Both teams ended with ten men as Manchester City claimed a 2-0 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium this afternoon.
The first big talking point occurred in the ninth minute when Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny was handed a straight red card for pulling down Edin Dzeko inside the area.
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Dzeko stepped up to take the resultant penalty but saw his effort saved by the legs of Wojciech Szczesny, who managed to then grasp the ball as it rebounded off the post and rolled along the line.
However, the champions made their numerical advantage count soon after. A quickly-taken free kick resulted in Carlos Tevez playing in James Milner, who flashed an instant shot past Szczesny and into the net with the aid of the left upright with 21 minutes played.
They went on to double their advantage 11 minutes later courtesy of Dzeko, who atoned for his penalty miss when he scored from close range after Szczesny had pushed clear Tevez's initial effort.
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The visitors continued to look the more likely to score after the restart and Tevez should have added a third 20 minutes from time. The Argentine found himself one-on-one with Szczesny, but as he tried to round the Arsenal keeper, he stumbled and the chance disappeared.
Arsenal's best opportunity to halve the deficit came just two minutes later when substitute Olivier Giroud headed over from just six yards out.
The second major talking point of the encounter arrived in the 75th minute as referee Mike Dean evened up the numbers by sending off Vincent Kompany, who had gone into a sliding challenge with Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere.
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Replays showed that the Man City skipper had taken the ball before making any contact with the England international.
As the match entered stoppage time, City survived a late scare as substitute Joleon Lescott got back onto the line to hack clear a shot from Theo Walcott that had beaten Joe Hart.
The victory has seen City close the gap on leaders Manchester United to seven points.
Liam Apicella
