The top two teams in England went head to head last night at The Etihad.  I flew in from New Zealand and good friend and Arsenal supporter Stephen Brauer joined me from the US.  It was Stephen‘s first visit to Manchester, and he enjoyed a four hour guided walking tour of the City’s rich industrial history, an art exhibit of Manchester‘s music scene, and then a football masterclass at The Etihad.

Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for Stephen – it was handed out by the Blues to League leaders Arsenal.  Men against boys, Master (Pep Guardiola ) vs Student (Mikel Arteta), 60,000 Blues fanatics vs 3,000 Arsenal supporters (plus Stephen – incognito sitting  on his hands practicing impulse control in my City seats).  Blue Moon ringing out everywhere and our version of the Dave Clark Five hit from the 60s (Glad All Over) rewritten as ”We’ve got Guardiola”.  8 o’clock in the evening, blue skies, no wind – a perfect, typical Manchester Spring evening.

Beautiful football, beautiful atmosphere, beautiful outcome.

Manchester City 4 – Arsenal 1.