By the end, Arsenal’s frustration was epitomised by the sight of Mesut Ozil being reduced to bundling into Fabian Delph, World Cup-winning flair player fouling makeshift left-back.
Arsenal were irritated. They had been incoherent and inferior, and, in their own eyes, the victims of injustice.
They ended 12 points behind Manchester City.
“If they have decisions at home like that, they will be unstoppable,” said Arsene Wenger, complaining about the award of the penalty for City’s second goal and the nature of their third, made by a marginally offside David Silva for Gabriel Jesus.
“It killed the game,” Wenger added. “It is the second year [running]. We got two offside goals [against us] here last year and one this year. The 3-1 was an immense relief for them, an unexpected present.”
If he felt history was repeating itself, Pep Guardiola argued otherwise. City’s title challenge could depend upon summit clashes.
“Last season we were only able to win twice against the big teams, at Old Trafford against Manchester United and here against Arsenal,” he noted. “This season, in November, we have already won three times.”
And, much as Wenger disputed the decisions, City were deserving winners.
“We created a lot of chances and almost chances,” Guardiola said, rueing the times when City could not deliver the final ball. There were moments when he cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines.
Such are the problems of being a perfectionist, but City are unbeaten in 23 games in all competitions, winning nine in a row in the league. History is being made.
There was a presentation to Sergio Aguero before kick off. At this rate, the end-of-season awards will be destined for the predictably outstanding Kevin de Bruyne.
Some of City’s past finishers formed a guard of honour for Aguero before when, to commemorate his achievement in becoming their record scorer, he received a blue boot from Mike Summerbee and the daughter of Eric Brook, who had been their most prolific player for the previous eight decades.
Most of those lining up to applaud him were strikers. An exception chipped in with 152 City goals. Colin Bell is often deemed City's greatest player, a midfielder who scored, created and was known for his running power.
De Bruyne may be his modern-day counterpart, a high-class technician who is always red-faced from the effort he puts in.
His opener was another instant to illustrate De Bruyne’s impact this season. His goals have become scarcer as he has operated in a deeper role, but he has reserved them for the most meaningful matches.
He added a strike against Arsenal to a winner at Chelsea. Petr Cech had parried one crisp strike from the Belgian, but City retrieved possession. De Bruyne swapped passes with Fernandinho and found the far corner of the Arsenal net.
Aguero then added his fourth goal in four games against Arsenal, his eighth in eight for City and his 179th for the club from the penalty spot after Nacho Monreal had nudged Sterling over.
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Read more
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Ian Hawkey: Chelsea driven to victory over Manchester United
John McAuley: Spurs show their mettle with dogged victory
Graham Caygill: Find out this week's Premier League predictions
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It came soon after Arsenal squandered a chance to secure parity at the break.
Ederson proved why he is the goalkeeping upgrade City required, thwarting Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman was set up by Alexis Sanchez. He provided glimpses of quality, but City need not rue the one who got away after the breakdown of his £60 million (Dh288m) move in the summer.
“A top-class player,” his suitor Guardiola said. “He was our main headache in the first half.”
Yet it was a generous interpretation. As Wenger conceded: “He had not enough support.”
He led the line because Alexandre Lacazette had been benched. The substitute appeared affronted by his demotion and reacted with a goal in his cameo, showing a striker’s instinct as he latched on to Ramsey’s pass. It was soon cancelled out by another replacement’s goal, Jesus finding the net.
Cue controversy, but Wenger’s gripes should not obscure the reality Arsenal’s wretched away record is an ever greater issue.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes. Portland is a 260 km drive from Seattle and Emirates offers codeshare flights to Portland with its partner Alaska Airlines.
The car
Hertz (www.hertz.ae) offers compact car rental from about $300 per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
Parks and accommodation
For information on Crater Lake National Park, visit www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm . Because of the altitude, large parts of the park are closed in winter due to snow. While the park’s summer season is May 22-October 31, typically, the full loop of the Rim Drive is only possible from late July until the end of October. Entry costs $25 per car for a day. For accommodation, see www.travelcraterlake.com. For information on Umpqua Hot Springs, see www.fs.usda.gov and https://soakoregon.com/umpqua-hot-springs/. For Bend, see https://www.visitbend.com/.
Nick's journey in numbers
Countries so far: 85
Flights: 149
Steps: 3.78 million
Calories: 220,000
Floors climbed: 2,000
Donations: GPB37,300
Prostate checks: 5
Blisters: 15
Bumps on the head: 2
Dog bites: 1
A cheaper choice
Vanuatu: $130,000
Why on earth pick Vanuatu? Easy. The South Pacific country has no income tax, wealth tax, capital gains or inheritance tax. And in 2015, when it was hit by Cyclone Pam, it signed an agreement with the EU that gave it some serious passport power.
Cost: A minimum investment of $130,000 for a family of up to four, plus $25,000 in fees.
Criteria: Applicants must have a minimum net worth of $250,000. The process take six to eight weeks, after which the investor must travel to Vanuatu or Hong Kong to take the oath of allegiance. Citizenship and passport are normally provided on the same day.
Benefits: No tax, no restrictions on dual citizenship, no requirement to visit or reside to retain a passport. Visa-free access to 129 countries.
Soldier F
“I was in complete disgust at the fact that only one person was to be charged for Bloody Sunday.
“Somebody later said to me, 'you just watch - they'll drop the charge against him'. And sure enough, the charges against Soldier F would go on to be dropped.
“It's pretty hard to think that 50 years on, the State is still covering up for what happened on Bloody Sunday.”
Jimmy Duddy, nephew of John Johnson
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
