Arsenal 0 - Manchester City 0

In the first half-hour, it looked like Arsenal would rip Man City to shreds. Three times, Arsenal shots hit the post. But Man City shored up its defense, and played an entirely negative game the rest of the way. Fabianski and Arsenal's central defenders barely had to break a sweat. Virtually the entire game was played on Man City's side of midfield. But the Gunners could not break through. Man City's strategy prevailed and they left the Emirates with a point. The only winner from this match was Manchester United, which saw two of its main rivals drop points.

I can't fault the Gunners too much. Overall, they played hard and well, as they tried vainly to break down Man City's defensive wall. Despite one brilliant shot, Van Persie still shows signs of his long injury lay-off. Arshavin was characteristically poor when he came on as a substitute for Theo Walcott for the last quarter of an hour. Otherwise, it was a strong performance that probably deserved all three points.

Unfortunately, both Arsenal's Bacary Sagna and Man City's Pablo Zabaleta received red cards late in the game for going head to head in a mutual display of petulance. The color probably should have been yellow. Nevertheless, it will be bad news as Arsenal will be without the services of one of it's most consistent defenders for the next three league games.