Evevning everyone.
We regained the top spot yesterday with a win against the Hammers and it was a very welcome win. Though our performance was far from ideal, our fighting spirit ensured we took all the three points.
The manager introduced only one new player, namely, Cazorla for Rosicky. Gibbs and Arteta played the whole match, while Ozil and Giroud came off fifteen minutes before the final whistle.
The Frenchman had another below par performance. We should have been two or three goals up by the break, only for Giroud's poor timing to prevent that. This time around he had plenty of service, but came up short. He dragged a shot wide and failed to get on the receiving end of crosses from Gibbs and Ozil.
The best chance of the half fell to Walcott, though. He was clean through with a clever pass from Ramsey, but his volleyed attempt fizzed wide.
At the other end, Szczesny dealt with everything thrown his way relatively easy. He saved from a clever freekick, prevented Nolan from scoring by closing him down quickly and was good at coming out for crosses.
After the restart, West Ham scored almost immediately. Walcott gave the ball away, Arteta's clearance found Noble, who smashed his shot straight at Szczesny. The Pole wasn't able to control it and Cole found the empty net from a rebound.
Suddenly, Arsenal looked shaken and the home side could have doubled their lead in the following ten minutes. First O'Brien headed wide from six yards and then Cole missed another good opportunity.
Arsenal tried to respond, but not much came off till the 65th minute, which marked an injury for Aaron Ramsey. He was taken off, Podolski came on and Arsenal found their rhythm.
Three minutes later, we equalised. Walcott danced through West Ham's defense and his odd left-footed shot somehow found the net, passing two defenders and Adrian's outstretched arms on its way.
Three minutes later, we were ahead. Podolski crossed the ball from the left, Tomkins failed to clear and the ball fell to Walcott, who smashed it home from close range.
Podolski could have scored himself from a one-on-one, but Adrian turned up with a wonderful save.
Eleven minutes from time, we scored again. Giroud controlled a cross well, held off two defenders and laid the ball off for the onrushing Podolski. His curled effort left Adrian with no chance.
Overall, it wasn't our best performance ever, but what I liked most was our attitude. This attitude is what separates true champions from everyone else. Things didn't go our way, but we kept on going and got the result.
The only downside is, of course, Ramsey's injury. Arsene said, he didn't know, how serious it is, but he was quite sure the Welshman won't help for the next week or so. With Wilshere having served the last game of his suspension and Oxlade-Chamberlain on the fringes it's not that critical, but Ramsey was one of the few, who played in that deep-lying position. Now we only have Arteta, Flamini and Wilshere to fill the gap, making rotation that bit harder.
Anyway, we're back to top (with Liverpool having gone down to City), Podolski is back and firing on all cylinders, so there's plenty to be happy about.
Newcastle is up next
We regained the top spot yesterday with a win against the Hammers and it was a very welcome win. Though our performance was far from ideal, our fighting spirit ensured we took all the three points.
The manager introduced only one new player, namely, Cazorla for Rosicky. Gibbs and Arteta played the whole match, while Ozil and Giroud came off fifteen minutes before the final whistle.
The Frenchman had another below par performance. We should have been two or three goals up by the break, only for Giroud's poor timing to prevent that. This time around he had plenty of service, but came up short. He dragged a shot wide and failed to get on the receiving end of crosses from Gibbs and Ozil.
The best chance of the half fell to Walcott, though. He was clean through with a clever pass from Ramsey, but his volleyed attempt fizzed wide.
At the other end, Szczesny dealt with everything thrown his way relatively easy. He saved from a clever freekick, prevented Nolan from scoring by closing him down quickly and was good at coming out for crosses.
After the restart, West Ham scored almost immediately. Walcott gave the ball away, Arteta's clearance found Noble, who smashed his shot straight at Szczesny. The Pole wasn't able to control it and Cole found the empty net from a rebound.
Suddenly, Arsenal looked shaken and the home side could have doubled their lead in the following ten minutes. First O'Brien headed wide from six yards and then Cole missed another good opportunity.
Arsenal tried to respond, but not much came off till the 65th minute, which marked an injury for Aaron Ramsey. He was taken off, Podolski came on and Arsenal found their rhythm.
Three minutes later, we equalised. Walcott danced through West Ham's defense and his odd left-footed shot somehow found the net, passing two defenders and Adrian's outstretched arms on its way.
Three minutes later, we were ahead. Podolski crossed the ball from the left, Tomkins failed to clear and the ball fell to Walcott, who smashed it home from close range.
Podolski could have scored himself from a one-on-one, but Adrian turned up with a wonderful save.
Eleven minutes from time, we scored again. Giroud controlled a cross well, held off two defenders and laid the ball off for the onrushing Podolski. His curled effort left Adrian with no chance.
Overall, it wasn't our best performance ever, but what I liked most was our attitude. This attitude is what separates true champions from everyone else. Things didn't go our way, but we kept on going and got the result.
The only downside is, of course, Ramsey's injury. Arsene said, he didn't know, how serious it is, but he was quite sure the Welshman won't help for the next week or so. With Wilshere having served the last game of his suspension and Oxlade-Chamberlain on the fringes it's not that critical, but Ramsey was one of the few, who played in that deep-lying position. Now we only have Arteta, Flamini and Wilshere to fill the gap, making rotation that bit harder.
Anyway, we're back to top (with Liverpool having gone down to City), Podolski is back and firing on all cylinders, so there's plenty to be happy about.
Newcastle is up next