This game, inevitably, was only ever going to be about one certain player, but putting the alleged face-stamping incident and fan-taunting aside, let’s concentrate on the actual football. As Arsene Wenger said on Saturday evening, “When you analyse this game again, you will see this was not a 4-2 result”. Here’s some analysis, then…..

Goal-Shy Forwards

Two visits to Manchester in the last fortnight have seen Arsenal come away pointless both times, but Saturday’s performance bears no relation to the Old Trafford defeat. Whereas the loss to Fergie’s boys could perhaps be credited to a rush of blood to the respective heads of Almunia, then Diaby, Saturday’s woeful finishing was the main reason for Arsenal’s downfall.

This first chalkboard shows the chances created in their two previous games, demonstrating not only that the number of goal attempts Arsenal had at the weekend was double the amount than at Old Trafford, but that most were in far more dangerous positions. Indeed, the Gunners 23 shots was the most they have had in any Premiership match so far this season.

Problem is, they couldn’t stick ’em away. William Gallas missed five chances, but as a centre half he shouldn’t be looked upon as the answer; Robin Van Persie’s goal was his first of the season, a statistic unbefitting the main centre forward of a club with title aspirations. Of Arsenal’s 75 goal attempts so far this Premiership, Van Persie has had 19 alone, (ie, a quarter), all for the return of a solitary strike. Bendtner has yet to score this season, and with Eduardo and the injured Arshavin having 1 goal apiece, it’s clear where the Gunners problems lie. All the more galling when ex-employee Adebayor has 4 from 4, then. Yes, the midfielders and defenders have helped with a few already this season, but for Arsenal to really be contenders, surely it’s down to the men up front to stick the ball in the net, too?

City’s Slick Counters

When Van Persie turned Lescott to equalize, Arsenal really went for the jugular on Saturday, a tactic that suited City’s pace up front to perfection. This chalkboard, showing Sparky’s boys pattern of passing before the equalizer and after, illustrates how little of the ball they saw, but how well they used speed upfront, particularly on the wings, as some fantastic counter-attacking combined with clinical finishing put Arsenal to the sword.

Arsenal, on the other hand, proceeded to entrench themselves in City’s half, as this chalkboard shows,which further illustrates how Bellamy & co were able to pick them off. The positioning of Thomas Vermaelen (no5) upon each released pass, where he was either around the centre circle or in advance of that position, makes it easy to appreciate how susceptible they were to their opponents speed on the break. With injuries to Santa Cruz, Tevez and Robinho, and Adebayor possibly facing a ban, Bellamy seems more and more integral to City’s success, short term at least, and at 7.9m in the FPL, he is possibly one to consider.

A Passing Comparison

Cesc Fabregas, surely a FPL favourite (10.6m) for the next few weeks, was Arsenal top passer with 58 on Saturday, and Nigel de Jong, with 37, was City’s. This chalkboard, showing how each of them used the ball, is a perfect summation of the game itself- Cesc’s distribution was far more ambitious as he probed and prodded all afternoon, but due to his team-mate’s terrible finishing he came away with one assist. Whereas de Jong’s short and functional lay-offs, moving the ball on, was a job done to good effect.

Lessons From Last Season

This chalkboard is a look at City’s shots on Saturday and in last season’s corresponding fixture, showing they had less chances this time round, yet still managed to score more. Last season 3-0 reverse was far more comprehensive a rout, perhaps as Arsenal never recovered from going 2-0 down early in the second half, and resultantly didn’t push as hard to recover the game. This time round Arsenal gave a far superior performance, but in the end, too many missed chances and a need to chase the game meant they were masters of their own downfall.

That defeat last season, however, was the spur Arsenal needed to go on a 21 league game unbeaten run, and with three out of their upcoming four league games being at home (Wigan, Blackburn, Birmingham) Wenger’s faith in his team- and specifically his mis-firing forwards- is perhaps about to be be vindicated.