Match report – Player ratings – By the numbers – Video
I think the thing I like most about this Arsenal team this season is the sense that we can win matches when we don’t play as well as we know we can; that we can cope with games that in previous seasons we’d almost certainly have dropped points in.
Yesterday was a case in point. I thought we played ok, were quite unlucky early on when first, Jack Wilshere, and then Aaron Ramsey hit the post, but against a very well disciplined and hard-working Southampton side didn’t really create the kind of chances our array of attacking talent suggests we should.
Indeed, in the first part of the second half they had a tremendous spell of pressure and possession, culminating in a wonderful move which saw Adam Lallana shoot straight at Wojciech Szczesny. Then Pochettino took off Lallana, replacing him with some sinister looking Andy Carroll bloke, and the momentum completely changed. It was, in hindsight, their second gift of the day after the opening goal.
Artur Boruc’s efforts to dribble the ball away from danger when he had all the time in the world to clear were, frankly, hilarious. As was the crowd’s reaction every time he got the ball for the rest of the game. Shocking goalkeeping, but fair to play to Giroud for forcing the error too. Afterwards, the Frenchman talked about how in the past he might have gone sliding in but the decision to ‘stay on my legs’ worked out well for him as he poked the ball into an empty net.
Southampton provided a hat-trick of presents late on when Jose Fonte back pulled Per Mertesacker resulting in a penalty. You’ve gotta love the BFG’s reaction to the decision, and Giroud got his second of the game from the spot. Itt was game over at that point, three delicious points in the bag, and our lead at the top of the table extended to 4 points because of the draw in the Merseyside derby.
But there’s something stirring at Arsenal this season. Games like this are supposed to be our handicap, our downfall. We know when we play well we can beat anyone, but for too long when we’ve failed to reach those heights points have gone begging. Ok, so we might have benefited from some Saints generosity for our goals, but even when they have periods of possession we never looked in any real danger.
People will point to the solidity of the team, the back four, the protection they get from the midfield (and it was obvious for a few minutes how Arteta’s departure left a hole in front of the defence), but to my mind there’s a lot to be said for having a good goalkeeper in very good form. Once again Wojciech Szczesny was excellent and I think he’s something of a reassuring presence between the sticks.
With all due respect to some of the previous incumbents, very often our defensive terror stemmed from being unable to cope when the opposition put pressure on us in our own area. Yesterday, their set-piece delivery was fantastic. Every single one of their corners was whipped with pace into a dangerous area, and every single time we dealt it. Many of those times involved Szczesny coming and catching, or punching clear.
A goalkeeper that dominates his area! Imagine. I genuinely think this is one of the reasons why we’re no longer so skittish in our own box. We trust that the keeper will do the right thing. Not come and miss. Not come and drop it on a striker’s head. And it allows a calmness that such solid defending requires.
It’s also worth noting that when they did trouble us, Szczesny was equal to anything they threw at us, making a number of good saves. One in particular down at his near post was tremendous and as I’ve mentioned before we now have a goalkeeper that is winning us points instead of costing us them.
Afterwards, Arsene Wenger hailed the clean sheet (the third in four games), saying:
We have improved our defensive stability. After an international break you have always two challenges, one is to get the team to focus again as a team because we have been spread all over the world, and you have very little time to get the focus point right. The second is physical, because they all come back in different levels of fatigue, some have not trained a lot. The first point we got right, the team were highly focused, we suffered a bit physically but overall the concentration was there.
And the response to the United game:
I am convinced that after a break like that, the character is tested. Can you win when you have to in a season like that, straightaway again after a big defeat? That was really at stake for us.
Again, unlike in previous seasons, I was never in any doubt about our ability to bounce back from the disappointment at Old Trafford. That wasn’t a loss with long-term consequences. It was a game that was easy to analyse, understand and compartmentalise, and the outcome yesterday shows that.
It wasn’t quite the fluid, dynamic performance we’d have liked in an ideal world, but for the first game back after the Interlull it was all about the result and building some momentum heading into a busy, and demanding, period of football. Southampton aren’t that high in the table for no reason, it’s not a fluke, and this is a three points we can take real heart from.
Top of the league on a Sunday morning makes the bacon taste better. Have a good one.
