Arsenal played well when it mattered in a big home clash but were not good enough at times to win the match against defending champions Manchester City.

The early afternoon kick-off at the Emirates stadium was probably the most eagerly awaited game of the week, and you could tell why within minutes of kick-off. Arsenal's deadline day signing Danny Welbeck hit the post early on after a chipped effort past Hart, whilst Chelsea's midfield legend Frank Lampard started his competitive debut for City on his loan spell at the club with midfielder powerhouse Yaya Touré left out of the squad after his involvement on international duty with Ivory Coast during midweek.

The game was an end-to-end one, and Arsenal were certainly the better team in the first half until they conceded on the counter attack thanks to the pace and urgency shown from Navas on the flank to feed through a through ball low towards Aguero, who had no trouble poking the ball past Szczesny into the back of the net. City were 1-0 ahead after half an hour and it was arguably un-deserved, just highlighting how good they are and why they are the defending champions after all.

It stayed 1-0 at half-time, with City suddenly looking comfortable with possession and came out of their shell after Aguero's opener; Arsenal looked disheartened and struggled to stay focused and needed the break sooner or later. They got it, and the second-half started encouragingly but after some fiesty challenges, the game lost its edge and nothing much happened.

Until.... a moment of magic from midfielder Jack Wilshere to weave past his markers and dart into the box, before dinking a lovely finish over Hart's head into the net to equalise for Arsenal! On one of his best and most influential games, the English 22-year-old was key as they got back into the match and suddenly had momentum. They began to press higher up the pitch, and after a succession of crosses partially cleared, Wilshere jumped highest to head a direct pass into the path of Chilean team-mate Alexis Sanchez; who hit the ball first-time on the half-volley sweetly which arrowed into the corner of the net out of Hart's reach to make it 2-1.

After this, City reacted almost instantaneously to conceding. They did well to get forward, getting Kolarov and Navas on the ball as much as they could as well as giving Silva the ball to try and orchestrate chances. Their pressure eventually paid off, as defender Martin Demichelis equalised with a thumping header past Szczesny after 83 minutes; before both teams tried and eventually failed to find the last-gasp winner.

Substitute striker Edin Dzeko was denied with a great diving save from Szczesny late on, before Nasri put the ball into the back of the net and grinned as he realised that he was offside. City came close again, with Kolarov hitting the post and a defensive mix-up between Koscielny and Szczesny almost resulting in an own goal!

The match finished 2-2 in the end, arguably a fair result given the circumstances but I doubt that either team will be over the moon with the result as both are title contenders; desperate for as many points as possible in the early going. Arsenal look dangerous going forward, but will be hoping that they can strengthen their defensive capabilities; having conceded 6 goals in their first 4 matches is never encouraging despite their defensive talent.

One negative to take out of this game for Arsenal is the loss of right-back Mathieu Debuchy to injury, a warrior at the back who has settled in perfectly since his £12million pound summer move from Newcastle. He was stretchered off with 10 minutes to go after injuring his ankle on the turf off-the-ball - hopefully he is okay and not too seriously injured otherwise The Gunners' defensive cover will be limited even more than it is.

Arsenal (2) Manchester City (2)
Szczesny 7 Hart 5
Debuchy 6 Zabaleta 5
Koscielny 5 Kompany 6
Mertesacker 6 Demichelis 6
Monreal 4 Clichy 6
Flamini 6 Fernandinho 6
Ramsey 6 Lampard 4
Ozil 5 Milner 5
Wilshere 8 Silva 8
Alexis 8 Navas 7
Welbeck 7 Aguero 7
Substitutes:
Chambers N/A Nasri 5
Oxlade-Chamberlain N/A Dzeko 5
Arteta N/A Kolarov 6