Steven Petrov
The Paw Print
The Arsenal’s team managed to stop the 4 consecutive game winning streak of Manchester City within the English Premier League after finishing 1:1 on Saturday, March 29th. This result made the championship fight in the league even more intense and 6 rounds before the end of the season, each team that currently stands in Top 4 – Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal- has a chance at winning the trophy.
The usual scenario repeated itself, and the visitors from Manchester started off the game better, creating a lot of chances within the first 45 minutes of the game. Pablo Zabaleta was the first Manchester City player who got a clear goal scoring opportunity in front of him in the 1st minute of the game. Instead of trying his shot the Argentinian tried to look for a pass and missed to give City the lead. A minute later a technical shot by Jesus Navas went just a little bit over the crossbar of the goal behind Wojciech Szczęsny. After the first 10 minutes, Arsenal started to become more organized and managed to break the pressure that City was applying, trying to co=ntrol the tempo of the game. Despite of the good play that Arsenal was showing between the 10th and the 15th minute, a dispossessing in the middle of the field gave City a chance to counter-attack. The “citizens” took that chance and put the ball in the back of the net through David Silva in the 18th minute. After the goal, Arsenal was the more active team creating some chances and even scoring an equalizer through Mathieu Flamini, which was subsequently cancelled rightfully due to an offside.
In the first minutes of the second half, the visitors from Manchester seemed again more organized, and Arsenal almost scored an own goal, after Mertesacker tried to clear a dangerous cross in front of Szczęsny. After the first couple of minutes, though, the home team started connecting more passes and creating some nice chances to equalize. The “gunners” managed to score in the 53rd minute through Mathieu Flamini, who finished nicely a perfectly placed cross by Lucas Podolski. Just a couple of minutes later, Podolski himself could have brought the “gunners” the 3 points after finding himself in a great goal scoring opportunity, but Joe Hart saved his shot. The visitors from Manchester also had what to regret for, after two “rocket” shots by Fernandinho and David Silva didn’t bring that desired 2nd goal.
This tie leaves Manchester City 3rd in the table with 67 points, but with 1 less game than its other direct competitors. Arsenal takes 4th place with 64 points and still has a real chance of winning the trophy. Regardless of whoever ends up winning the EPL this year, the final weeks of this season will be more exciting than ever.
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