City made two changes from the eleven that started against Fulham. Sun Jihai returned for the first time since his sending off in March in place of Distin, who had a hamstring injury. Up front, Samaras returned for Sibierski.
The Match
It was a sultry evening in Manchester, and the visitors were wearing their yellow and maroon away kit.
An open first 10 minutes saw City try their luck down the flanks, with Barton forcing an early corner that the Gunners’ defence was equal to. At the other end, Song fed Van Persie after 12 minutes but the striker was flagged offside, and his shot onto the bar counted for nothing.
Then with 20 minutes just on the clock the crowd came to life for the first time. Barton fed Samaras down the left and the Greek striker looked to be in the clear, but the Arsenal defence were equal to him, and after a second half-shot, referee Poll blew for an infringement that enraged the City fans.
However a moment of pure class from Thierry Henry on 29 minutes led to the visitors taking the lead. The Frenchman, faced with three blue shirts, gave a deft flick to send everyone the wrong way and find Freddie Ljungberg inside the area. The Swede steadied himself before slotting cooly past David James, although replays showed him to be just offside as his skipper played it through to him.
Proceedings became tetchy for a few minutes, but then an Arsenal error led to a corner. Barton but the ball all the way over to Sinclair, who headed back in towards Vassell. His attempt at a flick saw Lehmann fumble, and the ball went straight to David Sommeil, who turned and drove the ball in from two yards out to level the scores on 38 minutes!
The game was lively now, with challenges flying in thick and fast, Albert Riera going into the book just after play had restarted.
Henry linked up brilliantly with van Persie just before half time, but on getting the ball back the Arsenal captain placed the ball well wide of the left hand post.
Arsenal attacked fron tbe start after half time, with Eboue finding van Persie. The striker raced into the area and shot, but a diving David James did well to parry the shot around the post.
Darius Vassell went close on 53 minutes, when stretching to connect with a chip in from Barton he could only put the ball wide. Arsenal took up the challenge at the other end, with Ljungberg cutting inside and hitting the post just a minute later.
The bad tempers of the first half spilled over into the second, with Vassell receiving a booking on 58 minutes after tangling with Lehmann before a corner.
Van Persie missed from one good opportunity on the hour, but made James make a good save a minute later.
Dunne was the next into Poll’s book on 63 after Henry looked to have made the most of a clash between the two. The mercurial Frenchman then looked dangerous before Micah Richards expertley shepherded the ball out of play for a goal kick.
David James was called upon again after 66, this time superbly tipping a long range effort from Hleb over the bar. It was his opposite number’s turn to show of his skills a minute later when he pushed a powerful Dunne header from a corner round his post.
This exciting passage of play continued unabated when Sinclair’s cross found Micah Richards. He headed goalwards, and once more Jens Lehmann came to the rescue with another great save.
The Gunners now threw on the heavy atrillery, with Pires & Reyes coming on for Hleb and van Persie. City responded with Lee Croft replacing Trevor Sinclair.
Sadly for City the changes by Arsenal paid dividends on 77 minutes when they took the lead for the second time. Henry fed Eboue on the right, who in turn passed to Jose Reyes. David James did his best to save the skimming effort but the ball still went into the corner after brushing his hand.
