Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League with victory over Arsenal in a pulsating game at the Etihad Stadium.
David Silva scored the crucial goal after 53 minutes after fine work from Mario Balotelli.
City are now two points ahead of United who briefly topped the table after their win over QPR earlier on Sunday.
Gold
A little bit of Silva, and a whole lot of gold - and City’s “blip” has been consigned to history.
One pundit thus described the fact that the Blues had lost at Chelsea last week. The stakes are high in the Premier League these days, but when one defeat is a blip, you have to wonder what word describes City’s years in the wilderness!
But whatever the over-the-top reactions to one unlucky result at Stamford Bridge, the fact is City needed to hit back with a big performance, and they got one from every one of their 11 players.
Joe Hart was excellent to keep the revitalised Gunners at bay, Vincent Kompany a rock on which many waves of attacking broke, and the attacking players were as slick and dangerous as ever.
But it was Gareth Barry who stood out, not a phrase many would have predicted before this game.
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The Blues were crisp, sharp and accurate with their passing, moving well, and it was Barry pulling their strings.
Barry was the architect of City’s first big chance after just nine minutes, his slide-rule pass dissecting the right side of the Arsenal defence and sending Pablo Zabaleta free down the flank.
The full back delivered a first-time cross to pick out Sergio Aguero, but he hurried his shot and blazed over the bar. It would have been a picture-book goal.
With that miss on his mind, Aguero again dallied a minute later when he was freed on the right side of the Arsenal area by Mario Balotelli’s cute pass.
His instinct would normally be to shoot, even from an acute angle, but instead he checked back inside and ended up trying to lay it back for Balotelli, with wasteful consequences.
It was a strong opening by City but they had nothing to show for it and now it was the Gunners’ turn to try their hand.
Hart was almost taken by surprise by Gervinho’s bullet of a shot at his near post, and from the ensuing corner a quick take almost found the defence napping again as Aaron Ramsey’s shot had Hart scrambling again.
Balotelli had been quiet but he has the capacity to turn any game with a moment of brilliance. He almost did it here as Micah Richards swung in a decent cross, but the young Italian was policed by two defenders.
He superbly dragged the ball out of the air and turned in one sweet movement, only for his stretching volley to hit keeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Deflected
It was turning into a great game, and when Robin van Persie’s shot deflected into the path of Aaron Ramsey the visitors looked odd-son to take the lead.
But Kolo Toure, whose inclusion ahead of Joleon Lescott had caused a few furrowed brows around the stadium, showed all of his experience to time his tackle to perfection.
Aguero was working overtime at the other end to make up for his two moments of early slackness and after a one-two with Silva and a burst of pace, he found that Szczesny had second-guessed that he would pull his shot back across his body and was perfectly placed to gather.
In a pulsating first half the game had lived up to its billing as a clash of the Premier League’s two most attractive sides, and it was still in the balance.
City tipped it their way with a typical surge of power, pace and class in the opening stages of the second half.
Balotelli had been a brooding, marauding presence throughout, always likely to have a say, and so it proved after 53 minutes.
Picking up the ball wide left, he flowed inside and let fly from an angle. Szczesny looked startled by the power and audacity of it, and could only parry the ball.
The loose ball was hooked across goal by a combination of Aguero and scrambling Gunners defence, but there was Silva to slide it over the line and spark wild celebrations.
Arsenal had hardly been shy from the off, but now they had to commit, and that turned a thrilling game into a classic.
Within seconds of the re-start, Theo Walcott forced Hart into a reflex fingertip over the bar.
With the game swinging from end to end wildly, Aguero smashed a shot inches wide of the far post after more enterprising City work down the right.
Hart has often been the odd man out this season in some stunning team performances, through inaction rather than anything else, but he was needed in this one.
He was down sharply to deny van Persie twice, the excellence of the second save not diminished by the fact the linesman’s flag had been raised for offside – Hart didn’t know that and kept the ball out with amazing reflexes.
Inbetween those two attempts, Zabaleta had almost settled it, racing forward to intercept and then hammering a shot against the post, with Szczesny rooted to the spot.
That meant Arsenal still had a sniff, and the Blues, after getting the rough end of the stick at Chelsea, got a bit of luck when ref Phil Dowd failed to spot that Richards had handled in the area.
The Gunners finished strongly, and the Blues had to dig deep to deny them an equaliser.
It was that man Hart who made sure, brilliantly turning over Thomas Vermaelen’s pile-driver, whih had “goal” written all over it.
What is your verdict on the performance? Have your say.
Manchester City 1 Arsenal 0 - Stuart Brennan's verdict
December 18, 2011
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Poor Gooners!
The Blue moon is orbiting and shedding some light on all below. Smoking Joe was on form and an excellent performance by the rest of the team. Thanks to the Sheikh. I'm excited.
i wish we had a player like silva,he is so good while staying level headed.reminds me of iniesta.
A clean sheet will do for me. Just need to take more of the chances we create.
What a game! Brilliant win from City. Hart, Zab, Vinnie, Barry & Nasri all superb. Back where we belong! Theses are the games we have to win & we showed the class & bottle to take all 3 points. Well done lads!!
What a great year we are having I am 49 and I am a believer again Father Christmas thank you for my early present and Roberto and the lads have a very Merry Merry Christmas. Now all together say we are top of the league yes we are top of the league.
Fantastic - game of the season?.......which City won!! And a huge win.
Fair play to Arsenal. In MY opinion they are better than Chelsea based
on the two games even though Chelsea scraped it last week.
Last week somebody claiming to be a City fan said "We only looked good
initially because Chelski were bad" well then today based on that we were
rubbish but Arsenal were even worse!!.
Towards the end it got very tense but we created more chances and in the
second half around the time we scored it could have been 4-0
Phil Dowd had a very good game btw so did Samir Nasri.
Disappointed we only scored one!!
Fantastic result - picked a great time to start a run of clean sheets.
Hey, my dearly beloved fellow CTID's. 41 points, we are not going to be relegated.
I've spent 63 years praying each year for us to achieve that many. Often to be cast down into the outer darkness.
My aged ticker won't stand many more games like today. Watched it on 15 different pirate TV stations, shut off, one after the other. But, didn't they play well!!!!
Thank you RM, the Sheik and Allah.
Just going to celebrate with a fifth large Bells.
Happy Xmas and a New Year full of trophies to Blues everywhere.
ciddy 1-0 ARSENAL
QPR 2-3 ciddy,
MANCHESTER UNITED 8-2 arsenal
qpr 0-2
MANCHESTER UNITED. It speaks volume doesnt it?
Normal Service has been Resumed.....Hope the Toilet Dwellers enjoyed being to for 3hrs.....
O and forgot to mention still not played any of the big teams yet Ho Ho Ho, I bet you heard us today when we scored best wishes to all from the noisy neighbours.
What a brilliant game and what a fantastic performance and result....COME ON CITY!!!
I thought the lads showed great discipline and world class movement off the ball today, Barry was MOTM for me personally but the whole team played very well - especially after the Chelsea result. Anyone who doubts this teams character is an idiot/in denial/deserves a 5 year contract with Match of the Day.......
1-0 has a kind of nice ring to it doesnt it, we have to remember Arsenal have some top players and unlike some of the garbage out there won't be brushed aside by, oh i dont know, 6-1 or some other humiliating and oh so embarrassing scoreline. Hats off to them for a solid showing, they play better football than the likes of Chelsea and Utd.............
Mario we love you, great assist for the goal and Kun went in bravely, face first, in order for the ball to end up at the feet of the leagues best player - we love you Merlin!!!
What the hell, even the ref had a good one - a nice surprise after last weeks inept display from you know who. Having watched the penalty given against us at chelsea again i this time noticed something that somehow made it even worse. Am i the only one that noticed Clattenburg do an almost "Saturday Night Fever" point to the spot. It was as if in his mind there was a drum roll followed by stage lights and James Cameron shouting - "and.......ACTION"!!!! Do refs get points for elaboration levels of spot pointing? Im surprised he didnt back flip towards the penalty area from the halfway line, the red arrows screeching overhead, as he high fives every Chelsea player before delivering his Travolta-esque point (yeah you can tell by the way i blow my whistle that im a etc etc"..............
Tricky patch of the season negotiated well, still top of the league and everything looking good - Merry Christmas everyone, this all still feels like a dream doesnt it boys and girls............
That was just the tonic I needed before leaving the sunshine of Florida for the snow in Manchester. Cant wait actually, fish & chips here I come. Great win and the all important clean sheet. Happy christmas to all you fellow blues and see you all next year when we will be TOP of the table still.
Man of the Match was the ref - got everything spot on.
Next man of the match was Barry, with Kompany very close behind. Brilliant game, almost had a breakdown during Fergie time!!!!
Will give my opinion on the game later,before that,lets all have a laugh at lease:
'LEASE ON THE UNITED COUNCIL HOUSE STADIUM IS 250 YEARS, MANCHESTER (18/12/2011 at 14:55)
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That's more like it..get a few more players back and i think we could go on one of our famous runs. Got a feeling the scum Berties bottle will go.......L.U.H.C.......'
Where did our bottle go lease?Or have you been on the bottle again?And by that i mean a bottle of paint stripper as all of your comments are utter garbage.
CTID
What a game of football !! Credit to both sides for serving up such a spectacle and for the very first time credit to Phil Dowd for allowing the game to flow and refereeing brilliantly. Vinnie was just outstanding, Barry majestic in the middle and if ever there was a player who always gives 100% wherever he's asked to play it's Zab. I thought he was absolutely fantastic today, in fact everyone was top drawer. In 50 years of following this magnificent club I've never seen anything like the type of football we're producing now. So proud to be a Blue.
ALL POSITIVES NO NEGATIVES ANOTHER BIG WIN WELL DONE LADS TOP OF THE LEAGUE...............................
Well played great game think song should of gone.Kun would of had 4 on another day see you all at stoke.L.C.L.G
Attack, attack, attack. Brilliant game. Best game in the whole division this season.
Safety before Christmas! Rock and Roll my Blue brothers and sisters! The best team won and we should have had a hatful. Thought Samir was great today and Gareth was brilliant as he has been for most of the season. Wishing you all a very merry xmas and a happy and prosperous new year.
Yipee!
great win - shows are strength and commitment through out the whole squad , well done Mancini , showed the loss at Chelsea was a robbery by clannterberg ,today we got correct referring decisions , and proved we can play attractive football == City on top for Xmas , wont see many utd fans on here today ..
Last week Chelsea were made to look good, today it was Arsenal's turn, an Arsenal without fullbacks. Precious 3 points but never in control of the game.
WELL PLAYED BLUES & BOBBI -
Back where we belong - TOP !!
Why do teams roll over for the scum ..
stick that in your pipe PIERS MORGAN ...
LGHU ...
CITY FOR LIFE !!