The early Saturday match between Manchester City & Arsenal was seen by many as the 1st match of the season with REAL title implications. Arsenal, the league's gold standard so far this young season, against Manchester City, probably the most talented team in the Premier League that occasionally suffers from moments of severe inconsistency. A win for Arsenal would increase the Gunner's lead over City to 9 points, while a City win would decrease the lead to just 3 points.
In the end, City continued their torrid home form with a 6-3 win over the league leaders, closing the gap between them and Arsenal. Fernandinho's double and Manuel Pellegrini's team's lethal counter-attack overwhelmed the Arsenal. It is clear: if Manchester City can duplicate their home form on the road, the title will be theirs to lose. Manchester City have brave and smart defending, depth unlike any other team in England, and limitless creativity in attack in their squad.
For Arsenal, the story is not so optimistic at this moment. It's not all doom and gloom for the Gunners as they are still on top of the league. But it is time to worry. Manchester City beat Arsenal because they produced a display that Arsenal weren't able to match. But near the end of the match, you could tell that Arsenal were starting to tire when City was still fresh. Arsenal have a relatively small squad, particularly since they play in the Champions League. Consider that Manchester City rested 8 regular starters during the week when they played European champions Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and STILL won.
As the Premier League schedule heats up in the next 2 weeks, Arsenal will play 4 matches in 9 days against title challengers Chelsea and improving Newcastle. Will the squad hold up until the January transfer window opens? They better hope so, as depth at the striker and winger positions is needed as soon as possible.
THROWBACK
Happy 34th birthday to one most prolific strikers the Premier League has ever seen!
On this day in 1979 star English striker Michael Owen was born. The Chester born striker rose through the ranks at Liverpool FC to become one of the club's most prolific scorers notching 118 goals in 216 appearances for the Reds. 2001-02 was Owen's best year as he scored 28 goals in 43 matches for Liverpool and also picked up the Ballon D'or award as European Footballer of Year.
In 2004 Owen moved to Real Madrid which saw his career stall, followed by a series of injuries. Owen continued on to play for Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, eventually retiring in 2013.
For England, Owen played in 3 World Cups and amassed 40 goals in 89 matches.
Here's a look at Owen in his prime. Clinical!
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