Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

Five days ago Wigan beat league leaders Manchester United.  So just how much warning did we need that Wigan were on a determined push for survival and that some of them can play a bit?  How big did that red, flashing light need to be?

Arsenal were dire for the first ten minutes and Wigan took full advantage, scoring twice.  The first came from a poor corner that was cut out by the first defender, followed by a poor headed pass that gave possession back to Wigan.  Arsenal then stood still for a couple of seconds as is they expected Wigan to tamely give the ball back.  But they didn’t.  Why would they?  They are the team that beat Man Utd after all.  They streamed into our half, out-numbering our defence.  We almost recovered the situation, but when the ball looped upwards in the box it was Wigan’s Franco Di Santo who wanted most and he scored.  One nil down.

But we were still asleep and Wigan came straight back for more.  A scramble in the six yard box and Wigan have scored again.  When I first saw it I thought that had kicked it out of Szczesny’s hands.  But Szczesny had never really got his hands on the ball.  Jordi Gomez forced it home.  Two nil.

Finally Arsenal realized that they were in a game.  For the rest of the first half we dominated possession.  The game was mainly played in Wigan’s half.  But they conceded territory they didn’t make it easy.  Boyce, Caldwell, Figueroa and particularly goalkeeper Al-Habsi were heroic.  Twice Benayoun got in fantastic goal-bound headers that were kept out by the acrobatic Ali Al-Habsi.  That guy’s got springs for legs.

We had corner after corner.  Eventually we got a goal, with a bullet header from Vermaelen.  Djourou got close to a goal with a quick reaction poke after another corner but it slipped just wide of the post.  Van Persie unleashed a long-range screamer, but again Al-Habsi leapt to tip it over.  Wigan stonewalled us out to get to half-time still a goal to the good.

The second half started as well as the first half ended.  Arsenal dominated. But Wigan had something to defend and they did it in depth.  As the half went on, Arsenal got frustrated and the play began to get a bit sloppy. Passes went short and were intercepted which allowed Wigan to stream into the spaces created by Arsenal’s all out attack.  They didn’t really get close to a third, but it relieved the pressure time and again.

Fresh legs with Gervinho and Oxlade-Chamberlain didn’t make enough of a difference.  Ramsey had come on earlier in the first half when Arteta went of with a twisted ankle.  Arsenal dominated play until the end but became less and less effective.  Wigan wasted time as much as they could and you can’t blame them.  Eventually referee Andre Marriner produced a yellow, but the game was up by then.

Bottom line is that we didn’t heed the warning of Wigan’s victory over Manchester United.  We were criminally casual in the first ten minutes and paid the price.  We had a safety net.  Now we’ve used it.  Against Wigan.  Now we may have to win them all.  There we go, doing it the hard way again instead of emphatically imposing ourselves.

It’s going to be a tight finish.

Arsenal 1:2 Wigan Athletic -
Goals: Di Santo, Gomez, Vermaelen
Team: Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou (Oxlade-Chamberlain), Vermaelen, Santos, Song, Rosicky, Arteta (Ramsey), Walcott, Van Persie, Benayoun ( Gervinho)

It was such a wonderfully bonkers game of football. Hard to believe. In the first half neither side defended well. In the second half, Arsenal tightened things up but Chelsea, if anything, got worse.

That’s not to say it was a game without skill. It was a game full of brilliant moments, but it had a kind of recklessness that left you breathlessly wondering what on earth the outcome would be. It wasn’t until Robin Van Persie got number five that I really let myself believe we’d done it.

Of the three goals we conceded, two were a familiar failing, an attacking player given too much opportunity to attack a cross. A setback for Mertesacker after games where he has looked more and more solid. The third was a shot from Mata with the power and direction to beat Szczesny. Lukaku blocked Santos from intervening, Song arrived fractionally too late and Szczesny was six inches short of a save.

Szczesny though had some luck to stay on the pitch. If he had got a red card for a charging tackle that sent Cole flying it would have been hard to argue with. But it was yellow only. ‘Well it was only Ashley Cole’, says my wife in a tone that questioned whether referee Marriner should even have stopped play. This has, I suspect, more to do with the way Cole treated Cheryl than his Cashley Cole departure from Arsenal but never mind.

Anyway, enough negatives because we won. And we did it with fizzing style and passion across the team.

Song and Koscielny were fantastic. They put in a huge game to keep Chelsea from playing through the middle. Koscielny is smashing through the assumption that he will give way to the recovering Vermaelen. It’s great because we need all three. At our defensive best we could choose two from Adams, Keown and Bould – and be confident of any pairing.

But this wasn’t a game about great defenders. It was a game about fluid attacking and this time we were on the right end of it.

Goal one had two great elements. Aaron Ramsey threaded a great Cesc-like pass into the box for Gervinho. Inch perfect with the right weight and timing to keep him and Van Persie onside. Then, rather than claiming the chance of a goal himself, Gervinho made scoring a certainty by squaring the ball to Van Persie. The first of two Arsenal equalizers.

Straight after half-time came another equalizer. This one had a magic moment two with Song receiving the ball and turning away from the marking Chelsea player in a single fluid movement that opened up space. Santos, who had laboured through the first-half, was charging down the left, Bosingwa was way out of position and the Brazilian finished past the flailing Cech. Two-all.

Next up with a special display was Theo Walcott. He had a great game altogether, but this bit was terrific. After a foul by Ashley Cole on the touchline, Arsenal took a quick freekick that sent Walcott on a weaving run through a bunch of five defenders. He was brought down and the Chelsea players paused to glance at the referee. Walcott didn’t pause at all. He was back on his feet, switching the ball right foot, left foot, right foot and through on goal. Cech beaten at the near post again. Three – two.

Could we hold on to this? No. Mata gets his equalizer. Whatever next in this bonkers game? John Terry blundering! Malouda gave him a back pass he could have done without. It was too heavy and the opposite side to the way he was moving. As he turned to chase it he lost his balance and went down. Van Persie charged past to go one on one with Cech. No contest. Four-three!

Surely we can hold on now I thought. Arsene Wenger had brought on Rosicky and Vermaelen to grab hold tight to three points. But Chelsea hadn’t given up and attacked too.

The decider came after Rosicky showed the spirit that typified Arsenal’s game. Risking a boot in the face, he dipped his head to take the ball away from an attacking player on the edge of the box. Then he surged forward and passed, to set up a three against two at the other end. Goal number five. Van Persie’s hat-trick. Our first away win of the season – at Stamford Bridge. Arsene Wenger’s 500th Arsenal victory. Sweet.

Robin Van Persie was run-away man of the match of course!

We’ve still got a lot to do this season, but we’re back in this thing now.

C’mon you Gunners!

PS. Does anyone remember what Torres cost? It’s slipped my mind somehow;-).