Good day to you.
Tuesday evening saw us take on Napoli, and, whatever I was expecting from the game, this was not it. It's not so much about the victory, rather the style we pulled it off with. Arsenal were in control of the situation for the entire game and I cannot recall any moment of danger near our own goal.
Arsene made a couple of changes to the side that played against Swansea, with Rosicky coming in for Whilshere and Arteta substituting Gnabry. The last one wasn't as straightforward as the first and saw Ramsey move to the right flank.
The hosts played in full gear right from the start and our two-goal lead by the quarter of the hour mark was as deserved as it gets.
The first move saw Sagna flick a pass towards Giroud, who chested the ball down and kept the defender at bay, all the while waiting for Ramsey`s run. The Welshman didn't disappoint and mere seconds later cut the ball across goal. At first I thought he mistimed his pass, but then I saw Ozil running towards the ball completely unmarked. His first-time shot from the edge of the penalty box swerved past Reina and into the net.
The German celebrated his first goal for Arsenal with gusto, but the combination itself should not be forgotten in the light of this goal. I especially liked how Giroud did the bulk of the job flawlessly, thus setting up Ramsey.
The second goal came seven minutes later, this time Giroud being the scorer. We capitalized on Napoli`s mistake from the throw-in, which saw Giroud take possession in their half and make a quick pas to Ozil. The latter made a run towards the byline, waited till Giroud got into a good position and executed a return pass. All that was left for the Frenchman, was to poke the ball home.
After that the game calmed down. We probed till the half-time whistle came, Ramsey driving the team forward, but the third goal didn't come. Napoli, in the meantime, were listless, unable to wake from their coma and restricted to shots from distance.
The second half wasn't much more interesting, than the thirty minutes leading to it. Napoli played with more purpose, but were still a long way from scoring. We sparked the game up occasionally on counter attacks and were actually much closer to scoring a third, than Napoli their first. Ozil stood out, his delivery from corners and free-kicks creating opportunities. We didn't take them, but it didn't matter in the end. The game petered out and we took the the points.
The manager summed it up nicely during the press conference, saying we went for it, got what we wanted and calmed down, content to let Napoli move it around.
A really great win, we now top the group with six points. 180 minutes against Borussia to follow.
In other news, Wenger seems to have been offered a new contract which, if signed, could see him remain at the helm till 2017. On the back of some outstanding performances it looks well placed, but Arsene himself was quick to play down any talk, saying he's got to prove his worth first. Here we go round the merry-go-round. The matter has been discussed at length already, so I'll leave it at that.
Until later