United continued their dominance over the Arsenal-Manchester fixture with a close encounter with opportunities galore for both sides. United went ahead after a Ryan Giggs cross found Antonio Valencia clear in the box to put the Reds into the lead just before the interval. After half time, Arsenal increased their pressure and pushed for an equaliser. After Van Persie missed a glorious chance, he made no mistake a second time as he smashed the ball into the corner from 15 yards. The turning point of the match was Oxlade-Chamberlain being withdrawn to some disgust by the crowd at the Emirates, and replaced by Andrey Arshavin who made an instant impact in letting Valencia go on a mazy run to put through Danny Welbeck who blasted home from close range.
United keep up the pressure on city rivals...City, and stay 3 points behind them. Arsenal, however, are now 5 points from Chelsea and a Champions League qualification spot and are level on points with Newcastle and only one ahead of Liverpool. It is shaping up to be an intense battle towards the end of the season.
Manchester City 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester City maintained their lead at the top of the Premier League, but only just. It took an injury time penalty from Mario Balotelli to seal the 3 points. City scored two quick goals early in the second half with Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott both scoring. But Tottenham were not through there, oh no. They dug in and battled back, and they were quickly rewarded, as just a minute after going 2-0 down, Defoe managed to pull one back. Only 5 minutes later the Welsh sensation Gareth Bale scored a beauty of a goal to bring Tottenham to 2-2 and within sight of a valuable point. However Balotelli, who in fairness should have already been sent off having picked up a booking then proceeding to stamp on Scott Parker - an incident which was missed by the referee - then stepped up to take a penalty after being taken down in the area by Ledley King.
BBC's Phil McNulty is spot on when he says "Balotelli might win Man City the title but there's a danger his unpredictability could potentially lose it for them". He definitely is right on the money there. While he is definitely a proven goalscorer, he has an anger problem that could see him sent off in an important match, and leave City to play with 10 men. When he grows up and matures a bit, I can see him becoming one of the greatest players to have ever been in the game, but until then he is just a liability.
While City have kept their lead in the league, Tottenham are in a pretty safe 3rd place. 5 points behind United, but 5 points clear of Chelsea, and while I don't see them mounting a title challenge anymore, I can definitely see that they will be in the automatic Champions League qualification spots come the end of the season. I've been Peter Duke and you've been awesome. Ciao!
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