It was the end of April and Arsenal were hacking down players, defending deep and playing with three at the back. It all seemed too feisty and too abrasive for the North London club, who had long upheld a forlorn tradition of conceding softy before losing softly, and yet here was Gabriel Paulista kicking David Silva – that most gauzy and delicate of Spanish ballerinas – with all the audacity of a callous Fernandinho in the 12th minute.
Silva stooped to the ground and would limp off the field in the 23rd minute. No, Gabriel had not somehow transmogrified into Manchester City’s No 25. He very much remained Arsenal’s No 5, blending the role of centre-back and right-back in Arsenal’s trident back line.
There was Laurent Koscielny, Arsenal’s captain, planting his knee into the back of Sergio Aguero, City’s kingpin striker. The Argentinean wailed. He also stooped. On the touchline, Pep Guardiola – insert your own ubiquitous reference to his gilded career here – became agitated. Had the Spaniard expected so much grit from Arsenal? He prowled his technical area in his jumper, tie and white collar.
City’s coach resembled a school boy and so did Wenger, whose dress code was strangely similar to Guardiola. For both coaches, this was a do-or-die game: Wenger needed to stymie the insurrection at Arsenal; Guardiola faced the prospect of a trophy-less season at City. The Spaniard looked wired – at times animated, then agitated.
Atypical Arsenal
Wenger chose a three-man back line to confront City, a bold choice. He wanted to obtain some redemption in this most diabolical of seasons for Arsenal. North London has become an inferno and memories have harked back to the 1994-’95 season and the pre-broccoli days when Arsenal flirted with relegation, had George Graham sacked amid scandal, and needed to admit Paul Merson to rehab.
And yet this was a rare and atypical match from Arsenal. The players showed resilience and resolve. They were stout-hearted and plucky with full-blooded tackles and even rash challenges. This was not a sullen and drifting Arsenal, not the anemic XI of a 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.
This was a team with a plan, not a flawless one though, because in a 3-4-3 formation they ceded possession to City. Arsenal sat deep and soaked up the pressure. After 20 minutes City had enjoyed 68% of possession. De Bruyne and Co pinned back Arsenal, who scarcely engaged the City players. Teething problems remained with Arsenal’s formation, but City were never penetrative enough. For all their passing, they created very little.
Arsenal’s back three sometimes turned into a back five with wing-backs Nacho Monreal and Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain dropping deep. The latter was the man of the match. Chamberlain dribbled and darted on the left channel, providing plenty of vertigo and danger with his pinpoint crosses. He outplayed his direct opponent Leroy Sane as the German struggled to make a genuine impact in the match. The ‘Ox’ may well have bright future at Arsenal.
In the 71st minute he provided Monreal with an assist in a pure wing-back goal. In celebration some Arsenal fans enacted the Poznan in the stands. City had taken the lead in the 62nd minute through Aguero just as Arsenal had begun to play better. City chose route one and a pass from Yaya Toure left Arsenal’s high-line comically and completely exposed. The Argentine striker proved too fast for Monreal and he dinked the ball past Petr Cech, whose hesitation offered Aguero time on the ball after a heavy first touch.
Box-to-fox slugfest
The match devolved into a peculiar box-to-box slugfest, an encounter without midfields. In the last thirty minutes of regular time Toure was omnipresent, playing high up field. The Ivorian is a force of nature but he failed to pick out that one decisive pass or produce a rasping goal. He did clatter the woodwork with a volley. Arsenal were simply more incisive going forward and one such occasion, in extra-time, Alexis Sanchez pounced on the ball inside the box.
As the referee blew the full-time whistle Wenger, in a rare public outburst of emotions, pumped his fists and looked at the sky. He beamed with delight. ‘Le Collapse’ had been averted. Three years ago, he salvaged his Arsenal career by winning the FA Cup against Hull City. Another FA Cup may not offer the same redemption, but for now eliminating City alleviates the pressure on Wenger somewhat and diffuses the toxic environment in North London.
Guardiola won’t be given that credit. The Spaniard arrived in England as a self-conscious and sexy coach, everything his predecessor Pellegrini was not. He had to deliver Champions League glory for Manchester City, but this season his team didn’t even compete for domestic glory. There was a brief promise and advent of spangled football before the protracted drop-off that has now lasted well into April. It’s a scenario Guardiola will not want to repeat next season.