IT WAS all much as expected and yet a source of delight. Kevin Keegan brought Manchester City to the home of the champions and they put flair before caution, passion before pragmatism. The upshot was that Arsenal usurped Tottenham Hotspur at the top of the Barclaycard Premiership and all reputations remained intact courtesy of first-half goals from Sylvain Wiltord and Thierry Henry.
Nicolas Anelka, too, lived up to his billing and looked worth the £13 million paid by City to Paris Saint-Germain when he equalised for his new club against the one that once made £22 million by offloading him.
Arsenal simply cannot stop scoring. Last night they equalled City’s record, set in the 1937, of scoring in 44 successive top-flight matches. “This team plays to score goals,” Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said. The Premiership is supposedly the best league in the world and Arsenal’s goalscoring feats are playing a large part in that reputation.
Teams such as City help, too. If they have a complex about their poor away form, they exhibited none of the symptoms. Keegan’s team made the prettiest patterns where many other sides have visited Highbury content to make sure only that they perform the basics well enough. “They keep the ball well and are dangerous,” Wenger said, no doubt wishing he could face such danger every week.
Before kick-off, Wiltord was presented with his Barclaycard player-of-the-month award. In August he was mesmeric, rounding off a fine start to the season with a winning goal for France in Cyprus. Against City, though, it was his adaptability that Wenger was most grateful for, moving Wiltord to the right of midfield safe in the knowledge that he is neither complaining nor precious about his position. In the 26th minute, Dennis Bergkamp spied Wiltord’s run and the France striker easily eluded the attentions of Niclas Jensen to beat Peter Schmeichel.
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City did not buckle; they did not even blink an eye. Instead, they quickly equalised. And, just in case the match was not already gripping enough, the goalscorer was Anelka, whose every touch had been roundly booed. Anelka headed in Ali Benarbia’s finely judged cross, which dipped beyond Martin Keown, and while he may have been labelled the Incredible Sulk by the Highbury faithful, Anelka was all smiles. “He was their best player tonight,” Wenger said. “He made good runs and was always dangerous. He looks more mature and composed on the ball.”
Schmeichel provided a further cameo performance. He ranted in accustomed fashion at his defence and pulled off a brilliant save, diving to tip away what looked a lethal finish by Henry. The Frenchman, though, had his measure when Ashley Cole prodded the ball into his path, giving Arsenal the lead again. The goal prompted Henry to reveal his vest, on which was a message to a friend who has just had a baby. Cute, but it may be costly — Fifa has threatened to fine players for such behaviour. Schmeichel had every reason to berate his defenders. At times, when not being stretched, they seemed to disappear altogether and the likes of Bergkamp and Henry appeared almost embarrassed to take advantage of the space. But what joy: a team visiting Highbury not coached to try to contain and frustrate, but instead sufficiently confident to try to play Arsenal at their own game.
City might have gone in at half-time on level terms, Benarbia having hit the woodwork with one effort. It was pulsating fare. City, of course, were first out after the interval, as if to say that they could hardly wait a moment longer to continue the fun. They were instantly torn apart, both by their own hesitancy in defence and Arsenal’s crisp passing. First Edu and then Henry made a mockery of City’s right flank, but neither could produce the killer cross. Subplots were hardly necessary, but they simmered along anyway. Patrick Vieira seems permanently embroiled in a row about his treatment by officials and is facing a lengthy ban after being charged with misconduct in the wake of the red card he received at Stamford Bridge ten days ago. Last night, he had Eyal Berkovic to contend with. Vieira was cautioned for an off-the-ball challenge on the Israel international and later Berkovic overreacted to a trip from Vieira. They bickered away thereafter.
Although City did not play defensively in the second half, they had lost some of their bounce and bustle. There were even periods when the contest was fairly pedestrian, but they never lasted long. Out of nothing, Anelka suddenly burst forward, swerving through the Arsenal defence to unleash a strike packed with venom that David Seaman did well to block.
Almost at once, Arsenal were back on the offensive. Henry powered forward with Schmeichel exposed, only for his goal to be ruled out, harshly, for offside.
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Benarbia, City’s impressive playmaker, was sent off five minutes from time for a second bookable offence, dissent directed at an assistant referee — hardly a fitting finale for his or City’s contribution to an entertaining match. Keegan lived up to his reputation as an emotional and outspoken manager, claiming that the assistant was “so biased it was frightening. I’ll give him zero marks because that’s what I think he deserved. I was so annoyed.”
ARSENAL (4-4-2): D Seaman — O Luzhny, M Keown, S Campbell, A Cole — S Wiltord, P Vieira, Gilberto, Edu (sub: K Touré, 73min) — D Bergkamp, T Henry. Substitutes not used: S Taylor, P Cygan, Kanu, F Jeffers. Booked: Vieira.
MANCHESTER CITY (3-1-3-1-2): P Schmeichel — Sun Jihai, S Howey (sub: K Horlock, 79), S Distin — M-V Foé — S Wright-Phillips, E Berkovic, N Jensen — A Benarbia — N Anelka, D Huckerby (sub: S Goater, 59). Substitutes not used: C Nash, R Dunne, D Tiatto. Booked: Benarbia, Distin. Sent off: Benarbia.
Referee: C Wilkes.