Arsenal 1 - 0 Manchester City

Arsene Wenger can celebrate his 56th birthday with a win, but it was definitely a strange one, as Arsenal barely beat Man Citeh 1-0.

Even with Thierry Henry leading the side, the Gunners seemed to be misfiring as it were. Citeh were able to match them for the majority of the match. However, Arsenal earned two penalties during the second half, one which earned them the three points, and the second which will live on in infamy.

Having already converted a spot kick in the 60th minute to give the Gunners the lead, Robert Pires stepped up to the spot with about 12 minutes left after Dennis Bergkamp had been knocked down in the box.

What happened next has left many an observer scratching their heads. Pires kicked the ball with the lightest of touches, seemingly attempting to set up Thierry Henry with a pass that would send him in on goal. While techinically legal, it is highly irregular. To make matters worse - the ball didn’t move! Pires had touched it with such trepidition that the ball rolled ever-so-slightly before settling back into the divet created at the penalty spot. Referre Mike Riley awarded a free kick to Man City, and that was that.

Well, almost. City nearly made Pires and Henry pay for their cheek with what looked to be an equalizing goal just minutes from time. The goal was disallowed for offside, and I doubt that anyone breathed a bigger sigh of relief than the two Frenchman.

After the match, birthday boy Wenger tried to explain things:

“Disbelief. What is terrible is it will be interpreted as a lack of seriousness and respect but I think it is because he is too serious.

He decided to do that because he was a bit insecure about taking the second penalty because it has never happened to him and he was scared to miss it.

We got away with it because we won the game. I feel the intention of Robert was not a lack of seriousness. It was just a wrong and a bad decision.

If it had been 1-1…we’d have made a big mistake by not taking our second chance on the penalty.”

Well, I suppose I should be pleased with the three points earned, but it was hardly convincing. ManUre and Sp*rs drew 1-1 today, so that’s two points gained on both sets of scum.

Arsenal next take the pitch on Tuesday in a third-round Carling Cup match against Sunderland up at the Stadium of Light. Arsene will most likely field a team filled with youth players, which means that we’ll have a great opportunity to see the strike pairing of Arturo Lupoli and Nicholas Bendtner, who are showing more promise every day. Kickoff is @ 2:45 PM ET.