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Manchester City - Arsenal 3:0

City totally outclassed north London side. This result is a real clue what happened today and the result could be even higher. Arsenal side was lacking creativity, cohesion....

After the game got off to a poor start, Manchester City took the gae by the scruff of the neck to inflict a rare but convincing 3-0 defeat on woeful Arsenal, whose season is fast coming apart at the seams. The excellent Stephen Ireland got on the score-sheet again, and was joined by Robinho, who netted superbly, then Daniel Sturridge, who scored a late penalty after coming off the bench.

The build-up to the game was dominated by internal strife at Arsenal, where manager Arsene Wenger decided to strip William Gallas of the captaincy and leave him behind in London, out of the squad altogrther after the player criticised his team-mates through the media this week. Emmanuel Adebayor was also missing after picking up an injury while playing for Togo against Rwanda in midweek, as was winger Theo Walcott, who dislocated a shoulder during an England training session.

Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, making his 100th appearance for the Gunners, was handed the captain's armband by Wenger, who wasalso without the suspended Cesc Fabregas abd injured Bacary Sagna. In came Gavin Hoyte, Johan Djourou, Alex Song and Robin van Persie.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes, under pressure himself, made just one change, with Richard Dunne replacing Tal Ben-Haim, because goalkeeper Joe Hart, who had been expected to be out for three weeks with an ankle injury, made a surprise recovery to resume his place between the posts.

Once the game got underway it was obvious both sides were below-par. It was distinctly scrappy fare on offer, with neither side capable of retaining possession for long enough to create anything meaningful.

Indeed, there were two very nervy looking sides out there on the Eastlands pitch, perhaps paralysed by fear of making a calamitous error. Given the attacking instincts of both teams, that was a surprise.

But Joe Hart had nothing to do for the first 20 minutes, while Almunia had just one routine save to make.

The half continued ponderously with a chronic shortage of quality in a fixture many expected to yield plenty of goals.

A Benjani effort was blocked by Hoyte who turned it just wide of his own goal, before the visitors fashioned the best chance of the afternoon so far when Samir Nasri's ambitious free-kick was fumbled by the under-employed Hart, but the gaudily pink-booted Nicklas Bendtner laid the ball back with a back-heel for Alex Song, who shot wide.

There was little sign of guile in a dour contest low on quality considering how many supposedly talented players were on show.

So when the breakthrough finally came in first-half stoppage-time, it was typically scrappy. Mikael Silvestre and Gael Clichy went for the same ball, Silvestre slicing his clearance straight into Stephen Ireland's path. The in-form City midfielder gratefully snapped up the gift, lifting the ball neatly into the top corner as things went from bad to worse for Arsenal.

Wenger's half-time team-talk seemed to have an effect, Arsenal starting the second period more purposefully with Abou Diaby cutting in from the wing and firing over the bar, before Robin van Persie sent a free-kick narrowly wide as the Gunners pressed for an equaliser.

However, the spark of class the game had been crying out for was supplied by Brazilian superstar Robinho in the 56th minute. Shaun Wright-Phillips slid the ball through to the ex-Real Madrid man, who showed a mixture of quick-thinking, audacity and glorious technique to put his foot under the ball and deftly lift it over advancing keeper Almunia and into the net for a sublime second for City.

Robinho then had the ball in the Arsenal net again, but his effort was disallowed by the linesman's flag. Almunia had allowed Ireland's shot to slip through his hands, and Robinho pounced to slot home the rebound - but from what was adjudged to be an offside position, though the decision must have been marginal.

Wenger sent on Aaron Ramsey for Hoyte, and the Welsh teenager threaded through an astute pass for Bendtner, who should have scored but struck his shot straight at Hart. Carlos Vela was then introduced in place of Diaby, who to be fair had probably been the Gunners' best player, while Elano replaced Darius Vassell for City.

But City were now totally dominating, and Arsenal were contributing to their own downfall by giving the ball away repeatedly. The Citizens so nearly made it much worse for the Gunners, Benjani wasting a good chance before Denilson lost the ball in midfield and Robinho sprinted clear, half the length of the pitch, before rounding Almunia and firing a shot in from a tight angle, only for Johan Djourou to make an excellent clearance off the line.

The effort injured Robinho, who limped off a few minutes later, replaced by Dietmar Hamann.

Daniel Sturridge replaced Benjani before Van Persie had a goal disallowed because he knocked the ball out of Hart's hands.

Then Djourou brought down Sturridge in the box, and the youngster coolly converted from the spot to complete Arsenal's day of misery and put the icing on the cake of a deserved City victory.