Nigeria forward Alex Iwobi was a substitute for Danny Welbeck
while national teammate Kelechi Iheanacho was not in City’s squad as Arsenal
and Manchester City played a thrilling 2-2 draw.
Naijaroyaltyculture.blogspot.com reports that Arsenal showed
signs of recovery from their recent dismal run of form as they twice fought
back from behind to draw.
The Gunners had lost four out of their previous five Premier
League games, and faced City against uncertainty surrounding manager Arsene
Wenger’s future, with more protests staged before kick-off.
Arsenal got off to the worst possible start when Leroy Sane put
City ahead after only five minutes, running on to Kevin de Bruyne’s routine
pass to round David Ospina.
Theo Walcott capped a spell of Arsenal pressure to scramble home
an equaliser five minutes before the break at Emirates Stadium.
But they were on equal terms for only two minutes before Sergio
Aguero’s powerful finish put City back in front.
Arsenal lost Laurent Koscielny to injury at half-time and it was
his central defensive partner Shkodran Mustafi who rose above City’s defence
from a corner to restore parity after 53 minutes.
Aguero missed two good chances for City and manager Pep
Guardiola was furious that a late handball appeal against Nacho Monreal was
ignored.
The result left the Spaniard’s side in fourth and Arsenal in
sixth place in the table — seven points of the top-four pace.
Naijaroyaltyculture.blogspot.com also reports that two banners
were held aloft at the final whistle — and both summed up the confusion
currently surrounding Arsenal and manager Wenger.
One read “Forever In Your Debt — One Arsene Wenger” and the
other carried the slogan “All Good Things Must Come To An End”.
There were renewed protests from a noisy, but relatively small,
group of Arsenal fans before kick-off.
It was to illustrate the pressure on Arsenal’s manager, but
there were precious few signs of discontent inside the stadium.
The smart money remains on Wenger extending his stay as manager
which stretches back to October 1996.
But this result and performance did little either way to clear
the muddied waters around this part of north London.
Wenger insists his decision is made while Arsenal’s board say
the next move will be mutual.
As it is therefore, a draw almost summed up what seems to be the
current inertia among the decision-makers.
If Arsenal had won, it would certainly have made any
announcement more palatable, while a loss would have made it a harder sell.
As it is, a draw means the uncertainty goes on.
In the other EPL match also played on Sunday, Swansea City and
Middlesbrough produced a stale goalless draw.
The result did little to enhance either team’s prospects of
avoiding relegation from the Premier League.
Both sides created chances in a high-octane opening but the pace
soon faltered as the players seemed gripped by tension.
Swansea’s Leroy Fer wasted a fine opportunity as he blazed over
from close range in the 89th minute, while Rudy Gestede headed wide for the
visitors in added time.
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