Play-by-play: Manchester City vs Arsenal

FULLTIME: Vermaelen makes sure he is the last player to be mentioned in the match. The defender has pushed up these past couple of minutes and his shot just curls past the post. But Manchester City see it out with some solid play. David Silva wins the ball to keep possession and hear the final whistle blow while the ball is with him Incredible match with 90 minutes rapidly going past the viewer. It could be one of the most important matches City win in their quest for the title. 90 minutes: Vermaelen takes a shot after Arteta lays it up for him via a free-kick, but Hart’s form is enough to force a great save from him. 88 minutes: It is almost over for Arsenal with those two changes from Mancini. His side is looking pretty defensive now and de Jong’s tackling efficiency should see them through this. 85 minutes: One could just wonder why Micah Richards is not in the England squad after such performances. He steams into the box and crosses one in but it is off target. He gets another cross from the left this time but his shot is lame. Good chance. Great game. Yaya Toure is off for Ngel de Jong and Samir Nasri will be replaced by Edin Dzeko. [caption id=“attachment_159312” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“David Silva celebrates his goal against Arsenal. Reuters”]  [/caption] 82 minutes: And there he goes. Mertesacker off for a striker in the form of Marouane Chamakh. Alex Song will shift into centre-back. 80 minutes: That is plain lazy from Mertesacker. Nasri puts Aguero through and the big man can easily go and clear it. Instead he waits for Aguero to shoot and his keeper to parry away. 78 minutes: Nothing off that corner. City regroup. 77 minutes: It is not that Arsenal have not tried scoring. The Gunners have done everything possible to penetrate the Sky Blues’ defence but Micah Richards and Kolo Toure have been absolute walls at the back. Corner to Arsenal now. 72 minutes: Arshavin manages to get behind the City defence line but his cross is plain poor. Meanwhile, Balotelli comes off for James Milner. Is City settling for this result? 68 minutes: Theo Walcott has been taken off for Andrey Arshavin. The English winger had just sent in a perfect cross but Van Persie has been given off-side. 66 minutes: Honestly, you just cannot take your eyes off this match. Koscielny gives it away to Zabalata who is in an attacking position. He cannot see any options and therefore decides to just blast it towards goal. The shot hits the post and Szczesny seems to be shocked with the impact. 64 minutes: Oh my it’s Arsenal attacking now. Gervinho has looked very sharp in the past 60 minutes and he plays a conservative game on the wings. It pays off as he finds Van Persie in the middle but his left-footed shot is surprisingly scuffed and saved by Hart. Close…very close. [caption id=“attachment_159292” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Theo Walcott tries to beat Vincent Kompany during the crunch match. Reuters”]  [/caption] 62 minutes: How good is that from Manchester City? The game is being played in a frenzied pace and Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli are the players getting into every tackle. Samir Nasri and Silva play with each other nimbly and set up Aguero whose shot zips past the post. Arsenal defending with their lives. 57 minutes: Gervinho finds some space on the right and squares it for Ramsey. His through ball finds Van Persie and he deftly chips it over the Joe Hart….but the flag is up…and rightfully so. Offside. GOAL! 53 minutes: That was waiting to happen, especially with both teams raring to go at each other. One such break and Nasri drives forward for City, wrong-siding the defence and finding Balotelli on the right. He takes on Song and his right footed fine shot is saved by the keeper before it bobs up. Sergio Aguero gets his head to it but manages just a soft glance in the path of David Silva. The Spaniard does not miss the chance to score his fifth Premier League goal of the season. 49 minutes: Bit of a worry for Arsenal as Johan Djorou has to come off for a problem. Ignasi Miquel comes on for him and Koscielny has to shift to right back. A nervous clearance from the young substitute goes a way to say how important it is to have a settled back four in a match. 45 minutes: Super Mario has been overshadowed by Aguero in this match with his superior movement and great body strength. The fact that he has not scored is a surprise. Half time at The Etihad with both teams having their chances but City going in the dressing room the more confident one. 40 minutes: What a player Sergio Aguero! He goes on a brilliant run beating three Arsenal defenders with sheer pace but his shot is just too low and soft to beat the keeper. That would have been a great goal. 35 minutes: Great chance for Arsenal as van Persie goes on a long wavy run and eventually shoots. The deflected shot is in the path of Ramsey but he trips over the oncoming Toure. Half-a-chance surely. 33 minutes: Positive from both teams as first City combine superbly with four consecutive first-touch passes. The ball does break for Arsenal and Gervinho just keeps it in play to pass it to Ramsey. His cross is accurate but van Persie’s header wasn’t troubling Hart. 28 minutes: Robin van Persie has a chance from a free-kick about 30 yards out and on his left foot but he tries to cross it and it’s a waste. 22 minutes: The hosts are now trying to play their one-twos, using the sound technique of Nasri, Silva, Aguero and Balotelli. But Arsenal have looked for a break when they get possession and Gervinho tries to take on Toure, but ends up finding Walcott in an odd position and with too much to do. On the other end, Richards’ cross is headed away awkwardly from Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker tries to clear it too but Balotelli anticipates the loose ball and tries to scissor kick it into goal, only for Szczesny to save brilliantly. 16 minutes: City have looked extremely dangerous when they have come forward but Arsenal’s defence and luck has somehow held on. Mikel Arteta is slowly exerting himself. Alex Song too, as he sets up Gervinho on the run but his shot is deflected away by Hart for a corner. The resulting corner reaches Ramsey at good height and his bullet is put away for another corner. This time it’s on Vermaelen’s head but his take is a bit soft and Hart collects it before heaving a sigh of relief. 11 minutes: Silva again showing his class after he dissects the Arsenal defence with a lovely ball to free Aguero, in spite of being fouled by Song. Aguero is a bit wide and his lay-up for Balotelli is cleared away by Arsenal. Seconds later, Silva collects a Nasri through ball to hit straight at the keeper. 9 minutes: Sensational from Manchester City. David Silva collects the ball deeps and plays it to Barry who beautifully threads it for Zabaleta. The ball towards the middle is collected by Aguero, taken well and then blazed over the bar. 6 minutes: Good free-kick, especially when you have Balotelli steam towards it, but Szczensny is on to it first. 5 minutes: Balotelli wins a free-kick off Mikel Arteta’s foul. Nasri standing over it. 2 minutes: And yes, Samir Nasri does start. If you remember, he had quite an encounter with Frimpong the last time these two teams met but the young Arsenal player hasn’t started today. Micah Richards also comes back into the squad and will want to continue his good form at right back. [caption id=“attachment_159265” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Roberto Mancini will need a victory to reclaim top position. Reuters”]  [/caption] Teams Manchester City: Joe Hart, Micah Richards, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Kolo Toure, Gareth Barry, Samir Nasri, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli Arsenal: Wojciech Szczesny, Per Mertesacker, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djourou, Mikel Arteta, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Song, Robin Van Persie, Gervinho Preview Arsenal may have lost Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri to Manchester City, but it doesn’t look like either of them will face their former club in tonight’s match. Left back Clichy is injured and so is City’s other left back Aleksandr Kolarov, forcing Pablo Zabaleta to maybe play in that position. The battle between the capital city and Manchester continues as The Gunners visit the Etihad Stadium without loss in eight games and taking 22 points of the 24 available. David Silva has been in top form and it will be interesting to see how he is used against Arsenal, who seem to have found the perfect balance of attacking and defensive midfielders in the form of Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta, Alex Song and the impressive youngster Emanuel Frimpong. The strikers need a mention too as Mario Balotelli and Sergio Aguero have been on fire lately with all due respect to Robin van Persie’s stunning form- he being the driving force behind Arsenal’s recent success on the pitch.