May
2006
Manchester
City v Arsenal 1-3
May 4th 2006 41,875
The
last home game of the season was an entertaining one with both sides playing an
open game so at times it was fast and furious and for the neutral good to watch.
City played better than of late but conceded two late goals when they were tired
and were not helped by the refereeing of Graham Poll who I thought had a poor
game. None of his decisions were directly involved in the goals but his overall
control certainly seemed to favor the visitors and at times the crowd were shouting
City 1 Poll 3. Not that it would have worried him at all. With all the gaps in
the crowd I had doubts once again about the official attendance. Man of the match
for me was the groundsman who had the pitch in wonderful condition considering
it was the last game.
City
mascot Moonchester pays homage to the Arsenal fans before the game
With
Distin injured Jihai Sun came in at left back.
With
Arsenal fielding a strong side in their battle for 4th place City were in for
a difficult game but put early pressure on the visitors goal at a corner -easily
cleared ( when is Barton going to learn how to consistently deliver a decent corner)
and you can see how the Arsenal defence envelope an attempted Vassell attack
Samaras
looks to be getting an elbow in the face by Sol Campbell as he tries to make progress
Samaras
centres but there is nobody there to receive his pass!
Freddie
Ljundberg ( above left) and Eboue - an immense talent at right back, show their
skills
Richards
has the wonderful experience of facing Henry one of the worlds best strikers
....
who weighed up the situation and calmly slotted the ball past a helpless David
James to give Arsenal a one nil lead.
After
almost half an hour Arsenal struck. Henry -who else gave a perfectly weighted
pass to the onrunning Ljungberg after fooling Dunne and Reyna.
Barton
is passed by a Song - Alexandre Song from the Cameroons
Oh
dear, Van Persie has a sit down strike as someone has pinched one of his toys
Sommeil
first tries to appease the sad Van Persie while Henry says "What Toys ?"
a la shrug (in French accent). Then Sommeil promises to return the toy as referee
Poll always eager to milk the occasion
Now
its Graham Poll's turn to explain that he didn't bring any toys with him -only
the whistle and you're not getting that!
A
dejected Van Persie is told in uncertain tones that if he throws the toys out
of the pram again cards will follow
Manager
Arsene Wenger watches with some concern and decides to ban all toys from the Arsenal
dressing room
No
Darius, its not a good idea to barge Sol Campbell in the back
Following
a corner Sinclair headed back into the box and Vassell caused Lehmann to fumble
... the ball running loose to Sommeil.....
...who
from point blank range crashed the ball into the net and even Graham Poll could
not disallow that one and City were level after 38 minutes on the clock.
Ah
but Mr Poll got his revenge shortly after when Riera was guilty of an innocuous
foul. He was immediately booked
A
header by Sol Campbell flashes past the goal
Henry
made several of his runs with the City defence unable to get to grips with his
supreme talent. How
Arsenal and the Premiership will miss him if he goes to Barcelona.
Oh
no not Van Persie AGAIN!
Just
before half time City forced a corner and German keeper Lehmann got in a tangle
with Vassell........
....and
Arsenal eventually got a free kick out of it
At
half time a young Irish lad who has just signed for City as introduced to the
crowd. Looks pretty big for his age ..hope he's quick.
Arsenal
must have suffered an ear bashing at half time as they restarted with a bang with
Van Persie breaking down the right
James
had to punch away the ensuing corner - note nobody on the right and post as the
keeper came out - now check the Arsenal defence!
While
Reyna was beginning to flag Henry was just getting into his stride and the speed
of the Arsenal counter attacks often caught City napping.
From
an English standpoint is was good to see Ashley Cole back in full action after
his injury
A
Dunne header is well saved by Lehmann to prevent City taking the lead
No
not me ref -didn't touch him !
Oh
look who's down now - it can't be - it is -
it's Van Persie
Samaras
was rarely left much space but he failed to make any impact
A
shot by Ljungberg hits the post
Although
City had their fair share of play it was always Arsenal on the break that looked
likely to score and it often needed the combined efforts of several defenders
to scope with Henry's pace and skill
A
series of corners for City put the Arsenal goal under pressure and a chance to
test the composure of German keeper Lehmann
Lehmann
does not like anybody jumping with him now Graham Poll not wanting to be left
out joins the scene
Sommeil
has a quiet word with Lehmann and then the German keeper has a moan and it all
ended with Vassell getting a booking - another notch in the Poll collection.
Henry
tries an overhead kick
Samaras
tries a few tricks but he has much to learn
Hleb
shoots for goal but his shot is brilliantly saved by James
Having
brought on Fabregas, Reyes and Pires as substitutes Arsenal took the lead after
77 minutes.
Eboue
broke down the right and put a wonderful ball back for Reyes to score easily.
It was a well put together move - so effective and fast . It was a big blow for
City who had played good part in an entertaining game.
Lehmann
drops on the ball having fumbled the first attempt. There was no City player following
up.
Samaras
had a fair chance from a good position but he completely miss hit his shot
Arsenal
went further ahead 7 minutes later. Henry went on a run and passed to Reyes who
had time to pick his spot and place it past James into the top corner. 3-1 to
the visitors and game over.
City
tried to reduce the arrears in the closing moments but Lehmann was not to be beaten
again and although City had played quite well at times Arsenal had the bigger
guns and they were able to attack with speed while City always looked labored
going forward. The Arsenal running off the ball was streets ahead of ours and
there has got to be some summer signings to boost the squad.
Team
James
6.5: Sommeil 7, Dunne 8, Richards 8, Sun 6: Sinclair 6.5 (Croft), Barton 7, Reyna
6.5, Riera 6.5 (Flood): Vassell 6, Samaras 6
