Following their recent disappointments, one could be forgiven for panicking early on as City carved open the Gunners defence several times and it looked so easy.
Arsenal managed to shore up their defence on the left flank and were starting to find a foothold in the game, when they were punished for losing possession by a lightning quick City counterattack.
Edin Dzecko was found by David Silva and he smashed the ball at goal. Szczesny’s deflection took the ball off the post and it smacked against Silva and trickled into the goal. It was the second unkind deflection in the Arsenal area this week.
Arsenal responded and by half time they had City on the defensive.
The second half opened to more of the same, Arsenal looking the most likely to score. This they finally did when Podolski’s cross was claimed by an unmarked Flamini, who found the back of the net.
Arsenal looked the most likely to claim a winner, although Dzeko came close when a deflection just went wide by a fraction.
Arsenal’s best chance came on a shot by Podolski, which was well saved by Hart. City seemed content to settle for the one point, while Arsenal pushed for all three, but couldn’t create any other real splendid chances.
Player Ratings:
Szczesny 6. A couple of decent saves, a couple of City near misses, and a goalkeeper who looks vulnerable when good crosses streak across the goalmouth.
Sagna 7. A good game for Bacary. If the papers are to be believed, this was his formal audition for the City team. He passed with flying colours, a number of his crosses deserving of a better finish.
Gibbs 7. A rough opening as Navas tormented Gibbs early on. As the game progressed Gibbs became more adventurous and made a number of good crosses, although the best one was a little overhit and the Ox couldn’t reach it. Gibbs did make several poor passes that led to City counterattacks.
Mertesacker and Vermaelen 6. Both had a tough time keeping tabs on Dzeko. Mertesacker briefly lost contact with Dzeko and he unleashed a thunderbolt. Generally they played a lot better than they did a week ago, commanding the air, and keeping stuff away from the box, although we had to scramble around a number of times.
Arteta 6. A better game than last week, although he had a tough time dealing with the physical City midfielders. Guilty of sleeping on the ball late in the game, which nearly led to a City goal.
Flamini 8. Flamini made a difference this time, even though we looked stretched a number of times. He primarily kept a watch on David Silva, no easy task. However, he was able to get forward on a number of occasions, scoring the equalizer. My man of the match.
Rosicky 8. A spirited performance by Tomas, who always looked to drive us forward and to keep our spirits up. Made a rash tackle on Silva after a cheap giveaway and was yellow carded.
Cazorla 7. A good game for Santi, but he always appeared a step away from making a great play that could have won the game. Played with energy and was starting to buzz around the park as only he can.
Podolski 8. At the heart of most of our best moves in the game. His first half cross was just cut out by DiMichelis, his second half cross found Flamini who scored, and his strong shot was well saved by Hart.
Giroud 7. Hard working? Yes. He made a number of nice attacking moves against the City defenders when he was able to turn and run at them. Needs more killer instinct and finishing power though. A couple of times he failed to attack the cross, particularly Sagna’s cross in the second half that just needed a touch.
Substitutes:
Oxlade-Chamberlain 7. Has fallen to the bench after a rough week, but the Ox played well in his brief cameo.
Sanogo. Not available. On for too brief a time to get a rating.