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Arsenal 0 Manchester City 0: Joe Hart the hero as negative visitors shut up shop for draw

احدث اجدد واروع واجمل واشيك Arsenal 0 Manchester City 0: Joe Hart the hero as negative visitors shut up shop for draw

Little wonder Manchester City are tempted to let the punches fly in training because they are so stifled and restrained when they venture on to the pitch.

It is safe to say Roberto Mancini won few friends at the Emirates. His team came for a point, got it and left to the sound of 'Boring Boring City' and 'What a Waste of Money'.

Frustrated Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas engaged Mancini in a heated conversation as the teams left the pitch. The City boss later said they had been talking about the red cards handed out to Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta.

Crunch: Theo Walcott was one of three Arsenal players to be denied by the post

Crunch: Theo Walcott was one of three Arsenal players to be denied by the post

It got too much for Sagna, who over-reacted to a challenge from Zabaleta by going head to head with the City defender. Both players were sent off by referee Mike Jones, though Zabaleta appeared harshly treated.

Somewhere in Manchester, Edin Dzeko had been having a medical but will City's new £27million centre forward make any difference in a team which had four attempts at goal, none of them on target?

Reason to be cheerful: Joe Hart was exceptional in the Manchester City goal

Reason to be cheerful: Joe Hart was exceptional in the Manchester City goal

Mancini kept a leash on his full-backs and protected his back four with Gareth Barry and Nigel de Jong. His tactics were devoid of ambition and they produced the best possible result for leaders Manchester United.

Claim: Walcott thought he had a shout for a penalty when the ball hit Vincent Kompany on the hand

Claim: Walcott thought he had a shout for a penalty when the ball hit Vincent Kompany on the hand

In Jose Mourinho parlance, City parked the bus but the reaction of Fabregas and the Arsenal supporters was sour. It is the responsibility of their team to break down those who arrive in such cautious mood.

In response to allegations that his team were boring, Mancini said: 'It's not important for me. I prefer to go home with one point because when you play here against Arsenal, it could be that they play better than you and you might defend, and this is football.'

As ever, the Gunners ruined their wonderfully fluent football with over-elaboration and a succession of missed opportunities.

Joe Hart made some superb saves and his goal was blessed. Three times his woodwork was rattled in the first half but the pattern of the game was set in the second minute, when Samir Nasri slalomed down the centre of the pitch.

Arsenal v Man City match zone

Nasri has been outstanding this season and Arsenal are already in talks to improve and extend his contract, keeping him at the club until 2015. On this occasion, he slid Jack Wilshere in on goal with a pass to his left, Wilshere shaped to shoot, then tried to drag a pass square, heavy with disguise, towards Robin van Persie. It would have been a simple tap-in had his pass found the Dutchman but it didn't. Theo Walcott retrieved the ball from beyond the back post and quickly turned it back to Fabregas but Kolo Toure dived in to smother the danger.

City broke quickly and, seconds later, James Milner was lashing a shot wide from an angle at the other end. It was a breathless opening sequence. 

Arsenal remained in control for the first half. Van Persie rolled his marker on the edge of the penalty area and skidded a low shot into the foot of the post. Hart saved twice from Wilshere. All in the first 10 minutes. 

City were in a spin, their midfield enforcers were both booked as they struggled to get a toehold and Mancini beckoned De Jong for a word during a break in play. 

As soon as the game restarted, the red shirts darted forward and Walcott fizzed a low drive wide.

With effortless technique, Fabregas accepted a slick pass from Van Persie and deceived Hart from just inside the box. England's goalkeeper slumped on to the seat of his pants in resignation but the ball spun out off the inside of the post and he was on his feet in time to watch Walcott lash another shot into the other upright. 

'We lived a charmed life,' confessed Hart.

Walcott wanted a penalty when his cross crashed into Vincent Kompany's arm from point-blank range before the break. It was probably an appeal born of irritation because the England winger missed his shooting opportunity when his touch was a fraction heavy and forced him wide.

Somehow Mancini's team survived the siege and, with Carlos Tevez foraging away up front, the Emirates crowd grew apprehensive. 

Nerves jangled throughout the second half and Wilshere, outstanding in the first 45 minutes, faded and the succession of chances lost momentum.

More Arsenal possession merely equated to more missed chances. Van Persie squeezed one wide from an impossible angle when he had team-mates in front of goal.

Hart produced a flying save to claw a 30-yard screamer from the Dutchman out of the top corner, then beat away a vicious free-kick from the Arsenal striker. 

'We had the performance but not the result,' said Wenger. 'I wasn't surprised. They came here last year for a 0-0.'

Jack the lad: Wilshere was at the hub all things good in Arsenal's attacking play

Jack the lad: Wilshere was at the hub all things good in Arsenal's attacking play

Flare up: Zabaleta and Sagna square up

Flare up: Zabaleta and Sagna square up

Butt: Sagna oversteps the mark

Butt: Sagna oversteps the mark

Off: Referee Mike Jones brandishes the card to both

Off: Referee Mike Jones brandishes the card to both

Apart from the live proposal at half-time (she said yes), there was no satisfaction for the Gunners, who could have leapt above City into second with a win.

Arsenal's frustration boiled over in the final minute when Sagna responded childishly to a clumsy challenge from Zabaleta. It was the sort of incident which would barely command a second glance on the City training pitch.

 



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