Emmanuel Adebayor inspired Arsenal to a 3-1 win over Manchester City at Eastlands to keep their title bid on track.
Gunners end City's unbeaten home record
Emmanuel Adebayor inspired Arsenal to a 3-1 win over Manchester City at Eastlands to keep their title bid on track.
The in-form striker grabbed his 20th and 21st goals of a productive season to help the Gunners end City's unbeaten home record.
Adebayor broke the deadlock on nine minutes and Eduardo da Silva added a second on 26 minutes with an acrobatic overhead kick.
City gave themselves hope when Gelson Fernandes pulled a goal back on 28 minutes after a mistake by Gael Clichy.
Arsenal made the game safe two minutes from time when Adebayor netted his second of the contest to put Arsene Wenger's men top of the table for a few hours at least.
City almost took the lead early on when Dietmar Hamann played the ball forward.
However, Stephen Ireland failed to read the situation and a grateful Jens Lehmann was able to make the save.
Opener
That seemed to act as a wake-up call to Arsene Wenger's side, who took the lead in the ninth minute after Martin Petrov carelessly lost possession.
Bacary Sagna took advantage and delivered a cross into Adebayor's path, with the Togo striker bundling home with the aid of a deflection off Micah Richards.
Arsenal extended their lead in the 26th minute when Eduardo scored with a superb overhead kick after a header down from Adebayor.
It was marvellous effort by the Brazil-born Croatia striker, but City were thrown a lifeline in the 28th minute after Clichy was caught napping.
He lost possession on the byline to Vedran Corluka and the Croatian picked out Fernandes. The midfielder calmly slotted his close-range effort beyond Lehmann for his second goal for the club.
Adebayor almost extended their lead in the 30th minute when he got on the end of a cross from Sagna.
But goalkeeper Joe Hart stood tall and managed to parry the ball to safety.
Then William Gallas raced forward and sent a shot wide of the target after Adebayor's effort had only been partially cleared.
Frustrated
The home fans were getting frustrated at the lack of devil shown by their side when they did get forward.
Petrov scuffed a shot wide in stoppage-time after being released by Ireland.
Gallas then picked out Cesc Fabregas in the 54th minute on the edge of the area.
He tried to chip Hart from an acute angle but his effort cleared the crossbar.
City came close to grabbing the equaliser in the 66th minute when Vassell got on the end of a ball from Hamann, only for Lehmann to kick it clear.
Elano, who had been quiet, latched on to the rebound but lofted his effort over the top.
City had a scare in the 77th minute when Arsenal launched a swift counter-attack.
Adebayor sealed the victory two minutes from time with his second goal of the game following a neat build-up involving Fabregas.
| Manchester City |
Team Statistics |
Arsenal |
| 1 |
Goals |
3 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
2 |
| 2 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 0 |
Blocked Shots |
6 |
| 1 |
Corners |
9 |
| 10 |
Fouls |
9 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
5 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 73.2 |
Passing Success |
87.6 |
| 34 |
Tackles |
20 |
| 79.4 |
Tackles Success |
70 |
| 38.1 |
Possession |
61.9 |
| 44.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
55.7 |
|
