October 2010
City 0 Arsenal 3
October 24th 2010 47,393
My book 'End of an Era' containing photo memories of days at Maine Road is now available from Blurb.com.
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The result of this game hinged on a referees decision after just 4 minutes of play. When Boyata was outpaced by Chamakh and brought him down just outside the area Clattenburg had no option but to send him off.
With City down to ten men against such a good passing side as Arsenal it was going to be a miracle to hold out for so long for a point. The penalty save by Joe Hart gave us some hope but once they went ahead it was going to be a tough battle and alas though City played quite well at times Arsenal were too good a side to let this golden opportunity pass by and strangely they did employ some rough tactics to stop the creativity of David Silva. We were all hoping that a second yellow card for one of the Arsenal players would have evened things out but it was not to be. After the loss of Boyata there were several defensive changes which did not help matters. An injury to Tevez is a little worrying but the home debut of Balotelli from the subs bench is a plus.
After the teams came out there was a minutes applause in memory of the passing of Malcolm Allison
His ex colleagues and relations were there to pay tribute to the great man
City almost scored in the first minute when a great run and cross by Tevez was flicked by Silva and only just saved by Fabianski
Then in the 4th minutes Boyata brings down Chamakh and immediately Fabregas and company ask for a red card!
Out comes the red card and City are down to ten men. Richards goes to central defence and Yaya Toure drops back but the free kick comes to nothing
In the 16th minute Tevez did manage to get in a shot on goal but it lacked power and was easily saved
On 20 minutes disaster struck. An attack down the right ended with an interchange of passes between Arshavin and Nasri and the latter shot past Hart to give Arsenal the lead
Hart punches clear
Richards has a curling shot but it goes wide
Fabianski saves at a City corner
Tevez's shot is blocked by a defender
Five minutes before the interval Fabregas is brought down just inside the penalty area and a penalty is awarded.
The kick taken by Fabregas is brilliantly saved by Joe Hart and it's one nil at half time
Boateng tackles Arshavin
On 56 minutes Silva dashes down the right wing......
..... but Fabianski manages to push Silva's shot for a corner
Adebayor on for Tevez heads over from the ensuing corner
City went two down when Song scored after 66 minutes
After 71 minutes on came Mario Balotelli for his home debut
With City tiring Bendtner scored a third goal with just three minutes to go.
Team
Hart 7.5: Richards 7.5, Kompany 7, Boyata 4, Boateng 6.5: Milner 6.5, Barry 6.5 ( Balotelli 6). De Jong 6.5 Toure 6 ( Bridge 6) Silva 7.5, Tevez 6.5 (Adebayor 6)
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