FOOTBALL Live

Saturday November 22, 2008 Finished City of Manchester Stadium

3 - 0

Manchester City

  • Ireland 45’
  • Robinho 56’
  • Sturridge 90’ (pen.)

Arsenal

  1. City heap more misery on Arsenal

    City heap more misery on Arsenal

    Manchester City piled more pressure on troubled Arsenal by beating them 3-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Manchester City
    • Arsenal
    • 90+4 It's all over at Eastlands, and surely the final whistle has blown on away vague hopes Arsenal had of winning the title!
    • 90+2 GOAL!! Sturridge strokes home calmly as Almunia dives the wrong way! It's a long journey home for Arsenal now, William Gallas is probably relieved he didn't make the trip!
    • 90+1 PENALTY!! Djourou hauls down Sturridge and the young striker will take the spot-kick himself...
    • 88 Van Persie interceptes the ball as Hart is mid-kick and knocks it into the net!! Of course the referee is not going to stand for that! a goalkeeper's drop-kick is regarded as one motion. Surely RVP didn't think he was the first person ever to try that?
    • 88 Daniel Sturridge coems on for Benjani.
    • 87 Great defending from Richard Dunne as he beats Vela to a diagonal ball forward and clears the danger. Song is booked for grabbing Hamann's leg after losing the ball.
    • 82 Robinho looks to have injured himself following that chance, though it's not much more than a bruised ego. Did Hamann will replace him for the last 10 minutes or so.
    • 77 Robinho is through with acres of space to run into! He has only the keeper to beat... His touch takes him a tad wide and the shot is cleared off the line by Song! You'd expect Robinho to gobble that one up, but his hesitation and poor touch saw the chance go begging.
    • 75 Denilson looks charged up after being denied that penalty claim, and he shapes up and fires a shot from 35 yards out that dips just the wrong side of the post.
    • 72 Denilson gets on to a one-two in the City box and HE'S BROUGHT DOWN BY DUNNE... NO PENALTY! Arenal have a real case for a spot-kick there!
    • 69 More youth is injected into the Arsenal side now as Diaby comes off to be replaced by Carlos Vela.
    • 66 Robinho sends a ball acros the box for Vassell who knocks the ball back to Ireland. The midfielder's near psot shot is saved by Almunia and rolls across for Robinho to backheel in!! But he was miles offside!
    • 63 Vassell picks Clichy's pocket and he bursts into the box with Robinho and Benjani waiting... The cross is blocked and goes behind for a corner! Almunia comes out to claim the set piece.
    • 61 Ramsey slips a lovely ball through for Bendtner with virtually his first touch, but the Danish striker dithers in possession and his shot at the near post is saved by Hart!
    • 60 Now we'll see what Arsene's kids are really made of, as Gavin Hoyte is replaced by Aaron Ramsey.
    • 56' GOAL GOAL GOAL!! City go two up! A sweeping break forward after sustained Arsenal possession culminates with Robinho dinking a perfectly weighted shot over the languishing Almunia to double City's lead!
    • 53 Arsenal have looked rejuvenated since the break, though City look more than capable of scoring a killer second on the break.
    • 51' Richards fouls van Persie on the edge of the area. The free-kick is on the left-hand side. Nasri leaves it for VAN PERSIE... Curled round the wall... Off the foot of the post and out for a goal kick!
    • 47' Diaby goes jinking into the box down the right. He twists and turns to work the space for the SHOT... Blazed wide!
    • 46' Second half is underway!
    • 45+2 Half-time at Eastlands, and Arsenal's problems continue.
    • 45+1 GOAL!! City's dominance pays off as Ireland's drive forward is halted, but Zabaleta knocks the ball back into his path and he finishes calmly past Almunia to score!
    • 45 Wright-Phillips's diagonal cross reaches BANJANI... HEADED WIDE! City finishing the half on top. City finishing the half on top.
    • 44 Irelnad chips over a weighted ball for Vassell to chase. Almunia gets there first and Vassell appeals to the officials that the keeper stepped out of his area ball-in-hand... He hasn't seen the offside flag yet!
    • 42' City are finally beginning to click, and their persistence with one-touch moves through the midfield to release Benjani look more and more like paying off.
    • 37 Benjani is played through and is one-on-one with Almunia... Offside.
    • 35 The Gunners win another free-kick, this time Hart comes out confidently to claim. His long throw initiates a break but City can't make the most of it.
    • 34 After all that, Nasri will take the free-kick. He STRIKES... SAVED by Hart but it falls to Bendtner who backheels for SONG... Sidefooted wide!
    • 33' Richards's shoulder banged into van Persie's midriff, and Gary Lewin is checking his ribs. Van Persie goes off for treamtment.
    • 32 Van Persie goes down under the challenge of Richards, who collided into him as a long ball came in. The Dutchman is winded, but he should be ok.
    • 26 FINALLY! Kompany breaks through the middle; feeds Vassell...his low cross into the middle is met by Benjani and Djourou sliding in...the ball deflects just wide of the far post.
    • 24 Neither keeper has been tested really as yet; the passing, from City in particular, has been really poor.
    • 23 Not much quality from either side in the final third.
    • 22 Nice play by Arsenal as Nasri gets in down the left-edge of the City box...poor cross though, and Richards heads clear.
    • 21 Dunne gives away a cheap free-kick out on the left...RVP hooks it into the middle...punched clear by Hart, who comes through a crowd.
    • 19 Ireland does well to control a throw deep in the Arsenal half...he plays a cute ball inside to Vassell...but his left-foot cross is poor and straight to the keeper.
    • 18 Richards hoofs a long ball up field...complete waste...straight to the keeper. Woeful from the City defender.
    • 16 WASTED! City take it quickly...SWP passes to Robinho...but his low shot from a tight angle is saved by Almunia.
    • 15 Ireland intercepts in midfield and slips the ball down the wing for Robinho...he is brought down by Hoyte; free-kick to City on the left-edge of the box...
    • 13 Vassell is found in some space on the right...he tries running at the full-back, but ends up giving the ball away. Without wishing to single him out...Vassell has had a shocking start to this match.
    • 12 Robinho's casual cross-field pass is intercepted by Nasri, who bursts into space...but Richards flies across and knocks the ball out of play.
    • 11 Vassell gets some stick from the crowd after turning back towards his own goal on the halfway line and being forced to knock the ball back to his own keeper.
    • 10 Kompany is down holding his face after a collision with RVP in midfield; he's up on his feet after a short bout of treatment.
    • 9 SWP links up well with Vassell, but just can't get the ball under control as he enters the final third.
    • 8 Plenty of work-rate up front for City today with Vassell and Benjani...lots of hard running and chasing down the man in possession; all looks a little headless at the moment, though.
    • 7 Arsenal win a free-kick; 30 yards out, right of centre...Van Persie curls the ball in...headed clear.
    • 5 Ireland intercepts in midfield before trying to find Benjani with an early ball forward; cut out by Silvstre.
    • 4 Nasri makes good territory down the left as he spins his marker deep in his own half and runs at the City defence; good tracking back from Vassell halts the danger.
    • 3 City have the early possession here at the COMS; nothing meaninful, though.
    • 2 City skipper Richard Dunne is back for the home side today; he has missed the last couple of games through suspension.
    • 1 OFF WE GO!
    • - Good atmosphere building here at the City of Manchester Stadium...
    • - Wenger has made a total of four changes with Robin Van Persie, Alex Song, and Gavin Hoyte all recalled to the starting line-up. At 18, Hoyte is making his Premier League debut.
    • - Gallas has not travelled with the rest of the squad after making critical comments about the team in midweek. Gallas has been omitted from the team as manager Arsene Wenger was dismayed by the player's comments.
    • - Oddly, Joe Hart takes his place in the City goal; the chat was that the young England man would be out for a fortnight - not so.
    • - Hello, football fans! This is going to be a belter; a real humdinger. I can feel it in my water.

  • Team Stats

    Manchester City Stats Arsenal
    34% Possession 65%
    14 Shots 13
    7 Shots on target 4
    2 Saves 3
    3 Corners 3
    14 Fouls 18
    7 Offsides 1
    0 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    41 Tackles 19
    204 Accurate passes 480
    25 Bad passes 99

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Manchester City
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Joe Hart 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 0
      2 Micah Richards 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 9 0 1
      33 Vincent Kompany 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 23 1 4
      15 Javier Garrido 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 32 9 3
      5 Pablo Zabaleta 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 21 0 3
      22 Richard Dunne 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 15 3 0
      7 Stephen Ireland 1 4 3 1 1 0 0 33 4 8
      8 Shaun Wright-Phillips 0 1 0 5 3 0 1 14 5 9
      12 Darius Vassell 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 14 0 2
      27 Benjamin Mwaruwari 0 3 0 1 2 4 0 11 1 4
      10 Robson de Souza 1 4 3 0 2 1 0 16 0 5
      16 Kasper Schmeichel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      28 Daniel Sturridge 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0
      11 Blumer Elano 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 9 0 1
      26 Tal Ben Haim 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      4 Nedum Onuoha 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      24 Ched Evans 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Dietmar Hamann 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 1
    • Arsenal
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Manuel Almunia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 1 0
      20 Johan Djourou 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 45 0 4
      17 Alexandre Song 0 2 1 1 2 0 0 57 9 1
      22 Gaël Clichy 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 61 23 2
      41 Gavin Hoyte 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 21 0 0
      18 Mikael Silvestre 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 48 9 2
      15 Denilson Pereira Neves 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 65 9 4
      8 Samir Nasri 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 54 26 2
      2 Vasiriki Abou Diaby 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 37 2 0
      11 Robin Van Persie 0 2 0 3 4 0 0 20 5 2
      26 Nicklas Bendtner 0 2 1 2 3 0 0 23 8 1
      19 Jack Wilshere 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      50 Jay Simpson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Aaron Ramsey 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 29 7 0
      42 Henri Lansbury 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      12 Carlos Vela 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 1
      40 Kieran Gibbs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Lukasz Fabianski 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 90+2 GOAL!! Sturridge strokes home calmly as Almunia dives the wrong way! It's a long journey home for Arsenal now, William Gallas is probably relieved he didn't make the trip!
    • 90+1 PENALTY!! Djourou hauls down Sturridge and the young striker will take the spot-kick himself...
    • 88 Van Persie interceptes the ball as Hart is mid-kick and knocks it into the net!! Of course the referee is not going to stand for that! a goalkeeper's drop-kick is regarded as one motion. Surely RVP didn't think he was the first person ever to try that?
    • 82 Robinho looks to have injured himself following that chance, though it's not much more than a bruised ego. Did Hamann will replace him for the last 10 minutes or so.
    • 77 Robinho is through with acres of space to run into! He has only the keeper to beat... His touch takes him a tad wide and the shot is cleared off the line by Song! You'd expect Robinho to gobble that one up, but his hesitation and poor touch saw the chance go begging.
    • 72 Denilson gets on to a one-two in the City box and HE'S BROUGHT DOWN BY DUNNE... NO PENALTY! Arenal have a real case for a spot-kick there!
    • 66 Robinho sends a ball acros the box for Vassell who knocks the ball back to Ireland. The midfielder's near psot shot is saved by Almunia and rolls across for Robinho to backheel in!! But he was miles offside!
    • 63 Vassell picks Clichy's pocket and he bursts into the box with Robinho and Benjani waiting... The cross is blocked and goes behind for a corner! Almunia comes out to claim the set piece.
    • 61 Ramsey slips a lovely ball through for Bendtner with virtually his first touch, but the Danish striker dithers in possession and his shot at the near post is saved by Hart!
    • 56' GOAL GOAL GOAL!! City go two up! A sweeping break forward after sustained Arsenal possession culminates with Robinho dinking a perfectly weighted shot over the languishing Almunia to double City's lead!
    • 51' Richards fouls van Persie on the edge of the area. The free-kick is on the left-hand side. Nasri leaves it for VAN PERSIE... Curled round the wall... Off the foot of the post and out for a goal kick!
    • 47' Diaby goes jinking into the box down the right. He twists and turns to work the space for the SHOT... Blazed wide!
    • 45+1 GOAL!! City's dominance pays off as Ireland's drive forward is halted, but Zabaleta knocks the ball back into his path and he finishes calmly past Almunia to score!
    • 45 Wright-Phillips's diagonal cross reaches BANJANI... HEADED WIDE! City finishing the half on top. City finishing the half on top.
    • 34 After all that, Nasri will take the free-kick. He STRIKES... SAVED by Hart but it falls to Bendtner who backheels for SONG... Sidefooted wide!
    • 26 FINALLY! Kompany breaks through the middle; feeds Vassell...his low cross into the middle is met by Benjani and Djourou sliding in...the ball deflects just wide of the far post.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Manchester City

    Manager: Mark Hughes

    Captain: Richard Dunne

    Starting line-up

    • J. Hart
    • P. Zabaleta
    • R. Dunne
    • M. Richards
    • J. Garrido
    • S. Ireland Goal
    • V. Kompany
    • S. Wright-Phillips
    • D. Vassell Substitution Out (73′)
    • M. Benjani Substitution Out (88′)
    • .. Robinho Goal Substitution Out (82′)

    Subs

    • D. Hamann Substitution In82′
    • K. Schmeichel
    • T. Ben Haim
    • N. Onuoha
    • B. Elano Substitution In73′
    • D. Sturridge Substitution In88′
    • C. Evans

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None

  • Arsenal

    Manager: Arsene Wenger

    Starting line-up

    • M. Almunia
    • G. Hoyte Substitution Out (60′)
    • J. Djourou
    • M. Silvestre
    • G. Clichy
    • .. Denilson
    • A. Diaby Substitution Out (69′)
    • A. Song Yellow Card
    • R. van Persie
    • S. Nasri
    • N. Bendtner

    Subs

    • L. Fabianski
    • C. Vela Substitution In69′
    • K. Gibbs
    • A. Ramsey Substitution In60′
    • J. Simpson
    • J. Wilshere
    • H. Lansbury

    Injured

    • T. Rosicky
    • B. Sagna
    • E. Eboue
    • T. Walcott
    • D. Eduardo

    Suspended

    • C. Fabregas