22/10/05 - Arsenal 1 City 0Updated: October 3rd, 2007
Videos of the post-match interviews can be found at BBC Sport.
match reports
Arsenal 1 Manchester City 0 (MEN)
A second-half penalty from Robert Pires was enough to see Arsenal past the Blues - but they had referee Mike Riley and a huge slice of luck to thank for their narrow win.
Penalty drama in Gunners win (Sky Sports)
Includes match stats and player ratings.
Penalty, you’re having a laugh: Henry and Pires in comedy spot (Independent)
The back of their shirts read Henry and Pires. You could have been forgiven for imagining it was Laurel and Hardy as they conspired to produce a second- half penalty attempt which, had it succeeded, would have seen them eulogised for their inventive Gallic thinking… but instead must go down in football folklore as the worst penalty ever.
Arsenal treat fans to a spot of French farce (Telegraph)
Darius Vassell headed home a cross from Joey Barton and City were denied an equaliser by an offside decision so close it should (though the letter of the law has become complicated) have gone to the attacking side.
It was your fault, Thierry, says ‘Laurel and Hardy’ star Pires (Observer)
City impressed with their organisation and appetite. They were not as penetrative as they might have hoped in the final third, as Andy Cole stayed at home with a tweaked hamstring. But they certainly made life difficult for Arsenal. Claudio Reyna, Joey Barton and the 17-year-old Stephen Ireland were combative enough to dominate midfield, while Vassell and Kiki Musampa stretched Arsenal’s wobbly back line.
One almighty coq-up (The People)
City manager Stuart Pearce said he had never seen anything like it but refused to condemn Arsenal’s cockiness. Sylvain Distin did not, declaring of his countrymen: “It was disrespectful.”
match analysis
These match details have been extracted from the live commentary. Oddly, they show that Arsenal did not put in a single cross in the whole game. I’m not sure whether that just reflects Arsenal’s style of play or illustrates City’s organisation down the flanks, but it is a curious one.
