Arsenal 1 Man City 1: Arsene Wenger made no secret of his admiration for Shaun Wright-Phillips before this game but he is unlikely to count the winger among his favourite people this morning. The glorious goal that Wright-Phillips scored last night may have shown why Wenger wants him, but it also dealt a potentially fatal blow to Arsenal's title hopes.
Although Freddie Ljungberg grabbed an equaliser for Arsenal, the champions now sit seven points behind the leaders Chelsea and that will be a big margin to make up judging by the form of Jose Mourinho's team.
If Arsenal had a dose of ill-luck in the last dozen minutes when Robin van Persie crashed a free-kick against the crossbar and later shot just over from a Jermaine Pennant cross, they seemed fortunate that Ljungberg's goal stood.
City complained with some justification that Patrick Vieira was offside before the Swede headed in a cross which had been delivered by a clever Thierry Henry overhead kick. Vieira may not have touched the ball but he ran across the sightline of a City defender as he tried to scamper back.
A draw did not flatter City even if they were pinned back by the end. They played well, looking organised and determined, restricting Arsenal's flow until the late flurry. Their excellent work-rate was typified by Robbie Fowler and Joey Barton, while the man of the match, Richard Dunne, was outstanding in central defence.
Arsenal were not helped here by injuries that forced them to play a young team but this is hardly the first time they have dropped points at home against teams they would expect to beat, following draws against Bolton, West Brom and Southampton.
The more pessimistic Arsenal fans had wondered whether their team might slip up. Injuries to Lauren and Sol Campbell had forced the champions to field a weakened and inexperienced defence, with Justin Hoyte making his third Premiership start at right-back and Philippe Senderos given his full league debut at centre-half. With Ashley Cole and Kolo Touré also relatively young, Arsenal's back four had an average age of less than 22. It must have been of some relief to the quartet to learn that Nicolas Anelka, the former Arsenal striker, was not playing.
City said a back injury was the reason for the absence of the 25-year-old striker, who is being considered as a possible signing by Liverpool. It means City started with Fowler and Jon Macken in attack.
The sight of Fowler bringing a save from Manuel Almunia inside the first minute was a reminder to Arsenal to take nothing for granted. That was a rare early opening for City, though they were no means being overrun.
Only the briefest moments of Arsenal's first-half play were of high quality, with the majority flat. David James had to save from Robert Pires and Hoyte early on but without great difficulty and Arsenal were not finding it easy to make clear openings.
Fowler frequently moved over to prevent Hoyte from having easy possession to come forward on the right and Kevin Keegan had clearly instructed his players to prevent Cesc Fabregas and Vieira having time to build from deep.
The tenacious Barton was often quick to get to Fabregas and, with Antoine Sibierski dropping infield from the left, City put up a big barrier in the middle of midfield.
The upshot was that Arsenal struggled to build momentum and played more inaccurate, rushed passes than usual. They too often looked for fruitless long balls. Their best chance came when Pires and Henry combined to set up van Persie, who hit a weak shot.
The effort which Wright-Phillips struck to give City the lead on the half-hour could not be described as that. City's willingness to close down paid dividends when Barton flung himself into a tackle on Vieira near the edge of Arsenal's penalty area. The ball squirted to Wright-Phillips, who hit a glorious shot past Almunia before Senderos could close down.
City had looked to get forward and now began to break with danger. The lively Wright-Phillips set up Fowler, who was denied by a fine Hoyte tackle. Arsenal came close to an equaliser before the interval but Vieira's header from a corner went just wide with James in no-man's land.
It was not hard to guess the tone of Wenger's words at half-time as Arsenal re-emerged looking far more dangerous. James saved a Cole header from Van Persie's cross but the pressure soon relented as City remained organised. The game could have been put beyond Arsenal had Macken not shot wide following a dreadful kick by Almunia.
Wenger's squad is so stretched he had no experienced outfield player on the bench and he sent on Pennant in the hope of salvaging something from the match. Alas it wasn't to be.
ARSENAL: Almunia, Hoyte, Toure, Senderos, Cole, Ljungberg, Fabregas (Pennant 65), Vieira, Pires, Henry, Van Persie. Subs not used: Lehmann, Clichy, Larsson, Owusu-Abeyie. Booked: Toure, Fabregas, Senderos. Goal: Ljungberg 75.
MAN CITY: James, Onuoha, Distin, Dunne, Thatcher, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Barton (Flood 77), Bosvelt, Sibierski, Macken (Bradley Wright-Phillips 90), Fowler. Subs not used: Sommeil, McManaman, Waterreus. Booked: Thatcher, Barton, Bosvelt. Goal: Shaun Wright-Phillips 31.
Referee: R Styles (Hampshire).
