Manchester City still strong despite Arsenal defeat

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini will know that his team are still well in the Premier League title race

Manchester City suffered what is commonly known as a bad day at the office yesterday as they succumb to a 2-0 home defeat to Arsenal courtesy of goals from Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud.

The defeat means that Manuel Pellegrini’s side are now five points behind league leaders Chelsea, who hammered Swansea 5-0 at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

Superb

Unusually for an Arsenal performance they did not try to dominate possession, instead they produced a perfect away display, remaining disciplined at the back and hitting City on the break.

The likes of Santi Cazorla, Olivier Giroud and Francis Coquelin were superb to name just a few of the Gunners outstanding players.

This was the sort of performance that the Gunners have failed to produce in recent seasons and it has cost them dearly, especially last season at places like the Etihad, Anfield, Stamford Bridge and Goodison Park last season.

In many ways this was a very un-Arsenal like display and boss Arsene Wenger deserves some credit for finally getting it right tactically in a big game.

Lacking

Manchester City really did struggle to create much against the Gunners, despite dominating possession for long spells of the game. Influential Spanish maestro David Silva was subdued, partly through the excellence of Arsenal and partly through the fact that he was not getting the ball in the right areas of the pitch.

Silva has been City’s most influential player in recent months. Arsenal stopped Silva and City seemed to lack ideas of how to create chances for the ring-rusty Sergio Aguero up front.

Yaya Toure had just hit form in recent months and City have now lost him until potentially mid-February, which is a big blow to Pellegrini’s men. He started the season in sluggish fashion (I am talking about his form not his gate), but was becoming influential for City yet again.

Fitness                 

A key issue for City is that their key players recover their match fitness. Both captain Vincent Kompany and star striker Sergio Aguero have just returned from injury and it showed against a surprisingly resolute Gunners team.

Aguero is without doubt one of the most dangerous strikers in the Premier League, if not the world game. However, he has been out injured for the last few months and does take a while to regain his match sharpness.

That will come with games, whether he can avoid picking up another injury is different story. It must be frustrating for the player and everybody connected with City when he does pick-up injuries, because he is such a breathtaking player when on fully-fit.

Kompany is also regarded as one of the most influential players in the City team. When he is at his best City concede very few goals, but he made an error to gift Arsenal the opening goal that maybe he would not have made if fully-fit.

Kompany and Aguero form part of the spine of the City team along with Yaya Toure in midfield. It is vital to have a strong spine and City have that if everybody is fit and available.

Behind

City are behind Chelsea in the league table, but that will not worry the Citizens, as they have had to make up ground on teams previously in order to claim the title.

Last season they were quite a distance behind both Chelsea and Liverpool at certain points in the season, yet they kept their composure to claim the title. Five points at this stage of the season is not a massive gap, especially with a big game to come at Stamford Bridge in just under two weeks’ time.

Experienced

Manchester City are now experienced title challengers and are accustomed to this situation. They have quality in abundance when everybody is available and despite the deficit of points to Chelsea are still very much in the title race.

The Citizens are currently second favourites for the title at odds of 5/1, but they have quality and experience and they should be written-off at your peril, especially when their key players are fully match fit.

The race for the Premier League title is far from over, but a defeat at Stamford Bridge in two weeks’ time could make the Citizens task a far more difficult one.

Can City go to Chelsea and claim a win in two weeks’ time?