Arsene Wenger thinks Manchester City were on fire against his Arsenal side for portions of the 2-2 draw between the two clubs today.

It was a frantic start at the Etihad Stadium as Sergio Aguero took just eight minutes to give Manchester City the lead. The Argentine, got onto the end of a Fernandinho header in the box and, after a touch, he shot low into the bottom corner.




However, Arsenal needed only two minutes to draw level and did so when poor defending from Manchester City handed the Gunners a corner, from which Olivier Giroud headed past Joe Hart.

Aguero came close to putting the home side back in the lead in the 16th minute, but his effort was deflected over the bar.
 


The frantic pace could not be maintained, both sides easing off, and they went in level at the break.

relatedNewsStory

But the Citizens needed only six minutes after the restart to go ahead, with Kevin De Bruyne hitting a low shot after he was allowed a free run towards the Arsenal box.

Manchester City were in the driving seat, but it was Arsenal who scored next as a Giroud flick found Alexis Sanchez, who then made no mistake.

It ended 2-2, keeping finishing second ahead of Tottenham Hotspur alive for Arsenal, while Manchester City know finishing in the top four is not now in their hands, but in Manchester United's.

For Wenger, the Citizens did give their all for boss Manuel Pellegrini and he was pleased with his side's never say die character in response.

"I was surprised by the intensity of City's start. We expected an intense game but they really came out with strong pressure. The good thing is that we absorbed it and we've shown good character today", Wenger explained on Sky Sports after the final whistle.

"Man City today decided to give a big present to Pellegrini in his last home game – they were on fire. When it was 1-1 it didn’t look like we would score but when we were 2-1 down we looked hungry and dangerous again. The players wanted not to lose.

"When it was 2-1 I wanted to bring on [Santi] Cazorla to get greater fluency, but at 2-2 I went for a bit more security because they had a number of attacking players on, like [Wilfried] Bony and [Raheem] Sterling.

"We have to finish the job now in the league against Villa – we want to finish the season with a win at home", the Arsenal manager added.