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Football: Arsenal 2-2 Man City at Ashburton Grove

DOUGLAS BEATTIE is party to a thrilling battle between two true contenders

There are times in the Premier League when you simply have to sit back and admire. This was one such encounter, described afterwards by Arsene Wenger as “a game of top quality between two very good teams.”

Correct. There was everything needed to file it in the drawer marked “thriller” — outrageous skill, brilliant goals, two comebacks, controversial decisions and a series of near misses.

The home side started brightly in this Saturday lunchtime kick-off with Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere looking to feed Danny Welbeck on his debut.

Indeed the former Manchester United striker was unfortunate not to open his account early on, seeing a chip come back off a post with Joe Hart beaten.

Later, a smiling Wenger said he was happy with his £16 million recruit. “He looked dangerous” he said, “I’m sad that he could not take his chance but he did well.”

Things had not looked so rosy at the break however, with City a goal in front thanks to Sergio Aguero who slid the ball home from close range just before the half hour mark.

The Gunners would have to wait until the 63rd minute to get back on terms when the impressive Wilshere cleverly dinked the ball home at the end of a glorious passage of play.

It looked as though Arsenal were set for a memorable victory over the champions after Alexis Sanchez put them in front with a glorious side-footed volley.

City however then showed their class, hauling themselves level with a towering late header from Martin Demichelis.

In fact They could have taken all three points, hitting the post twice and seeing a Samir Nasri effort ruled out for offside, before the end.

Sky Blues boss Manuel Pellegrini admitted he was “very satisfied with the point.” However he was also irked by Mark Clattenburg’s failure to give what he felt was “a clear penalty” against Wilshere for handball.

“The ref had a very bad day” the Chilean manager said. If he did he was the only one.

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