The Gunners stumbled out of the gate and were behind after eight minutes when Sergio Aguero cut inside and beat Petr Cech at the near post.
The equalizer came less than two minutes later when Arsenal were awarded a corner kick following ex-Gunner Gael Clichy’s nervous back header beating Joe Hart and glancing off the upright.
Olivier Giroud headed home Elneny’s corner, his first goal in eons, his twenty-first of the year.
The rest of the half was fairly even, but City had the best chances through Aguero and Navas.
The second half started much as the first had ended and Kevin deBruyne gave City the lead when he claimed a weak Bellerin header, barged past the Arsenal man and other defenders and beat Cech with a shot at the near post.
Arsenal responded by bringing on Theo Walcott who broke free on the right, but his cross to Giroud was cut out by Otamendi. Walcott was played in on goal by Ramsey, but Hart was out quickly and Walcott’s shot went wide.
Finally Arsenal equalized. Sanchez’s through ball to Giroud was returned with a deft flick, putting him through. Alexis made no mistake and the game was tied again.
As the game wore down City created a number of good chances. Aguero hit just wide and Bony smashed a volley onto the crossbar. However the Gunners hung on and kept three points ahead of City in the standings.
They did miss out on a good chance to tie Spurs, who lost to Southampton.
Player Ratings:
Cech 5: Twice beaten at the near post (not to mention Bolassie’s tying goal for Palace two weeks ago). Both were good shots, but great keepers don’t like conceding at the near post. Cech looked a little nervous at times.
Bellerin 6: A tough day having to deal with deBruyne. His weak header led to the second City goal. In the first half Aguero brushed him aside with a shoulder charge. Hector needs to add some more strength to his game.
Gabriel 7: He had his hands full but he never made any fatal mistakes.
Koscielny 7: His early passing error encouraged City to swarm forward at the start. He was nervous, but generally he was steady at the back. Made a number of crucial interventions and headers.
Monreal 6: A busy day at the office dealing with Jesus Navas. He defended better as the game wore on. Made one good cross into the box, but was otherwise quiet going forward.
Elneny 6: Largely efficient display but he could’ve done better on both goals (I suspect Coquelin would have been more aggressive). Late in the game he failed to track Aguero, whose resulting shot just went wide.
Ramsey 6: Lots of effort, several mistakes, one great pass to Walcott, several attacking passes overhit. More bad than good. The Arsenal midfield just lacked the muscle and was overrun a number of times.
Iwobi 5: One audacious pass almost got through, but there was little positive from Alex. One poor pass almost led to disaster.
Sanchez 7: He flickered on and off for most of the game. Some nice moves and a stunning goal.
Giroud 8: A big goal in the first half and a key assist in the second half. Battled hard and finally delivered.
Welbeck 5: Gave the ball away several times and then hurt his knee while chasing an opponent. Might be in danger of missing the Euros.
Substitutes:
Wilshere 6: A decent match for Jack, who made no big mistakes and who passed effectively. The City midfielders ran through him a number of times and the referee just looked away.
Walcott 7: One of his best cameos of the season. Might have scored if he managed to avoid Hart.
Coquelin n/a: Added defensive stability near the end.