Hello everyone.
Yesterday we got a third win in a row and it was much like the one against West Brom. A game with very few chances on both sides (Southampton has a grand total of one), but we got the result we needed, despite leaving it very late. And who scored that only goal? Alexis Sanchez, of course. At this rate he'll become our best player for the fourth consecutive month. Let's start at the beginning, though.
The first half
Arsene made two changes to the squad that bested West Brom three days prior to this game: Oxlade for Giroud and Sanogo for Campbell. Poor Costa-Rican. Not many eyebrows will be raised if he leaves us in January, but there will definitely be a lot of calls for Wenger's head. Monreal and Gibbs, meanwhile, both passed their fitness tests (just like the Ox) and were included.
We could have gone in front in the 7th minute already, when Cazorla's beautiful pass released Welbeck down the left. Unfortunately for us, the Englishman decided to try poking the ball with his weak foot and thus squandered a good chance. Now, I have to say this: Welbeck's decision-making is really strange at times. My guess is that Danny loses his head a bit in front of goal and that's why his finishing is off. He needs serious work in that area.
We had two more chances inside the first 45 minutes to take the lead. First presented itself after a scuffle in Saints' box, only for Oxlade's shot to be saved by Forster. Second came from a set-piece, when Cazorla's cross was met with a header from Welbeck. Forster saved again.
Southampton only had one opportunity to open the scoring, when Pelle and Davis combined brilliantly on the edge of our box, but, mercifully, Pelle's shot went well over. 0-0 at half-time.
The second half
The second half continued in much the same pattern. We (rather lethargically) attacked, Southampton defended and this dragged till Giroud's introduction to the proceedings. The Frenchman subbed Oxlade-Chamberlain on the 65th minute and we sparked into life.
Within minutes, Olivier created two moments of danger. First was a finish on the volley, which Forster palmed away, second was a pass to Welbeck, but the Englishman's effort was again saved.
After that the game calmed down and it looked like we were in for a 0-0. With ten minutes to go Arsene threw Podolski on for tiring Welbeck and the German made an impact several minutes later. His cross found Giroud in the box, the Frenchman nodded the ball towards the far corner, only for Forster to intervene and make another save.
But we got there in the end. Giroud battled his way in the box and found the onrushing Ramsey, the Welshman cut the ball back inside and an unmarked Sanchez slotted it home. 1-0 to the Arsenal.
The aftermath
After the game Arsene said:
"It was difficult for us to keep going from the start of the game because we’ve given a lot against Dortmund and on Saturday - today was the third game in seven days. You could see that we had to dig deep. We played against a good team who are very well organised and play very quick on the counter-attack. For us it was important not to be exposed on the counter-attack and to keep a clean sheet. We had to be patient and wait for our chances and you could see in the last 20 minutes that they started to suffer a little bit physically and that we created openings."
As it turned out, 10 out of twelve our league goals at home games were scored in the last half an hour, five of them in the last 15 minutes. Resilience.
I have to say I'm still a bit worried. We weren't exactly sharp and commanding and, as it can only be put down to physical exhaustion, that's even more worrying. We have three more games in ten days and the manager is already considering resting a few players against Gala:
"It is a very important period but one thing is for sure - we are not under huge pressure for game No 6 in the Champions League. With the week we had behind us and the week we have now, to go to Galatasaray for a decisive game would be very difficult."
I don't like the sound of it. Albeit it's a fat chance, there still is this teeny tiny possibility to top our group, which we should snatch at with both hands. By then, however, we can have Arteta, Debuchy, Walcott and both keepers back, so maybe we can still beat a managerialless Gala with a bit of rotation.
Oh, and a couple of words on keepers. Martinez had another fine game and this presents a dilemma, at least to me: should Szczesny be reinstated the minute he returns? Of course Martinez has benefited from a Mertescielny central pairing, but he still hasn't put a foot wrong in these last three games. Very calm, commanding, with great distribution (better than Szczesny's) and, most importantly, he doesn't try anything clever. Whenever there's danger, he just hoofs the ball into the stands. So definitely a decison for Arsene to ponder.
Alright, I'll leave it at that. Back in a couple of days with fresh news and a preview.
Enjoy the win
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
Yesterday we got a third win in a row and it was much like the one against West Brom. A game with very few chances on both sides (Southampton has a grand total of one), but we got the result we needed, despite leaving it very late. And who scored that only goal? Alexis Sanchez, of course. At this rate he'll become our best player for the fourth consecutive month. Let's start at the beginning, though.
The first half
Arsene made two changes to the squad that bested West Brom three days prior to this game: Oxlade for Giroud and Sanogo for Campbell. Poor Costa-Rican. Not many eyebrows will be raised if he leaves us in January, but there will definitely be a lot of calls for Wenger's head. Monreal and Gibbs, meanwhile, both passed their fitness tests (just like the Ox) and were included.
We could have gone in front in the 7th minute already, when Cazorla's beautiful pass released Welbeck down the left. Unfortunately for us, the Englishman decided to try poking the ball with his weak foot and thus squandered a good chance. Now, I have to say this: Welbeck's decision-making is really strange at times. My guess is that Danny loses his head a bit in front of goal and that's why his finishing is off. He needs serious work in that area.
We had two more chances inside the first 45 minutes to take the lead. First presented itself after a scuffle in Saints' box, only for Oxlade's shot to be saved by Forster. Second came from a set-piece, when Cazorla's cross was met with a header from Welbeck. Forster saved again.
Southampton only had one opportunity to open the scoring, when Pelle and Davis combined brilliantly on the edge of our box, but, mercifully, Pelle's shot went well over. 0-0 at half-time.
The second half
The second half continued in much the same pattern. We (rather lethargically) attacked, Southampton defended and this dragged till Giroud's introduction to the proceedings. The Frenchman subbed Oxlade-Chamberlain on the 65th minute and we sparked into life.
Within minutes, Olivier created two moments of danger. First was a finish on the volley, which Forster palmed away, second was a pass to Welbeck, but the Englishman's effort was again saved.
After that the game calmed down and it looked like we were in for a 0-0. With ten minutes to go Arsene threw Podolski on for tiring Welbeck and the German made an impact several minutes later. His cross found Giroud in the box, the Frenchman nodded the ball towards the far corner, only for Forster to intervene and make another save.
But we got there in the end. Giroud battled his way in the box and found the onrushing Ramsey, the Welshman cut the ball back inside and an unmarked Sanchez slotted it home. 1-0 to the Arsenal.
The aftermath
After the game Arsene said:
"It was difficult for us to keep going from the start of the game because we’ve given a lot against Dortmund and on Saturday - today was the third game in seven days. You could see that we had to dig deep. We played against a good team who are very well organised and play very quick on the counter-attack. For us it was important not to be exposed on the counter-attack and to keep a clean sheet. We had to be patient and wait for our chances and you could see in the last 20 minutes that they started to suffer a little bit physically and that we created openings."
As it turned out, 10 out of twelve our league goals at home games were scored in the last half an hour, five of them in the last 15 minutes. Resilience.
I have to say I'm still a bit worried. We weren't exactly sharp and commanding and, as it can only be put down to physical exhaustion, that's even more worrying. We have three more games in ten days and the manager is already considering resting a few players against Gala:
"It is a very important period but one thing is for sure - we are not under huge pressure for game No 6 in the Champions League. With the week we had behind us and the week we have now, to go to Galatasaray for a decisive game would be very difficult."
I don't like the sound of it. Albeit it's a fat chance, there still is this teeny tiny possibility to top our group, which we should snatch at with both hands. By then, however, we can have Arteta, Debuchy, Walcott and both keepers back, so maybe we can still beat a managerialless Gala with a bit of rotation.
Oh, and a couple of words on keepers. Martinez had another fine game and this presents a dilemma, at least to me: should Szczesny be reinstated the minute he returns? Of course Martinez has benefited from a Mertescielny central pairing, but he still hasn't put a foot wrong in these last three games. Very calm, commanding, with great distribution (better than Szczesny's) and, most importantly, he doesn't try anything clever. Whenever there's danger, he just hoofs the ball into the stands. So definitely a decison for Arsene to ponder.
Alright, I'll leave it at that. Back in a couple of days with fresh news and a preview.
Enjoy the win
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)