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Stephen Pond
AS IT HAPPENED

As it happened: Arsenal v Man City, Premier League

Arsenal took on Man City, as they sought to make up for last week’s humiliating loss to Chelsea.

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the game. E-mail paul@thescore.ie, tweet @thescore_iepost a message to our Facebook wall, or leave a comment below.

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Arsenal 1-1 Man City

Hello, and welcome to our liveblog of today’s game. We’ll have the team news for you shortly.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are currently losing.

The last game between these sides was a bit of a thriller. Here’s a reminder of what happened…

projek hazeeq / YouTube

FULL-TIME: PALACE 1-0 CHELSEA

Encouraging news for City ahead of their game today.

ARSENAL: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Rosicky, Flamini, Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud. SUBS: Fabianski, Bellerin, Jenkinson, Kallstrom, Gnabry, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sanogo.

MAN CITY: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy, Fernandinho, Toure, Navas, Silva, Nasri, Dzeko. SUBS: Pantilimon, Kolarov, Lescott, Milner, Javi García, Negredo, Jovetic.

Arsenal’s record against the top teams is notoriously poor, and Giroud’s form in these games is similarly poor.

GIROUD

h/t Sky Sports.

Here’s the record between the sides over the years.

SOCCER Arsenal PA Graphics PA Graphics

We’re underway…

Zabaleta gets in behind the Arsenal defence, but his weak cross is intercepted.

Promising start for City!

Again City threaten down Arsenal’s left-hand side.

Podolski surely needs to do more to help out Gibbs at left-back.

Rosicky goes down under a challenge from Zabaleta amid claims for a penalty.

The referee points for a goal kick and he’s probably got that one right judging by replays.

Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Arsenal v Manchester City - Emirates Stadium PA Wire / Press Association Images PA Wire / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

A silhouette of the Dennis Bergkamp statue outside the Emirates.

GOAL FOR MAN CITY!

Arsenal 0-1 Man City: David Silva bursts forward and plays a clever pass to Dzeko.

The striker’s shot hits the post, but it falls to Silva, who taps it into the empty net (17 mins).

Arsenal have the ball in the net as Flamini gets on the end of a cross, but it’s correctly ruled out for offside.

Silva, meanwhile, is just as influential so far as he was against United, with Arsenal similarly struggling to cope with his intelligent movement and clever passing.

City are well on top right now.

If Arsenal don’t improve, this could be another comprehensive win for their opponents.

Stan

Demichelis does well to cut out a Rosicky cross as Arsenal show signs of improvement.

Just under 10 minutes  until half-time.

Not a good omen for Arsenal.

Opta

After a brief flurry from Arsenal, City look well in control.

There’s also been one or two strong tackles that have resulted in bookings of late from both sides, which suggests we may not end the game with 22 players on the field.

HALF-TIME: ARSENAL 0-1 MAN CITY

The second half is underway…

City are sitting very deep at the moment.

This half could have a very different dynamic to the first.

GOAL FOR ARSENAL!

Arsenal 1-1 Man City: Flamini meets Podolski’s cross and guides it expertly into the net (52 mins).

It’s more than Arsenal have deserved for their extremely positive start to the second half.

Arsenal have been excellent so far in this second half, enjoying the majority of the possession and territory.

As I type, Podolski is through on goal, and his shot deflects off Joe Hart’s leg and goes out for a corner.

That’s a let off for City, who haven’t really got going in this second half yet.

Navas finds Silva with a free kick and his volley is well executed, but hits a City body on its way to goal.

This game has gotten really lively in recent minutes.

James Milner has replaced Jesus Navas, as City presumably seek to add grit to their midfield.

Just under half an hour to play on what could be a very good day for Liverpool fans.

Safe to say Flamini was fairly happy to score.

Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Arsenal v Manchester City - Emirates Stadium PA Wire / Press Association Images PA Wire / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Giroud heads just wide as we enter the game’s final 20 minutes.

Arsene Wenger’s men have produced a superb second half.

Some intricate passing results in Toure finding himself through on goal, but he can’t get a proper shot away and Arsenal eventually clear.

15 minutes, which could have a significant impact on the title race, remain.

Podolski is replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain as Arsenal look to introduce more energy into their midfield.

The youngster will play on the right-hand side of the pitch.

Samir Nasri gets plenty of boos as he goes off.

Javi Garcia is on in his place.

Dzeko, who’s been disappointing today, comes off, with Negredo taking his place.

Sanogo, meanwhile, is on for Giroud.

Both sides don’t seem overly displeased by this result on the basis of their substitutions.

It’s been a fairly low-key end to this game.

The tempo isn’t particularly high — both sides look a little shattered, though Arsenal are the ones pushing for a winner.

Gibbs plays a deep ball into the box but Oxlade-Chamberlain narrowly fails to reach it with his head.

Three minutes of stoppage time will be played.

FULL-TIME: ARSENAL 1-1 MAN CITY

Right, that’s all from me for now, but we’ll have further reaction shortly.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

5 talking points ahead of today’s key Arsenal-Man City game

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