Was There Ever A Luckier Team Than Arsenal? City 2 vs 2 Arsenal

“The effort, speed and character was good, and we were playing against a very good team.”

, Manuel Pellegrini - 08/05/2016

Goals; Agüero (8'), De Bruyne (51'); Giroud (10'), Sánchez (68')

Line Up (4-2-3-1); Hart, Sagna, Otamendi, Mangala, Clichy, Fernando (Toure 79'), Fernandinho, Navas (Bony 79'), De Bruyne, Iheanacho (Sterling 71'), Aguero
Stats; Possession 57%/43%; Shots 14(5)/5(2); Fouls 16/10.

So they did it again. Ruining Manuel's Etihad send off, Arsene Wenger's teflon team played several of the "get out of jail free" cards that seem to be handed to them in games against City; this time denying the Citizens the chance to go into the last week of the Season with their Champions League fate in their own hands. In a game where Arsenal seemed bereft of ideas or attacking intent, they again conjured two goals, despite only having two shots on target; leaving City reliant on either West Ham or Bournemouth to take something from Trafford United to secure their Champions League spot.

Of course it should not have come to this. Easier points have been dropped throughout the season, not least of which to the current bottom three sides. All of which should have rendered the last two games less stressful to the Etihad faithful; but on the day, three points was the least deserved from a team lineup finally willing to put their all on the park to rescue the Premier Season, despite the mid-week disappointment in the Champions League.   

It all started so well. City were intense, pressing early and high from the off, forcing early mistakes from the Arsenal back four. It took only eight minutes for the  early intent to pay dividends, Fernandinho knocking the ball down to Aguero to finish deftly in the bottom right of the goal. But comedy gold struck only two minutes later, when with Arsenals first attack, Clichy unnecessarily knocked the ball across Harts goal, narrowly avoiding an own goal, but giving away a cheap corner. Then from the resulting dead ball, Giroud, a man incapable of scoring in three months of football, lost Mangala in the box and headed home to make it 1-1. Unbelievable. 

Technically, the game plan remained the same, as it had to, given anything short of a win was pretty useless to City. The team pressed and pressed, Aguero having chances deflected on 15' and blocked on the edge of the area by Cech on 28'. But as City paused to take a breath Arsenal continued to hold their shape, despite not offering anything of attacking intent. 

The second half continued in the same vein as the first, and it was a moment of magic from Kevin De Bruyne that gave the Blues a deserved lead. Taking the ball on the half way line, De Bruyne twisted and swayed his way past four Arsenal players before hammering home his shot low and left of Peter Cech to make it 2-1. A brilliant solo goal.

As the minutes passed, thoughts started to turn to whether the manager should be thinking of shoring up the midfield, or press for a third. But as the clock clicked on, Arsenal took the momentum away a gain, with their first meaningful attack of the second half, catching City on the break, Sanchez played a one-two with Giroud on the edge of the box before firing home the equaliser past Joe Hart, 2-2.

The last throws of the dice were made, Sterling came on for a slightly off-colour Iheanacho. De Bruyne went close with a free kick on 72'. Toure and Bony came on with ten minutes remaining, and Bony almost broke the deadlock on 88' volleying against the bar from twelve yards out, but it was not to be.

So City again fell short as has too often been the case in the Premier League against top sides this Season, where they have been unable to match the efficiency of their performances in the Champions League and League Cup. The impact could be huge, unless Trafford drop points and City take a win in South Wales against Swansea next week. If theres a hard way to do it, "Typical City" will pick it, even after these past few years of success. So we'll all be blowing bubbles come Wednesday :/.

@l0ngwayfr0mh0me