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29 March 2024

Walcott, Giroud fire Arsenal to win over City

Published
By Football Correspondent & Agencies

Arsenal landed a meaty blow in the Premier League title race with a 2-1 win at home to rivals Manchester City on Monday that swept away a few more doubts about their title credentials.

Arsene Wenger's side certainly had the swagger of potential champions as they picked City apart with first-half goals from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud while the visitors looked forlorn until Yaya Toure netted with eight minutes remaining.

Toure's goal sparked a late resurgence from Manuel Pellegrini's side, but they could not find a leveller, meaning City have now not won away in the league since September and have lost three of their last five on the road.

Arsenal, who have not lost at home in the league since their first match of the season, stay second in the table, two points behind surprise trailblazers Leicester City, but four clear of Pellegrini's side.

"I believe we have shown... spirit, organisation, brilliance and altogether they gave us the three points," a beaming Wenger told Sky Sports.

"You could see that there is exceptional life in this team and when we did not have the legs anymore, we relied on spirit and that got us through in the end."

City have now lost five games and no side has won the title having suffered so many league defeats before Christmas since Everton in 1986-87, although Pellegrini was unruffled.

"It was an important game but we have 63 more points to play for so I think we have the same option to win the title," said the Chilean who claimed his side played better than Arsenal.

The goal the game needed arrived after 33 minutes, but only after City had wasted their only chance of the first half.

Kevin De Bruyne, who was freed down the right flank by Sergio Aguero, back after a four-match injury lay-off, cut in on goal but could only flash his shot wide, prompting an exasperated look from David Silva who was waiting for a cross.

That decision was punished less than two minutes later when Mesut Ozil fed Walcott on the left edge of the penalty area and the England forward turned and curled the ball exquisitely into the far corner.

DEFENSIVE ERROR

Arsenal's second arrived in first-half stoppage time as a defensive error from Eliaquim Mangala gifted possession to the hosts who, via Ozil again, worked the ball to Giroud.

The Frenchman had little goal to aim at but fired his left footed effort low beneath England keeper Joe Hart for his 10th league goal of the campaign.

Defensive lapses have been commonplace for City this season, especially in the absence of injured captain Vincent Kompany, whose presence was again sorely missed.

"We took more risks and created chances but you cannot make mistakes in these important games," Pellegrini told the BBC.

Arsenal should have put the contest to bed early in the second half but Joel Campbell blazed a great chance over and then stubbed an effort at Hart while Aaron Ramsey was also thwarted by the City keeper.

City pulled a goal back when Toure powerfully found the top corner with his left foot, prompting a late surge from the visitors. But Arsenal held firm and go into the hectic Christmas period with confidence booming.

Arsenal survived some anxious moments late in the second half from Manchester City to pull off a 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium on Monday night.

Goals by Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud gave the Gunners a 2-0 lead at half-time and had Joel Campbel and Aaron Ramsey taken their opportunities they could have avoided some testing times they faced from City in the closing stages.

Yaya Toure scored a classic goal to give City hope of atleast a draw. It also ruined Petr Cech's record. The Arsenal goalkeeper with 169 Premier League clean sheets was just a few minutes away from surpassing David James' record.

But he did well to deny Wilfried Bony and Toure again and ensure Arsene Wenger's side closed the gap on Leicester by two points.

The Foxes lead the table with 38 points, followed by Arsenal on 36 and City on 32. 

City have now lost their fifth away game.

Full-time

Arsenal 2 (Walcott 33' Giroud 45+1) Man City 1 (Toure 82')

90" Four minutes added.

86" Toure is posing a threat here for Arsenal. The Ivorian plays a one-two on the edge of the box and then nonchalantly pokes a shot but is just wide.

83" Ramsey misses an opportunity at the other end to increase Arsenal's lead and then with the action shifting back into the Gunners goal Bony sends a weak shot. Lot of action in these last few minutes.

Arsenal 2 (Walcott 33' Giroud 45+1) Man City 1 (Toure 82')

82" GOAL! Yaya Toure ends Cech's dream of breaking James' record with a gem of a goal. His dink left Cech looking to the skies as he had no answer.

79" Walcott's low grounded shot is nicely collected by a diving Hart.

78" Navas looked off-side but makes a 20 yard charge towards Arsenal's goal but runs out of ideas and makes a wrong pass.

75" Manchester City make their final change - Jesus Navas replacing David Silva. And Ozil too is replaced by Arsenal.

72" Sterling's futile shot fails to trouble Cech who could break David James' record of 169 Premier League games with a clean sheet. For that he has another 15 minutes left.

67" Superb control by Giroud on top of the box. First he chest-traps the ball and then with a body feint deceives a defender to have a clear shot at goal but misses the target.

63" Sergio Aguero's indifferent performance comes to an end and the Argentine is replaced by Wilfried Bony.

60" YELLOW! Fernandinho is booked.

58" Ozil is at it again, finding an unmarked Campbell who could have scored himself but he relays it to Ramsey who lunges forward but Hart charges out in time to make a good save this time.

57" Aguero is again closely checked by Cech although the Argentine was off-side.

55" Campbell can't believe this. It was a one-on-one with Hart and he made a mess. 

54" Aguero header has Cech in good position to collect.

52" Campbell comes close to making it three for Arsenal but his hasty chip off a Monreal cross goes over.

50" City are trying to make a statement but end up with Aguero losing the ball to Cech.

47" YELLOW! Otamendi gets a card for shoving Giroud from behind.

Sterling replaces Delph as City need to find a way to make a comeback.

Arsenal 2 (Walcott 33' Giroud 45+1) Man City 0

Goals by Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud saw Arsenal take a 2-0 lead over Manchester City at half-time at the Emirates Stadium.

A sitter that was missed by Kevin de Bruyne in the 31st minute proved costly as two minutes later Walcott fired in a superb goal from the left of the box and then in added time Giroud scored a similar goal leaving Hart exposed and at all sea.

45+1: GOAL! Ozil once agains has a 'leg' for the second goal with a one-touch flick to Giroud who beats Hart with an angled shot.

45" One minute added.

40" City are trying to hold onto the ball in the Arsenal territoty but are unable to make any headway.

36" Arsenal are showing spring in their feet. Another move results in a corner and Giroud beats the defenders with a header but misses the target. De Bruyne's sitter a few minutes ago is proving costly for City.

Arsenal 1 (Walcott 33') Man City 0

33" GOAL! A peach of a goal from Theo Walcott. Receiving a pass from Ozil at the top of the box he sent a rasping shot to the far left to beat a fully stretched Joe Hart.

31" Aguero finds De Bruyne with a beauty of a flick. De Bruyne should have scored with only Cech at his mercy but kicks wide.

30" YELLOW! Silva is booked.

28" Arsenal finally make a foray and Ramsey crosses. Giroud and Ozil go for the header while Hart steps out to clear, doesn't quite punch it to safety but City manage to stave off any danger.

25" City are in total control of the match so far as the arsenal fans wait anxiously for some breakaway moves from their players.

21" Kevin de Bruyne takes a cracker of a shot from top of the box and Cech dives full stretch to push it wide although the ball did look like it would miss the target but Cech didn't wnat to take a chance.

17" Sagna earns a corner for City, Mertesacker clears but its not good enough as the ball is very much in the box and De Bruyne has a shy but it deflects off a defender to safety.

15" City have pushed Arsenal on the back foot. A long ball from Toure saw Mertesacker and Koscielny lunge for the ball to head it to their goalkeeper Cech before Aguero could get to it.

12" City have applied pressure here Silva tries to find a gap from a host of defenders but shoots into them. In the bargain De Bruyne trips Walcott and is warned but escapes a booking.

9" Fernandinho tries a long range shot, not a bad attempt to alert Cech, but its way wide and above.

6" Ozil lovely through but Walcott lets the ball get tangled between his legs. At the other end Silva takes a wild shot at goal and ends up shooting the ball way above.

4" Fabian Delph looks to have hurt his ankle in the Manchester City midfield.

2" Aguero gets his first touch of the ball and makes a dash but Campbell does well to keep him in check.

Yes, the game gets under way and the Emirates Stadium is buzzing.

Kick-off in a few minutes.

We are just 20 minutes away from what is billed as a top table clash. The two teams are looseing up in the middle.

Raheem Sterling is on the bench for Manchester City but Sergio Aguero starts. Arsenal are unchanged. The Gunners are still without Alexis Sanchez as he has yet to recover from a hamstring injury.

With 169 Premier League clean sheets Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech is just one away from surpassing David James' Premier League record.

The match kicks off at midnight in the UAE.

Teams

Arsenal: Petr Cech, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal, Laurent Koscielny, Hector Bellerin, Mathieu Flamini, Aaron Ramsey, Joel Campbell, Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud.

City: Joe Hart, Aleksandar Kolarov, Nicolas Otamendi, Bacary Sagna, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Eliaquim Mangala, Fabian Delph, Sergio Aguero.

Team News

Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez could be in contention to play after he was back in training after a hamstring injury.

Mikel Arteta could also be back after a calf injury, but Jack Wilshere, Francis Coquelin, Danny Welbeck, Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky remain out.

Manchester City hope to welcome back top scorer Sergio Aguero, who has missed four games with a heel injury. But captain Vincent Kompany is still sidelined, along with Pablo Zabaleta, Fernando and Samir Nasri.

STAT ATTACK

Arsenal

Arsenal have lost just one of their 18 Premier League home games against Manchester City

The last two league meetings at the Emirates have ended in a draw

The Gunners have scored in their last 10 league games

Arsenal have won more points away from home this season than they have at the EmirateS

Petr Cech needs one more clean sheet to surpass David James' record of 169 Premier League clean sheets

Manchester City

City haven't won a league game away from the Etihad since September

They have failed to score in their last three away league matches

The last time they failed to score in four successive Premier League away games was in February 2006

City haven't won back-to-back league games since mid-October.

Kelechi Iheanacho's two Premier League goals this season have won Man City four points

Probable formations

Arsenal: 4-2-3-1

Man City: 4-2-3-1

Preview

Both managers dismiss it, but Manchester City's trip to Arsenal on Monday is being billed as a clash between the two teams most capable of lifting the Premier League title.

Leicester City's 3-2 win at Everton guaranteed that they will top the table on Christmas Day, but amid doubts over their staying power and with other contenders floundering, Arsenal and City remain the favourites.

Leicester have a five-point lead over Arsenal, with City a point further back in third place, and the London club's manager Arsene Wenger knows how important is it for his side to take points from their rivals.

"We have really established a good run so for us it's important to continue that," he said.

"It is a massive game. When we play at home you want to win because we are ambitious and we feel we have the chance to come out in a strong position after Christmas.

"It will be a very tight game because if you look at the numbers since the start of the season, offensively and defensively the numbers are very close.

"Manchester City has huge individual potential with David Silva and Sergio Aguero coming back and so we will need a top, top-level team performance."

Silva recently returned to action for City after two months out with an ankle injury and Aguero could make his comeback at the Emirates Stadium after missing four matches with a heel problem.

Wenger, meanwhile, is hopeful that Alexis Sanchez will be fit to play after a hamstring injury, raising the appetising prospect that both teams will be at full strength in attack.

They are both bereft elsewhere, however, with Arsenal missing midfielders Jack Wilshere, Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky, as well as forward Danny Welbeck.

City captain Vincent Kompany is not ready to play despite having returned to training following a calf complaint, and Fernando, Pablo Zabaleta and Samir Nasri are also currently unavailable.

City made a storming start to the season, but have hit a patch of inconsistent form, winning only three of their last seven league games.

They have already lost four times this season, including 4-1 drubbings by Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, but manager Manuel Pellegrini rejected the notion that another setback against Arsenal would be fatal.

"It's not a decisive game as after this we have to play 21 games more," said the Chilean. "It's important to try to be the best team from the first round, to play against a team with one point more.

"It's a game of six points, to win three and to take three off a rival. We must consider Leicester - they are still top of the table. United are just a few points behind us.

"Tottenham can be involved, so can Liverpool and Crystal Palace. It's impossible just to think there are two teams involved in the title.

"We have to play five of the next six away. It's a good target to return to clean sheets and to advance in positions. Playing away is always a bit more difficult."

Arsenal were routed 6-3 by City at the Etihad Stadium two years ago, but they came out on top last season, sweeping to a 3-0 Community Shield victory and producing a smash-and-grab 2-0 win in Manchester in January.

It was seen as an uncharacteristic Arsenal win - one built on patience, defensive discipline and clinical counter-attacking - and Wenger believes the experience will stand his team in good stead.

"It was a needed step for our team," he said. "It was not enough, but it was the first step, which was certainly vital to strengthen the belief of our team.

"When you have never done it, people can tell you 'You aren't good enough, you aren't good enough,' but when you have done it, you know you can do it and that strengthens you. Of course it is important."