Seven days into last season Arsenal played Manchester City away and produced a performance that epitomised their faltering progress at the time: style but no substance, beauty but no brawn, panache but no penetration. After a 1-0 defeat for Arsène Wenger’s team, a reporter likened them to an “overtalented five-aside team who believe that pretty goals count double” and wondered whether their pursuit of aesthetic perfection was getting out of hand.
Seventeen months on, back at the City of Manchester Stadium, Arsenal again produced some irresistible stuff on Saturday, but this time it was as a means to an end rather than an end initself.
Their attacking play was rapier sharp, their finishing ruthless and, if their progression can be partly explained by the growing maturity of players such as Alexander Hleb and Cesc Fàbregas, it is impossible to ignore the role of Emmanuel Adebayor, the young man who has risen to the daunting challenge of replacing Thierry Henry as the focal point of the Arsenal attack.Adebayor says that he is a player “obsessed” by scoring goals; that did not always seem to be the case for Henry, even if his record of 174 in 254 appearances for Arsenal may suggest otherwise.
Adebayor has a long way to go to match Henry’s contribution, but he has done in the short term what many thought would be impossible, which is to consign Henry’s memory to the past.As Wenger put it, “we do not forget Thierry, but to fill that void the way Emmanuel has done is fantastic”.
His first goal on Saturday was not a thing of beauty, at least not in terms of its final execution. There was something stunning about the way Arsenal seized on Martin Petrov’s loose pass and swept down the right flank, but after Hleb and Mathieu Flamini combined to set up the excellent Bacary Sagna, Adebayor’s shot took a deflection off Micah Richards and looped over Joe Hart, the goalkeeper. Henry might have thought twice about claiming such a goal; not so Adebayor.
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Eduardo da Silva’s spectacular overhead kick in the 26th minute, from a knockdown by Adebayor, was more of a picture-book goal - for everyone except Sven-G?ran Eriksson, the City manager. Eriksson sounded furious at the way his team had failed to compete. “We showed too much respect,” he said. “And it’s not the first time we have started a game like that.”
Belatedly, City woke up and even gained a foothold when Vedran Corluka punished a mistake by Ga?l Clichy to set up a goal for Gelson Fernandes two minutes later, but at no point did the fightback really look on. Eriksson could have complained about an offside call that denied Petrov a clear run on goal midway through the second half, but Arsenal showed more penetration, as they displayed with another counter-thrust in the final moments, Flamini and Hleb setting up Adebayor for a goal that was the prelude to some frenzied celebrations in front of the visiting team’s supporters.
Their afternoon would get even better when they learnt of Manchester United’s difficulties at White Hart Lane.
As for City, without a league win since January 2, their credentials are about to be put to the test. Their next assignment is at Old Trafford and, with Eriksson anxious to stop their recent slide, it is not just their supporters who will be under scrutiny.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1)
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J Hart 7
V Corluka 6
M Richards 5
R Dunne 6
M Ball 4
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D Hamann 4
G Fernandes 6
S Ireland 4
Elano Y 6
M Petrov Y 6
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D Sturridge 4
Substitutes: D Vassell 5 (for Sturridge, 55min), Geovanni (for Hamann, 75), E Mpenza (for Ireland, 84) Not used: K Schmeichel, Sun Jihai. Next: Man United (a).
ARSENAL (4-4-2)
J Lehmann 6
B Sagna 8
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W Gallas 7
P Senderos 6
G Clichy 6
A Hleb 7
F Fàbregas 7
M Flamini 7
A Diaby 7
Eduardo da Silva 6
E Adebayor 8.
Substitutes: J Hoyte (for Hleb, 89min). Not used: L Fabianski, A Traor?, T Walcott, N Bendtner. Next: Blackburn Rovers (h).