Well, that was a bit better, wasn’t it?
A 2-1 over Manchester United was delightful for many reasons. It gives us confidence, shows that in big games some of the players can step it up, and I had €20 on Arsenal to win 2-1 at 12-1. Not a bad day all round.
It was the kind of game pundits describe afterwards as being pulsating. Normally they’re just trying to hype things up but yesterday’s match really was. I can’t remember being that nervous for the duration of the 90(6) minutes for a long time. It was end to stuff in the final third and while games like this can be cagey at times this one started as it meant to go on.
United had the first chance after just a couple of minutes when Almunia inexplicably picked up Sylvester’s back pass. It was such a poor pass I think the keeper thought he could get away with it not being a deliberate effort. Anderson took the free kick, it rebounded to Carrick and his shot into the ground bounced wide.
Then Bendtner headed a fantastic Clichy cross over and he just missed another cross from Nasri but I think Abou Diaby got the slightest touch on it to take it away. Up the other end some lovely football from United saw Ronaldo cut it back for Rooney and I’d have put money on him to score. Instead he skied his effort into the stand and pretty much every attempt he had on goal subsequently got further and further from the target, one shot actually going out for a throw.
We took the lead on 22 minutes when Cesc’s free kick came out to Samir Nasri. From a difficult angle he took a shot which deflected off Gary Neville and flew past van der Sar. And if anyone thinks Almunia is dodgy I defy you to look at United’s keeper and tell me he’s better. He flapped at one corner, his lame punch landing at Diaby’s feet but the midfielder’s shot was blocked, and overall he eased my nerves a bit because there was always the chance he could gift you something.
Cesc then had a shot which went wide, Denilson chose the wrong option on a break and played the ball to Bendtner when Theo was bombing down his right, United had a goal disallowed for offside, Clichy headed a Ronaldo free kick just past our far post and Almunia saved from Park in what really was an action packed first half.
So 1-0 at half time and I don’t think there’s an Arsenal fan in the world who wouldn’t have taken that. It got even better early in the second half though. A sumptuous passing move ended with a wonderfully emphatic finish from Samir Nasri. Theo’s run took Vidic away leaving acres of space in the middle of United’s defence, Cesc played the pass and Samir finished with aplomb. That’s 4 goals in 5 league appearances at home this season and I really like the look of him. He’s quick, strong and has an eye for goal.
United then should have pulled one back almost immediately. Park’s cross found Ronaldo at the back post and his finish went just wide. It couldn’t possibly have gone any less wide without hitting the post and of all the players on the United team you’d have put your money on him scoring that chance. After that, and a rather rugged Clichy challenge, he was pretty much anonymous for the rest of the game. And it’s misses that like which make you think it’s going to be your day. Sometimes you need a bit of luck and we had a bit yesterday.
United will feel they should have had a penalty in the first half when Rooney’s cross hit Clichy’s arm but then we should have had a penalty when Vidic tried to take Nasri’s shirt off his back. To be fair to the ref he couldn’t see it from his angle, but surely his assistant could? Webb also totally failed to give us a free kick when Carrick clipped Diaby’s heels as he went through in the first half. I thought he had a poor game really and it’s ages since I’ve heard ‘The referee’s a wanker’ being sung with such gusto.
We lost Almunia after he got a kick in the head, bravely diving at a loose ball as Carrick went to try and shoot. Fabianski came on and did pretty well but the stoppage for Almunia’s injury meant there was going to be a lot of injury time. And just before the board went up United scored. You could almost see it coming. We had about three or four chances to hoof the ball upfield but a collection of our players scuffed their clearances giving the ball back to United. Eventually it fell on the edge of the box to Rafael da Silva, a young man who is going to clearly end Gary Neville’s United career, and his left foot volley was quite a goal.
Then the board went up. 6 minutes. Then every Arsenal fan, every Arsenal player, every one of the management and staff thought ‘Sp*rs‘. To be fair we did a bit better than against them but there were times when we might have scored the third but fucked it up and others where we should probably have gone for the corners more but in the end we survived, won the game, took the three points and hearts returned to normal again.
Andy Gray is a blustering cunthammer (his defence of Rooney’s deliberate hack on Walcott in the first half was pathetic) but he was right when he said that those 6 minutes were the most important 6 minutes of league football Arsenal would play all season. Had United managed to score it would have been utterly devastating. All the good work would have been undone and the questions we had gone such a long way to answer would all be there again.
But we held on and rightly the team will gain a lot from this. A win over the Champions is always a pleasure and when the Champions are United it’s even better. The display and the performance was nice to see as well. The team was about the best team he could have picked, given the injuries/suspensions, and there were some excellent displays. I thought Denilson and Diaby in midfield were very good indeed, Cesc looked more like the Cesc we all know and Nasri was the hero, his two goals winning the day.
But you can see the difference when the team plays with energy, commitment and drive. It also begs the question ‘Why can’t they play like that all the time?’. Afterwards the manager said:
We went out with the attitude that we’ll win whatever happens. We had one accident at Stoke, which provoked hysteria, and it was difficult to understand why everybody became so critical. We showed that we have a squad, which was questioned many times.
Somewhat disingenuous of Arsene there. We had one accident at Stoke. And one at home against Hull. And one at Fulham. And nearly one at Sunderland. I don’t want to dwell on anything negative after what was a fantastic day yesterday but I think the win has to be seen as part of the bigger picture. Of course we should all enjoy what was a fantastic day yesterday but now it’s down to this team to show they can show the same kind of effort against the so-called smaller teams. It’s easy to be up for a game against United but you have to do it every week, otherwise days like yesterday become pointless.
Anyway, as I said I don’t want to dwell on that and we have to hope that the confidence, which was clearly on the floor after Sp*rs and Stoke, has now returned and the team is ready to kick on. They need to think to themselves ‘Right, well if we can beat United we can beat anybody’, and take that belief with them into games. They need to have that hammered home.
So overall a most valuable win. Not simply because of the three points but because of the confidence it will instill in the players. The support yesterday sounded brilliant too and maybe the there’s a bit more belief amongst the fans too. Of course the proof of the pudding will come in the subsequent games. Was this just another one of those days for a team which is, let’s face it, capable of beating anyone on their day, or the start of something good? Hopefully, fingers crossed, it was the latter.
In a quick look at some of the other Sunday news the News of the World reports that Theo Walcott is set to open talks with the club on a new deal while the same article Robin van Persie is close to agreeing a new 4 year deal with the club.
Told you it was quick. And the games are coming thick and fast this month. Next up is the Carling Cup against Wigan and who exactly plays in that game is going to be interesting. Anyway, we’ll look at that in greater details during the week. In the meantime I’m off to enjoy the Sunday papers for what seems like the first time in weeks.
Till tomorrow.
