Giroud's massive goal keeps St Totteringham's hopes alive

Match Review: Man City 2 Arsenal 2 - Premier League 08.05.16

Arsenal survived a testing encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday and in doing so took a large step towards securing an automatic spot in the Champions League group stages next year. With Sp*rs losing at home to Southampton, it also kept alive the faint hopes of surpassing our neighbours and continuing the St. Totteringham’s Day tradition. It’s just a shame that the spirit that got us through on Sunday hasn’t been present more often this season.

There was bad news before kick off, as Mesut Özil was ruled out of the squad with a hip problem and replaced in the starting line up by Danny Welbeck. Welbeck lined up on the left with Iwobi in the middle and Giroud continuing up front. In defence, Gabriel replaced the injured Mertesacker, while the rest of the team remained unchanged from the victory over Norwich.

To say we got off to a bad start would have been an understatement. Eight minutes of City pressure culminated in Aguero smashing home a brilliant left footed volley to send the live betting accumlators wild and it looked a lot like we were in for an embarrassing afternoon. However, a mix up between Joe Hart and Agent Gael Clichy provided us with a corner minutes later and after Giroud lost Mangala, the under pressure striker headed us level. It was a goal out of nothing, but an important one for both the team and Giroud. He’s been made a bit of a scapegoat recently and that goal will hopefully go some way to shutting the doubters up for a while, because it was a big goal in the context of the match.

The goal seemed to settle us and while City were definitely the more dangerous team going forward, we did look reasonably organised and defended doggedly. However, there was more bad news as yet another injury problem reared its head in the 25th minute. Danny Welbeck, who has made a brilliant impact since returning from a long injury, went in for an innocuous tackle with Sagna down the right and jarred his knee. Immediately the look on Welbeck’s face told us it was bad and the England hopeful looked bitterly disappointed as he trudged down the tunnel. Wenger’s assessment of a possible meniscus tear in the knee suggest that Danny’s terrible luck hasn’t changed and he’s like to miss the European Championships. We can only pray that it doesn’t mean another nine month lay-off on top of that.

Despite Welbeck’s misfortune though, it gave another England hopeful a chance to push his case for inclusion in Roy Hodgson’s squad. Jack Wilshere replaced Welbeck and went in to form part of a three man midfield as the formation changed to a 4-5-1. It’s great to see him back and playing, as he’s one of the most naturally gifted players I’ve seen on the pitch, he’s electrifying once he gets going and can be an important part of the Arsenal squad. If he could just get clear of the injury curse, he could be one of the best players in the league.

One of the players who is already one of the best in the league however, is Kevin De Bruyne. I was skeptical, like a lot of people, when he signed for silly money at the start of the season, but he’s been excellent and we were on the receiving end in the second half. The Belgian picked the ball up just passed the halfway line and held off Bellerin and Elneny, before drilling the ball inside Cech’s near post. Credit to De Bruyne who did a lot of work to get into a shooting position, but Cech really should not have been beaten. He was slow getting down to the shot and it zipped beyond his fingertips. Another disappointing moment for him in a season of ups and downs.

Despite the set back, we found enough to level things up with a beautiful goal, as Giroud produced a lovely back heel for Alexis to slam home. Whilst the performance wasn’t exactly vintage, they showed real grit to battle through and get a point. City were determined to take the points and secure Champions League football for Guardiola and to scrap a result against a team boasting as many attacking talents as them was impressive. As I’ve already said though, it is a shame that spirit has come too late to mean much.

There is still second to play for though and whilst that is not something to really aspire to, it would be amusing to overhaul Sp*rs and deepen their misery. Doing that would take away the only small victory they could really take from the season and if they hang on and do finish above, it will matter very little. They’ll have won nothing for the ninth year in a row (odd that no-one mentions that…) and their best chances of a first title since the early sixties has gone. We need Everton to beat Sunderland and give Newcastle something to play for and with a bit of luck, we might yet see St Totteringham’s day again.

Teams

Man City (4-4-2)
Hart, Sagna, Otamendi (Y), Mangala, Clichy, Fernando (Toure 79’), Fernandinho (Y), De Bruyne, Navas, (Bony 79’), Iheanacho (Sterling 71’), Aguero
Subs
Caballero, Sterling, Bony, Delph, Demichelis, Toure, Tasende

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Cech, Bellerin, Gabriel (Y), Koscielny, Monreal, Elneny (Coquelin 76’), Ramsey, Welbeck (Wilshere 24’), Iwobi (Walcott 59’), Alexis, Giroud
Subs
Ospina, Gibbs, Campbell, Coquelin, Wilshere, Walcott, Cazorla

Player Ratings

Cech - 5/10 - A disappointing game for him, with some nervy moments and a mistake
Bellerin - 6/10 - Should have done better against De Bruyne for his goal
Koscielny - 7/10 - Had a solid game on the whole
Gabriel - 7/10 - Did well, maybe could have done more to block both goals though
Monreal - 7/10 - Mr. Consistent
Elneny - 7/10 - Uncomplicated, neat play
Ramsey - 7/10 - Fairly solid, but will need to do more to keep Wilshere on the bench
Welbeck - N/A - Gutted for him, he was playing really well
Iwobi - 6/10 - A bit anonymous in a tough game for him
Alexis - 8/10 - On a brilliant scoring run and secured a vital point for us
Giroud - 9/10 - A great goal and a superb assist, as well as good target man play
Subs
Wilshere - 7/10 - Looked good, despite some rust, definitely in the picture for the Euros
Walcott - 6/10 - Had a really good opportunity, but used the wrong foot and blew it
Coquelin - N/A

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