Many spoke of Arsenal being title favourites due to their position at the top of the table, compounded with City not strutting their stuff away from the Etihad. Today’s game though, would have changed many a mind, and Arsenal might not recover from this thrashing. City certainly clobbered them.
I'll raise my hands for predicting that Arsenal would win, as that was thrown out the window after 12 minutes.
It took more than 420 seconds for Arsenal to get a touch of that football. That is more of tribute to the way Manchester City came out of the blocks compared to Arsenal playing badly.
At times, it looked as though City had 12 men on the pitch, all down to Yaya Toure. Man that boy can play. Yes, some may say that he was at fault for Walcott’s first goal as the ball was nicked off him by Aaron Ramsey, but Toure was a beast. Earth-shattering at times. Perhaps, what Piers Morgan said was true, he did grow quite a bit since last weekend.
The first goal arrived courtesy of Aguero, via a Samir Nasri corner helped on by Demichelis. Koscielny could have done better. No team can afford to leave the little Argentine tank unmarked 5 yards from goal, its suicide.
City fans call Negredo ‘The Beast’, and he dutifully made the right move in the box, nipping in ahead of Koscielny and side-footed the ball past Szczesny but Toure was at the heart of that move. Man, that boy can play. Monreal though, drafted into the lineup in place of Gibbs, was non-existent in the first half.
Things got worse after the restart. Flamini had the ball outside Arsenal’s box, lost it to Fernandinho and the Brazilian did what all those who hail from Rio do, and curled a majestic shot past beyond the goalkeeper. 3-1. Arsenal looked at least 2 yards off the pace. Napoli springs to mind but they knew it was coming.
Ozil misplaced a pass, Giroud had a chance to square the ball to Walcott who would’ve had a tap-in but decided to shoot with his weaker foot. Moments later, Sagna curled in a splendid cross but Giroud couldn’t apply the finish. Arsenal managed to pull one goal back through a sweet strike which ended between Joe Hart’s former goalposts.
Barely minutes later though, the little Spanish magician, David Silva, restored the two-goal cushion. Monreal again was lackadaisical in his defending and it cost Arsenal dearly. 4-2.
Arsenal were never in the game, with the likes of Jack Wilshere especially, extremely disappointing with his passing, often seen mucking about a misplaced pass with Giroud.
City though, looked like they were about to rampage, almost scoring from every attack mounted. But for Szczesny, Arsenal would’ve seen double figures.
Fernandinho, who had never scored for City prior to this game, managed to get a brace on the night. And what a lovely dink it was, Pellegrini’s men were really at their top today. Full of gusto and certainly a fair bit of oomph, Yaya Toure sealed the night from the spot, after Mertesacker had headed one in during injury time.
To all who doubted Arsenal, well they will definitely be out with their knives following this performace.
A day of joy and victory for Manchester City, and possibly, a turning point in the title race. Arsenal may be top of the table now, but not for too long. The blue half of Manchester are without a doubt, clear favourites for the title.
Dr. Jekyll did indeed turn up today. 6-3
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