ARSENAL 2 CITY 2
League Division 1
17th April 1991
attendance 38,412
scorers
City Ward(40 pen), White(44)
Arsenal Campbell(5), Merson(14)
ref I Borrett
City Coton, Brightwell, Pointon, Hill, Heath, Redmond, White, Brennan, Quinn, Harper, M Ward – subs Hendry(unused), Reid(unused)
Arsenal Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Thomas, Bould, Adams, Campbell, Davis, Smith, Merson, Groves – subs O’Leary, Limpar
FROM THE PRESS BOX
MATCH REPORT FROM THE MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS 18TH APRIL 1991
Manchester City kept the championship at boiling point with one of their most resilient performances of the season.
… Two goals in three minutes did the trick at wet and windy Highbury last night, and additionally stretched City’s unbeaten run to an encouraging five matches, the last four of them against genuine quality opposition.
Impressive though victories were at Crystal Palace and Leeds earlier this month, a 2-2 Highbury draw for me topped even those glittering successes.
For the Blues, outplayed and out-thought by the technically superior Gunners for half an hour, hauled themselves back from two down and might well have wrapped up the three points, so effectively did they complete their dramatic comeback.
City looked in dire trouble as Arsenal rushed into a fifth minute lead, doubling it with just a quarter of an hour gone.
The defence was dragged all over the place by the sheer blistering pace of Arsenal who looked set to repeat the five goal hammering they had handed out to Aston Villa in their previous home match.
It took a highly doubtful penalty to get City off the hook, although it was a lifeline they gratefully accepted.
Fortune was on their side when the referee, harshly I thought, adjudged Steve Bould to have fouled Niall Quinn. Spot kit expert Mark Ward dispatched his 10th penalty of the season and his 12th goal overall, and the Blues were back in business.
Yet it still took yet another blistering save from the magnificent Tony Coton to keep City on recovery road.
Paul Merson, scorer of Arsenal’s second goal after Kevin Campbell had given them that early lead, unleashed a rocket-like shot from the left which Coton miraculously scooped from under the crossbar for the real turning point of an enthralling game.
Sixty seconds later, David White accepted an angled ball flighted from Ward on the left, to gallop half the length of the pitch before succeeding in a one against one situation with the oncoming goalkeeper David Seaman.
Although Paul Davis hit the crossbar with a splendid second-half attempt. City grittily weathered the storm with Coton once more man-of-the-match for his Immaculate handling.
Steve Redmond had a superb second half and Andy Hill was also outstanding as Arsenal, who have only once this season conceded two home goals in a League match, were effectively contained.