Manchester City 3-0 Arsenal: Player Ratings

Manchester City heaped more misery on a poor Arsenal team rocked by Gallas’ revelations. City set their stall out by playing with two midfielders in front of the defence and looked to attack on the break. The tactic payed off as Ireland, Robino and Sturridge put the Gunners to the sword. Arsenal couldn’t break through and were resoundingly beaten.

Manuel Almunia (6): Skipper could not do much about the goals. Fumbled an Ireland shot but did decently otherwise.
Gavin Hoyte (5): Given a tough task in dealing with Robinho in his league debut and his inexperienced showed. Subbed 60> Ramsey
Johan Djourou (6): Was solid in central defense and had to play right back in the second half in which he was also decent. Unlucky to give away penalty but a penalty nevertheless.
Mikael Silvestre (5): Didn’t look comfortable at centre back and was one of the two whose untimely bump resulted in the first goal.
Gael Clichy (6): He sliced the ball to gift Ireland the first goal but apart from that was solid and tried to help Nasri on the left.
Samir Nasri (6): Had a brilliant first half as he was involved in all the Arsenal attacks but faded dramatically in the second.
Denilson (5): Maybe could have tracked Ireland better but was generally overwhelmed by the counter attacks of Man City and couldn’t break through the defence when attacking.
Alex Song (5): Dallied far too long on the ball in a poor first half but improved in the second as a centre back.
Abou Diaby (5): Couldn’t break through the City defense as is not a natural winger. Looked to pass his way through and his movement was decent. Subbed 69> Vela
Robin Van Persie (6): Was dangerous in the first half but had not much service in the second. Desperation showed as he tried to claim a goal by kicking the ball as Hart was about to boot the ball upfield.
Nicklas Bendtner (6): Should have scored when put through on goal for Arsenal’s best chance but his link up play was decent but a lack of movement and a heavy touch let him down.

Subs

60> Ramsey (6): Nearly made an immediate impact when sent Bendtner trhough on goal and Arsenal missed a player with his penetration.
69> Vela (5): Not enough impact. Had a shot which went over.
Not used: Fabianski, Wilshere, Gibbs, Lansbury, Simpson

Manchester City

Hart (7), Zabaleta (6), Richards (7), Dunne (7), Garrido (7), Wright-Phillips (7), Ireland (8), Kompany (8)*, Vassell (5) (73 Elano (6), Robinho (8) (82 Hamann (6), Benjani (6) (88 Sturridge (7)

Not used: Schmeichel, Onuoha, Evans, Ben-Haim

Ref: Alan Wiley
Att: 44878

34%	Possession	66%
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
41	Tackles Success	57.9
33.9	Possession	66.1
46.7	Territorial Advantage	53.3