Arsenal 1 -1 Manchester City - Marauding Mathieu provides much-needed redemption

An ultimately satisfying and fair result as the players showed great determination, and that mental strength Arsène is so fond of, to come from behind and take what could be a valuable point in our battle to ensure we are playing Champions League football next season.

• The first half performance was a little disappointing.  Whilst we were far more solid defensively than in recent games, yet another individual error against a big side lead to a goal. Podolski first dillied then dallied before being robbed of the ball and throwing himself on the floor to try and win a free-kick. Dzeko's shot came off the post and back to an untracked David Silva for a tap-in. It was so frustrating and irritatingly familiar. The better the opposition the more likely we are to be punished and we are making far too many individual errors at the moment.

• The penalty shout was the only time we really threatened in the first half. A good ball from Santi fed Rosicky who pushed the ball past Zabaleta and went to ground. Whilst there was some contact Rosicky probably initiated it and the fullback was clearly trying not to bring him down so Mike Dean got a difficult decision correct. Rosicky was perhaps a little lucky to escape a second yellow card for a mistimed sliding tackle.

• A lazy narrative started at 1-0 that City were cruising towards an inevitable victory and I think some Arsenal fans may have feared another capitulation but the response from the players was truly excellent. They fought back to take a point with great determination and the the discipline to not allow themselves to be caught out on the break and actually looked the more likely side to win the game.

• Lukas Podolski - what an enigma! Another good assist today following a goal and assist against Swansea but his defensive "contribution" was so poor. As mentioned, he conceded the ball in the build-up to the City goal and beyond that he rarely offered any protection to Gibbs and conceded needless free kicks. He was lucky not to concede a penalty against Swansea for needlessly barging a player in our box (as he did against Liverpool in the cup.)  I don't think liability is too strong a word but when he is on the pitch, there is always a good chance that he can create something in the final third. Surely the most high risk player in the squad.

• Santi Cazorla played extremely well in the second half. His guile, flair and creativity is needed more than ever without Özil, Ramsey and Walcott and he will need to be on top form if our push for the FA Cup and a Champions League spot are to be successful.

• Matthieu Flamini personified Arsenal's redemption this week with his own individual turnaround. He was the unfortunate man to concede the costly late own goal on Tuesday night but showed great desire and a cool finish from a difficult chance to get his team back on level pegging on Saturday. Perhaps there is an advantage to not being considered an attacking threat; you can surprise the opposition defence. I had a little chuckle at Gary Neville's description of Matthieu as a marauding midfielder as he continued to push forward after his goal and created real problems for City - clearly he was desperate to drive his side on to the win.

• Olivier Giroud held the ball up much better than he had been doing lately and gave the ball away very rarely. It was a more impressive performance that in recent games but he still doesn't look much of a goal threat against the top teams. One occasion that really stood out was his complete lack of awareness to try and get on the end of an excellent Sagna cross. He must gamble more by making aggressive runs towards goal when we get the ball out to the wings and give the wide players something to work with.

• Much has (understandably) been said and written about Arsenal's atrocious form in the big games away from home this season but we can take some encouragement at least from not losing to the big teams at home with wins over Liverpool in the cup and league and draws against City and Chelsea at home. It's difficult to gage the gap in quality between ourselves and the sides above us as the league table and our early season form combined with the injury troubles we've had suggest that perhaps we aren't really too far off but of course our head-to-head record suggests otherwise.

Man of the Match: Matthieu Flamini - It could easily have gone to Santi Cazorla whose second half performance was extremely impressive but I just felt Mathieu's individual bouncebackability after the midweek own goal was enough to get him over the line.