[Player Ratings] Man City 6-3 Arsenal: City Out-Gun Arsenal In Thriller

Manchester City beat Arsenal 6-3 in a fantastic game of attacking football at the Etihad today to cut the Gunners lead at the top of the Premier League to just three points. Here are the Football-Talk player ratings:

Man City

Pantilimon 6/10

Didn’t even attempt to dive for Walcott’s first but could do little about his second. Made a decent stop from Wilshere, but looked a little suspect on crosses.

Zabaleta 7/10

His lung-bursting run and superb cross picked out Negredo for the all-important second. Typical display from the full-back.

Kompany 8/10

Despite his side conceding three goals, Kompany was still in fine form for City. Leading from the back.

Demichelis 6.5/10

Vital flick-on set up the opener and although he looked a little uncomfortable at times, Kompany bailed him out.

Clichy 6/10

Was given a bit of a tough time by his former team mates.

Fernandinho 8/10

His best game in a City shirt. Beautiful curling effort for hosts fourth goal and finished the game off with a wonderful chipped finish.

Toure 8.5/10

Completely dominated the middle of the park. An absolute beast when in this form. Scored the sixth from the penalty spot.

Silva 8/10

City’s most creative threat, he was a real handful for the Arsenal back-line all afternoon and got himself on the score-sheet.

Nasri 7.5/10

Was a real thorn in his former teams side but wasted several good chances to get himself a goal.

Aguero 7.5/10

Stunning volley opened the scoring before being forced off early in the second half with a calf injury.

Negredo 7.5/10

Missed a couple of good chances in first half before he grabbed the vital second goal before half time. Hold up and link up play was excellent all game.

Subs:

Navas 7/10 – Pace was a problem for the visitors.

Milner 7/10 – Won the penalty and worked hard.

Garcia N/A

Arsenal

Szczesny 5/10

Perhaps 5 is generous considering he conceded six goals but he wasn’t particularly at fault for the first five. It was a poor decision to bring down Milner and conceded six from the seven City shots on target.

Sagna 6/10

Put a couple of decent crosses in but was part of a back-line that was ripped open far too often.

Monreal 4.5/10

In for Gibbs and was hugely disappointing. Left far too much space on his side and kept tucking in too close to his central defenders.

Mertesacker 6/10

Not his finest game by any stretch and wasn’t able to hold his defence together as City ran riot. Nice header pulled one back though.

Koscielny 5.5/10

Fell asleep at the back post to allow Aguero room to score the vital opener. Forced off with a nasty cut on his knee just after the break.

Flamini 5/10

Lost the midfield battle against Toure and Fernandinho.

Ramsey 6.5/10

Did well to steal possession from Toure in the build up to the Gunners first and grabbed an assist for Walcott’s second. But wasn’t able to control the centre of the park as he has done this season.

Walcott 7.5/10

Tidy finish for his first before curling home a stunning second that could have got Arsenal back in the game. Encouraging return to the side.

Wilshere 4.5/10

Not his day at all. Fluffed a great chance to get a shot on target with the score at 0-0 and it went downhill from there. He did force a good save with a thunderous long-range effort but could find himself in trouble for a gesture towards the City fans.

Ozil 4.5/10

Set up Walcott for his first but loose ball gifted city their third and he was largely anonymous. Arsenal need more from their record signing in big games.

Giroud 5/10

Had a poor day. Missed some great chances to get on the scoresheet but was unlucky to have a perfectly good goal ruled out incorrectly for offside.

Subs:

Vermealen 5/10 – On for the injured Koscielny and wasn’t able to keep the City attack at bay.

Gnabry 5/10 – Surprisingly brought on ahead of Cazorla and Rosicky

Bendtner 6/10 – Unlucky to see a goal ruled out for offside.

What were your thoughts on the game? Share your views below.