For the second time in two matches Arsenal returned home from Manchester with nothing to show for their efforts but a stinging sense of injustice. Whilst the 4-2 scoreline flattered City and the behaviour of Emmanuel Adebayor left a vile taste in the mouth, the Gunners can once again only blame themselves for not taking more from a game in which they were worthy of at least a share of the spoils.

Most of this morning's headlines rightly address the shameful performance of Adebayor. It is understandable that a player might think he has something to prove when coming up against a club that has discarded him but there are ways and means of going about that. The methods that Adebayor deployed to make his point only really served to prove what a classless and crass moron he is.

In the early stages of the match he committed a challenge on Cesc that was easily worthy of a yellow card and, on other days with a less lenient referee in charge, might have even seen a red one produced. Yesterday though, he got away with that and went on to do much worse. In the second half Robin Van Persie flew into a rash challenge on the Togolese who responded by attempting to stamp on the Dutchman’s head. Again, the referee missed it but following a post-match statement by Van Persie expressing his disgust at what Adebayor had done, the FA will be obliged to look into the incident.

Simply scoring against his former employees and enjoying a victory over them might have been enough for most professionals, but Adebayor capped a disgraceful afternoon by celebrating his goal with a sprint the length of the pitch to incite the Arsenal fans at the other end of the ground. Without wishing to excuse the reaction of the travelling fans either, it was inevitable that under such provocation there would be a response and as a consequence a steward was hospitalised following a melee that was caused by this needless incident. It was a wholly irresponsible act by a graceless player, particularly in the wake of the recent match between West Ham and Millwall in which a player’s goal celebrations hardly helped an already incendiary and poisonous atmosphere.

It will be interesting to see what action the FA takes over Adebayor. If Eduardo was worthy of a two-match ban from UEFA for merely deceiving an official, surely attempting to maliciously injure an opponent is a crime worthy of a far heavier punishment. Van Persie was fortunate that he only took a glancing blow from the studs of Adebayor’s boot. Had he been caught full-on, the injury he could have sustained does not bear thinking about. Adebayor’s post-match apologies for the goal celebration and the Van Persie assault rang very hollow and seemed little more than a shallow attempt to show some contrition ahead of the authorities looking at both incidents.

Any ban that Adebayor receives will be scant consolation for Arsenal though as they took nothing from a game that they really ought to have won. Much of the match was played at a frantic pace and in the first half it was end-to-end stuff for virtually the entire forty five minutes. The formation that the Gunners have used to good effect so far this season barely got a chance to structure itself as each team took turns in hitting the other on the break. Cesc Fabregas was caught too far up the pitch on too many occasions and as we saw when he played in an advanced role behind the strikers last season, this really hampered the amount of influence he had on the match. From a deeper role he could have dictated the pace and picked his passes out more shrewdly.

Despite the visitors holding most of the possession in the first period, it was City who went in ahead at the break courtesy of a strike that was adjudged to be a Manuel Almunia own goal when a Micah Richards header rebounded off the woodwork and then cannoned into the net off the back of the Spaniard’s head. It was an unfortunate way to go behind.

Arsenal looked far more purposeful at the start of the second half and, following a deluge of early pressure, drew level when Robin Van Persie hit a slide rule shot past Shay Given into the corner of the net. This was the point in the game where the Gunners should have kicked on to win the match. They had City on the ropes and needed to administer a knockout blow. Instead, they conceded a goal against the run of play by Craig Bellamy that handed the impetus back to the home team. As Arsenal’s defensive play began to lose its discipline and they tried to chase the game, City picked off the Gunners on the break and further goals were added by Adebayor and Wright-Phillips.

Tomas Rosicky marked his return to Premier League football with a consolation effort and the Gunners still might have taken something from the game late on as Abou Diaby had an effort cleared off the line and Van Persie hit the post. As it was, the match ended in disappointment for Arsenal.

The two trips to Manchester were seen as a litmus test as to whether this Arsenal team had raised its standards enough to be considered title contenders. It is fair to say that in both games they did show a good deal of improvement in their attitude, approach and the quality of their play. Question marks still hang over whether they are ruthless enough to kill off teams when they are in the ascendancy during matches. It was telling that, yesterday, both Chelsea and Manchester United were far from their best away from home but they still had the resilience to pull off victories. It is those sorts of habits that the Gunners really need to develop.

At the end of the season, no one is going to remember the hard-luck stories, the near misses and the injustices. All that will matter will be the points on the board. As improved as the team look this season, they have to add ruthlessness to their armoury if they are going to turn potential into trophies.