Manchester City (0) 0 - 1 (1) Arsenal
City of Manchester Stadium, Saturday 25th September 2004
FA Premiership
Arsenal:
Lehmann
Lauren Toure Campbell Cole
Ljungberg (Cesc 88) Vieira Edu Reyes (Clichy 63)
Henry Begrkamp (van Persie 88)
Another terrific hard-fought win against a spirited City side, who attacked enough in the second half especially, to feel they may have deserved a point.
Ashley Cole grabbed the goal on 14 minutes when Richard Dunne got to a ball from Reyes but could only divert it to Cole who scored with a quality finish.
The second half was a story of 2 good keepers and some last ditch defending. David James saved a narrow-angle shot from Thierry Henry after the latter had skinned Dunne (again) down the left. The ball feel to Freddie who had a shot on the turn which was well blocked by the Chinese defender Sun.
Lehmann had to rush out of his goal to meet Mackem after a good through ball from Sun, a brave and authoritative save.
The he was called into action again, saving at a low stretch from Anelka, and again when he tipped the former Arsenal striker's dipping long-range free kick over the bar. Another Anelka shot, from 40 yards, whistled past the post. Lehmann's lack of reaction made it look like he knew it was going wide, but you couldn't help thinkign it had ended up a lot closer than he expected.
Clever and strong play from Shaun Wright-Phillips on their right wing saw him beat Campbell. He could have gone down as Campbell appeard to pull him back as he approached the penalty area, but instead he fed Anelka in the box and although there were a couple of defenders in attendance, it's probably just as well that Anelka lost his footing.
The closest Arsenal came in the second half was another narrow-angled shot from Ashley Cole, which crashed out off the near post. At the death, Lehmann was called into action again, making a terrific catch from a corner, under big pressure from Dunne and David James. Overall it was a terrific performance from Lehmann. Like Bolton before them, City appeared to have bought the (previously valid) idea that Lehmann is easy to wind up. But Lehmann continued to show that he's calmed down somewhat. Everyone seems to agree that he's a great keeper and the only doubt is over his temperament. But as time goes on, and teams continue to find this tactic unproductive, surely those doubts have to be disappearing?
The unbeaten record has been extended to 47. The unbeaten away record has been extended to 27. And the consecutive win record (against the same Premiership club) has been extended to 11. See record-breakers page.
And Arsenal are back on top of the table, after a brief interlude following Chelsea's Saturday lunchtime win. | 
