The second was again clear cut when Bergkamp was taken out in the box. Normally in this situation Thierry would step up, but when the penalty was awarded he walked out of the area. A lengthy discussion between Bob and Tel then ensued, resulting in Pires stepping forward to place the ball. His run up was far straighter and shorter than before, leading me to believe he would be choosing placement over power this time. However, what followed was a total embarrassment and an extremely foolish piece of play. What was discussed in the conversation between Bob and Tel was made painfully clear. Pires ran up and rolled his foot over the ball in an attempt to pass (yes that's pass!) to Henry, who was running in from outside the box. As you might expect in this situation (would you ever be expecting this situation though?) it went horribly wrong, and what should have been our second goal turned into a Man City free kick.
Let me make my position abundantly clear on this. I am furious! Not because it was an act of sheer arrogance that just went wrong, but because of the situation and circumstances in which it happened. According to Henry, it was his idea and was something the two of them worked on in training. That's good, that's fine but that sort of attempt is something that should only ever be seen when a team is enjoying an assured lead of three or maybe four goals, if ever. We were sitting on a slender one goal lead that was under threat when this happened. The ramifications could have been huge, and just because they weren't in the end doesn't mean we should turn a blind eye. It has to be said that it could have cost us two points, and we can't afford to be dropping points. What should have happened was a standard spot kick putting the game beyond City. Instead this bizarre effort pumped up both the Man City players and fans and ensured that we endured a nervous last 15 minutes, where we were almost made to play. City did have the ball in the net and we were fortunate to see then flag go up for a dubious offside, as it would have been no more than we deserved. It was an total embarrassment for the players involved and the team as a whole, and I hope that Arsene takes Pires and Henry aside and lets them know just how unacceptable that is in that situation, although I fear he won't based upon his upbeat tone in the post match press conference.
To those of you who feel we should just accept the players apologies and move on; would you take the same view if that game had ended one each? It is the principle of it that offends me. Putting three points needlessly on the line is not only unacceptable but unprofessional. Maybe I'm having a humour bypass (Henry and Wenger seemed to find it funny) but I fail to see how jeopardising the chance of taking a precious win can be funny.
Apart from those two incidents, I felt what could have been a very entertaining game of football was ruined by a whistle happy referee. Twenty free kicks were awarded in the first half alone which meant the play was disjointed and neither side could find a rhythm.
Jens Lehmann (6) Made a few routine saves, and gathered crosses well.
Gael Clichy (5) Again he looked nervous making unforced errors, playing some sloppy passes and getting sucked in too easily.
Pascal Cygan (6) A fairly solid display, although Sibierski seemed to beat him in the air quite easily. .
Kolo Toure (7) Led the backline and got them organised. His bursting run led to the award of our first penalty.
Lauren (6) His final ball was poor by his standards, but his defending was good as always.
Robert Pires (4) A lack of commitment left Clichy exposed yet again, and after one excellent spot kick he went on to show extreme arrogance with his second. He also missed a fantastic chance in the first half, putting the ball high over the bar.
Gilberto (7) Broke up what little momentum City could manage to put together.
Mathieu Flamini (6) Lost the ball on some occasions, but his tackling and forward passing made up for it.
Cesc Fabregas (6) Showed some neat touches and could have added a second late on after being played in by Tel.
Dennis Bergkamp (7) He chased down lost causes and made himself available as an option on the right when Cesc got dragged inside.
Thierry Henry (6) Played some fantastic passes and beat defenders for fun at times.