Santi Cazorla looked dead on his feet. The first Arsenal substitution had been made and more than a few were surprised it had not been his number called. Not that he was playing badly.
He had been quite, quite brilliant, but had run himself into the ground keeping the champions quiet. All of Arsenal’s midfield were relentless in their commitment to this cause.
Still, there was a free-kick to be taken and Cazorla is Arsenal’s free-kick taker. He chipped a curling ball into the Manchester City area, Olivier Giroud outran, outthought and outmuscled Fernando, to apply a delightfully weighted glancing header. Joe Hart was nowhere. Two goals clear, the game was won.
The best Arsenal performance of recent years? Quite possibly. Certainly it is hard to recall a more effective one. Santi Cazorla was magnificent, the man of the match. Close behind him was Francis Coquelin, a wonderfully effective destroyer in central midfield. Laurent Koscielny was outstanding in the heart of defence, but a back four that included Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin barely wavered.
Wenger lauded his layers after keeping a clean sheet and nullifying the defending champions successfully.“We kept a good control of the game. We had the consistent discipline for 90 minutes that's needed in big games, we looked in control away from home and we finally got a big win in a big game away from home,” he said.
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