Sell Out - Arsenal vs. Manchester City

Pre match hand shakes.

Apologies for the quality of the photos, they were all taken on my phone which doesn't produce as good as photos as my actual camera.

I had this week intended to revisit Bedfont Sports but when the chance came up for me to see Arsenal vs. Manchester City for twelve quid I couldn't say no. I'd gone past the Emirates many times on the train but I'd never seen a game there. I also unfortunately never managed to catch a game at Highbury which was a truly old school British football ground. Man City were flying at the top of the league and were still unbeaten in domestic competition. Arsenal are steadily rebuilding after a shaky start to the season and hadn't lost in the last nine games. The game was given an extra edge by the fact that Samir Nasri was playing against his former side. 

End of the ground housing the away fans.

I think the best way to describe most of this game is 'continental'. A lot of the game was played in the midfield although at times the game did become quite end to end. Park had a close range effort saved by stand goal keeper Costel Pantilimon and he was again in action when he brilliantly tipped over a Chamberlain effort from distance. In the second half the game became a lot more open. In the later stages of the game Arsenal had a lot of the ball but were undone by a fantastic counter attack. Dzeko, who was outstanding all game, squared the ball to Arguero to slot home. Arsenal continued to have a lot of the ball but failed to find the equaliser.  

The home end.

We had a few beers close to work and so didn't try anywhere near the ground. We got off at Arsenal on the Piccadilly Line on the way there and departed from Finsbury Park on the Victoria Line. Arsenal was closer, but the Victoria Line is a lot quicker if you are heading back to South London. There was beer available in the concourse and to my pleasant surprise they served Bovril. One thing I really like about visiting the grounds of larger teams is that a lot of the fans still produce fanzines. In my experience they have become a rarity and The Gooner was a great effort.

The two teams emerge from the tunnel.

A detailed report and match highlights can be found on The BBC Website.

Gunnersaurus Rex