Arsenal Hold Manchester City to Keep Chelsea FC Top

Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

After Chelsea FC saw their title chances diminish even further with a disheartening 1-0 loss to relegation candidates Crystal Palace, the Blues looked to their neighbors and arch rivals for some help. Arsenal faced off against Manchester City at the Emirates and things were not looking good for the Gunners.

Fresh off a complete domination at the hands of Chelsea and a heartbreaking draw against Swansea City in midweek, the Gunners were not the most in form bunch. To make things worse, they were facing a side that blew past Fulham 5-0 and annihilated Manchester United 3-0 in the midweek Manchester Derby. Chelsea fans were praying for the unlikely outcome of an Arsenal victory and they came close to doing so.

Manchester City took an early lead in the 18th minute through David Silva and took their slim advantage in to halftime. However it was Arsenal that showed more fight and desire and the Gunners equalized through Mathieu Flamini who slotted home a Lukas Podolski cross. The equalizer sprang Arsenal in to another gear and were it not for Joe Hart’s tremendous save, the Gunners would have gone ahead courtesy of a fierce shot from Podolski. Arsenal showed tremendous resolve in the end of the match and held up under Manchester City’s pressure to claim a valuable point for both sides.

While a Manchester City loss would have been better for Chelsea, a draw is not a bad result for the Blues. At the same time, the result between City and Arsenal make the dropped points at Crystal Palace look all that much worse. Chelsea could have been four points ahead of Manchester City at the end of the day with Liverpool to play tomorrow. Liverpool have the chance to go top tomorrow either through goal difference with a draw or on points with a win against Tottenham Hotspur. The title race is truly wide open and Chelsea looks to be on the outside looking in.

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