Manchester City 0  Arsenal  1       -   City give it their best shot
Saturday 25th September 2004 : Malc for Get Your Kits Out at COMS                                              Back to Main Page
 

Arsenal repelled a valiant effort from Manchester City to continue their unbeaten Premiership march at Eastlands on Saturday.

There will have been few occasions in their 47 outings since they last tasted domestic defeat that the Gunners will have found themselves on the back foot for as long as they did in the second-half against Kevin Keegan's men.

But, just as Rio Ferdinand produced an authoritative performance on his return to action for Manchester United on Monday, so, a few miles down the road, Sol Campbell did the same for Arsenal.

Much has been made of Ferdinand's absence from the Red Devils line-up but arguably Campbell is just as important to the title holders.

And though City attacked with venom at times and Nicolas Anelka repeatedly threatened damage to his old club, the England man, now recovered from the Achilles problem that has sidelined him for the entire season so far, refused to get flustered.

Campbell's efforts ensured Arsenal kept the home side at bay and with Jens Lehmann dealing comfortably with anything that did come his way, the Gunners were able to hold onto the lead Ashley Cole gave them with his impressive 13th minute finish.

It was tough luck on City, who looked a completely different side to the one that capitulated on the same ground against Everton a fortnight ago and seemed to have found a new sense of belief.

Long-suffering City fans do not need much to fuel their optimism and successive victories over Crystal Palace and Barnsley were more than enough to see them visit the local bookmakers in their droves, piling on the cash in the belief that their side would be the ones who brought Arsenal to their knees.

The evidence to back up their confidence was pretty flimsy, mainly that it would be a typical City thing to do and it did not take Arsenal long - 30 seconds to be precise - to provide a compelling counter argument.

Passes from Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp appeared to be fairly routine, but they proved enough to unhinge the home defence, forcing James to make a brave sliding stop to deny Freddie Ljungberg an opener.

Bergkamp, returning to the side in place of injured winger Robert Pires, proved a particular problem for the Blues, dropping into midfield at regular intervals leaving the hosts in a quandry about who should mark him.

Any momentary lapse in concentration was quickly exploited by a mesmerising mixture of pass, move and sublime skill.

It was Cole's refusal to stop when Jose Reyes attempted to play a pass to Henry that saw him react quickest to Dunne's attempted intervention and after taking a couple of strides across the area, the England full-back proved how much he has learned on the training ground, producing a deft left-foot finish any Gunners striker would have been proud of.

Reyes and Henry produced magical moments of skill that even earned the appreciation of the home fans. The latter's one-touch control from a Vieira punt forward sent Richard Dunne flying in the wrong direction, allowing the Arsenal man the space to roll a shot which went about an inch wide.

Henry was also denied in the final minute of the opening period when James proved equal to a blistering volley the Frenchman unleashed from the right edge of the six-yard box.

Not that City were being over-run. Even with Shaun Wright-Phillips well shackled, the hosts actually produced one of their best performances of the season.

Nicolas Anelka and Paul Bosvelt were particularly impressive as were Danny Mills and Sun Jihai. It was just that when they did get into decent attacking positions, they did not have the pace to finish moves off.

Anelka, eager to make an impression against his former club, sent one volley dipping just wide, while Sun should have tested Jens Lehmann but only produced a weak finish after an excellent 40-yard burst.

City's spirited effort continued after the break as Lehmann twice denied Anelka, the first an excellent full length effort after Jon Macken had found room down the right.

City's efforts were certainly giving Campbell the test he was looking for. The problem was it succeeded only in raising the decibel level among the home fans, who encouraged their team to attack even more, thus playing straight into Arsenal's hands.

Cole almost took advantage when he blasted against a post from an acute angle with James going the other way in anticipation of a cross but a second would have been unfair on City who gave so much but, like so many of Arsenal's opponents, ended up with very little.

Ref: P Robinson (E Yorkshire).