Liverpool finally got an elusive 2-1 win which was effectively like a cellphone on vibrate mode as the 3 points did not impact on their log standings. The three goals came within a 6 minute period. Fernando Torres was finally on target for his season's 2nd goal. Blackburn had their goal after a fine run on the right by Benjani Mwaruwari, who played the ball square to Al Hadji Diuof to stab home. Jamie made a vain effort to block the effort in the 52nd minute. Torres scored the winner a minute later. A Sotiris Kyragiakos header had given Liverpool the lead.
The real story was at the City of Manchester Stadium where Arsenal put up a splendid display over championship pretenders, Manchester City winning 3-0. Dedryck Boyata 'de-Jonged' Maroune Chamakh and was red-carded in the 4th minute. A very competitive match quickly became a strenuous City exercise as they tried to make up for a missing man. An out of sorts Andrei Arshvin was a huge Arsenal liability, cancelling the Gunners' numerical advantage. His only meaningful contribution was a one-two with Nasri for the opening goal.
A good and solid movement and a quality finish by red hot Samir Nasri in the 19th minute set the Gunners on their way. Nasri is truly a man on a mission this season. Carlos Tevez and David Silva combination grew to be a big headache for the slow Arsenal defence marshaled by Djouru. Luckas Fabianski had to be fantastic in goals for Arsenal to thwart the quick Manchester City intrinsic passing of their own and they accelerated vehemently after the centre line attacking the Arsenal defence.
Typical Arsenal patient build ups found Kompany having a clumsy challenge on Cesc Fabregas who missed the resultant spot-kick as Joe Hart dived to his left to save. Kompany nearly levelled matters with a header from a corner resulting from the counter-attack. He was fortunate not to see any card. City were energised by the penalty save but their final ball was never spot-on.
The second half was a finer affair for the visitors as Alex Song proved to be the main man. He held the central defensive business with diligence. He was to be rewarded by a toe poke goal as a serious Gunners raid became too much for City. This completed the match as a contest as Arsene Wenger's men threatened to run riot. The introduction of Nicklaus Bedtner and Theo Walcott was an icing on the cake and they could doubled the lead. Bedtner drove the final nail on the City coffin in the dearth. Arsenal dislodged Manchester United from the second spot with that win on goal difference.
Are City, United and Arsenal any threat in the league to Chelsea or The Blues are nothing to talk about themselves?
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