Our midweek result was put well and truly behind us yesterday as we have swept aside Sunderland at home to maintain pressure on Chelsea. Their late goal ensured they got the points, so it was vital for us to get a win.
Before the game, however, all eyes were turned to Dennis Bergkamp. Our legendary number ten flew to London to witness the unveiling of his statue and gave a short speech. He then stayed to watch the game and was not disappointed.
Arsene made a lot of changes to the side that went down to Bayern. Ozil, Gibbs, Flamini, Oxlade and Sanogo were all replaced, the former two didn't even make the squad because of an injury. I suspect Ozil has no injury and was just taken out of the firing line, but, whatever the reason, the German needs that break.
Arsenal started in splendid fashion, determined to show the strength of their character and managed to do just that. Five minutes into the game Arsenal were ahead.
Wilshere burst through the middle, drew four defenders to himself and laid the ball off for Giroud. The Frenchman grabbed his chance and sent the ball into the bottom corner. His celebration was tame somewhat, I suspect this is down to him feeling he's let the manager down.
We didn't back off, though and continued to pass the ball around in our opponents' half. This led to a good shot from Podolski (outside the box), which was saved by our old friend Mannone. However, our relentless pressing lead to a second goal soon enough.
In the 32nd minute Sunderland was forced to play the ball back to their keeper, who found Vergini on the right. After a short interchange with some bloke, he was forced by Rosicky and Podolski to play it back again, but mistimed his pass. Giroud made this count and sent the ball into the net to double our lead.
Eleven minutes later we were 3-0 up. An interchange between Wilshere, Cazorla, Giroud and Rosicky sent the latter one-on-one and the Czech dinked the ball over Mannone. This goal reminded me heavily of Wilshere's goal against Norwich. The same dazzling speed, the same quick thinking and movement. A great goal, a contender for the best goal of the season, no doubt.
The ref blew for half-time three minutes later. In 45 minutes Sunderland had only one half-decent chance and enjoyed just 25% of possession.
In the second half, Arsenal lowered the tempo and basically surrendered the ball for the first ten minutes. Whether it were the effects of playing a second game in three days, the fact that they've won the game or just some good play from Sunderland, it's hard to tell. Whatever it is, the Black Cats seized the initiative and had two very respectable chances in the opening minutes of the second half. Szczesny made two brilliant saves, but everyone inside the stadium sensed a goal coming.
It did, but at the other end of the pitch. We burst into a counterattack, Sagna crossed the ball and Vergini made a sloppy clearance. Santi sent in a cross, Koscielny escaped his marker and planted a firm header into the bottom corner to make it 4-0.
If there were any questions before this goal, they evaporated. Arsenal had done their job, Sunderland had an eye on the League Cup final, so the remainder of the game was pretty boring. Gnabry (who replaced Rosicky) could have scored another, but lingered too long and his shot was easily blocked by Manonne.
However, Sunderland managed to grab their consolation goal, thus leaving us without a clean sheet. After Giroud fouled some bloke on the wing and some other bloke crossed the ball, Szczesny punched the it away and it fell to Giaccerinni. The Italian smashed home a beautiful low shot from about 30 yards. I was actually amazed no one got in the way, since our box resembled my local underground station at 8 a.m., but you have to give credit to Giaccerinni. It was a beautiful shot. The game finished 4-1.
After the game, Arsene hailed his team's spirit:
"We had a very demanding week physically and mentally and we gave the right response today. We did the job in the first half and we scored two great ‘Arsenal’ goals; one of them scored by Giroud, the other by Rosicky".
He also spoke about Giroud's display:
"I had no hesitation about his strength of character. Of course you want him to come back into the team and be successful, which he was today because he scored two goals. One great one at the end of great movement and the other a little bit of a gift from Sunderland. He got an assist as well, so he did well".
For me, the Frenchman showed just how important he is to our current set-up once again. Bendtner may be a decent replacement, Sanogo has shown promise, but Giroud demonstrated he can, more often than not, make his presence count. With Rosicky, Wilshere, Cazorla and even Podolski to make runs off the Frenchman, our attacks looked dangerous every time, despite Sunderland playing some very good defensive football. Giroud may have his shortcomings, but right now he has to be number one choice, family problems or not.
Another thing, that will no doubt worry the manager, is our makeshift defence in the latter stages. We finished the game with Jenks on the right, Sagna in the centre and Flamini on the left. Monreal was taken off at half-time, Koscielny left the pitch twenty minutes from the final whistle and Gibbs and Vermaelen are still not back. Wenger said both Kos and Monreal only carry knocks and should be fine for the next game (against Stoke), but the situation is flimsy to say the least.
Another casualty was Jack Wilshere. The Englishman has pulled a muscle in the closing stages, but was forced to continue as we've run out of subs. Wenger was less optimistic on Jack but, hopefully, he too makes the squad this weekend.
So, a great win, and an even better performance is just what we needed to rebuild confidence ahead of a tough run of fixtures. It's even more important as City, Chelsea and Liverpool have all scraped a win. Let's win our next two games and see what we can make of our trip to Munich.
At this stage, I'm positive Bayern will have a hard time making it to the last eight.
In the second half, Arsenal lowered the tempo and basically surrendered the ball for the first ten minutes. Whether it were the effects of playing a second game in three days, the fact that they've won the game or just some good play from Sunderland, it's hard to tell. Whatever it is, the Black Cats seized the initiative and had two very respectable chances in the opening minutes of the second half. Szczesny made two brilliant saves, but everyone inside the stadium sensed a goal coming.
It did, but at the other end of the pitch. We burst into a counterattack, Sagna crossed the ball and Vergini made a sloppy clearance. Santi sent in a cross, Koscielny escaped his marker and planted a firm header into the bottom corner to make it 4-0.
If there were any questions before this goal, they evaporated. Arsenal had done their job, Sunderland had an eye on the League Cup final, so the remainder of the game was pretty boring. Gnabry (who replaced Rosicky) could have scored another, but lingered too long and his shot was easily blocked by Manonne.
However, Sunderland managed to grab their consolation goal, thus leaving us without a clean sheet. After Giroud fouled some bloke on the wing and some other bloke crossed the ball, Szczesny punched the it away and it fell to Giaccerinni. The Italian smashed home a beautiful low shot from about 30 yards. I was actually amazed no one got in the way, since our box resembled my local underground station at 8 a.m., but you have to give credit to Giaccerinni. It was a beautiful shot. The game finished 4-1.
After the game, Arsene hailed his team's spirit:
"We had a very demanding week physically and mentally and we gave the right response today. We did the job in the first half and we scored two great ‘Arsenal’ goals; one of them scored by Giroud, the other by Rosicky".
He also spoke about Giroud's display:
"I had no hesitation about his strength of character. Of course you want him to come back into the team and be successful, which he was today because he scored two goals. One great one at the end of great movement and the other a little bit of a gift from Sunderland. He got an assist as well, so he did well".
For me, the Frenchman showed just how important he is to our current set-up once again. Bendtner may be a decent replacement, Sanogo has shown promise, but Giroud demonstrated he can, more often than not, make his presence count. With Rosicky, Wilshere, Cazorla and even Podolski to make runs off the Frenchman, our attacks looked dangerous every time, despite Sunderland playing some very good defensive football. Giroud may have his shortcomings, but right now he has to be number one choice, family problems or not.
Another thing, that will no doubt worry the manager, is our makeshift defence in the latter stages. We finished the game with Jenks on the right, Sagna in the centre and Flamini on the left. Monreal was taken off at half-time, Koscielny left the pitch twenty minutes from the final whistle and Gibbs and Vermaelen are still not back. Wenger said both Kos and Monreal only carry knocks and should be fine for the next game (against Stoke), but the situation is flimsy to say the least.
Another casualty was Jack Wilshere. The Englishman has pulled a muscle in the closing stages, but was forced to continue as we've run out of subs. Wenger was less optimistic on Jack but, hopefully, he too makes the squad this weekend.
So, a great win, and an even better performance is just what we needed to rebuild confidence ahead of a tough run of fixtures. It's even more important as City, Chelsea and Liverpool have all scraped a win. Let's win our next two games and see what we can make of our trip to Munich.
At this stage, I'm positive Bayern will have a hard time making it to the last eight.