Arsenal march on, Adebayor with yet more goals

Arsenal supporters have little to complain about after the away victory over Man City today. Arsenal played their flowing football in patches, and were easily the better side, against a team that hadn't lost at home this season.

Sagna - Made the difference for the opener, getting to the goal line and cutting the ball back to Adebayor. He got forward quite a bit, Man City weren't keeping him busy at the back, but never produced a final ball to match his assist for the opener (8).

Adebayor - Was heavily involved, in addition to his double. His teammates are all feeding him the ball because he's the form player. Both of his goals came from balls that made their way to him in front of goal, and it came as no surprise when he dispatched them into the back of the net. He headed the ball to Eduardo, perhaps unintentionally, for the second goal. Whether that assist was intentional, Adebayor is a handful right now and making all kinds of good things happen (8).

Clichy - Sent in the ball that Adebayor headed to Eduardo for the second goal. Lost out terribly to set up the Man City goal, but his response was typical. He didn't try to divert attention from his mistake, make an excuse, or blame someone else. His body language said, "I really screwed that one up. It won't happen again, but let's make sure it doesn't cost us points today." He was typically solid from then on, and it didn't cost any points (6).

Eduardo - Put away his goal fantastically. He looked a little offside, but his finish was wonderful - goal of the game; chesting the ball to himself to put it in with a kind of overhead bicycle kick (8).

Cesc - Wonderful on the ball in midfield. Doesn't look like the scoring midfielder he was earlier in the season, but helped Arsenal set up the third goal. If he could find his shooting boots, Arsenal just might be able to open up a decent lead in this title race (7).

Flamini - Continues the form that kept Diarra frozen out of the side. Nothing spectacular, and he doesn't always have the sweet touch and control of Cesc and Hleb, but he has great energy, and gets stuck in (7).

Hleb - Relatively quiet game playing wide right. Helped set up the third goal just before he went off (7).

Diaby - Only looks partially motivated. Hard to know what's going on with the player, but he doesn't look like keeping a healthy Rosicky out of the side (6).

Senderos - Just about looks good enough to start in central defense for the Arsenal, but with all the corners and free kicks Arsenal had today, supporters were hoping, almost expecting, that big Phil would get himself into position and put a few of them away (7).

Gallas - If it's a captain's job to yell at players, then he's been stepping up to the task. His defending looks ok too, but, as a close observer of the player for years, watching him play for France and Chelsea, he looks like he might be a bit off his peak, at age 30. Mind you, at his peak, this writer considered him the world's best defender, full stop, so a bit off his peak should put him as a mainstay in the side that wins this season's league and Champions League double (7).

Lehmann - The return of the mad German to league action. Almunia was out injured. You want that, sometimes (in theory); you want a mad keeper in there to wind everybody up: opposition, teammates, referees; to keep things lively, to keep the back line focussed. When his madness gets the best of him, he can get distracted, but there were no episodes in today's game, thankfully (7).

With Chelsea and Manchester United finally dropping a couple points, Arsenal get the top of the table to themselves: 2 clear of Man U and 6 clear of Clesea. Liverpool are a full 17 points back, but with a game in hand.