For a few minutes it looked like we were going to win and establish ourselves as title contenders with an emphatic victory at home over the defending champions. Well we managed a draw but were really lucky not to have lost the game to Manchester City even though Arsenal played well. Arsenal were denied victory by Martin Demichelis’s late equaliser as they fought out an entertaining draw with Manchester City at Emirates Stadium. England striker Danny Welbeck made his Arsenal debut after his £16m move from Manchester United – and should have celebrated with a goal only to strike a post when clean through early on.
Sergio Aguero made Arsenal pay for that miss by putting City ahead before half-time but goals from Jack Wilshire and Alexis Sanchez saw the Gunners in sight of a memorable victory. Their hopes were dashed when poor marking at a corner allowed Argentine defender Martin Demicelis to beat Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny to earn a point seven minutes from time. Sadly if Szczesny left it, Matheiu Flamini was in the perfect spot to head it away. In a frantic finish, Aleksandar Kolarov hit the post for Manchester City and Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny cleared against his own post as the Premier League champions threatened to snatch the three points, which would have been very cruel on Arsene Wenger’s side. Then came that late flurry in which City almost won and Arsenal lost defender Mathieu Debuchy, taken off on a stretcher with an ankle injury, but a draw was a fair result.
Positives : Sanchez is paying off his high transfer cost and looks settled in the team. Wilshire was excellent today and hope he continues to find his form. Wellbeck looks strong and in a few games could make some solid contributions.
Negatives : Defense, defense, defense! Arsenal will need to restock their defense as it seems easy for a speedy & pacy forward to slip past the current players. Also this is where that defensive midfielder would have come in handy. In January, Arsenal better buy defensively strong players. Ozil tends to look listless; why on earth didn’t Arsene bring on Chamberlain for him in the last 20 minutes or so where the Ox’s strength & pace would surely have given City some nightmares?