Punch-drunk and punished

Manchester CIty 1 Arsenal 2: At least the Arsenal fans behind David Seaman's goal were not so cruel as to mock their former …

Manchester CIty 1 Arsenal 2: At least the Arsenal fans behind David Seaman's goal were not so cruel as to mock their former goalkeeper. However much Kevin Keegan insists the 39-year-old should still be playing for England, it has been depressing to witness the fag-end of a fading career, like watching a clapped-out boxer after a punch too many.

Football can be brutal at times and Seaman's sense of timing was impeccably bad here, not just because of the flap at the ball that precipitated the winning goal but also the nature of Manchester City's opponents.

Thirteen years Seaman spent as a Highbury employee, winning nine trophies and 75 England caps. Keegan had even made him joint-captain for the day, so for Seaman to be at fault for Arsenal's winning goal will rank as one of his more galling mistakes.

In mitigation the clanger with which Seaman presented Freddie Ljungberg with an open goal did not come with a capital "C". Nevertheless it was the decisive moment of a victory that takes Arsenal three points clear at the top of the Premiership, having won their opening four league fixtures for the first time since 1948.

READ MORE

It was a profitable day for Wenger's team, particularly as they had been woken in the early hours by a fire alarm at their hotel in Manchester. "When the entire squad is standing in a hotel car park at 4am, it's not exactly the ideal way to prepare for a match," the manager said drily.

Seaman, it emerged, was staying at the same hotel but had slept through. The old fellow's reactions are clearly not what they once were, a point that was never better demonstrated than when he came off his line with the intention of intercepting Sylvain Wiltord's through-ball 17 minutes from time. Already culpable for two of the four goals that City had conceded prior to this match, Seaman slid in with his knees rather than hands and the ball bounced back off him to give Ljungberg an easy goal.

It would be difficult to argue a case against Arsenal's second-half performance deserving a win, yet this was a laboured display from Wenger's team. The manager revealed afterwards he had questioned the commitment of his players after a first half in which Patrick Vieira had been largely inconspicuous and Lauren's own-goal had given City a deserved lead.

Lauren should be particularly grateful for Seaman taking the mantle of scapegoat, for his own aberration was truly grotesque. Chasing a long punt from Sylvain Distin and with no apparent danger other than Trevor Sinclair coming up a couple of yards behind him, all Lauren had to do was shepherd the ball back to Jens Lehmann.

But, as Sinclair quickened his pace, the right-back lost both his nerve and dignity at once. In fairness Lehmann was almost as hesitant coming off his line. Even so that does not exonerate a player of Lauren's experience from taking such a bad first touch and then, with an inexplicable swipe of his left boot and a sly nudge from Sinclair, lashing the ball beyond his goalkeeper.

Lauren's embarrassment seemed to spread to his colleagues and so intense was their discomfort that Keegan must have winced at the sound of the half-time whistle. Blackburn, Bolton and Manchester United all showed last season that Arsenal do not always like meeting spikey opponents and Keegan's players were just that, whether it be Michael Tarnat eyeballing Robert Pires or Sun Jihai flattening Vieira.

Neither Pires nor Ljungberg was providing his usual width and penetration while Vieira's sluggish start was epitomised when Joey Barton, giving away at least six inches, out-jumped Arsenal's captain in the centre circle.

Within two minutes of the restart, however, they were level. Pires, who improved as the game went on, expertly picked out Ashley Cole in the penalty area and David Sommeil's tentative challenge allowed the left-back to cross for Wiltord, who slipped his shot beneath Seaman.

Suddenly Arsenal had rediscovered their flamboyance, with Thierry Henry sending the crowd into hushed apprehension with every touch.

It was Henry who instigated the move that led to City's 5,000th game ending in defeat, dispossessing the substitute Danny Tiatto on the touchline to catch City short on numbers in defence.

It would not have mattered if Seaman had collected the ball but the goalkeeper was clearly at fault and, by resorting to type, Wenger was surely just trying to be kind on his former player when he declared he "had not seen it".