A poor performance against Sevilla had dealt a slight dent to the high flying spirits of Arsenal fans, and the team needed to respond in the Premier League, to show that they only lose when they don’t need to win. However, an away match against Aston Villa, fresh from a 4-0 drubbing of Blackburn might not have seemed like the best way to get back to form.
Of course, it hardly helped that the Gunners conceded an early goal. Surprise inclusion Alex Hlleb gave away the ball in his own half, and a pass was sent through to Carew, who managed to get in a cross. Deflections from Toure and Gallas took the ball away from Almunia and Clichy, and Gardner was presented with a simple chance which he took well. Arsenal are experts at conceding comical goals which go in after bouncing all around the penalty box, and this was another one for the collection.
Despite the goal, Arsenal were playing some awesome football, and the vibrancy that Hleb brings to the attack was there for all to see. Eboue, one of the less popular members in the squad, put in a great showing as well, and he was the chief architect of the opening goal. Playing a deft 1-2 with Adebayor, he drove into the box before sending in a low cross. The cross went behind Rosicky, who reached back to lay it into the path of Hleb, who in turn leapt out of the way to let it fall to Flamini. He is not known for his shooting, but the Arsenal’s midfield dynamo’s left boot connected cleanly with the ball and sent it flying into the net.
Delighted, he raced away trying to take his shirt off, but the wise Ade kept pulling it back on him, so that he didn’t pick up a yellow card. The word ‘Katita’ was revealed on his vest, investigations are on to discover what the heck that meant. Perhaps it was his girlfriend’s name. Goes to show how determined he was to score in the match! Indeed, with Fabregas out, it is reassuring to see the likes of Flamini, Denilson and even Diarra merrily taking shots at goal in every match. Leaves you wondering why Rosicky never seems to try to tee himself up.
The match progressed in the same vein, with Arsenal maintaining possession and forcing Villa into saves and blocks. It was no surprise when Arsenal took the lead in the 36th minute. Hleb raced to touch on a lose ball to Sagna, and the right back struck one of his awesome crosses, which was duly met by Adebayor. The Togolese player towered over Knight and Melberg, and directed his header into the top corner of the goal. 1-2!
Wenger would have been pleased with the first half performance, but the second half was all about Martin O’Neill’s side. The loss of Hleb did not help our cause one bit. Our defence mostly coped quite well, but kept giving away possession. Diarra, who was great when we were chasing the game in the first half, needs to learn how to calm down and keep the ball when we have the lead.
Sagna had one of his poorer games today, and gave away several free kicks in dangerous areas. Almunia was commanding in the box, trying to neutralise the threat of the Villan attack, while the defenders did everything they could to cope up with the pace of Young and Agbonlahor. Despite all the marking, Carew did manage to get in a few headers, including one which beat Almunia and flew off the post.
Thankfully, Aston Villa failed to deal any real damage to the League leaders, and Arsenal finished with three points from a difficult away fixture. It was very much a tale of two halfs, and we have proven (as if we have anything more to prove), that we can cope with anything thrown at us in a match. In a week where Arsenal old boys Bentley and Stokes produced match winning displays, we can hope that Anelka does the same to Liverpool tomorrow, and Fulham create some misery for Manure on Monday.
But if we continue to perform and chalk up results like this, we will not need to worry about anyone else!