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A typically cool finish from striker Thierry Henry fired Arsenal to the top of the Premiership as the Gunners beat Manchester City 2-1 at Highbury, live on Sky Sports. City were far from outclassed at the home of the champions, but they paid the price for some defensive sloppiness which has characterised their performances away from home on their return to the Premiership. First Sylvain Wiltord broke clear and put Arsenal ahead, then after Nicolas Anelka had equalised against his former side, Ashley Cole was allowed far too much space to set up Henry for the winner. There was also a nasty sting in the tale for City as skipper Ali Benarbia was dismissed in the closing stages for his second bookable offence - apparently speaking out of turn to the linesman - but by then City looked as if they had stopped believing they could salvage a point. That was despite creating plenty of chances - just as they had in their two previous Premiership away defeats - and City came closest to opening the scoring when Shaun Wright-Phillips curled the ball from deep over Seaman - shades of Ronaldinho - and against the crossbar. But City were given a harbinger of trouble to come moments later when Henry and Wiltord combined well on 17 minutes, only for Henry to head well wide from his fellow Frenchman's cross. Nine minutes later Wiltord proved a deadlier proposition, racing on to Dennis Bergkamp's through ball and slotting past Peter Schmeichel. The goal marked the 44th consecutive match in which Arsenal have scored, equalling a top flight record set by City in 1937. Almost inevitably it was Anelka - the fomer Highbury favourite whose every touch was treated to a boorish chorus - who dragged City back into the game. The visitors had shown plenty of neat touches around the box without ever producing a decent final ball, but when Benarbia curled in a teasing cross behind the Arsenal defence, Anelka arrived to power a header past Seaman. Schmeichel was forced to save well from Henry and Dennis Bergkamp shot across the face of goal, but when Henry was gifted his chance on 41 minutes, he made no mistake. Wright-Phillips was caught ball-watching, Ashley Cole swept past him and cut the ball back for Henry to fire past Schmeichel. The second half was a curiously muted affair, only bursting into life when Henry broke clear and thought he had added a third Arsenal goal only to be adjudged narrowly offside, the replay again showing that Henry was at least a yard onside when the pass was made by Bergkamp. Minutes later, Anelka skinned Cole and Martin Keown on the edge of the box and forced Seaman to turn his shot round the post. The game petered out as it progressed and City had Benarbia dismissed for a second yellow card to round off a disappointing evening. Dennis Bergkamp had a chance to settle it, attempting to chip Schmeichel from 20 yards only for the Dane to pluck his shot out of the air, but City could even have snatched a point in injury time. Schmeichel lumbered up for a corner and his presence caused enough confusion for Marc Foe to find space at the back post, but he reacted just a shade tardily as the ball came across goal and his header flew wide. Teams: Arsenal: Seaman, Luzhny, Campbell, Keown, Cole, Wiltord, Vieira, Edu (Toure 73), Silva, Bergkamp, Henry. Subs Not Used: Jeffers, Taylor, Cygan, Kanu. Booked: Vieira. Man City: Schmeichel, Distin, Jihai, Howey (Horlock 79), Wright-Phillips, Foe, Berkovic, Benarbia, Jensen, Huckerby (Goater 59), Anelka. Subs Not Used: Tiatto, Nash, Dunne. Sent Off: Benarbia (85). Booked: Benarbia, Distin. Attendance: 37,878 Referee: C Wilkes (Gloucestershire). |