Good day to you.
Yesterday Arsenal have picked up a second straight win on the road, this time triumphing over Newcastle.
It was a game of few chances. Arsenal battled hard, but was mostly denied by a very physical and tactically astute Newcastle side. Our work rate ensured the teams were more or less equal, but it always felt (for me) like they could step up the rhythm, while we struggled to cope even with how things were.
Newcastle pressed high up the pitch, trying to deny us space and force errors, but came up short with chances of their own. We, on the other hand, always looked dangerous, when we broke through their ranks, but failed to make it pay.
In the end of the first half, Newcastle almost scored. Almost, because Szczesny was brilliant in goal. He first punched away a distance shot, then got a hand to the ball from a resulting corner.
The second half was again a scrappy affair. We looked more exhausted, being fouled all over the pitch also didn't help, especially as the ref considered we weren't.
When he finally saw Cazorla cringe in pain from a nasty foul, we scored. Walcott swung in a delicious free kick, Giroud got in-between defenders, rose up high to meet the ball and sent it home from close range. He was as happy as Podolski was in the last game.
We could have been further ahead moments later. Wilshere put Walcott through, the Englishman's shot was blocked, his header was cleared off the line and Giroud failed to get a proper foot to the ball with the goal at his mercy.
We fell back after that and soaked up the pressure for the remainder of the game. Jenkinson and Arteta came to shore things up (Arteta substituting Gibbs, something that hints at an injury) and Bendtner subbed a tiring Giroud.
The best moment for Newcastle came when Szczesny tried something fancy, but mercifully, Remy's header went wide.
Apart from that moment of madness, we coped well against a very physical Newcastle side. There were a couple of tricky loose balls in the box, but never any danger. We held on in the end.
Afterwards, Arsene said:
« It was a very intense game against a good Newcastle team. We got a big physical challenge today. Overall I felt that we were in control of the game until we scored the 1-0. We missed a second chance that would have certainly sealed the game. In the last 15 minutes we have shown another aspect of our team - resilience, fight. We threw our bodies in the box. You have seen today a technical aspect of our team that was quite good but as well a mental aspect that was needed in a game of that stature».
In other words, we have shown (once again), that we are fighters. The ability to get results, when things aren't going your way is what separates champions from everyone else. And we've shown, we can do that. Repeatedly.
The downside is that we've lost Ozil and probably Gibbs. The former will miss games against Cardiff and Spurs, while no word had been said on the latter, but I suspect, we will hear something far from ideal, regarding his health, rather soon.
So, another win under our belts, a very good defensive performance and we remain top of the league as 2013 draws to a close.
I'll be back tomorrow with Cardiff preview. In the meantime, have yourselves a good Monday