I intended to write a full review as always, but Saturday's game was so packed with events, that I decided to concentrate on only some points, as well as individual performances. You can read the full review here, if you like.
The obvious place to start is, of course, the quality of our goals. The first one was particularly gorgeous, something the manager himself admitted during the press conference. The goal encapsulated the philosophy Arsene always tried to implement, whatever were the players at his disposal. The combination leading up to the goal was Arsenal at its best. The quick counter-attack, which started deep in our half, resulted in a beautiful exchange around the box. Whilshere played a one-two first with Cazorla and then with Giroud, returned the Frenchman`s pass with his heel and continued his run into the box. Giroud flicked the return pass and Whilshere sent the ball home on the volley before Norwich defenders even knew what hit them. There were calls for offside, but none was given.
Then we suffered a setback, which luckily didn't result in a conceded goal, though we may consider ourselves lucky on that front. Norwich were in control for approximately thirty minutes (from 30th to 60th), forcing Szczesny in a number of great saves. The one that comes to mind, is La Fer`s low shot from distance, which the Pole parried quite brilliantly.
The major (probably, only) factor in our temporary downfall was a forced substitute in the 37th minute. Flamini clashed heads with some bloke I can't bother looking up, and had to be taken off, after our medical stuff concluded the Frenchman had double vision. Word is, this injury can keep Mathieu out off action for a couple off games, although I suspect it'll be a shorter absence. He will definitely miss the Borussia game, though.
Ramsey came on as a substitute and looked much better in his natural position. He delivered some moments of true magic, though more on that later.
The dynamic of the game was broken and we couldn't find out rhythm until well into the second half.
Around the hour mark we scored, much against the run of play. We delivered one of those explosive counter-attacks, Giroud held up the play, saw Ozil`s run and crossed the ball perfectly. Ozil finished the move with a header to make it the first headed goal in his career. Good for him.
Norwich pulled one back soon, unfortunately. Some bloke or the other swung the ball in from the left, Mertesacker mis-hit the ball and it fell to Howson. The latter chested it down and fired a low shot, which went in at the near post.
This seemed to infuriate Arsenal and, after Cazorla (who was handed a surprise start) went off to be replaced by Rosicky, we went forward. Ruddy pulled off a number of good saves but we seemed unable to break the deadlock until Bendter came on for Giroud.
In the 83rd minute, however, we scored again. Ramsey exchanged passes with Whilshere on the edge of the box, then took out two defenders with a feint shot, cut another one back and put his low shot past a helpless Ruddy.
We didn't back off after that, though. Five minutes later Bendtner picked the ball up on the left, laid it off for Rosicky, who crossed it towards Ramsey. The Welshman`s sublime touch found Ozil, who had the goal at his mercy. 4-1.
Even that didn't slow us down. We produced attack after attack till the final whistle, with Ozil being denied his hat-trick twice. Even Bendnter had a chance to score, only to be denied by Ruddy.
After the match, Arsene has hailed both the first goal (naming it the best in Arsenal`s history, and not without reason) and the quality of both ours and our opponents` performance by saying:
«We won 4-1 and their keeper had a good game. But I think as well that Norwich played well, so it is strange. They made it difficult for us. We had a difficult period between 30 and 60 minutes where we struggled a little bit to keep our game going. I would come out of the game thinking Norwich is a good team».
He didn't single out anyone and I think he was right. To me, it was an accomplished performance from the whole team, a great collective effort. Szczesny is the only one I feel sorry for. He had another good game, dealt with everything thrown his way, but was once again denied the clean sheet.
Individual performances aside, I also really liked the way we responded to conceding. We didn't try to clinch to a one-goal lead, didn't panic in the defense and just kept going as if nothing has happened. We truly seem to be high on belief, so let's see, what shape this belief takes come tomorrow.
Until then