Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud were on target as Arsenal won 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium to strike a blow to Manchester Citys Barclays Premier League title hopes. Much had been made of Arsenals inability to beat the big clubs in the top flight ahead of Sundays encounter, but Arsene Wengers side proved they are no soft touch with an impressive display to consign City to a first defeat in 15 matches. Cazorla opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the first half after returning City captain Vincent Kompany blocked off Nacho Monreal. City, who also welcomed leading scorer Sergio Aguero back into the starting line-up, struggled going forward in the first half but were far more threatening after the break. The defending champions were unable to pull off a fightback, though, and there was no way back when Cazorla turned provider with a free-kick that was headed home by Giroud. The defeat for City was their second at home in the league this season and a first loss since November ensured that Manuel Pellegrinis side remain five points behind leaders Chelsea, with the two teams set to face each other in a fortnight in the Barclays Premier League. Arsenal have won five of their last six matches and leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur into fifth place. Aguero made his first start for six weeks and Kompany was also back in the City starting line-up along with James Milner. There were two changes to the Arsenal starting XI after victory over Stoke City last weekend, with Aaron Ramsey and Hector Bellerin in for Tomas Rosicky and Mathieu Debuchy. City made a positive start and Aguero was unable to pick out a team-mate from the byline after referee Mike Dean had played advantage when Laurent Koscielny clattered into Fernandinho with a clumsy challenge that resulted in a yellow card for the Frenchman. It was Arsenal who were in front after 24 minutes, though, when Kompany tangled with Monreal after the full-back played a neat one-two with Giroud and, although Joe Hart guessed the right way, he was unable to keep out Cazorlas precise penalty. City looked short of ideas going forward as a frustrated David Silva was unable to make his presence felt and Aguero was starved of service. Pellegrini reacted to the hosts first-half display by replacing Milner with Stevan Jovetic at half-time and Aguero came close to an equaliser just after the break when his deflected strike was only just off target. The hosts were posing far more of a threat to the Arsenal defence and Jesus Navass drive was beaten away by David Ospina before Fernandinhos strike was deflected over. The match was being played at a frantic pace and Koscielny got a crucial touch on Navass cross to divert the ball for a corner as Aguero was poised to turn it into the net. City were left with a mountain to climb when an unmarked Giroud punished some poor defending by nodding in Cazorlas free-kick after 67 minutes to stun the home fans. Mathieu Flamini could have provided another goal for Giroud late on, but Kompany got in the way of his attempted cross as Arsenal saw out the match with ease. Next story
Posted on: Sun, 18 Jan 2015 21:50:21 +0000
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