City 4, Arsenal 2–As it Happened (live blog and match thread)

By: Thad | September 12th, 2009

Okay, we’re off to a late start this morning but will start the almost-live blog of this match from the beginning. By the end of the 90 we should be just about caught up with real time!

City’s favorite ref Mark Clattenburg is in charge of this one. City are going with a slightly more cautious lineup that features Nigel de Jong.

1st minute. Early pressure from Arsenal but Diaby finally loses it over the left touch line.

2nd minute. City are lining up with Bellamy, Adebayor, and SWP across the top, Ireland, Barry, de Jong in midfield, the usual back 4 of Richards, Lescott, Toure, and Bridge with Given in goal.

4th minute. City are struggling to get sustained possession early on but a decent move down the left gives City an attacking throw by the box. Bridge heaves it in the box but it’s cleared easily, then Lescott slips to lose the ball over the line. But Sagna does likewise and City have it back.

6th minute. Tevez and Robinho are out for City, by the way, Arshavin is out for Arsenal.

8th minute. Toure’s ambitious long ball doesn’t find SWP. The match is settling down to an even battle. A good tackle by Bridge there prevents Arsenal from getting a shot away.

10th minute. Adebayor is being booed by Arsenal fans when he touches the ball, but he had some nice control there to get it in the box following a nice chipped pass from Barry. But no one can get a clean strike away. On the recovery Barry held the ball too long in midfield and got caught from behind in possession.

12th minute. Adebayor fouls Fabregas–he came in slightly late and stepped on the Spaniard’s foot. It didn’t look deliberate but the Togo man is slightly lucky to escape yellow.

13th minute. Bendtner wins a corner from Arsenal on the right side. Excellent take leads to a free header for Gallas but he knocks it over the bar. Brilliant bending corner from van Persie. Gallas had the left side of the goal at his mercy but could not take advantage.

14th minute. It’s a yellow for Lescott after he obstructs Denilson. Adebayor heads away the free kick from Fabregas, but Arsenal set up shop again.

15th minute. Ireland and SWP are not getting on the ball enough, but some good hustle by SWP wins the ball back in the box, where he’s fouled to relieve the pressure.

16th minute. SWP can’t quite control that long ball. Arsenal are passing it through the midfield too easily, this time they end up with a low-percentage strike from distance by Sagna that is well over.

18th minute. Rather harsh handball given against Adebayor there as he tried to play a chest trap.

19th minute. Bellamy is fouled by Sagna who is going into the book. Sagna knocked Bellamy over as he started a run.

20th minute. GOAL for City!!!! Incredible stuff, out of nowhere, Micah Richards beats Almunia with a header that floats in off the post, hits Almunia’s head, and goes in!

21th minute. The goal came on the free kick won by Bellamy, Barry with an excellent take from the left to find Richards on the right side of the area about 10 yards from goal. Richards headed it all the way across goal. Replay suggests Almunia got a touch on it with his hand before it struck the post. That was the first thing remotely resembling a shot from City, and it went in.

22nd minute. Arsenal are picking up the pressure, City need a bit of composure here to hold on to this as long as possible. If City can keep the lead, more opportunities on the counter-attack should present themselves as we go along here.

24th minute. Dangerous cross by Clichy through the box is headed away by de Jong. Arsenal have been able to get the ball into wide areas in the attacking third with relative ease but so far the final ball has not been there.

26th minute. Gallas is making some adventuresome runs forward already.

27th minute. Adebayor just coughed the ball up there needlessly and Arsenal come again, but City just manage to get it away. SWP gets a chance to cross from the right but it’s not a good one and Almunia easily takes. Arsenal break and Bendtner plays a cross that Given takes easily.

30th minute. Van Persie got behind there but he is half a yard offside. Neither side has really gotten a good strike on goal off from open play.

31st minute. Slightly surprisingly, the stats show City with 55% possession so far. Still, it seems like Arsenal are passing the ball better and more dangerously.

32nd minute. Another free kick for City from about 40 yards out won be de Jong. Barry puts it in, it’s headed away by Bendtner, Bellamy fires in the rebound that comes off Gallas for a corner. Good corner by Barry but Almunia does very well to beat Adebayor to the ball.

34th minute. SWP doesn’t look as comfortable in his advanced position today. He just wasted possession there with a poorly weighted pass intended for Richards on the overlap down the right.

35th minute. SWP gets another chance to run at the defense one-on-one but loses it inside the box before gettng a cross or shot away.

36th minute. City have a nice break there that sees Bellamy take it all the way to the touch line before crossing over Almunia’s head. Adebayor can’t get there to head it in but does track it down and City keep possession. That long spell of pressure ends with an offside against Barry and Adebayor.

37th minute. Another shot from Arsenal, but it’s a rather desperate effort from distance by Fabregas that doesn’t come close to troubling Given.

38th minute. Wayne Bridge probably leads the team in number of runs with the ball. Somehow he got all the way to the right side of the pitch that time before winning a foul.

40th minute. Some rugged play there with Richards and Diaby battling for the ball at midfield. City get that free kick.

41st minute. As tight as this game has been to this point, one feels a second City goal would be massive. Arsenal got another ball into the box there but again nothing comes of it. The Gunners come yet again but lose it thanks to good work from Bridge… City break well but again SWP loses it in the box.

42nd minute. Decent move by Arsenal results in a shot from an acute angle going behind.

44th minute. That’s much better from Shauny-Wright Wright as he beats Clichy and manages to get a shot away, but it ricochets back off him for a goal kick. City would be happy now to keep the lead intact until halftime.

45th minute. Good work by Bellamy deflects Sagna’s cross, allowing Given to take it. SWP has great hustle to keep hold of the ball, but City’s move breaks down when Ireland comes back to win the ball from an offside position.

46th minute. Arsenal have a corner now after Bridge played that cross behind. That one is headed away and Arsenal have a second corner. Adebayor boots it away and City have a great opening through Ireland, but he can’t find anyone and eventually loses the ball.

There’s the halftime whistle! City lead 1-0 through Micah Richards, and the good news is that City have actually lifted their game since that went in. It’s a set up for a very competitive second half, this is still very much anyone’s match….

They have changed the goal to credit Almunia with an own goal–I hate that ruling, Richards deserves credit for that goal, he put the ball on frame.

46th minute. City kick off. Commentators remind us that a win here would mark the first time since 1986 City have won five in a row in the top flight (the current streak dates back to the final game of last season).

47th minute. City have defended gallantly so far, especially inside the box, but one wonders if City will regret not converting its period of a relative superiority in the latter part of the first half and that wild scramble at the end of the half into another goal.

48th minute. SWP did well to get free there and set up Adebayor; but Arsenal recover well and are able to block Adebayor’s attempted strike. Free kick now given against Richards on the right side just outside the box….

49th minute. Vermaelen got on to the end of that free kick but his header was always going over. Goal kick.

50th minute. Barry wins a foul there 35 yards out, Fabregas took him down. Barry will take it, he floats it a bit too far for Kolo Toure and it goes behind.

52nd minute. It looks like Tomas Rosicky may be coming on shortly. Arsenal will certainly want something to change the tide of this game. Meanwhile Diaby manages to get a corner on the left; but here comes the change. Denilson out, Rosicky in.

53rd minute. Adebayor heads the corner well away. But Arsenal come again. Rosicky gets a shot in from distance after Lescott’s header. It takes a deflection, corner kick..

54th minute. Arsenal took that one short and once again Adebayor was the one to make the clearance. Play stops as Sagna takes a knock, it looks like Bellamy inadvertantly caught him after the jumped together for that header. Meanwhile, Eduardo, Zabaleta, and Vlad Weiss are all warming up.

56th minute. Important challenge there by Toure to keep Fabregas from getting in on goal. Arsenal are picking up the pressure, and they’ve won another corner there.

57th minute. Arsenal come so close there, Gallas got a stooping header away and Given had to save well. It was right at him but with such pace he couldn’t hold it cleanly; City are able to scramble it away. City now are the team that need to change the flow of play.

60th minute. More Arsenal pressure as Vermaelen takes a powerful shot from distance that Given has to save. Van Persie got on to the rebound and ends up winning a corner. City head it away but soon concede a foul outside the box.

62nd minute. City break well there for the first time in a while but Bellamy’s shot ends up being saved easily. Bellamy’s pass for Ireland there wasn’t quite perfect and Ireland had to scramble to keep possession, but he did manage to set Bellamy up for a shot….

63rd minute. But Arsenal have scored!!! Goal for Van Persie. He beat Lescott’s sliding challenge, then turns and plays a perfectly angled shot to level the match.

64th minute. Lescott took a gamble there and paid the price, but it was a great finish as well. City come right back and win a corner.

65th minute. But nothing comes of it. City do get a free kick 40 yards from goal as SWP is held somewhat cynically. De Jong will take this one–no it’s Bellamy. But he can’t find anyone and the ball ends up being played all the way back to Given.

66th minute. The injuries to Tevez and Robinho mean City don’t have a proven game-changer on the bench. But Vlad Weiss might be a good choice after his excellent performance midweek for country. Meanwhile Given has taken a knock after Fabregas lands on him.

68th minute. Given’s back has every right to hurt after feeling the full weight of both the Arsenal man and de Jong, with whom Fabregas was entangled. Given’s run of minutes without conceding a goal in the Premier League went well over 400 minutes, dating back to last season, but now it’s over.

70th minute. Yet more pressure from Arsenal who will certainly feel they should win this game. Bendtner wins a corner.

71th minute. Gallas had a header at the end of a long spell of possession, Vermaelen is whistled offside and the move ends. Gallas might have done better there. Earlier Adebayor and van Persie clashed, and Adebayor appeared to step on the Arsenal man. Nothing was given there but that could have been a yellow on a different day.

73rd minute. Ireland is leaving the match and Martin Petrov is on. Mark Hughes is rolling the dice to shake things up, not a bad idea at the moment.

74th minute. GOAL for CITY!!!! Just like that City turn the game on its head. Micah Richards again is involved in making the goal. Lescott won the ball at midfield, SWP found Richards, who had a nice dribble into the box, then laid it off perfectly for BELLAMY who makes no mistake. 2-1 City!

76th minute. The shot was more power than placement, though it did have a little swerve on it. With that kind of power from 15 yards out, Almunia had very little chance.

77th minute. Petrov had his first dribble there but he played his pass to no one. Apparently what is happening is Petrov will go wide left, Bellamy over to the right, and SWP back into midfield. Meanwhile Eboue and Eduardo are on for Arsenal.

78th minute. Oh no oh no! Adebayor had an incredible run to torture Arsenal, he made it all the way to the byline and squared it for SWP, but the finish goes wide. He beat no fewer than 3 defenders, SWP was coming at pace from across the goal and couldn’t get his foot properly turned to knock it on target.

80th minute. As in the first half, that goal has bouyed City and we now have some decent possession. And it pays off!! GOAL for Adebayor!!!!

80th minute. Adebayor runs the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of Arsenal’s fans–that will be a talking point. As to the goal itself, SWP played a lovely cross and Adebayor headed it to the left corner. Yellow card for Adebayor which is certainly fair enough, but the emotion in that celebration was of an intensity you don’t usually see even in the Premiership. what a moment!!

83rd minute. Adebayor’s busy day continues as he clears a ball off the line (barely) following an Arsenal corner. A penalty shout follows–did the ball strike Barry’s arm? It appears it did but unclear whether it was intentional.

84th minute UNBELIEVABLE!!! SWP scores the 4th! Incredible! City’s entire team celebrates this time. Craig Bellamy own the ball on one end of the pitch, ran 50 yards with the ball, then played SWP perfectly, he chips it past Almunia. Wow.

86th minute. Replay there shows a penalty might have been given against Barry there as the ball struck his arm after coming off an Arsenal head. Still unclear how much he knew about it. But instead of Arsenal scoring on one end, City scored on the other. That was really a fantastic bit of work from Craig Bellamy to make that goal.

87th minute. Mark Hughes would do well to take Adebayor off right now before there are any more scraps or opportunities to pick up a red card. But hold on, Arsenal have scored! 4-2. Rosicky beat the offside trap and easily finished with his left foot past Given. Muted cheers from Arsenal’s fans who must feel shell-shocked.

89th minute. Petrov had a chance to shoot there, he fires hard but wide from just inside the area. Oh dear, Arsenal are not giving up and van Persie hits the post after a brilliant strike.

90th minute. City have switched off just a bit since that 4th goal. Eboue has a crack but it goes wildly off target. 4 minutes of injury time to come; Vlad Weiss will soon come on.

91st minute. Another shot there and Van Persie’s shot is deflected inches wide. City really need to tighten things up.

93rd minute. Finally City keep the ball for a bit but Arsenal have it again. Save for Given down to his left as Bendtner had a crack. Yet another Arsenal corner but City have it away through Petrov who does the right thing, going to the corner flag.

94th minute. Time is up! Weiss never did get into the game but no matter, City have won a massive, massive match with a scintillating offensive outburst in the final 20 minutes.

Arsenal again leave Manchester empty-handed despite often having the upper hand. But from City’s point of view, this was a great, great day. City peaked out emotionally after the 4th goal and to Arsenal’s credit they had a real go all the way till the end. But what about that spell of three goals in 15 minutes! Wow.

This will be a match talked about for some time, and Adebayor’s antagonistic relationship with Arsenal’s supporters will only increase after today’s events. City’s perfect start to the season continues–bring on Manchester United!