Arsenal 2 0 Manchester City

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Arsenal delivered a footballing le son to Man Citytoday at the Emirates Stadium as they ran out comfortable winners in the Premier League match, courtesy of a brace of goalsfrom the returning Togo striker Emanuel Adebayor. The home side outcla sed the Blues from the first whistle to the last, and if anything, the scoreline flattered City, who offereda very limited attacking threat, with only occasional shots troubling Manuel Almunia. The result now extends Citys win-le s run away to Arsenal to 34 years, since their last victory in 1975, and leaves the Blues with just a solitary win on their travels this season, way back in August.The Citizensdefeat, coupled with a win against Sunderland for West Ham, leaves the Blues in tenth place and six points behind the Hammers in the race for seventh position which would guarantee European football next year. Of course, City could still attain this dream, but only by miraculouslywinning the UEFA Cup, which resumes on Thursday when they travel to Germany to face Hamburg. The Gunners retain fourth place, and with Aston Villa not playing until tomorrow, they have opened up a six point advantage over their closest challengers.Fabregas was instrumental in Arsenals victory, setting up both goals for AdebayorTeam NewsThe Blues had suffered a number of injuries during the international week, and their misery was compounded in training on Thursday when Stephen Superman Ireland picked up a nasty ankle injury which ruled him out of this game, and renders him doubtful for the trip to Germany. Blues bo s Mark Hughes resorted back to his favoured Christmas tree formation for away matches, with injury doubt VincentKompanypartnering Nigel de Jong and Pablo Zabaleta in defensive midfield. Wayne Bridge was Willie Cauley-Stein Jersey restored to the starting line-up after seemingly recovering from his knock, whilst Craig Bellamy replaced Bulgarian striker Valeri Bojinov. There were also welcome returns on the bench for long-term absentees Benjani Mrawurawi and Daniel Sturridge, the latter of whom scored against the Gunners in the fixture at the City of Manchester Stadium back in November.The Gunners were handed a huge pre-match boost with the return of inspirational captain Cesc Fabregas to the squad, whilst Adebayor and Theo Walcott also started for the first time in a while. Alex Sing Song was given a starting berth (sorry Plattsy) in midfield, where he was joined by Fabregas, Denilson, Walcott and Andrey Arshavin. Danish striker Niclas Couldnt Scorein aBrothel Bendtner was named on the bench, wherehe was partnered by former Man United utility defender and light bulb look-a-likeMikael Silvestre.A light bulb andMikael SilvestreCity Line-Up (4-3-2-1) GivenRichards Dunne Onuoha Bridge Zabaletade Jong KompanySWP Robinho BellamySubs: Hart, Garrido, Fernandes, Elano, Sturridge, Benjani, BojinovReportAgainst all odds, it was City who started the stronger and Craig Bellamy, keen to prove a point after his outburst with Wales,created the first opportunity just five minutes into the game, when a foray down the left resulted in a rare shot by Dutch midfielder Nifty Nige de Jong, which Manuel Almunia pounced uponwith a sprawling dive. With criticism ringing in his ears following a series of sub-standard performances, Robinho was keen to prove his doubters wrong, andrather remarkably, it was his willingne s to track back that caused Citys downfall, and gave Arsenal their first goal with just eight minutes on the clock. The Brazilian raced back to help Wayne Bridge in dealing with the dodgy-barneted (see picture at bottom)Bacary Sagna on the right wing,but in his eagerne s to provide support, Robinho was adjudged to have fouled the French full-back. Referee Howard Webb awarded a free-kick to the Gunners, and Cesc Fabreags swung over a delightful cro s, directly onto the head of Adebayor, who, unmarked, buried his header between Shay Given and de Jonginto the goal.Fabregas puts over the cro s for Adebayors first goalCity were dealt a major blow after seventeen minutes, when a recurrence of a hamstring injury forced off left-backWayne Bridge. Despitea natural replacement on the bench in the form of Spaniard Javier Have I Told You That I Met His Parents? Garrido, Mark Hughes turned instead to Swi s footballer Gelson Fernandes, thus pushing Pablo Zabaleta into an unaccustomed left-back role. If anyone out there can name a worse Premier League footballer than Fernandes, I will be very, very surprised.The Gunners sensed Citys frailties and pre sed on the accelerator, as first Kolo Tour and then Andrei Arshavin went close, only to be denied by the brilliance of Given. City then enjoyed acouple of moments of their own, notably when SWP turned Gael Clichyon the halfway line, stormed forward and played a delightful pa s into the path of the onrushing Micah Richards, who saw his powerful shot saved by Manuel Almunia. On the half hour mark, City, or more to the point, Fernandes,wasted the best chance of their afternoon. After some more good work by SWP on the right, he fed in the Swi s international, who was given the freedom of the Arsenal box, and with only Almunia to beat, a goal looked a certainty. Alas no! Thanks to his total lack Mike Bibby Jersey of positional awarene s, Fernandes failed to realise how much time he had, and instead snatched at the shot, pushing it wide, and letting Arsenal off the hook.Hughes was soon forced into another change of personnel as Vincent Kompany hobbled off to be replaced by creative midfielderElano, and it was the substitute who fired wide soon after when set up by Robinho. Howard Webb blew the half-time whistle shortly afterwards, and it was the Gunners who were the happier at the halfway stage.Arsenal started the second period with real intent, and it took them only three minutes to score the goal which settled the contest. As expected, it was captain Fabregas who set it up, courtesy of a majestic chip over Richard Dunne, leaving Adebayor with the simple task of rounding Given and slotting into the empty net. That goal knocked the stuffing out of City and set the wheels in motion for a Robinho strop. Up until this point, the Brazilian had been fairly good, showing desire and commitment, but now, with the tide turned against him, he resorted to the type of display that has unfortunately become commonplace away from home.Adebayor rounds Given and then celebrates with his Angel of the North impre sionThe rest of the game petered out to an extent, and only wayward shots from William Gallas and Theo Walcott relieved the boredom. Danny Sturridge came on for Robinho, but as the final whistle went, Mark Hughes will be more concerned with all the injury doubts for Citys next match; the midweek trip to Hamburg.Key BattlesGael Clichy v Shaun Wright-PhillipsSWP looked a threat whenever he had the ball, but unfortunately for City, this wasnt often enough. At one point in the first half, he turned the French full-back on the halfway line before slipping in Micah Richards, but he was often isolated out wide. Clichy was a threat going forward and handled his defensive duties with aplomb, so for this key battle, the winner is Clichy.Denilson v ElanoDisappointingly, Elano didnt start the game, but he came on in the first-half for injury victim Vincent Kompany. He was largely ineffective and his normally exemplary pa sing was regularly astray, whereas Denilson had a confident game, snuffing out any City danger and displaying his full arsenal (hahaha) of talent, so the Robert Woodard II Jersey winner is Denilson.Andrey No Giggles Arshavin v Nedum OnuohaArshavin playedin an almost free role and was seemingly given license to thrill. He was a constant threat with his skill and trickery,causinga plethora ofproblems for Micah Richards especially, and although Onuoha looked fairly solid alongside Richard Dunnein dealing with any trouble, the winner isArshavin.Sagna: not the most fashionable of hairstylesFOR PLAYER RATINGS, KINDLY PROVIDED BY A CITY FAN AT THE MATCH, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK
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