Giroud Proves He Isn't A Flat Track Bully... Again

Match Review: Arsenal 2 Man City 1 - Premier League 21.12.15

Merry Christmas Gooners! This was our biggest game of the season so far and where we’ve failed in the past, this time we came through. We haven’t beaten City at home when it’s mattered for a long time, but finally we’ve found the means to win in a big time game. This is a huge statement from Arsenal, giving us a four point lead over City and keeping us in touch with Leicester at the top.

As expected, Alexis wasn’t fit enough to return to the line-up, but disappointingly he wasn’t even on the bench. The winger suffered a setback and won’t play again until mid January, which is a blow with the busy Christmas period to contend with. However, Joel Campbell has stepped up in his absence along with the rest of the team. As such, there were no changes from the win over Aston Villa.

City started the better of the two teams, but didn’t create anything of note until midway through the half. We were impressively disciplined when City had the ball, holding our shape and allowing the visitors to shift the ball sideways but never really trouble us through the middle. However, we put ourselves in huge trouble as Koscienly was dragged out of position by Aguero, allowing De Bruyne to race in behind. Fortunately for us, the Belgian speared his shot an inch wide of the far post and didn’t find Silva for an open goal. We got away with it and no more than a minute later, we punished City’s profligacy.

Koscielny started the move with an excellent forward pass up to Mesut Özil, who laid off to Walcott. Özil will be credited with an assist, but in truth it was all Walcott, as the England forward shifted the ball out onto his right foot and whipped the ball into the far corner from just outside the area. Up until then, the game had been tense and tight, but Walcott blasted it open with a moment of absolute magic.

We deserved the lead and when City made a mistake at the back we pounced again. With just seconds left in injury time, Mangala wildly overhit a pass, giving us the ball back in their half. This time it was Walcott passing to Özil, who slipped a lovely ball through to Giroud and the Frenchman smashed the ball under Joe Hart. Giroud seems to be growing fond of scoring against City and also turning up in the big games. He’s well and truly dispelling the myth of him being a flat track bully.

Pellegrini said after the game that he thought City were the better team, especially in the second half. I’d agree that the Manchester side started better, but for me we were much the better team in the second half. City might have enjoyed more possession and some speculative shots, but they created nothing clear cut until the very end. At the other end, we squandered a number of excellent opportunities as Joel Campbell and Aaron Ramsey both missed from close range and the latter also fired just over after some tight control in the area. Really we should have made the game safe and our punishment was a very nervy last ten minutes.

After holding on for so long, it took something very special to breach our defence. Aaron Ramsey was the guilty party, allowing Toure to run off the back of him, but the finish was superb, a first time left footed effort that floated agonisingly into the top corner of the goal. Ramsey had an immediate chance to atone for his error, bursting free in the penalty area, but clipping the ball high and wide of Joe Hart’s goal. City huffed and puffed, but despite some scary moments we held firm for a vital three points.

We have two more games until we’ve reached the halfway point of the season, Southampton await on Boxing Day before we face Bournemouth at home less than 48 hours later. As much as this is a huge win for us and big statement in the title race, it is finished now. This result means nothing if we then go and lose one of our next couple of games. Southampton away and Bournemouth at home are the types of game where the foundations of a title win are built and this is where we can’t afford to let our focus wander. The title talk can wait, there’s still a lot of work to be done. But until the next enjoy this wonderful result and have a great Christmas.

Teams

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Campbell (Gibbs 70’), Özil (Chamberlain 76’), Walcott (Chambers 88’), Giroud
Subs
Opsina, Chambers, Chamberlain, Gibbs, Gabriel, Reine-Adelaide, Iwobi

Man City (4-1-4-1)
Hart, Sagna, Otamendi (Y), Mangala, Kolarov, Delph (Sterling 45’), Toure, Fernandinho, Silva (Y) (Navas 73’), De Bruyne, Agüero (Bony 63’)
Subs
Caballero, Navas, Clichy, Sterling, Bony, Demichelis, Iheanacho

Player Ratings

Cech - 7/10 - Only tested once really, could do nothing about their goal
Bellerin - 8/10 - Had an excellent game, snuffed everything out down the right
Mertesacker - 8/10 - Wonderful as well, didn’t put a foot wrong
Koscielny - 8/10 - At least Aguero won’t be lonely with all the other strikers in Koscielny’s pocket
Monreal - 8/10 - Kept his flank locked down, a brilliant performance
Flamini - 8/10 - All credit to him, he was excellent and very disciplined
Ramsey - 8/10 - If he finds a finishing touch again, he’ll be immense for us in the future
Campbell - 8/10 - Excellent work rate and was integral to the result
Özil - 9/10 - Five away from our assist record and it’s only December, incredible
Walcott - 8/10 - A stunning goal and a threat all game, huge player for us
Giroud - 8/10 - A top striker and proving it time and again
Subs
Gibbs - 5/10 - Sadly, he was all over the place, looked nervous and even unfit
Chamberlain - 6/10 - Also looked nervous, although wasn’t as bad as Gibbs
Chambers - N/A

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