Is it a warm up game or is it a trophy, you decide….
Coventry next Friday is the priority for me but giving a beating to a club which has caused us quite a lot of pain in recent years from Wenger and Emery through to Arteta, has a certain attraction to it and a psychological edge when we meet again.
Raya and Madueke were the only starters from the England/Spain group returning from World Cup duty and it was notable that Martinelli and Nwaneri were absent but otherwise the starting XI picked itself and made perfect sense.
City don’t play the low-block they press and dominate possession whilst also leaving space in behind and Arsenal made the most of the space afforded them with Havertz playing a key role.
It took Arsenal just 24 seconds to benefit from the space as Myles, who was superb throughout, threaded a pinpoint pass into the path of Calafiori who calmly blasted the ball past a flailing Donnarumma. It was a stunning start to such a high-profile game and it left City bemused and their new manager having to re-think on the fly.
Arsenal’s confidence surged and never faded for the rest of the game, whilst City misplaced passes and failed to take advantage of their opportunities with some of their biggest names actually looking quite underwhelming. But City are City and by the 10th minute mark they had recovered some composure and were pushing the Gunners back, whilst at the same time Arsenal looked quite lethal on the break with Odegaard showing signs of rediscovering the kind of form we enjoyed from him prior to all the injuries. Bruno quietly went about his business as he gradually grew into his new role happy to let Lewis Skelly catch the eye with some exceptional control and passing. Arsenal had two successive corners which showed the kind of work Jovier had been working on and it looked very positive.
20 minutes saw Raya parry a Foden drive and during the next few minutes City tried to stretch the game with long balls to Haaland but his touch was, it seemed, still on the beach. Gabriel and Mosquera ably assisted by the impressive Ben White, dealt with any threat and then we struck again. Madueke got free on the right on 28 minutes and played in Odegaard who measured an accurate cross over to Tzolis who headed back to Havertz who in turn headed down past the fumbling Donnarumma, his form for PSG a distant memory. 2-0 was a nice score line and the Gunners thoroughly deserved it.
Eventually City came back as we knew they would, there is still enough Guardiola DNA left in that squad and around 39 minutes they created two great chances. Myles blocked the first and following a Raya save, Benny White blocked another attempt, this team in red weren’t messing about! Arsenal’s defending was showing all its best indefatigable qualities, they shall not pass, which almost led to a 3rd goal. Noni and Ben combining well to switch the ball across to where Calafiori was waiting but his volley flew narrowly over the bar, then just on half-time Odegaard was so close to adding that third, but we had to be satisfied with the two. H/T 2-0
Maresca put Jack Grealish on at half- time and Mikel replaced Bruno for Rice – sensible substitution.
More midfield magic and control by Myles on 48 minutes put Tzolis into the City box, Calafiori charged past him on the left taking attention away as he switched the ball inside to Odegaard who danced through City’s static defence where he sold Donnarumma a dummy and sat him down on his rather large Latin backside before stroking the ball home for our third and killer goal. They weren’t coming back from 3 goals, well certainly not this iteration of the Manchester Sky Blues.
Arsenal were in total control, on the hour Maresca had made 5 substitutions with minimal effect, Arteta put on Saka for Madueke and Hincapie for Calafiori. By then the Arsenal fans had given us a rendition of Ole, Ole, Ole, as the lads knocked it about on the edge of our box leaving City chasing shadows. On 63 Odegaard continued to show his full repertoire of body swerves as he left his opponent marking fresh air and drove into the City half setting up Bakayo who shrugged off his marked and narrowly shot wide. Another scintillating Arsenal move opened up City but a linesman flag against Kai stopped our progress.
It took until the 73rd minute for City to have an effort on goal, their first of the second half, Cherki had a powerful shot but Raya was just unbeatable. A couple of minutes later and Arteta sent on Gyokeres and Zubimendi for Havertz and Myles. On 80 Hincapie drove down the left with Tzolis tucking inside just like Leo used to do and his driven cross was met by Saka who probably should have scored, 4 would have been nice, but he just overcooked his connection and it cleared the bar with Donnarumma no where.
City were looking well beaten, then out of nowhere Semenyo fired in a low shot that looked destined for the net but as the ball flew through a forest of legs there was Raya getting down to parry it wide one-handed.
On 84 Eze came on for man of the match Odegaard (6 subs?) and by the 86th minute the Arsenal fans were serenading the City fans with ‘Is there a fire drill’ as the blue end emptied.
The Gunners comfortably played out 3 minutes of added time and then celebrated with the air of a team who feels this is the first of many trophies this season. The Millennium D.J. played some appropriate tunes and it felt just like the Emirates as the team took it all in. Job done, onto the next one…
We March On.
**By** **Kev**.