A Fighting Draw at the Hawthorns!!!

Foxriver11: Before the game, I had voiced my concerns over what happens if Arsenal get a little too complacent after the run of form they were having! And later read about Flamini explaining what his unfinished business was that he talked off when his transfer had been completed. He talks that he had a great time with Arsenal before leaving to a different competition, but feels the guilt that he couldn't win the UCL, after reaching the finals and also the 07-08 season where Arsenal lead the league for most part before Eduardo's horrific injury played with the mental strength and Arsenal subsequently squandered their title.

                       

The game started with Arsenal on the back foot in the flair that we have in our passing. And credit to West Brom for efficiently nullifying our midfield so easily. The 1st real scare came when a shot deflected off Flamini's arse was heading towards the goal when SZCZ was going the other direction, but was somehow turned in his stride and pulled off a world class save in the end.

Majority of the first half was both teams midfield canceling each other out, while Jack was being fouled left, right and center by the WBA players and while the referee turned a blind eye towards the tackles at Arsenal players, their confidence seemed to be going down with each decision going the other way. The tone of play allowed WBA to dictate play in a manner that was a bit worrying for the Arsenal fans and WBA soon scored the 1st of the match. The game didn't make Arsenal stand up and start delivering soon, but we kept pushing gradually. And who else to score other than Wilshere, with the game he was having and the constant chants among fans about his recent smoking bout and a beaut of a volley it was too.

The game saw quite a few bookings and a few Arsenal players carrying knocks over the game. While Jenkinson was pretty decent with his track backs; he was clueless against long balls more than often, which is a worrying sign for a second right back of a team challenging for the title. The second half fared better for the gunners with Giroud and Ramsey exchanging few quick passes in the WBA third of the field.

Bacary's presence was missed, so was the tempo that Rossa brings with him. Ozil had another subdued game; he is not taking the game head-on for Arsenal like many fans keep thinking. He is more of a contributor than someone like Cesc or to some extent Rossa do when they play, they dictate how the whole team works as a unit.

The game ended by Ramsey being subbed off for Rossa and Giroud being taken off for TGSTEL (read Bentdner) but he didn't really have enough time to have any meaningful attack. 1-1 at the hawthorns isn't a bad result in any means. It was a tough result to achieve, given the kind of wins they had recently. Yet I still feel we didn't take the game by its horns too.

Gibbs received his first England senior call up this week, pretty deserving I think considering the consistency in his performances. Aaron Ramsey and Arsene Wenger win the Player of the Month and The Manager of the Month respectively, but the best part would definitely be Arsenal retaining their position on the top of the Table.

 If you observe the league table, even a noob might understand what kind of competitive league this is, rather than the constant media bickering that the league is hyped and the German or the Italian leagues being more competitive. Coming to this weekend, the International Break is here and Arsenal fans would be excited and eagerly waiting the return of some very influential players who were out with injury. Also the players carrying knocks will get enough time to charge off their reserve power and start afresh after the break. So until something major happens this week it’s Adios from moi.

Foxriver11: Young Gunners Penalize WBA

WBA 1-1 Arsenal (3-4 on penalties)

 Foxriver11: Hic! Hic! Another round of rum for me before I start writing this.

The cup tie, when Arsene usually throws the young guns into shallow waters was here and boy, were we on the edge. It was supposed to be an easy draw for the gooners considering the run of form we were in; but Wenger had done what he does best, a young squad with just a few 1st team players and those who desperately wanted some game time after their injury layoffs.

Lineups for the night

West Brom: L Daniels, Reid, Dawson, Lugano, Popov, Mulumbu, Dorrans, Sessegnon, Sinclair, Berahino, Long

Subs: Camp (gk), McAuley, J Olsson, Rosenberg, Amalfitano, Morrison, Jones

Arsenal: Fabianski, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Monreal, Hayden, Arteta, Eisfeld, Ryo, Bendtner, Gnabry

Subs: Viviano, Bellerin, Flamini, Olsson, Iwobi, Akpom, Park

     

Hayden got a surprise debut at the hawthorns because of a shoulder niggle on Flamini. Per, Gnabry and Flamini were the only players who were involved in the side that won against stoke in the weekend. It was an untidy game from the kick-off as two sides full of unfamiliar names wrestled to get to grips with both themselves and each other. The 1st half was fairly uneventful for both teams, until late in the half when either side could have taken the lead. First, it was Gnabry who tried a shot on goal which was paired away by Reid after a goal line save. And minutes later, Fabianski was called into action for a quick save when Mulumbu sent a volley flying across the goal.

For WBA Mulumbu, Sessegnon, Sinclair and Berahino were controlling the midfield battle over Arsenal and attack after attack kept flying down the right hand side where Monreal was having a tough time dealing with Berahino. The young guns of Arsenal were growing into the game as the game progressed. Hayden put in some strong challenges and was pretty effective in breaking WBA attacks along with Arteta. Miyachi and Gnabry kept making runs on the WBA defense, but their final ball wasn't up to the mark. Bentdner was excellent for someone who hasn't played a lot for Arsenal even though he has been with us for over 9 seasons now.

The only disappointment was Eisfield, he looked lost for brief patches during the match except for a sublimely taken goal for which even Wenger praised him saying he showed Pires's class in his 1st touch to gather the ball from Bentdner and slot it deftly past the keeper, 1-0 to Arsenal against the run of play. WBA kept persisting and a momentarily collapse of concentration by the gunners allowed Berahino to equalize, a well taken finish at that.

81 minutes into the game and Eisfield was replaced by 17 yr old Akpom, Hayden was replaced moments later by Kris Olsson. In injury-time Gnabry had a chance to steal the win, but he couldn’t connect with a fine cross by Jenkinson. Extra-time saw Arteta forced off with cramps in his left foot, perhaps unsurprising given his lack of game time, and Hector Bellerin slotted into midfield despite being a right-back.

Olsson and Bellerin took no time in settling in and played pretty decent in the final minutes. The last two minutes of Extra Time sent shivers down gooners spines when Amalfitano came on and sent a few shots Fabianski's way; one hitting the cross bar on the dying moments. Penalties!!!

It’s been cruel to Arsenal a few years running now, but I guess lady luck does give a breather occasionally after all. It looked like the Gunners were dead and buried when Serge Gnabry missed, but poor efforts by Amalfitano and Dawson gave Nacho Monreal the chance to score the decisive kick, which he duly smacked home.

The composure shown by the young guns to even step up to the penalty spot was a clear sign of Arsene's favorite character that he looks in players. On an irrelevant note, it was heartening to be on the other end of a penalty result!! Also watching TGSTEL to be playing with a different kind of attitude was also a positive note, me thinks :p. Anyways back to the weekend fixture against Swansea to look forward to now and assist master Özil terrorize some swans.