CITY 3 ARSENAL1
League Division 1
24th April 1976
attendance 31,003
scorers
City Booth(22 & 80), Hartford(84)
Arsenal Armstrong(41)
City Corrigan, Keegan, Donachie, Doyle, Booth, Power, Barnes, Bell, Royle, Hartford, Owen – sub Tueart(33)
Arsenal Rimmer, Rice, Nelson, Ross, Mancini, Powling, Armstrong, Ball, Stapleton, Cropley, Brady – sub Rostron
FROM THE PRESS BOX
THE BRILLIANT AND THE BOTCHED FOR CITY
ALAN DUNN WRITING IN THE GUARDIAN 26TH APRIL 1976
Two goals in the last 10 minutes gave a faint flush to an untidy end-of-season occasion at Maine Road om Saturday. They inflated Manchester City’s margin over Arsenal to 3-1 but if Arsenal had won by the same score there would have been few eyebrows raised, although it woud have spoiled the end-of-match euphoria when the loyalists celebrated a City season made memorable by their victory in the League Cup.
It was a match, like the season, typically City: a hotchpotch of the brilliant and the hotched. Arsenal, too, lived totally to form: lively enough when Ball and Armstrong had the ball, although dependant too much on Ball: generally crude in midfield and defence, and embarrassingly short of a goalscorer.
At least City had one man, Tueart, who could give Arsenal lessons in how to graft for goals although, in typical City manner, he failed to score. But his arrival on the scene, after Power had been concussed in a tackle, enlivened a match that gave early signals of dying of boredom. His darting bursts and directness, so reminiscent of Francis Lee, forced Arsenal to mark him with two and three men, and he still found paths through. One Thrust saw him leave Powling and Nelson before centering for Royle to put in a stunning header that hit Mancini on the goalline. In a similar fashion Barnes made one memorable dribble before forcing Rimmer to a fine save.
… Booth, who scored the opening goal and, after Armstrong had equalised with an excellent goal, restored City’s failing powers 10 minutes from time with a header after stealing up on the blindside. Hartford scored the third with the best move of the match, taking on Owen’s pass to beat Rimmer.