When I was at Primary School , and we briefly lived in the West Midlands, my dad bought me a Wolves shirt. I didnt take to it. A lucky escape really from a life watching relegation and promotion battles against better clubs with more money. But over twenty thousand Wolves fans turned up to live the dream last night. Or maybe there’s not a lot else to do. They would have been hoping to stay in the game long enough to benefit from a lucky break, but we’re quickly disappointed.
The best way to deal with clubs at the bottom is an early goal. It saps the morale with a message that this isn’t a game where you’re going to sneak an unlikely point. Arsenal sent Wolves that message with two goals in the first quarter of an hour and controlled the game throughout. In the second half we added a third to keep the pressure on.
Wolves had a few counter-attackng chances, drawing two fine saves from Szczesny who stayed alert despite having little serious to do. But having been a bit harshly reduced to ten men, there was little that Wolves could do about this one. They certainly couldn’t live with the pacey interchanges between Walcott and Van Persie.
Wolves started with an ambitiously high line of defence which got sliced through for the first two goals. For the first, a great pass put Walcott through one on one with the keeper and he was brought down by Sebastien Bassong. A penalty and a red card. Was Bassong the last man in a clear cut opportunity? Just about I guess but it seemed harsh all the same.
Robin Van Persie took the penalty kick in a classy/showboat/cheeky way depending how worried you were he might miss. Hennessey might just think he was taking the piss! He jogged up and swung his leg slowly, Hennessey made his choice and dived. Van Persie chipped into the middle of the goal. Would he have managed the necessary pace and direction if Henessey had stood his ground a fraction longer? We’ll never know! One nil.
The second came from a similar move. A neat through ball that set Walcott free behind a beached Wolves back four and this time a good finish without interference. Two nil. Home and hosed from then on really. The Wolves defence dropped deeper and frustrated our attack more thoroughly. But eventually Benayoun made some space for himself on the edge of the box and scored the third.
I had confidently predicted that Benayoun wouldn’t start two games in a row, but there he was and didn’t seem any worse for it. It was Rosicky who got the rest, replaced by Ramsey who looked rather rusty as you might reasonably expect. Those who are on his case will be unreasonable no doubt, pointing out that he did miss a good chances to score. But then, so did Van Persie. Johann Djourou stood in for the suspended Koscielny without any problems.
Perhaps Benayoun got the start to ensure that the absence of Rosicky was compensated by another old pro. This was a game that could only have been lost through complacency, but Arsenal aced it with a fast start and steady possession and pressure after that.
It was a good team performance and almost a three-way dead-heat in our man of the match poll with Benayoun just coming out ahead of Walcott and Van Persie.
So, a five point cushion over fourth and fifth placed Spurs and Newcastle. Chelsea must play twice before they visit us for match 35. Before that we must deal with survival seeking Wigan Athletic who beat Manchester United one nil last night, keeping a little more interest going at both ends of the league.
Arsenal will need be to be on their toes against Wigan on Monday and will hopefully watch last night’s game to remind themselves what hard work and a bit of individual talent can achieve when a club has its back to the wall.
But that’s for next week. This week past has been a good one. Nice work Arsenal.
Loading ...
