Marseille review: job done

Good morning everyone.
Yesterday saw us take the crucial three points at stadium Velodrome in some style. Due to technical problems I missed the starting fifteen minutes, but from what I gather, they were almost as uneventful as the rest of the half.
The manager stuck to the more conventional back four, which saw Vermaelen, Monreal and Jenkinson all benched. Mertesacker returned to the side after illness and once again wore the armband. The midfield and attack were exactly the same as four days ago.
The first half was very tight, with few chances to score for both parties. Marseille looked the better side, spending more time on the ball and being much quicker, when moving it around, but had little to offer in terms of end product. Szczesny dealt well with any potential threats.
Our attack looked a bit off the pace, failing to use a high defensive line, Marseille adopted to our benefit. It was a tad surprising, seeing how Walcott wreaked havoc with such a line against Tottenham, but here you go. It was all set to end in a draw after half time. Both teams tried to catch one another on a mistake of some kind. The best chance of the half fell to the hosts, when they nearly opened the scoring through Fanni`s shot from just outside the six-yard box, which fizzed wide.
After the restart, the game opened up more, with chances being created left and right. Marseille threatened again two minutes into the half, though a corner, which saw some bloke head inches away from the post.
The response came almost immediately, when Gibbs played a one-two with Ozil and rushed into the box, only to see his effort parried away.
A few minutes later Mandanda was the hero again, when Sagna`s cross was nearly put away by Whilshere, but the keeper was there. A bit later, Giroud`s header almost broke the deadlock, but the shot was just wide.
Marseille, in the meantime, tested Szczesny with a couple of shots from distance, and there was that heart-in-mouth moment, when Gibbs headed away from danger.
However, it was Arsenal, who scored the opener.
Gibbs cross fell to Walcott, after a bad clearance from Morel, and the Englishman smashed home on the volley. A fine finish and well done indeed for Theo. He deserved this goal more than anyone.
After that, the game calmed down a bit and, six minutes from time, Ramsey put the worries about the outcome to bed, when his deflected shot ended up inside the net. A sixth goal for Aaron in seven games. He's in truly great form. Just keep it up.
We were, however, to suffer the bitterness of conceding, when Ramsey was adjudged to trip Ayew inside the penalty box and the other Ayew put the shot away to give the home crowd something to cheer about. It happened, however, in the last added minute. After the game, the manager said:
" Marseille had a very good first half but we didn't make big mistakes at the back and were patient enough to win it in the second half. I felt we were a bit within ourselves in the first half, a bit timid, and Marseille were more mobile and first on the ball. They dropped in the second half and we took advantage of our strong moments. That got us three very important points."
Exactly as he says. We were biding our time, capitalized on their mistakes and got the crucial points. Well done everyone.
So, what now? Now we recuperate ahead of Stoke game, hope Arteta makes it and enjoy the fact Walcott broke the deadlock. 10th consecutive win away for us and sixth straight win this season. It's good to be a gooner today.
Until later