Coquelin The True Star Of The City Win

Match Review - Man City 0-2 Arsenal - Premier League: 18/01/15

Wow. What a performance. For years now, away games against the stronger teams have been events to be dreaded for Arsenal fans. 6-0, 6-3, 5-1 and 8-2 are just some of the litany of embarrassing defeats that we've suffered at the likes of City, Chelsea and United. But Sunday felt like a watershed moment for the Gunners. The moment we finally realised what was required to be successful in these games. We sacrificed our desire to control the game and attack with numbers and played with guts and determination. I suppose it's better late than never...

Aaron Ramsey made his first start of 2015, alongside Cazorla and Coquelin in a three man midfield. Ospina kept his place in goal, while Bellerin was trusted at right back following Debuchy's injury. For once, our bench looked strong, with Walcott, Özil, Flamini, Gibbs, Chambers and Rosicky ready when required.

Many had expected that line up, but few would have predicted how Arsenal would set up. With City in possession, we sat with a flat back four, Coquelin in front and another flat four in midfield. The shape was compact and the players adhered to the plan in a resolute and disciplined fashion, going against many of their natural instincts. As Jamie Carragher showed on Monday Night Football, Ramsey, Cazorla and Coquelin were all curbing their normal inclination to immediately press the man in possession in favour of denying David Silva space to drop into in front of the defence. The tactic worked a treat too, as City were forced wide time and again and without a target man, their crosses were ineffective.

On the other side of things, our counter attacking looked dangerous, with City defenders prone to diving in wildly and allowing our quicker players to skip past them. Chamberlain did just that on one occasion, eventually crossing for Giroud who headed just wide. It was a warning shot that City failed to heed and they were punished not long after.

The goal came after Ramsey first lost and then won the ball back and got it to Nacho Monreal on the edge of the area. The left back played a one-two with Giroud, but was body checked by Kompany as he went for the return and Mike Dean (yes Mike Dean!) pointed to the spot. It was a clear penalty, Kompany moved to block Monreal's run and on the replays you can clearly see Kompany's hip impact on Monreal's. The contact was more than enough to take anyone down and the pundits moaning about the decision are embarrassing themselves really. Kompany is at fault, he fouled Monreal in the area and it was a penalty, simple. Cazorla stepped up and despatched the penalty beautifully. Particularly sweet for us, as the City fans had been adamant that Cazorla was merely a 'sh!t David Silva'.

We frustrated City for the whole first half, grabbing a goal and defending brilliantly to leave the home side looking short of ideas. However, they hit us hard after the break and there was a period of about ten minutes where we looked vulnerable. City got some particular joy down the right hand side with Navas and Aguero both testing Ospina from that position. City's major chance came from the two aforementioned players, with Navas squaring for what seemed like an Aguero tap in, only for Koscielny to get a crucial touch to divert the ball behind. It seemed for a little while that we would have to hang on in the face of a City assault.

Thankfully we regained our composure and then completely against the run of play, hit City with a sucker punch. Alexis was fouled about thirty yards out and Cazorla floated a free kick towards the penalty spot. Giroud was left unmarked by some Arsenal-esque City defending and had a simple task to head in to the corner of the net. The home fans were stunned and we were left with just over 25 minutes to defend a two goal lead. Surely it couldn't be too difficult right...?

Well, it was actually fairly simple. We dropped into our shape, City huffed and puffed, but barely tested Ospina and I don't recall the home side threatening significantly before the game ended. It was a stunningly un-Arsenal like performance, one that fans and pundits alike have been pleading for for years. Cazorla caught the eye with the way he defended with discipline and lead the attack with verve and flair. But for me, the star was Francis Coquelin.

Coquelin has long been on the deadwood list at Arsenal, we'd all just assumed that sooner or later he'd join a lower league club or a French team on a permanent deal and we'd never really hear from him again. His loan to Charlton seemed to confirm his unwanted status and his recall seemed a move of desperation. But since he's returned he's outperformed Flamini and seemingly earned a second lease of life at the Gunners. He looked like a decent short term solution to the holding midfielder problem, as he still showed some lack of discipline and a tendency to make rash decisions. But against City, he was outstanding, he looked a different player and finished the game with some very impressive stats (via Stat Zone):

• 3/3 tackles
• 6 interceptions
• 11/11 clearances
• 6/6 headed clearances
• 7/8 aerial duals
• 0 errors leading to shots
• 0 fouls

For me, that is the definition of 'doing the dirty work', with the zero fouls being perhaps the most impressive of the above stats. I know a lot of people don't put much value on stats and they can be deceiving, but these just illustrate how well he played on Sunday. City are no mugs, they're probably only second to Chelsea in terms of attacking talent and Coquelin did a job on them. This obviously doesn't mean that he's suddenly the world class holding mid that everyone has craved, but if he can put in that sort of performance against City, why not more often? He's not exactly a youngster, but at 23 he can still learn and improve. If he continues to perform in this way, he could have a very important role to play in the rest of the season.

As for the team as a whole, this was a huge win, not just because it was City away, but because all our rivals won at the weekend. Southampton, United and Sp*rs would have all gained points on us had we not won and it also means one of our most difficult away games is out of the way. Our only really difficult away trips to come are at Sp*rs and United, while Chelsea and Liverpool both visit the Emirates. This result will give us huge confidence that we can overhaul United and Southampton and hopefully gain automatic Champions League football. The important thing is to make sure that this result is a foundation, rather than a flash in the pan.

Teams

Man City (4-2-3-1)
Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany (Y), Demichelis, Clichy, Fernando, Fernandinho (Y) (Lampard 63'), Navas (Dzeko 76'), Silva, Milner (Jovetic 45'), Aguero (Y)
Subs
Caballero, Sagna, Kolarov, Mangala, Lampard, Jovetic, Dzeko

Arsenal (4-1-4-1)
Ospina, Bellerin (Y), Mertesacker, Koscielny (Y), Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey (Y) (Flamini 87'), Cazorla, Chamberlain (Rosicky 66'), Alexis (Gibbs 84'), Giroud
Subs
Szczesny, Chambers, Gibbs, Flamini, Walcott, Rosicky, Özil

Player Ratings

Ospina - 7/10 - Not seriously tested, but looked solid and confident
Bellerin - 8/10 - Did an excellent job despite his inexperience
Mertesacker - 8/10 - A superb performance, read the game brilliantly
Koscielny - 8/10 - Did amazingly to play on a yellow card for nearly the whole game
Monreal - 8/10 - On current form, Gibbs won't be back in for a while, outstanding
Coquelin - 9/10 - Sensational. Calm, collected and effective against City's attacking stars
Ramsey - 7/10 - Certainly rusty and his touch let him down but worked very hard
Cazorla - 9/10 - Another who worked his socks off, scored and assisted too
Chamberlain - 7/10 - Provided a quick outlet and didn't leave Bellerin isolated at right back
Alexis - 7/10 - A sacrificial performance, drawing City players in to allow others space
Giroud - 8/10 - Battled hard against City's centre backs and scored a vital goal
Subs
Rosicky - 7/10 - Worked hard and defended well once brought on
Gibbs - N/A
Flamini - N/A

http://twitter.com/sambangsdrums Tell us what you think! If you agree, or have a different view, please leave a comment in the comments section or why not write a response or your own article on YouWrite?

Think you know Arsenal? Test your Arsenal knowledge on our trivia page and see if you can beat the top score.

Don't forget to like us on Facebook, add us to your G+ circle and follow us on Twitter.