The Etihad experience & match report as City beat Arsenal 6-3 through the eyes of Demetri Loizou.
When my dad, a long time Gooner offered me the opportunity to come join him in Manchester to watch Arsenal take on City I deliberated for a while. My own team, Chesterfield would be at home that day meaning I would have to miss the first opportunity to see Town since coming home for Christmas.
I’d been to Eastlands before, occupying the season ticket seats of City-supporting neighbours of ours to witness a dull 0-0 draw with Wigan Athletic back in 2008, but this was an entirely different prospect: the Premier League Title Favourites v League Leaders. Joe Hart was the only player from that game to still be involved with City today. Vincent Kompany had replaced Richard Dunne, and instead of Darius Vassell they have Alvaro Negredo. The decision was made that I would extend my Spireites homecoming until Boxing Day.
Following the big media hoo-ha about the £60 tickets for City fans at the Emirates last year, I was pleased to see our tickets were modestly priced at £56 each. Good on City for listening to the pleas of the working class football fans.
We got the 10:20 train direct to Manchester Piccadilly, followed by a tram to “Etihad Campus”. A pompous name for a football complex at first glance, but it really is a campus! Across the road the Arabs are building a stadium for their youth team many clubs below the second tier would only dream of – not to mention the surrounding training facilities under construction for the entire club. We were inside the main stadium by half twelve. Navigating our way across the crammed concourse beneath bellowing Cockney cries of “Red Army” and several abusive songs aimed towards ex-Gunners Samir Nasri and Robin Van Persie, we assumed our position behind the goal. There are a few tributes to current players in Arsenal’s songsheet somewhere; my favourite being Per Mertesacker’s “We’ve got a big fucking German!” although venturing beyond adaptations of the same few generic tunes is explored as much at Arsenal as it is at Chesterfield (not very much, if at all).
Banners decorate the inside of City’s stadium. The iconic “WE’RE NOT REALLY HERE” looms largest and reminds me of the years before the “investment” from the Middle East, when I might have had some respect for the club. “There’s Only One Football Team in Manchester” is obscured somewhat by a St. George’s cross painted with “Chinley Blues” – I let out a sigh for the lost family of Derbyshire. The most odious of banners, however, reads “MANCHESTER THANKS YOU, SHEIKH MANSOUR”.
The Citeh fans must be really proud of this team they’ve built from nothing.
I get it, he bought them the success they’re currently enjoying, featuring world superstars like Yaya Toure and David Silva, but to thank a man at the head of an international regime accused of human rights abuses and repression is to me at least, plain wrong. I find it very worrying that nobody seems slightly bothered by this; as long as his football team keeps winning and more importantly, dominating Man United, they’re as happy as Liverpool fans observing a minute’s silence. Nobody will convince me City fans deserve this success. Why should they have it more than any other professional club? Because some dictator in the Middle East needs a branding vehicle and no asset is more visible than an English football club. If the fans are happy to have their club whored out like this, then no, they don’t deserve it at all in my eyes.
Attention to the pitch as the teams walked out and Martin Atkinson collected the yellow (because it’s winter time? Never quite got that one) match ball from a fucking plinth with the appropriate solemnity this ritual requires. Once the pre-match handshakes – set to the backdrop of an extravagant Barclaycard stage with balloons and flags dotted everywhere – were done with the match still couldn’t get underway as the two teams and match officials had to pose for photographs like we were witnessing a cup final and not an ordinary league match.
On to the actual game of football, featuring just twenty-two players and three match officials (how do we get by without the extra assistants’ batons?), and the first quarter of an hour flies by and with Yaya Toure the hub, Man City seem in control and sure enough, following the “al-Nayhan’s share” of possession and pressure, the imperious Agüero peeled away from Laurent Koscielny at a corner to volley home. With an arrogant nod in front of the visiting supporters, he ran to the corner to celebrate with his teammates and the loudest contingent of Blues fans.
This prompted a response from the Gunners and the game became more even, with some excellent football played by both sides. Theo Walcott’s equaliser on 31’ made all the more enjoyable with the England forward’s willingness to share the moment with the presently shirtless Arsenal fans at the other end of the pitch.
With the game levelled, the game reverted back to the opening quarter of an hour, and sure enough, following some fantastic movement and neat passes, Pablo Zabaleta picked out Alvaro “The Beast” Negredo who tapped in ahead of Koscielny. This was the French defender’s last involvement as he looked to pick up a serious injury from the collision and was stretchered off to a respectful applause from around the ground.
HT: 2-1
The second half began like the first and five minutes after the restart, with Agüero having just been forced off through injury, £30m signing Fernandinho capitalised on a combination of an uncharacteristic poor pass from Mesut Özil and a slip from Mathieu Flamini with an exquisite finish into the bottom corner from twenty yards out.
Again Arsenal responded: Jack Wilshere finally turned up to spray a beautiful ball to the back post where Olivier Giroud spurned what you might say is a perfect hat-trick of golden opportunities. This one was fluffed on his favoured left foot, and minutes later Sagna whipped in a fabulous cross, which met Giroud’s head and just whisked past the far post from six yards away. The Frenchman then found possession in the box with a chance to go for goal or drill the ball across, yet as he swung his weaker right foot, comically stumbled and gave a goal kick to the hosts. After a ten minute period of pressure, Ramsey finally picked out Walcott beyond City’s backline, and the pacey forward/winger stroked the ball home magnificently with an Henry-esque finish past Costel Pantilimon for his second of the day – living up to that famous number 14 jersey.
A recurrence throughout the afternoon, Arsenal relented after scoring and allowed the home side to resume control. Just three minutes after finding themselves back in the game, they were duly punished for what seems like an intrinsic lackadaisical attitude towards defending. David Silva this time applied the finish from Jesus Navas’ cross to re-assert the Sky Blues’ grip on this clash – not the first goal to come down City’s right wing.
The Gunners then had a chance to respond again and Giroud this time did find the net with a top finish on his right foot, but was possibly incorrectly ruled offside. Many in the world football might suggest this was one of those occasions when someone’s afternoon was summed up by something which didn’t quite go his way.
The extra day City had to recover from their impressive midweek trip to Europe – and the fact they rested half their team and still won in Munich – was beginning to show in the legs of the Londoners who themselves had a very tough trip to Naples. On 88’ ex-Gunner Samir Nasri dispossessed a tired Jack Wilshere and worked the ball towards Fernandinho who took his second of the afternoon very well and City put the game to bed. Chants of “Are you Tottenham in disguise?” taunted the despondent visitors.
Still though, Arsenal found the heart to respond, and Nicklas Bendtner, introduced for the frustrated Giroud, headed home a wonderful move straight from kick off only to find himself flagged offside in another questionable decision from the linesman on that side. A brilliant move then saw Walcott in for his hattrick, but Pantilimon saved well. The resulting corner saw Mertesacker head home a consolation goal to make the scoreline more respectable in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
The goals were expected to end there, but young substitute Serge Gnabry was then the culprit for another Arsenal lapse as his poor pass set City through and James Milner won his second penalty this week as ‘keeper Wojciech Szczesny unfairly brought him down. Man of the match candidate Yaya Toure accordingly converted and the rout was complete.
FT: 6-3
To be fair, with nine goals and some of the best footballers in the world, we may well have got value for money, but it is a shame to have lost what was once a great English club and all its fans to the circus that is today’s Premier League with its silly rituals and more importantly, its stolen money and false glory. I hope I speak for any sensible neutral with a moral compass that for the good of football, Arsenal needs to bounce back from this and win the league.
Under The Floodlights 