It will not go down as a classic Arsenal performance, but today’s 2-0 win over Sunderland accomplished two objectives. One it removed that sick feeling from the mid week performance against Porto.
Two, it moved Arsenal within two points of second place in the league with 11 games to go. Arsenal stayed 6 points back of Chelsea, who did not look convincing in beating Wolves today.
Arsene Wenger for on believes that the title race is on, saying after the game:
“The only thing we can do is win our games and hope that the others drop points. You could see again today that every game is massively difficult and even today it was a game where we needed to be highly focused. When the teams play in the Champions League in midweek, anyone can drop points.”
Asked about if Manchester United and Chelsea will drop any more points this season he replied:
“They will because they play against each other, so it is impossible for one of the two not to drop points. Everton beat Manchester United today and they have beaten Chelsea. There are plenty of teams who you can drop points against. Sport is movement. It can change quickly and what looks right today, can be different in three weeks. It is interesting because it is not predictable. We didn’t talk about Manchester United’s result before the game. I don’t even know if the players knew. We didn’t speak about it. For us, we know we have to win our games and that is what we tried to do. We had a good pace in the first half and we could see that it is important to have a squad where you can rotate a little bit because the players who did not play on Wednesday night were sharp. We gave a lot physically on Wednesday night and in the second half you could see that. But we were focused.”
There were some bright spots in today’s win. Arsenal’s first goal was scored by Nicklas Bendtner, and that was goal will give him some confidence. The goal was only Bendtner’s second in the Premier League this season.
It was nice to see Cesc Fabregas get his first goal in a month, even though it was from the penalty spot, deep in injury time.
But to me, the brightest spot today was the performance of Theo Walcott. It’s been a horrible season for Walcott, as he has lurched from one injury to another, but he tore the Sunderland defence to shreds today. Wenger said after the game about Walcott:
“He is much sharper than three weeks ago. He still lacks a bit of confidence in the final third but for 70 minutes he looked dangerous and I believe he is on the way up.”
So three points and Man United lost. Not a bad day at all! What did you think of the performance?
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Definitely, hooray for the three points as it could very easily have been only 1.
I don’t think Theo showed us any more today than we already knew..ie that he’s very fast off the ball & is lacking massively in confidence in every other aspect of his game.
There were times today when I thought he looked scared to do anything other than make a safe pass.
He’s been dogged with injuries & hasn’t had much luck the few times when he has played, so it must be very difficult for him at the moment.I’m sure he’ll turn the corner soon & become awesome but I felt sorry for him (again) today.
Hopefully Walcott will start to expand his game so he isn’t so reliant on just speed.
Nicklas isn’t classy… clearly not a finisher,no glimpses of quality,he doesn’t promise,though he scored today..
Just happy that we have a big center forward. Sometimes I forget how young bendtner is.
Not a great performance by any stretch of the imagination. Having said that I thought two players performed as you would hope any Gunner should: Eboue & Song. While I think Song has demonstrated that almost any time he is on the pitch he will dominate midfield, I admit that I have often thought Eboue lacked the skills necessary to be part of the starting squad. Were it not for the technical skills and courage in the box, I don’t think Arsenal would have won the game. Its always nice to see a player who you have written up, steal the game.
Good points about Song and Eboue. Eboue has really turned the corner this year with his performances
I actually think Eboue was our man of the match. Theo will battle through and will come good. People say Nasri played very well, but for me he lacked impact. I still think if Eboue had played the mid-week game from the off, we would have won.
All that,s needed now is 3 points against Stoke and another 3 at home to Burnley puting big pressure on old bigmouth at Trash.United who is forced to rely on Giggs,Scholes as he can,t afford to buy topclass players anymore ,the debt is piling up day by day at Old Trafford ,up the Gunners.
Well.. It could have been at least 4-0 had we converted our chances… Especially Bendtner.. Missed several easy chances.. he has to improve his finishing and composure.. Same with eduardo.. A player with amazing talent, touch but no finish.. But Arsenal surely need a much better striker (and goal-keeper)!!!
I think Eboue is just fuckin awesome
{ 2 trackbacks }