Player ratings: Arsenal v Manchester City

Hart – A faultless display as Joe took the opportunity to remind everyone why he’s England’s number one. The save from a long range Van Persie strike was the pick of the bunch. 8

Richards – His steady rehabilitation under the tutelage Mancini continues. Stuck to his duties all night and warranted his recall. 7

K Toure – Another who justified his recall. Looked a little shaky at the beginning, before settling into his game. Got tight on opponents and covered Micah superbly. 8

Kompany – Another stalwart performance. For all Arsenal’s attacking, they only managed one shot on target from inside our penalty area. Vincent was a big reason why. 8

Zabaleta – A textbook performance of how to defend against a pacy winger. The red card didn’t affect the outcome and ought to be rescinded on appeal. 7

De Jong – The early booking may have reduced the sharpness from some of his tackles, but he was still our most effective midfielder. This was the kind of game we bought Nigel for. 7

Barry – Quite simply he can’t play this many games in such a short period. Plenty of endeavour but looked off the pace, as shown by mixed success with his passing. 6

Milner – Worked hard but the quality of Arsenal’s passing and movement illustrated just how far short of being a £20m plus creative midfielder James is. Looking like a very expensive squad player on current form. 6

Jo (A Johnson 65) – Does a job for Mancini in the lesser games, but wasn’t up to this kind of fixture. His height could have been an outlet, as it was against Fulham but, like his passing, it didn’t happen. 5

Y Toure – Our only midfielder consistently able to find his team-mates and retain possession. A couple of the barnstorming runs were the only attacking bright spots from our midfield. 7

Tevez (Boateng 90) – Shrugged off defenders and held the ball up brilliantly. Passing and shooting were mixed but it’s hard to be overly critical of someone so lacking in support. 6

Subs:

A Johnson – Gave us a greater attacking threat, taking up dangerous positions whenever possible. Adam’s tracking back is no worse than that of Jo. 7

Boateng – No time to make an impression.

Man of the match: Sky gave it Kolo, but we’ll go for Joe Hart.