London: With a determined look etched across their faces and a bounce in their steps, Arsenal emerged into a half-baked Emirates Stadium with the look of a side that had a point to prove and a reputation to restore.
From the off, they harried and pressed, charged and tackled. There was to be none of the half-hearted ambling for which they were so vehemently criticised during Sunday’s League Cup final defeat, none of the accusations that they were not trying. Aaron Ramsey was breathless in midfield, while Danny Welbeck barrelled into a group of Manchester City defenders as if they were skittles.
It was frenzied and furious. Yet it was also almost childlike in its desperation. As Arsenal ran, the gaps formed. And as the gaps formed, City did what City have done all season by surgically dismantling the opposition.
Was this a shortage of effort? No, it was simply a lack of quality, an absence of nous. It was proof, as if it were needed, that a side of City’s calibre must be treated with caution, no matter what nasty words Gary Neville has said in his commentary.
By the end of an agonising first half, those supporters who had dared to endure this visit of the champions-in-waiting were as angry as they were disappointed.
Numb fingers pointed accusingly at Arsene Wenger, sheltering deep within his dugout, while the City fans sang that it “was just like Wembley”. It felt at times in the first half that this was even worse than Wembley. At one point, Hector Bellerin was even nutmegged by a plastic bag that had swept onto the pitch. And if Shkrodran Mustafi had considered moonlighting as a Premier League right back, the sight of Leroy Sane’s heels gliding through the snow ahead of City’s second goal should put him off for life.
In many ways, it was hard to avoid a pang of sympathy for the Arsenal fans who had not shown up. For they were missing a rare opportunity to see Sane, David Silva and Sergio Aguero skating around the Emirates, twisting and pirouetting as if they were in Pyeongchang rather than London.
The first clue that Arsenal might need to put a brake on the high-octane approach came as early as the seventh minute, when Ramsey (who had been selected nominally as a holding midfield player, believe it or not) stampeded wildly into the City box. In response, City swept upfield, exploiting the space that the Welshman had left behind.
The second came when four players lunged into the slaloming Sane, and all four were rendered immediately useless. Sane found Bernardo Silva, who curled into the top corner as Henrikh Mkhitaryan produced the most feeble of attempted blocks on the edge of the box. Mkhitaryan had said before this game that he “loves to play offensive football”. Clearly, as Jose Mourinho was no doubt aware at Manchester United, he is not quite so fond of the game’s more gritty elements.
In the wider scheme of this first half from hell, Mkhitaryan’s effort did not have much significance. To blame him alone would be to avoid flagging up Mustafi’s shambolic attempt to stop Sane, or the complete melting away of any opposition as the Sane rolled in a third after just 33 minutes.
There was a response after half-time from Arsenal. There had to be. But this malaise is infectious, and last night it felt like it was spreading around this once great club as fast as ever.
