Manchester City vs. Arsenal: 5 Things We Learned at the Etihad Stadium

Manchester City and Arsenal played out one of the games of the season at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League, with the home side triumphing by a single David Silva goal to nil.

The first half ebbed to and fro as both sides sought to impose their attacking styles on the match to no avail, thanks largely to some fine goalkeeping at both ends and a few wasted shots.

Silva pounced from close range to net the game's only goal in the second half after Mario Balotelli's initial effort was saved.

Arsenal went close through Thomas Vermaelen to an equaliser as the game drew to a close, but City could have increased their lead with several good chances just after they scored their first goal, and in the end, they were valued for their win.

Here are the top five things that the wonderful game taught us.

Both goalkeepers, Joe Hart of Manchester City and Wojciech Szczesny of Arsenal, made important stops in the first half to keep the game goalless.

Hart stopped low efforts from Gervinho and Aaron Ramsey within a few moments of each other while Szczesny denied Mario Balotelli from close range and dealt well with a range of crosses.

In the end the Pole was beaten by David Silva after blocking the initial effort from Balotelli, meaning his efforts came to nothing, but Hart was able to add to his list of saves with a couple of stops to deny Thomas Vermaelen from range and seal an invaluable clean sheet.

City haven't had too many of those this season, but this was a big one—three huge points in the title race to send them back to the top of the table.

They had plenty of chances to score more goals but failed to take them for once, meaning Hart's saves were every bit as important as the goal which Silva eventually scored.

Samir Nasri, David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Mario Balotelli started this game for Manchester City against Arsenal as the attacking quartet, while Edin Dzeko, James Milner and Adam Johnson warmed the bench.

These seven magnificent attacking talents have helped unlock just about every defence they have come up against.

Roberto Mancini has a great array of talent to choose from to help break down teams and knows that should one of them be off their game, as Nasri has been recently, he has someone just as good to step into the breach and provide an all-important contribution. 

David Silva got the goal against Arsenal, but it came as a result of Balotelli's hard work and shot and Aguero's refusal to let the situation slip away.

Earlier in the game all four of the attackers either created opportunities or took a shot at goal, something which they have all been able to do every time they are called upon.

A massive 50 goals in the Premier League this season after just 16 games shows that City have the firepower to trouble any opposition they come up against.

Terrific work ethic, non-stop attacking emphasis, the creation of chances against top-drawer opposition and the will to try and get back into the game late on were all traits displayed by Arsenal against Manchester City during their defeat at the Emirates.

Against the likes of City, a team must accept that they are going to be tested in defence and that they are going to concede possession and chances—Arsenal did that and focused on keeping it as tight as they could and getting themselves into attacking positions when they had the chance.

They did have chances and could have drawn the game near the end or even taken the lead in the first half with the game at 0-0, though in the end they could find no way past Joe Hart.

If Arsenal play as they did today in every game, then they are not out of the title race.

Of course, the challenge is playing in every game as though they are facing City and not dropping points at the mid-table teams who they should be beating.

Roberto Mancini sent his team out to win by out-attacking Arsenal and, though they missed a host of chances in both halves, they eventually did just that.

The victory for Manchester City sent them back to the top of the Premier League table and with Stoke City at home, West Brom away to face before the new year and Sunderland at home on new year's day, the likelihood is that City are staying at the top into 2012.

Mancini has a great range of attacking talent on his side and so far City have scored an average of over three goals per game in the Premier League—50 in 16 games—and he has certainly found the right formula for them to mount a real and literal attack on their Premiership rivals.

The attacking duo of Andrei Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh came on for Arsenal as they tried to salvage a point from Manchester City but neither of them could make a telling contribution, despite the former having at least one decent chance to shoot at goal.

With Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott and Gervinho, the undisputed first-choice front three for the Gunners, boss Arsene Wenger needs to have at least one and preferably two players to call upon when one of those three is off their game, as Walcott was today.

Instead, neither Chamakh and Arshavin have the confidence or quality to make a difference or really push for a starting berth.

This will hurt Arsenal the longer the season goes on, especially once the Champions League starts up again and they try to play the same three in every match.