Morning:
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With hindsight, you needed to be neither the late Doris Stokes nor the even later Sherlock Holmes to predict Emmanuel Adebayor's reaction to scoring against his old club at Eastlands on Saturday.
The clue was right there in a newspaper report of Friday in which the Togolese declared that he would carry his resentment at his maltreatment by Arsenal fans to the grave.
"Their hate for me is the thing that will stay in my heart, not until the end of my career," declared this fierce foe of self-dramatisation, "but until the end of my life."
He might just as well have picked up a voodoo doll painted red and white, with an old gun carriage on its left breast and stabbed it in the head for the reporter's benefit.
How Mark Hughes failed to notice the Don Corleonesque pledge never to relinquish the grudge, and take him aside for a pre-match recitation of the riot act, is something only the Manchester City's manager can explain.
The cost of his failure to do so could be huge. If City miss out on a Champions League slot by a few points, his star striker's impending absence due to suspension may very well explain it.
In the event, the best that can be said for Adebayor's retribution was admirably varied, split between the infantile and the malevolent.
Celebrating his goal during his club's 4-2 win by sprinting the length of the pitch and knee-sliding exultantly towards the ranks of Arsenal supporters wasn't smart or grown up, but the abuse he endured from those fans last season had been intense and unrelenting enough at least to explain why he did it.
No one should better understand the distress caused by vile chanting than Arsene Wenger and one hopes the Alsatian will show some empathy towards his former employee.
A letter to the Football Association asking for clemency over Adebayor's taunting of his tormentors would be a lovely touch, although the holding of breath for that is not advised.
There is no mitigation, it goes without saying, for his earlier misdemeanour.
In his statement on the matter (an address four times longer than the one at Gettysburg) victim Robin van Persie described Adebayor as "lacking class", and you have to revere the Dutchman's mastery of classical English understatement.
This was plain and simply a vicious criminal assault.
The ambition was crystal clear from the direction of Adebayor's glance, the act laced with ill intent, the distance by which it avoided blinding the left eye minuscule.
Were Adebayor charged with ABH, as he ought to be, he could expect a three-month suspended sentence.
A three or four-game ban would seem a risible penalty for wilfully jeopardising a career.
That Arsenal, tied at 1-1 at the time but looking the likely winners, went to pieces after the incident felt like a repeat in microcosm of the total collapse following Eduardo's horrendous leg break at Birmingham City 19 months ago.
The mental frailty that belies the gorgeousness of their play persists and will do so unless and until Wenger spends some of the money he received for Adebayor on a couple of grizzly old pros capable of imposing discipline on the pitch.
As for the psychological flaws that betray Adebayor's individual brilliance - and the meandering dribble that enabled City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips to stake his claim for miss of the year defied belief - was even more apparent.
If a little pay back for the cretinous bullying he suffered from Arsenal fans was a forgiveably babyish display of braggadocio, the attempt to wound a former team-mate was a savage reminder that talent unmatched by temperament is a vastly overvalued sporting currency.
Wenger may have lost this match and Hughes may still have maximum points. But when both managers reflect this morning on this remarkable game of football, it is the man who sold Adebayor, and not the one who bought him, who should be grinning with relief.
Reader views (4)
Please note that Van Persie is a nasty dirty player, and I'm certainly now a Man City or Arsenal fan.
- Tonyjohnson, Hythe Kent
Do you research, Arsenal fans did not abuse Adebayor relentlessly at any point in his career. Just 2 or 3 occasions, one after he spent the whole summer trying to engineer himself a big money move to AC Milan or Barcelona then kissed his badge in front of Arsenal supporters, and again in a coupld of games when he looked like he simply couldn't be bothered on the pitch.
Adebayor himself has blown this out of proportion to feed his massive, out of control ego. He constantly wants to be the centre of attention and simply can't understand why anybody would criticise his "immense talent".
He had a bad reputation before he came to Arsenal. The guy is greedy, disloyal, and after Saturday's events clearly a pretty vile individual. Man City will find out soon enough how much he cares about playing for himself.
- James, London
"This was plain and simply a vicious criminal assault."
As was the vicious, two-footed tackle by von Persie on Adebayor only minutes before.
As a Spurs fan I have no love for Arsenal or Manchester City who are a major rival for a Champions League place, but sometimes a love for the game and simple justice take precedence over tribal loyalty.
- Manny Goldstein, London, England
There's a lot of revisionist nonsense being spouted by Adebayor and the press about what happened last season. I'm an Arsenal season ticket holder and let's be clear - he was NOT subected to "intense and unrelenting" abuse from Arsenal fans last season. We could cope with his lack of ability but whilst there was some audible frustration when his lack of effort and professionalism started to hurt us, I don't remember one single occassion when the crowd got on his back in the manner that he would have everyone believe.
- Ernie Mccracken, London
