EPL: Wasted chance

EPL: Wasted chance

ARSENAL 1 (Mathieu Flamini 53)

MAN CITY 1 (David Silva 18)

For Manchester City, this may prove to be a good point. For Arsenal, it was merely an improvement. For both teams, it was a missed opportunity.

After Chelsea's shock defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday, there was a chance for City to pile on the pressure, or even for Arsenal to drag their way back into the melee.

A draw was the right, albeit mutually unsatisfying, result on Sunday morning (Singapore time).

City should have wrapped up all the points before the half-time whistle, but were unable to improve upon their single David Silva goal.

Arsenal fought back bravely, as if to prove to their long-suffering fans that they still cared. Mathieu Flamini's equaliser could easily have been followed up with a winner, had it not been for the efforts of Joe Hart.

The Gunners are missing a number of key players, practically an entire midfield, and it has cost them dearly. Vibrant and exciting in the middle of the season, they can look pedestrian and predictable these days.

Arsene Wenger's classic Arsenal teams have always boasted great pace, but with the plodding Olivier Giroud and the lethargic Lukas Podolski, they look so ponderous.

Their reluctance to use their only fast outlet, their full-backs, and their preference for trying to pass through City's congested central areas, was baffling.

Indeed, their only convincing attacks in the first half came when they spread the play wide.

City had no such issues. With Podolski less than enthusiastic about his defensive duties, they targeted Kieran Gibbs like jackals, hounding him mercilessly.

Silva and Jesus Navas turned circles around him, their interplay so sublime that it drew gasps of admiration from even the Arsenal fans.

And it wasn't long before their work paid off.

Once again, Arsenal gave the ball away in the middle of the pitch. Once again, they were too slow to react, leaving Thomas Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker isolated, like a low-lying village in the path of a tidal wave.

Silva drove through the middle, found Edin Dzeko whose shot bounced off the post. Fortunately for City, Silva continued his run and was there to turn in the rebound.

EQUALISER

But, in the second half, Arsenal adapted. Finding room in the tiring City lines, they moved the ball crisply around the penalty area and Podolski, disappointing up until that moment, supplied a perfect cut-back for Mathieu Flamini to slot home.

The French midfielder, who scored in his own net in midweek, roared in delight and the atmosphere in the Emirates Stadium changed dramatically. Podolski came so close to winning the game, his low shot deflected past the post from the inside of Hart's leg.

The home supporters, so disappointed in midweek by the late capitulation against Swansea, roared in approval. This was the kind of display they had wanted, this was the kind of passion they needed.

In the far corner, the City supporters went very quiet, sensing that they were in serious danger. But Arsenal couldn't quite create a good-enough opportunity and the chance slipped away.

Ultimately, for all the efforts, this was Arsenal's third consecutive game without a win. Since a seven-game winning streak ended on Jan 24 with the annihilation of Coventry in the FA Cup, the Gunners have won only five of 14 games in all competitions.

That is why they languish in fourth. That is why their title challenge is in tatters.

City could afford a little slip, especially after walloping Manchester United last Wednesday.

As Manuel Pellegrini said afterwards, they can't be expected to win every game. A draw away at the fourth-best team in the league is not to be sniffed at.

But, as the full-time whistle blew in North London, it was hard to escape the feeling that the only beneficiaries over the weekend were Liverpool.


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