I wrote before the game how we can find ourselves fourth if results go our way. Miraculously, they did: Chelsea drew with Southampton, United were denied a win at White Hart Lane and Burnley recovered from two goals down at the Etihad to snatch a point off the reigning champions. The pressure was all on us to deliver a performance and win the game. And we did just that.
The squad
Arsene's selection raised a few eyebrows alright. Flamini was paired with Coquelin in central midfield, Oxlade started the game wide, Podolski was benched again and Rosicky was nowhere in sight. Arsene later explained the Czech's absence:
"I just gave him a complete recovery today. When I took him off with 10 minutes to go against QPR he had cramps in the calves and in the hamstrings, so I didn’t want to take a gamble".
However, Koscielny's return meant we've finally been able to field a balanced back four and it was telling. Mertesacker looked much more his usual self, while Szczesny probably had his best game for us this season. Pity he was denied a clean sheet.
The first half
Whether because it was our second game inside 48 hours, the fact that we didn't have enough personnel in midfield or just because it was Arsene's plan all along, we started the game on the back foot. We surrendered possession and put men behind the ball to see what West Ham has to offer.
The Hammers gladly took the ball and tried hoofing it in the general direction of Andy Carroll, but our central defenders were on alert and reduced Carroll's time on the ball to minimum. There was still a heart-in-the-mouth moment when Song put the ball into the net, but this goal was disallowed, as Carroll was obstructing Szczesny's view of the initial shot.
We didn't see much of the ball during almost the entire 45 minutes, but when we got it back, we attacked with real vigour and purpose. One of such attacks saw Cazorla weave his way through a couple of defenders and into the box, where he was brought down by Reid. The ref pointed to the spot, Cazorla himself stepped up and sent the ball in the opposite direction to that of Adrian's. 1-0.
Three minutes later it was 2-0. Debuchy exchanged passes with Cazorla and then set up Oxlade, whose low cross found an unmarked Welbeck. The Englishman poked the ball home from a yard. We could even have been 3 up, but Alexis's effort following a corner was blocked.
The second half
It's fair to say we could have started it better, as we found our lead cut in half nine minutes into the second period. Tomkins was allowed to swing in a cross, Kouyate won the aerial duel against Debuchy and the ball ricocheted into the net off the Frenchman's back.
However, we didn't look fazed by that goal. On the contrary, we came flying out of the blocks and had several brilliant opportunities to make it 3-1. First Cazorla's shot was parried by Adrian, then Oxlade's header suffered the same fate, before Alexis's powerful effort was again saved by West Ham's keeper.
Another two brilliant chances were spurned by Welbeck. Though I have to add, both he created himself. For the first, the Englishman won a tackle in his own half, ran half the field and then fired his effort wide, for the second he capitalized to a loose back pass, but again his effort went over.
We could have been punished for such wastefulness, but a combination of luck (Valencia firing over with the last shot of the game) and good goalkeeping (Szczesny saving Nolan's effort) ensured we got the three points and ended 2014 on a high.
The aftermath
"We deserved to win the game. It was a typical committed, direct game where we needed to be solid in the air, take our chances on the break. Unfortunately when they came back to 2-1, we had five or six chances on counter-attacks that we couldn’t take, but overall everybody did the job very well, from the keeper to up front".
Arsene's take on our win. He also commented on Coquelin:
"He played very well, especially in the first half. He was very influential and then in the second half he fatigued a bit in the last 20 minutes, but he had a very good performance not only defensively but he also passed quickly, sharply and through the lines. Overall he had a convincing performance".
As far as I'm concerned, Coquelin did enough to demonstrate he earned his run of games ahead of Flamini. Francis was strong in the tackle, quicker in transitions than Flamini and he also looks a better passer of the ball. I'd pair him up with Rosicky for the next game and see how they fare.
I also really liked our defensive performance. Apart from a (rightly) disallowed goal, an actual goal and that very last moment, we gave away very few chances, despite West Ham enjoying 57% of possession and being a really effective unit at home. Of course, we had a rather conservative set-up, with our back four protected by two DMs, while our subs only added to our look, but you have to give our defense credit where it's due. We kept out Sakho and Carroll when every cross was heading their way!
This win sees us leapfrog the Hammers in the table. We are now fifth, level on points with fourth Southampton (who we play in three days) and a mere three points behind third-placed United. Roll on 2015.
And I'll be back with a preview in two days.
Enjoy the win
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
The squad
Arsene's selection raised a few eyebrows alright. Flamini was paired with Coquelin in central midfield, Oxlade started the game wide, Podolski was benched again and Rosicky was nowhere in sight. Arsene later explained the Czech's absence:
"I just gave him a complete recovery today. When I took him off with 10 minutes to go against QPR he had cramps in the calves and in the hamstrings, so I didn’t want to take a gamble".
However, Koscielny's return meant we've finally been able to field a balanced back four and it was telling. Mertesacker looked much more his usual self, while Szczesny probably had his best game for us this season. Pity he was denied a clean sheet.
The first half
Whether because it was our second game inside 48 hours, the fact that we didn't have enough personnel in midfield or just because it was Arsene's plan all along, we started the game on the back foot. We surrendered possession and put men behind the ball to see what West Ham has to offer.
The Hammers gladly took the ball and tried hoofing it in the general direction of Andy Carroll, but our central defenders were on alert and reduced Carroll's time on the ball to minimum. There was still a heart-in-the-mouth moment when Song put the ball into the net, but this goal was disallowed, as Carroll was obstructing Szczesny's view of the initial shot.
We didn't see much of the ball during almost the entire 45 minutes, but when we got it back, we attacked with real vigour and purpose. One of such attacks saw Cazorla weave his way through a couple of defenders and into the box, where he was brought down by Reid. The ref pointed to the spot, Cazorla himself stepped up and sent the ball in the opposite direction to that of Adrian's. 1-0.
Three minutes later it was 2-0. Debuchy exchanged passes with Cazorla and then set up Oxlade, whose low cross found an unmarked Welbeck. The Englishman poked the ball home from a yard. We could even have been 3 up, but Alexis's effort following a corner was blocked.
The second half
It's fair to say we could have started it better, as we found our lead cut in half nine minutes into the second period. Tomkins was allowed to swing in a cross, Kouyate won the aerial duel against Debuchy and the ball ricocheted into the net off the Frenchman's back.
However, we didn't look fazed by that goal. On the contrary, we came flying out of the blocks and had several brilliant opportunities to make it 3-1. First Cazorla's shot was parried by Adrian, then Oxlade's header suffered the same fate, before Alexis's powerful effort was again saved by West Ham's keeper.
Another two brilliant chances were spurned by Welbeck. Though I have to add, both he created himself. For the first, the Englishman won a tackle in his own half, ran half the field and then fired his effort wide, for the second he capitalized to a loose back pass, but again his effort went over.
We could have been punished for such wastefulness, but a combination of luck (Valencia firing over with the last shot of the game) and good goalkeeping (Szczesny saving Nolan's effort) ensured we got the three points and ended 2014 on a high.
The aftermath
"We deserved to win the game. It was a typical committed, direct game where we needed to be solid in the air, take our chances on the break. Unfortunately when they came back to 2-1, we had five or six chances on counter-attacks that we couldn’t take, but overall everybody did the job very well, from the keeper to up front".
Arsene's take on our win. He also commented on Coquelin:
"He played very well, especially in the first half. He was very influential and then in the second half he fatigued a bit in the last 20 minutes, but he had a very good performance not only defensively but he also passed quickly, sharply and through the lines. Overall he had a convincing performance".
As far as I'm concerned, Coquelin did enough to demonstrate he earned his run of games ahead of Flamini. Francis was strong in the tackle, quicker in transitions than Flamini and he also looks a better passer of the ball. I'd pair him up with Rosicky for the next game and see how they fare.
I also really liked our defensive performance. Apart from a (rightly) disallowed goal, an actual goal and that very last moment, we gave away very few chances, despite West Ham enjoying 57% of possession and being a really effective unit at home. Of course, we had a rather conservative set-up, with our back four protected by two DMs, while our subs only added to our look, but you have to give our defense credit where it's due. We kept out Sakho and Carroll when every cross was heading their way!
This win sees us leapfrog the Hammers in the table. We are now fifth, level on points with fourth Southampton (who we play in three days) and a mere three points behind third-placed United. Roll on 2015.
And I'll be back with a preview in two days.
Enjoy the win
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)