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.

Arsenal 2 - 2 Swansea - Gunners Swan-diving towards 5th place?

Well that was a roller-coaster of emotion... a roller-coaster that you get on, start building up some speed and then the person next to you is sick on you... all over you. But then the sick flies off you in the wind and you start to think "actually this is going to be ok" until right near the end of the ride when the roller-coaster implausibly and without sense crashes and you're horribly maimed... and then Paul Scholes starts kicking you. I've never been very good at metaphors.

We dominated possession early on and just as we were starting to build up some confidence we were hit by Swansea's first meaningful foray into our half. An excellent but unchallenged cross from deep by the Swansea left-back Neil Taylor was met high and powerfully by Wilfred Bony who rose above Thomas Vermaelen. It was the last thing we needed and potentially a damaging blow to our confidence.

The score stayed level until half-time as the players struggled to make any inroads through the Swansea back-line. Mertesacker headed into the side-netting, Oxlade-Chamerblain fired well wide after making some space for himself and Cazorla had a decent effort saved but we didn't really look like scoring.  We did work the ball out to the overlapping full-backs a few times but no players were making decent runs into the box and really giving them anything to aim at.

Wenger saw the need to make a change early in the second half and brought on Lukas Podolski for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Podolski offered very little defensively but was decisive going forwards. In the 73rd minute he equalised from close-range after Gibbs beat his man brilliantly and pulled the ball back to him. And just a minute later he delivered a sensational low cross into the pass of Olivier Giroud to fire Arsenal into the lead.

The End

What happened at the end of the game was farcical; freakishly bad fortune really. Mertesacker challenged Leon Britton in the area only for the ball to bounce off the on-rushing Szczesney's leg and then off Flamini into the open net. It was as cruel as it was ridiculous. Had it not have happened we would be savouring three crucial, hard-earned points but in the end we are left swallowing sadness and regret.

"The result is very disappointing but the spirit we put in and the effort we put in was great and we have to take it on the chin." - Arsène Wenger

It's a hard one to take on the chin to be fair. Arsène bemoaned the way we tried to shut up shop rather than keep attacking but I don't really agree; I just felt we needed to shut up shop more effectively and not concede a hideously unlucky goal.

Paul Scholes had some choice words for Arsenal following the match and while on the one hand it felt like being kicked while you're down, on the other I think he raised some fair points. He labelled this a typical week for Arsenal and there was a sense of familiarity after our thumping at Stamford Bridge and that very Arsenal-esque own goal last night.  He also said that Jack Wilshere has not developed since he was 17 because of a lack of role-models however I do think this is a little unfair as he has had serious injuries and Arsène Wenger's record of nurturing young players is still very good, taking Theo and Ramsey as recent examples.

As well as highlighting Arsenal's lack of physical strength and leaders he also criticised the discipline of Arsenal's midfield and I think this is where he speaks with real authority and reason:

"It's like they go out with no discipline. It's almost as if it's 'OK, you four, five midfielders, you go out there, do what you want, try to score us a goal, play some nice one-twos, a bit of tippy-tappy football, don't bother running back... Sometimes, as a midfield player, when you're up against it you just have to say 'look, come in beside me for five, ten minutes', try and stop the flow of attacks... And these [players at Arsenal], they go 2-0 down and they just carry on what they're doing. 'I'll have a wander up front, try a one-two, lose the ball'. Nobody bothers sprinting back. You wonder why they're in the position they're in?" - Paul Scholes on Sky Sports

That's pretty tough to argue with and is a damning indictment of how the manager sets up his team and coaches them.

Kim Kallstrom came on and did fine; played one good long ball. Given our injuries, Oxlade-Chamberlian's unreliability in a deeper position and Arteta's fatigue, he maybe needed but I doubt he can significantly improve us.  The title was of course gone on the weekend and now the only relevant section of the league table is below:

Those next two games are hugely important and we will not have any key players back for them so we will need to regroup and improve quickly or "our Champions League spot" will be there for the taking...


Man of the Match: Kieran Gibbs - This is not to say he was flawless. He needs to be more disciplined defensively. I remember Tony Adams complaining that Arsenal's fullbacks play like wingers and he has a good point but it certainly worked out well for us when Kieran made an excellent assist for Lukas Podolski.

Cardiff City 0 - 3 Arsenal Match Report

Aaron Ramsey ensured he remained talk of the town on his return to Cardiff with another exceptional performance and two more excellent goals.  Both goals were greeted with applause from the home fans and the second even with chants of "there's only one Aarom Ramsey."  Following Aaron's non-celebration it was a lovely display of class and respect from the home fans who were clearly proud of the player they helped develop. And what a player! 

The game nearly got off to the perfect start as Wilshere almost followed up his superb mid-week curler with another - this time his effort hit the woodwork but it was another encouraging moment from an in-form player, growing in confidence.

Arsenal could have gone behind after a clash of heads between Bacary Sagna and Per Mertesacker left the big German needing treatment on the sidelines. While he was off the pitch, Cardiff sensibly played the ball out wide and whipped in a cross which Frazier Campbell headed narrowly wide.

Olivier Giroud could have given Arsenal the lead early on but spurned the opportunity, thinking he was offside. A long ball was flicked on by Özil with Giroud well offside however the linesman did not spot the flick so play continued with Giroud through on goal. Giroud stopped and by the time he realised play had continued, a defender was back to block his shot.  The morale of the story there is play to the whistle, kids! Olivier claimed that the linesman raised his flag quickly before changing his mind, in which case I have some sympathy for the striker but it was an extremely embarrassing moment for him. All that said, he should have been offside so a goal would not have been a fair one and it didn't affect the outcome of the game.

Arsenal did manage to take the lead through Aaron Ramsey.  His first goal was a well-guided powerful header from an excellent Özil cross.  Aaron's celebration contrasted quite notably to his shushing of Stoke and Swansea fans.  I've been impressed with the way he has carried himself in the last few seasons; the way he didn't publicly criticise Shawcross or react angrily to the Stoke fans' incomprehensible booing and now for the respect he shows towards Cardiff.  I wouldn't be surprised at all if he finished his career there à la Craig Bellamy.

We were for the most part in control of the game but were reliant on another excellent save from the on-form Szczesny who dived low to his right to keep out another Frazier Campbell header and earn another clean sheet - his fifth in the last six games.  It was another disciplined defensive performance and I was impressed by the team's energy levels and pressing given their midweek exploits against Marseille.

We had some good options on the bench on Saturday and two of the substitutes made a real difference. First Flamini broke forward and latched onto an excellent through ball from Mesut Özil; his second superb assist of the game. Flamini did his best to break the back of the net and made the points safe.

Ramsey's second came on the break in injury-time to add further gloss to the scoreline. With Cardiff pushing forward they left themselves open at the back and vulnerable to the pace of another substitute, Theo Walcott, who I'm guessing is not someone it would be fun to defend against after running around for 90 minutes.  He broke clear before cutting back to the man of the moment who took a touch before hammering home into the top corner.

Cardiff are not an easy team to beat so convincingly. Just ask either of the two Manchester teams who both dropped points against them.  Fortunately the standards are a little higher at Arsenal...

Sunday brought further joy as Spurs drew with United, leaving them 9 and 10 points behind us respectively and Liverpool lost to Hull (our opponents on Wednesday.)

At the moment Chelsea and City look like our most likely challengers for the league, both of whom we face in December.  But a third of the way through the season we can be delighted with how things are going.  Next up is a very winnable game at Hull on Wednesday.  Keep it up lads!

Man of the Match: Aaron Ramsey