Match review

Nikki dropped? Cesc gets a yellow after being stamped on, Pensioners lose and for once we take advantage…..

Posted on by rico

After that horrible home loss to Newcastle United, I dreaded the next two fixtures.  Off such a limp, listless, uninspired and ineffective performance, we surely wouldn’t get much out of two difficult fixtures at Wolves and Everton.  Lo and behold, we proceeded to pick six points up from these fixtures, moving a point ahead of Manchester United and for once we capitalised on a rare slip by Chelsea.  I did not in any way, shape or form, foresee the Mackems winning at Stamford Bridge and in such comprehensive fashion no less.  Every team will have poor performances and results over the course of a long season, we Arsenal supporters know this only too well.  But Chelsea’s reverse was welcome for both the three points in the standings and their show of vulnerability.  Not that it will matter for anything if we cannot sustain our current form…

Surprisingly, Nicklas Bendtner did not make the bench for this afternoon’s trip to Everton…Or was it such as surprise?  Arsene hinted that Bendtner carried a slight injury, but the skeptics in us will note the timing and Bendtner’s midweek comments about considering his position if he does not get starting minutes.  It seems to me he got just that in Donetsk, and gave us virtually nothing.  Sure, he was coming off a long injury layoff then, but if he was not up to starters minutes then, why would he be now, with only a few subs minutes since?  I have no problem with his self-confidence and thinking he should be a focal point for our attack.  But there are correct ways to go about this, and incorrect ways to…Put your head down, work hard, and make it impossible for Arsene to overlook you through your play and effort.  Putting public pressure on Arsene rarely works, and I think we are seeing a case of this now.   Don’t concern yourself with what you think you may be entitled to – just get back to work and stake your claim.

We started this match a bit slowly, but so did Everton.  Heitinga got a series of rugged challenges in before a 26th minute booking.  Not much noteworthy happened up to that point, and when the yellow card came out, Heitinga seemed to cool it.  35 minutes on, and we opened the scoring through the most unlikely of sources.  Nasri fired a shot in which forced Howard to save, but Arshavin beat everyone to the ball, and fed Sagna, who fired a blistering shot past Howard! 

Great goal, and only Sagna’s second goal in Arsenal colours.  The first if you remember, was at Stamford Bridge during his first season with us.  It gave us a first-half lead we could not hold, eventually losing 2-1.  This in the 07-8 oh-so-close season. 

Anyways, back to yesterday, Saha hit the post late in the first half, but we went into the break with the lead. 

We were treated to something we rarely see nowadays from Arsenal,  a half-time substitution,  Denilson came on for Wilshere.  My first thought was “uh-oh”, but Arsene was at pains to reassure us that Jack has not picked an injury up and should feature for England in midweek.  David Moyes did likewise; whereas Arsene brought his promising teenage English midfielder named Jack off, Moyes did the opposite, introducing Rodwell for Heitinga.  I have always rated Jack Rodwell, and knowing that he had been sidelined for almost three months with an ankle injury, I was pleased to see him return to action.  If he had taken a later chance to pull a goal back for Everton, I may not have been so pleased.  As it was, Arsenal quickly doubled their lead, Denilson winning the ball in midfield and starting the move that saw Cesc and Chamakah play a quick one-two, with our Captain firing past Howard to put us two up.  Shortly after, Squillaci was booked for bringing Saha down. There were complaints that Squillaci was the last man and should have walked but Howard Webb chose to show only yellow.   We then wasted two great chances to extend the lead, with Nasri and Chamakh the culprits.  Moyes made his final roll of the dice by bringing on two more attackers, Beckford and Yakubu  for more attacking threat.  Cahill, who always scores against us,  pulled a goal back for Everton on 89 minutes but we held on for the win.

Thanks in no small part to have to go to Fabianski, who made excellent saves from Beckford and Saha, continuing his bravura form in goal for us. 

So the three valuable points keep our momentum going, help us to leapfrog Man United in the standings, and bring us to just two behind Chelsea.   We also now have four league away wins, the best in the Premiership.  Watching us play away, it appears to me that we seem stronger and have more capacity to grind results out.  Some would point to the Birmingham and West Ham wins as proof we can do this at home, but I still think we are a different side away.  Perhaps there is more collective focus on the road, and less emphasis on trying to “entertain” than on battling and sticking up for ourselves.  

I am not comparing this side against the 2001-2 double winners, that side went unbeaten on the road and their biggest wins were away from home:  at Liverpool, Newcastle, and of course, Old Trafford.  I am not saying this side will necessarily become similar to that, but they have shown they can win away from home, which is a rather useful trait for a side in the thick of a title race.  Now, if only we can fix that home form – especially against bottom/newly promoted sides!

After the match, Moyes said that he felt his Everton side took a while to get going and that contributed to the defeat.  I tend to agree with him – I felt we started poorly and a bit sloppy, and Everton could have punished us early, but aside from a couple of very early near-chances, it took them probably longer than it should have to get going.  They were on a modest seven game unbeaten run coming in, and I expect them to get back on track fairly quickly.   Games against Moyes’ Everton side are always difficult, and I never look forward to them.  Last season’s 6-1 and the (06-7) 4-1 results at Goodison were fun, but Everton were desperately unlucky not to win at the Emirates last season, they always give us a battle (regardless of scoreline) and have a good mix of youth and experience, and strength and skill.

Lukasz Fabianski continues to excel in our goal.  He looks confident and commanding out there, and has made several big saves in each of the last two matches, preserving six points in the process.  He shook off the mistake in the Newcastle game to rebound with two outstanding performances, which is all we can ask.  On this current form, there should be no way back for Manuel Almunia.  Should Fabianski lose his form and confidence, then it should be Wojciech Szczesny’s turn, not Al’s. 

(rico added) Howard Webb made a massive error today during the Cesc/Distin incident, Distin’s studs caught Cesc’s foot and yet Cesc received the yellow card. Ok, it didn’t turn out to have an impact on yesterdays match but what about later in the season when Cesc’s tally of cards add up to a ban for one match? What if that match turns out to be against the Chavs or either Manchester side at home? Webb is meant to be the best that England have in the referee world, well on yesterdays display that has to be questioned…

So we are well placed once again.  I’ll say this about our club – we have come close to the top spot several times the past two seasons, only to fall back a few spots.  Most of those occasions, however, we came again and made up most of the lost ground.  We are doing that again this season – just keep grinding away at it, and eventually we will get there.  In the immediate future, we have our second Spud-fest of the season.  Of all the fixtures to slip up in, that is most definitely not the one!  The only way to build on these past two results is to keep winning, so let’s keep that going.  If nothing else, there should be no question about all our players being up for that one…

So bring us three more points on Saturday, at the expense of our ever popular old friends Bentley and Billy Gallas, and let’s see where we stand after that.

Written by Oliver

rico

83 thoughts on “Nikki dropped? Cesc gets a yellow after being stamped on, Pensioners lose and for once we take advantage…..”

  5. T-buzz says:

    Looking good!

    Good post Oliver and morning to all.
    Its never an easy game whenever we play Everton and to be honest I was happy to accept a draw if things didnt go our way.Everton have some very good players (Arteta, Cahill etc)and some tough tacklers (Heitinga aka De Jong)and they have been grinding those results. Thank God for Sagna’s attempt and what a surprise: he looked more surprised than me! lol
    top marks to Fabpinkski’s save, he cant be blamed for Cahill’s goal.
    I’m glad we held on after Cahill scored, the Chavs got beaten properly at home by S’land, Man U drawing, havppy days. 🙂
    Next stop, the Spuds!! Bring It!!

  6. T-buzz says:

    Hi Frank, his 1st goal was against the Chavs and he got injured a few minutes after. He has never scored against anyone else until yesterday. He did score a good goal during pre-season though 😉

  7. Judith Le'Strange says:

    I’s nice to gloat that we managed to pick up 3 points when our closest rivals dropped two and three points respectively. Let’s hope we can pick up 3 points against the Spuds this coming Saturday and see them move down the tables where they belong.

  8. rico says:

    Morning T-buzz, Their goal shouldn’t have been allowed, Song was about to jump for the headed and got boshed off the ball by saha…

    Talk about lay your body on the line… Good old Song and Fabianski made some world class saves…

  10. W.A.T.H says:

    Morning, great result good right up. . . Cesc booking was an itter joke but don’t think we was stamped on as it was purely from Distin’s follow through but clearly hardly even a foul the yellow was pathetica dn just a follow on from teh media circus on wednesday’s tackle from Cesc.

    Gibbs to start for me on Sat as well yet another near cock up from Clichy yesterday..!.

  12. rico says:

    Just watched the cesc booking again, still looks like a stamp to me 😉 but to keep the peace i have made it sound less offensive in the post…..

  14. John says:

    Cesc shouldn’t have got a yellow card but the defender didn’t stamp on him either, it was just an unfortunate coming together, not even really a foul either way. Maybe if you super slow-mo it it somehow could like a stamp but the guy was just clearing the ball.
    These things happen, I don’t think it’s worthy of getting worked up about. Henry’s challenge going unnoticed last week was far worse.

    I hope we can continue to be in good form after the international break and smash the spuds.

  15. rico says:

    Hi John,

    I have ammended the post accordingly as it seems i may need to pop back to specsavers 😉

    Regardless and as you rightly say, the booking was wrong… Same about Henry’s tackle too, was a disgrace…

  17. W.A.T.H says:

    Have you been politically correct in saying a normal coming together of committed players Rico 😉 As said the yellow for Cesc was a joke but then again what else do you expect from that joke of a ref..!

  22. rico says:

    I thought you were having one WATH 😉

    Howdy Erick, great win indeed, just need to get the home form sorted out now ….

  24. rico says:

    Morning oliver, thank you for the post, its another fine read, if we can peform with such grit at home things would look a lot better for us…

  29. SD-London says:

    Who is James again?
    Is that the Chavs fan who likes sneaking on arsenal Blogs?

    Anyways , that was a cool read Oliver.

    Who is James again?

  30. Tim says:

    Really pleased with yesterday’s performance. There will be times – yesterday was one – where the key requirement is substance rather than style – and that’s exactly what we did. Too many pundits have written us off saying that we’re not capable of toughing out the hard wins. They could do worse than to re-watch our last two games to see that that simply isn’t true any more!

    http://thearmchairsportsfan.com/2010/11/14/bacary-breezer-helps-arsenal-to-battling-remembrance-sunday-win/

  31. agirlagunner says:

    Great read, oliver. In my excitement over last night’s win, I forgot to mention Cesc’s yellow. How perfectly silly by Webb.

    Oh and, who would’ve thought “excellence” and “bravura” were words ever to be associated with Fabianski? Shouls he keep his great form up, I’d happily eat humble pie with a sizeable side of crow.

    Hello, all.

  36. T-buzz says:

    Did you hear the fans singing “you’re not fit to referee” to Webb? 🙂
    Tough job being a ref and tougher if you’re a prat at it!! lol

  37. oliver says:

    hi all…(sorta) efficient and effective. i prefer less glitz and more pragmatism – that is how sides win things. now if only we can start consistently playing like this at home…

  39. SD-London says:

    Well the game might be more of an effective than an entertaining game but the two goals were still sublime in the usual Arsenal way.

    I think the Charmarkh and FAB combination for the second goal was just plainly taking a piss on the Everton defence.

    It was just simply fantastic.

  40. rico says:

    SD, i don’t care right now how we win if i’m honest, displays like yesterday and against wolves are what ‘champions’ are made of, we have a long way to go but the last few seasons we may have drawn or even lost those games….

    I loved it 🙂

  41. SD-London says:

    But the pressure towards the end made me uncomfortable.
    It happened against Wolves as well , we might not get away with it against teams like Man Utd and the Chavs.

  42. K-TR7 says:

    Yeah!!!…chavs lost because they did not have terry,lampard,alex and essien.if we had rvp,cesc,vermaelen and theo missing…oh wait…the chavs have been getting away with murder lately.the arsenal,blackburn and wolves games scorelines hid how the pattern of play was.thank you cashley for a memorable present for my birthday.

  43. K-TR7 says:

    Fabby is second in the league in shots/saves ratio behind cech.cech has 89% while fabby has 82%.what impressed me most about him is that he had nothing to do for 80 minutes but when called upon he looked like superman in there.Almunia would get caught out due to lapses in concentration.

  44. agirlagunner says:

    Cashley was a disaster. Goody! A memorable one for you, KT? I hope you rewarded yourself with a shot or two of GG. 🙂

    rico, is VDV fit? The tiny totts must be primed for this one. They were outplayed the last time and we should be very wary…

  46. rico says:

    SD, fair point about the pressure, my heart nearly stopped a few times in the last few minutes…

    JD was pretty darn good again yesterday….

  47. agirlagunner says:

    Yes, rico… VdV should play for the Oranje… and suffer some mild pull of some muscle or ligament or something. 🙂 Happens to Robin often enough. It should be VdV’s turn now… I am all about spreading the joy… 😛

  49. K-TR7 says:

    AA is due a screamer soon.his cannons are swerving marginally wide or slamming the woodwork.he is warming up and with spuds up next he is up against hutton…

  50. K-TR7 says:

    I loved the double nutmegs in the buildup to cesc’s goal.it is similar to the one he scored there last season when rvp10 nutmegged a defender when passing to cesc and cesc nutmegged the goalie to score.

  55. K-TR7 says:

    Fabianski has conceded a goal every 128 minutes this season compared to Al’s 77…We have conceded 12 goals so far compared to 17 at a similar stage last season.

  57. agirlagunner says:

    Sagna’s for its rarity. Cesc’s was class but we do see a lot of the sort from our tippy tappy boys, SD.

    Great stats, KT. 🙂

  60. rico says:

    This is the week to send your posts in for airing guys and gals, its boring international week so any help will be greatly appreciated 😉

    Yes I know its cheeky but a girls got to try 😉

  61. K-TR7 says:

    Benitez lost the milan derby last night.its a skill in itself to destroy the European champs in such a short time…

  62. K-TR7 says:

    Its been 10 hours since berbatov scored a goal…tiny totts have not kept a PL cleansheet since their pl opener against city.

  63. rico says:

    KT, heres one for you that i have stolen from another…

    Fergie recently signed a young African player, a centre forward…

    He had been training with the first team for a while and his confidence had grown…

    A few weeks in and Fergie shouts towards him…

    ‘Look, this is a ball, BALL… That over there is a goal, GOAL = goal! Kick ball = SHOOT!
    ‘BALL, KICK, SHOOT = GOAL, Get IT!!!!

    The young African, with sudden found confidence says to old Red Nose.. ‘But Boss, I know all of those things’

    Fergie replies, ‘Sit down lad, I’m talking to Berbatov’

    😆 😆

  68. agirlagunner says:

    I know. Robin’s the last person I want to see get some minutes. Seriously. And these are absolutely meaningless games. Mark my words, rico, some of ours will return worse for the wear. 🙁

    Bank holiday here tomorrow though. Yay!!

  69. K-TR7 says:

    It would be great if robin got 45 minutes to improve his fitness.he is a true gooner who knows how much it meams to us to smash the tiny totts…

  70. agirlagunner says:

    I don’t want RvP risking an injury; the last time Chiellini happened to him, we just as good as lost the title. Well, maybe he can come on in the 80th. If he were to be injured, I’d rather it was while playing for us…

  71. rico says:

    I think Robin needs minutes for fitness too and it could be good for him….

    BH agag, what do you have planned??

  72. agirlagunner says:

    A haircut. I’ve been told 10,000 times over the past week that my hair is too long… in other words, that it’s a mighty mess. I can take a hint. 😉

  75. K-TR7 says:

    Is anyone else tired of the media saying that the mancs are the only challengers because they aren’t firing?bar rooney and maybe valencia this is their best team.scholes and giggs are 36/37 and they should worry if they are relying on them.i fear for some poor team that will get dismantled when AA,Rvp10,nasri,cesc and theo are firing at the same time.

  76. K-TR7 says:

    When the mancs draw against villa they are resilient.we win against everton we are unconvincing.we play champagne footy and lose we are softies.cesc makes a poor tackle he is a cheat and we are dirty…oh well life as an Arsenal fan is fascinating to say the least.

  77. K-TR7 says:

    I also love it that the opposition fans are booing cesc…well despite the toffees fans boing him all i could hear was Arsenal songs…it shows cesc is developing into a talismanic figure for us.he is also growing nicely into the captain’s role.

  78. rico says:

    KT, you know what, i had a bit of a hissy moment yesterday when all Sky could say is that the chavs could go clear of the mancs…

    They forget about us and i don’t care, let them forget us and we shove it in their faces at the end….

  79. oliver says:

    k, i wouldn’t worry too much about what the media says. surely we have heard this before? i tend to ignore it. a clear pro-united bias exists in some quarters. others are pro-liverpool, pro-chelsea, etc. i try to recognize who is saying what – so much of it is about putting a specific agenda forth…

  80. agirlagunner says:

    It’s worse, KT, I assure you. 😀 You know, rico you can get your hair cut here for a quid. 🙂

    The media have it in for us, I swear. yesterday, all that the match commentator banged on about was Cesc’s “red card” offense at Newcastle and how yesterday, he kept on “haranguing” the ref. What the fudge?? He’s the only one allowed to speak with the ref, why shouldn’t he??

    I like this Cesc. No more Mr. Nice Guy. That’s Theo’s title, anyway.

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