Arsenal vs Manchester City - Emirates Stadium, London - Saturday 4th April 2009

This was the first Arsenal game in what seemed like ages, after another of those boring international breaks. The worst thing about them is definitely that you only get 2 rounds of matches in a fortnight - so no games on the first midweek of the break, no games on the Sunday, anywhere in the world. So annoying, and when your players all come back injured, especially when their international managers have risked playing them, you really start to hate international football.

Still, this game had a distinct feelgood factor about it - maybe you need the boredom so you can get the elation when its all over. The sun was out, Arsenal had a chance to carry on their excellent form from March, and Cesc Fabregas was back in the side. For most, the first chance to see him link up with Arshavin was the thing they were most looking forward to in this game. Of course, when you play Man City, you can never be sure what kind of team will show up, so we were all hoping for their usual "away from home" team - the crap one!

The game itself was a fairly simple 2-0 victory in the end, and was even one of the duller 2-0 wins you are likely to see. A goal inside the first 10 minutes set the win up, a habit that I really wish Arsenal would get into more often. Then, less than five minutes into the second half, came the second - to kill off any sense that Man City may have regrouped at half time. Both were from Adebayor, on his return from injury, and both set up by Fabregas, on his return from injury. What a fantastic time to have them both back, with so many important games coming up.

There were a few City chances, especially in the first half. Shaun Wright Phillips made a decent chance for Fernandes to miss in front of goal, and Micah Richards had a decent shot that tested the keeper. In the second half, they quietened down significantly though, to the extent that the last 35 minutes were pretty much like an Arsenal training session. It wasn't the cut and thrust that the English game can be known for, and that some fans pay to see - but we got the 3 points with minimum fuss, and saved energy for Villarreal away on Tuesday, which was most definitely what I wanted to see.