicks to even our own players. The internet is a disgusting place sometimes
Mate don’t comment like a classless spud. 🙂 We gooners are better than them.
I do pity the fools who think I’m fighting for forth this time around. I pity them.
still invincible this season! well done boys!
Decent result for Arsenal, Gervinho with many efforts but, yet again, so ineffective! Goal chances as well as passing game. He really needs to work on this. Same for the zonal marking. This could have been an important win for us.
Big up for Jenkinson this season so far.
Enough with the Zonal marking, thing. City conceded a goal from the corner and they were not zonal marking. The best defence ever in the league used the zonal and not the man to man system.
If we go to stoke and look very comfortable with that system, then that is toughest test cleared. I know some retard commentator went bonkers when we conceded, but he is a retard and lets not pay more attention to him than necessary
Hopefully that was an aberration. I certainly can’t complain about what Bould… STEVE Bould… has done with the defense thus far. We’ve gone from suspect to stingy in a very short time. I’m a big Bould fan, and wonder aloud why he didn’t have more influence in the team in years past?
You’re so right Too Drunk. The commentator we had on the feed in the states went nuts about how terrible zonal marking is, as did the halftime pundits. The funniest was when the play-by-play guy asked him for what rational explanation for a team choosing zonal marking, and the retard says I think the idea is that they want the players to cover zones rather than players. Genius. He then said he’d heard that supposedly statistically man-marking lets in more goals off corners, but every time HE watches a game zonal marking fails. Read Moneyball, you tool. I’ll go with… Read more »
Corporal Jenkinson different class today.
Here’s the thing: Man City does zonal marking too! Look at how they are set up on corners. If you don’t believe me, watch our goal again.
We don’t even use a strict Zonal Marking system, virtually no one does. It’s a mixture, and most teams use the same.
Commentators are fucking clueless.
Great fight back today. Well done lads!! Would have been good to nick a second at the end just to see Joe Hart’s whining horse face.
Mertesacker im so happy you proving the haters wrong .. we cuda shuda won it but a draw is a good result, suprised ox didnt come on tho
Walcott didn’t even contribute anything …AOC could have had a better impact IMO… But ARSENAL bossed the mid-field and weren’t really threatened… We deserved at least a point!
Jenkinson was superb today, a real improvement over the player that first arrived at the Emirates. Bright future!
Jenkins was great, very dynamic. We’d have played well and lost that game over the last 5 yrs. kept going without being too gung Jo and got a deserved point.
I can’t help but wonder, as Sagna has always been so classy and Gunner through-and-through, if his recent comments came off as a bit sour because he might feeling the pressure from Jenkinson, who seems to be growing from match to match? He certainly looks more and more like our future at RB.
tell you what, arsene can still spot talent eh
i love that kid, and hes a gooner through and through.
i cant wait for sagna to return because i love his energy but i’m a lot less uneasy about the future of our RB position after jenks showing today. legend
Kos and Mert looked excellent. This defense is a treat…
And how good is Santi, eh?
He’s this good.
Sorry no words to describe it.
when verm is better, lets play kos as striker 🙂
what a finish
I’ll settle for a pint if you’re paying.
Kos a fucking legend,all played well should of won but settle for a pint bring on the chelski scum
the way he bossed Aguero and later on Balotelli was textbook!!
A point is a good result away from home at the Champions. Gerv could have played better, I suppose, but our defence is finally solid and I felt the team played well as a unit.
Disappointed we didn’t get the win, and that we seem to wait so long to make the substitutions, but this result should show some of those retarded pundits that Arsenal can make a real go of it this year.
Actually, I was wondering what Wenger was thinking bringing Walcott on so early!
The thing about Arsenal…
i see what you did there…it crowd!!
Gervinho let us down today with some poor finishing..
Not a bad result though, how about Mert!!??? he is making some epic interceptions!
Merteceptions?
his timing is just brilliant, aided by bionic legs
per-haps you have your perceptions.
You know what? I’m okay with this. Next week however, nothing but 3 points will do, knock Chelsea of their streak and continue ours.
Onward to the Invincibles mkII !
Enjoyed the game. Ramsey made massive improvement to last year and silenced many of his critics or should do anyway. Gervinho is also back on form, sadly.
I hope I m wrong about Ramsey but…. I still think he is not good for the mighty Arsenal which we all want. If Rosicky and Wilsher are ready I would play both of them infront of him, won’t you?
Ramsey was god today. Diaby was bad
Ramsey? Really? That pass to Gervinho aside, he had one of his usual frustrating appearances. Gets the ball, looks promising…. then… nothing. Gives the ball away, or dribbles into a cul de sac.
I’d much prefer to see the Ox in there than Ramsey. Can’t wait for Rosicky to get healthy again, too…
You weren’t watching the same game as I was then. Ramsey was titanic. Seemed like every time City thought they could put a move together – Ramsey was there.
just to quote Orbinho:
‘2nd behind Arteta in total distribution, Aaron Ramsey made 82 passes with an 89% pass completion. ‘
i’m fine with that.
Obviously watching a different match to everyone. His link up play with Arteta, Cazorla and Gervinho was good and showed that he is getting his confidence back
Yes, arseblog loves ramsey so you too. look at the other arsenal forums…. If he’s not british you ll be less crazy about him.
Agree with you 100%. I found Ramsey’s decision making to be terrible, as if he doesn’t really understand the game all that well. He also made a huge number of poor passes, and played himself into trouble and lost possession a lot more than anybody else.
Ramsey did some really good things… and also did some bad things, but showed a lot of intent with some surging forward runs and link-up play. Diaby had good and bad moments too, but this can happen in the pressure of a big game.
I was even shocked to see Cazorla misplace 2 passes! Everything else he does is just superb – the control, evading tacklers and his passing has been orgasmic to behold.
Do you think Gervinho thought if he fouled Ramsey just inside the City box, Arsenal would win a penalty? Shades of that other great Ivorian…
The match which saw Jenkinson came of age. Well done too, Ramsey! And btw, this must be a new record for coming up with the report. Good point earned!
To walcott: sign or fuck off. I dont see any spiritof you playing football for AFC.
To gervinho: spent time more on training pitch first before you come to play.
To ramsey: you are improving! Keep it up son!
To the rest: i love you all. It was emo
Think we can do something really really special this season! A good point against the champions which should have been 3. COYG!!
Ramsey, Mert, Jenks, Santi all awesome today. Well deserved point. Shame Gervinho reverted to last season’s form a bit but overall very positive. UTA!
Well played.
Ramsey what a game.
Thank god there is a mute button on my tv couldnt stand the commentators.
Totally agree about the commentators. Tyler has just got worse with age, witters on about absolutelly nothing. Niall Quinn was also the co-commentator who gave Joe Allen MoM against Citteh for two 10 yard passes. That tells you all you need to know.
Also agree with Ramsey, showed great fitness and determination today.
Niall Quinn is possibly the biggest moron I have ever heard commentate on a football match. Which is saying a lot
Now what was somebody saying about ramsey the other day?. Here’s a thought shut the fuck up!.
Cazorla ….thunderbolt! And thankyou koscienly
Still unbeaten. Let’s keep on keeping on. Arsenal!
Jenkinson & Ramsey was absolutely great today.
Seemed like neither Jenks nor Ramsey ever tired running up and down that right side. Impressive fitness and commitment from both. With quality no less.
rambo was fantastic !! Could’ve won it , nevertheless a well earned point and more importantly a statement of intent.
Bring on Chelshit !!
ps: nice call on the draw blogs
5 games in and it’s already getting interesting. Loving the general depth and character of the squad – a distinct lack of glass chin merchants (or no chin in some cases).
Bring on the chavs.
Kos is the Boss! And BFG was PERfect!
great team performance all round, a couple of wobbly moments but hung in there till the end
+ we are getting better and better
The team looked a bit jaded. we should have rested some players on Teusday. But man city were jaded far more so no biggy.
next wednesday we re playing a terrible coventry team we will be playing our second team and some our best youngster so they will be getting a day off there
I kept replaying the Koscielny goal celebration just to see the away end go bonkers. Well done, the away support was fantastic all match long.
i bruised my hand punching the wall in delight when Kos scored.
in hind sight, not a good way to celebrate
Lucky bastard…I bruised my hand punching the wall when Gerv took that God awful first touch and screwed the opportunity.
heh, i was trying desperately to hold in a massive dump, but could hold no longer with ten minutes to go….but I turned the speakers up so I could “multi – task”….
….and I kid you not, as i fired my first shot into the porcelain bowl I heard “KOSCIELNEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” from the other room….
Should have been ” …and I shit you not…”
you’re right about that, i was trying hard not to reach for the obvious….apart from reaching for the right paper at the right time that is….
big ups to Jenkinson though. He’s no Bacary Sagna but Sagna now has someone to give him pressure.
Per was immense today making 7 interceptions according to Orbinho. He got found out today, found out for the great player he is.
Per Mertesacker man of the match. Jenks, Arteta, Cazorla were great. I would put Gervinho in reserves until he scores 10 goals or not play him as CF. City was not great today, we had a good chance to win but we didn’t.
Koss is an L A D! I think that Ramsey and Jenkinson deserve some credit today, both played well and sometimes criticised unfairly. Credit where credits due.
Up the Arse!!!!!!
This is good. We might even have come away with the win. Defensively we were good and midfield looked solid. Ramsey was impressive, bursts of pace and clever passing.
If walcott wants 100K a week for playing then I want 200K a week for watching him play. Wont torture myself for free anymore
The team did us proud! Being disappointed with only a point after play away the reining champions’ is a real indication of how strong Arsenal are this season!
If only Gervinho could finish those chances…. and its clear Theo’s heart is set elsewhere.
Anyway a point at home of the Champion is a point well earned.
COYG!!
The back four was great and I`m really impressed by the development of Jenkinson. Sagna will have to fight hard for that spot.
Another great performance from Jenkinson. As good as he is, I don’t think Sagna is an automatic start when he returns.
Would have been absolutely gutted if we were to come out of this game empty handed. Our resilience saw us through. No need to really talk bout individual performances, thought everyone put in a decent shift.
Waiting with bated breath for this fixture at the Emirates. Show these guys whats what.
Special mention for Javi Garcia. Brings something special to City’s football eh. That fancy defensive piggybacking move on Jenkinson in the closing minutes of the game was something really special.
Ramsey was superb. Amazing what some fuckholes were saying just the other day. He’s an arsenal player with passion that showed in his play today. Forward runs, tracking back everything.
Cheers ramsey.
Spot on! Hate the haters!
There are no Ramsey haters just Ramsey lovers which are going too much crazy about the limited player. If he’s from eastern europe or africa you’ll be all much more critical about him. Very soon he’ll be on the bench.
Excuse me Lid, but what is it with this British thing?
If there’s one club that understands a good player is a good player, no matter where he’s from, it’s The Arsenal.
Ramsey being British or not has fuck all to do with anything.
Lid, get this silly preoccupation that people only love Ramsey cos he’s Zbritish out you head, last season the lad got dogs abuse. Watch the game objectively and look at his movement and effort, it was outstanding. Ramsey and Kos’s performances were all the more better cos they were starting their first games. It’s very pleasing to see we have people pushing for starting places beyond the first eleven.
Santi carzola is the boss in midfield, jenks and mert were superb and a point away is way better than a loss! Now on to the next one.
Good game of Football from the boys.,. Jerk was exceptional..Rambo seems to be back to his old self,.. Olmost passed out screaming my head off,.Definately would have if OG had scored the winning Goal., I Love Arsenal
Invisible Team 2.0
Up the Arse!
They would score all the time if they were invisible.
You use some words here that uh, I dont know?,
Jerk, OG?……the hell?
jenkinson and olivier giroud, its not exactly decoding the matrix
Great team spirit, they never panicked after conceding the goal. If Gervinho can have a bit of a mare and we still feel like we’ve got a shot to win it all the way to the end (against the holders, in their house) then that bodes very well. Bring on Chavski!
Also, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the officiating today was pretty much spot on. As in anything that was questionable went in our favor!
Looking at the BBC headline, atm. ‘Arsenal escaped with a point’ What fucking match were they watching, it was even. City had the most of the second half we had the most of the first.
Fuck them.
in fairness the match report indicates that we dominated, more so than the report here. They do end it with a cheeky comment about missing a player like van pussy, but they’re right, if we had a “top top” striker I would give us a shot at the title.
Fuck well deserved draws. We should’ve won
How good was the BFG today! Think I counted atleast 5 critical interceptions. Was pretty sure we could get the winner and we almost did with Gervinho. The captain and arguably our top defender couldn’t play and this what we produce! Amazing signs. Credit to Kos. Truly is a boss. Bring on the Chavs!
For the life of me, I wonder why we weren’t firing on all cylinders!
Many passes too many in the Shitty area! I believe if we really took our chances, especially in the first half, goals would have been scored long before we had to come from behind to equalize.
Well, I’m taking my share of the spoils. That will do. And I must say I’m very much impressed by Jenks. He’s improved so much.
Defense was outstanding today. Jenkinson is a completely different player, and Sagna better watch his words. I thought Ramsey had a hell of a game, let’s hope we see more of that. Gervinho….yikes, he should have won this game twice. Oh well, we look like a real team!
If Walcott thinks he can earn 100K a week by being so wasteful, he needs to look elsewhere in January. Ox needs to start before him.
Gervinho really needs to do better in big matches. Hopefully he will score against Chelsea when John Terry slips up again.
Walcott didn’t start today. He sucked, but he came on in the 70th
An excellent point at the most difficult away ground in Britain. But today showed just why we won’t be in the mix at the end of the season – we don’t have a cutting edge. We dominated possession but didn’t create enough clear-cut chances. Gervinho reverted back to his “get into great positions and then fuck up” mode. He could have had a hat-trick today. He is the most frustrating Arsenal player that I have ever seen. And Podolski had his worst-ever game for us. We defended well again but gave away a bad goal – Mannone didn’t look good… Read more »
Read your second line and thumbed you down
I wonder how many players Man City are short.
More frustrating than Helb?
A bit harsh fella, city fans could be saying the same – and they were at home.
A fantastic performance today by some players but most of all by the team as a whole, now if Gervinho would just take the boots off he borrowed from Bendtner….and as for Wallcott, i’d rather we spent the £100,000 a week on someone who actually wants to play for the club….the tosser..
Dzeko was playing for 68 mins. He had 33 touches and 1 shot on goal. 68 mins and our defence did not let him get a look in. Giroud played for 20 mins, had 13 touches and 1 shot on goal. Dont get worried yet. He understands the play around him. Once players get accustomed to him, he’ll get his shooting boots on. Its pretty lonely upfront. Podolski has a choice/duty to drop back to defend and develops his understanding faster. Giroud will get there. In other news, Fuckin’ hell. Super game today! Man City, we came to your fortress… Read more »
too negative a post considering we had a very good game at man city. should’ve won it were it not for gervinho getting over excited, to put it politely, otherwise two ‘big’ away games on the trot, 4/6 points not bad at all. sets us up nicely for the season. chelsea at home next, have to beat them, fortunately will be able to make it to the match so looking forward to it even more. santi, what a guy and what a player. he was motm for me, but the back four played superbly too, different class from the rest… Read more »
FG, where do you think we need these 2 players? Surely can’t grumble at the strength in depth of the defence and midfield? We do seem a bit ‘make do and mend’ up top, while we wait for Giroud to find his shooting boots. So yeah, if we had a stone cold killer up top, we’d all be happy, but I’m not sure who, if you preclude a certain traitor. We’re not perfect, but if we’re a maybe a striker short, look at the others out of those teams that can win the title, other than us. Citeh – we… Read more »
We need a Robert Pires and an Ian Wright.
In big games like today we can’t afford a player like Gervinho, who can’t finish from great positions. And his final ball is rubbish too.
We should have won today. A clinical centre-forward like Wrighty could have made all the difference.
Our defence is well sorted, but up front is the real problem. Take out the Southampton game and we have scored just 3 goals in 4 matches. Will THAT goalscoring rate win the Premier League?
I don’t disagree that, through the season, we might be light.
Wrighty and Pires would be lovely at any time, but looking around, who would you sign to go up top? Llorente?
Nb52 would have scored at least one today. Gervinho is our only weak link. If he’s replaced in January, we can win the league.
fatgooner – you must be a joy to work with… or live with.
“didn’t create enough clear-cut chances. Gervinho … could have had a hat-trick today”
Listen to yourself, totally contradictory.
Truth is he might have scored, but City also had at least one guilt-edged chance towards the end that Aguero miscontrolled and put wide. A point away to the champions is fair enough and nothing to be negative about.
its just..bitch,bitch,bitch with you fatgooner….you need help. and i don’t mean one doctor, you need a team of them, having meetings and discussing therapy options for you..then you will get better.
This game show a lot of our depth in the squad. Manonne, Kos, Jenks, Ramsey did have a decent game. I’m tempted to see Ramsey dislodge Diaby in the first team sheet. Overall, it was a good match and i didn’t feel slightly worried about defensive error in this team. Next week will be another test to our new found resolve and I’m looking forward to it.
Agreed, but I’m fine with either Diaby OR Ramsey starting for us, at this point.