City were the better side in the first half, they squeezed us into our half of the pitch knowing that we had no pace to get in behind them. They used the ball better than us when they had it. David Silva was very dangerous when picking up the ball outside of our penalty box, his defence splitting passes reminded me of what we are missing without Mesut Özil. He carved out a few chances down our left hand side as City looked to exploit when Chelsea did so well. It was Silva who somewhat fortuitously opened the scoring. Lukas Podolski lost the ball on the half way line and Silva drove into our half, his through pass found Džeko on the left and his left footed shot was tipped onto the post by Szczesny and off Silva into our net from close range, 1-0 to the away side.

That was much better wasn’t it? An Arsenal low on confidence and missing at least four guaranteed first team starters as well as some of the immediate back up players took on high flying Manchester City at their own game. Firstly I thought it was a terrific game of football. The best Arsenal game since the 4-1 cup win against Everton.

Instead of the kamikazee approach at Stamford Bridge we played the game far more intelligently. Denying City space in behind when we were not in possession but then pushing up the pitch when we managed to pick up Sagna or Giroud’s flick ons.

City were the better side in the first half, they squeezed us into our half of the pitch knowing that we had no pace to get in behind them. They used the ball better than us when they had it. David Silva was very dangerous when picking up the ball outside of our penalty box, his defence splitting passes reminded me of what we are missing without Mesut Özil. He carved out a few chances down our left hand side as City looked to exploit when Chelsea did so well. It was Silva who somewhat fortuitously opened the scoring. Lukas Podolski lost the ball on the half way line and Silva drove into our half, his through pass found Džeko on the left and his left footed shot was tipped onto the post by Szczesny and off Silva into our net from close range, 1-0 to the away side.

We did manage some good moments, in particular Tomas Rosicky and Santi Cazorla who were our creative bright spots but without the outlets and being pushed back into a congested midfield it was difficult for them in the first half. Flamini had the ball in the City net following a Podolski cross but he was rightly flagged for drifting into an offside position.

In the second half we came out with real purpose and it was our two creative maestros that made the difference. Tomas Rosicky’s performance was not just about his driving runs or excellent close control, it was his work rate and attitude that stood out like a sore thumb. He passed, he tackled, and he ran through the City midfield. He and Cazorla constantly switched positions, the Spaniard making the most of his role with his quick feet under pressure and ability to find the pass, caused City all sorts of problems. Silva may have been the most impressive Spanish international in the first half but Cazorla certainly took over after the break.

Mathieu Flamini had been instructed to make runs beyond Giroud, probably because he has the stamina to do so and it was Flamini that met Podolski’s cross on 52. After that there was only one team who looked the more likely to win the game and that was the home side. Lukas Podolski had the best chance to put us in front when the ball fell kindly to him left of the penalty spot, he took it on and shot against Hart and wide of the near post. You’d want that ball landing to Lukas in that position beyond anybody else on that pitch so it was a disappointment that he wasn’t able to convert.

Manchester City chose to hang onto what they had by making defensive substitutions and they saw the game out, that showed how well we had played in the second half. Hopefully now the team can take encouragement from that second half display and take it to Goodison park next weekend. Also going forward the team can take a similar blueprint into other fixtures against the big sides but hopefully with better attacking talents available.

An Arsenal winner may have kept us in the title race but it looks tough now so staying in the top four as well as an FA Cup triumph would be a good platform to build on, let’s leave the funk behind us and get back to playing like we did yesterday, the Arsenal way.

Don’t forget to check out the post match views from some more Gooners on Twitter. Manchester City (h) “Cazorla was like a terrier in the middle of the park”- Q&A

’till tomorrow