This was not a fluent performance but we desperately needed a win and the the team hung in there and won it. With a bit of good fortune along the way.
Blackpool came out with confidence and determination. You can imagine Ian Holloway had told them to try and break Arsenal’s fragile morale with an early goal. It didn’t get that bad but for ages it seemed like we wouldn’t ever get out of our own half.
Clichy wasn’t having his best of games, and we all know that Eboue gets out of position, so Blackpool were getting in behind us a lot. In the last couple of games Arshavin has shown that he can track back and defend but he was back to his usual self yesterday and giving Clichy no support at all.
No-one would have been surprised if Blackpool’s onslaught had got them a goal. But Arsenal hung on and gradually got some control over the game.
Jens Lehman’s two reserve performances hadn’t inspired confidence but he was pretty solid and it was good to see an Arsenal keeper taking charge of the defense. Right from the start he was demanding more. He had a couple of nervous moments but pulled off a couple of crucial saves too.
When Arsenal made the breakthrough it was with two good goals. The first showed the good side of Diaby. He started the move in our half and when Van Persie put the ball in the six-yard box it was Diaby who had made the run to be on the end of the pass for a tap-in. Not enough Arsenal players make lung-bursting runs into to box and if Diaby played like that on a regular basis he would start on a regular basis.
Later though he showed his daft side too, getting a completely pointless yellow for kicking the ball away. Referee Lee Mason was shaking his head in disbelief as he put the card back in his pocket and he wasn’t the only one. In some ways Diaby typifies the frustrating nature of the current squad. You can see what he has that could make him a great asset, but not consistently enough and some really dumb stuff too.
Another player showing flashes of his good side yesterday was Eboue. He took the second goal really well with a one-two with Wilshere and then a powerful shot with his weaker foot.
Just before the break, Blackpool nearly got back in it as Arsenal got mixed up on the box. Fortunately Lehman’s trailing leg and a covering move from Fabregas got the ball away – a few inches from disaster.
But two-nil up at half-time wasn’t enough. Blackpool came out with the same belief they’d had at the start and this time their pressure got them a goal. It could have come via a Lehman foul, a red card and a penalty, but referee Mason played advantage and Blackpool scored. And we were saved finding out who Arsenal’s sixth choice goal keeper is!
Good job too, as later Clichy dawdled on the ball and was dispossessed just outside the box. Lehman was up to the challenge and made a crucial save. An outfield player deputising in goal wouldn’t have stood a chance and he kept out goal advantage.
Blackpool had another good shout for a penalty. Koscielny brought one their players down in the box and we were lucky to escape a spot kick. I don’t know whether Mason missed it, or decided that the ball had already gone, but it was a foul in the box and we had a lucky escape.
Sometimes this season it’s been hard to understand the logic of Wenger’s substitutions, but he was spot on yesterday when he brought on Walcott for Arshavin. Quite apart from the fact that Arshavin was anonymous all the time he was on the pitch, there was an opportunity that Walcott was just the player to exploit.
Blackpool are playing for their Premiership survival so they has to keep attacking, leaving plenty of space to run into. Walcott kept doing just that and after Eboue and Fabregas combined to set him free down the right, Theo ran the ball down the wing and fed it right into Van Persie’s path. Goal number three and, finally, game over.
Fabregas and Van Persie deserve more of a mention. They both played well. The only worry is that they created a lot of chances thy weren’t converted. We have tougher teams left to play than Blackpool and we need a higher rate of return on our chances.
Buy for all the caginess, it was a win and we really needed it. It will boost confidence in the team which is vital for the bigger games ahead.
Fabregas and leads our Man of the Match poll from Lehaman. You can add your vote here.
