What a nerve wrecking game today! My mood changed from joy, to anger and then back to joy in the matter of 30 minutes. I guess that happens during most of our games anyway, but i felt this game should have been done and dusted in our favor by the end of the first half! That's why when Sunderland leveled i was so pissed, i wanted to break something. We did well to win at the end, but not without some edgy moments.
The game started pretty even, but slowly we took control and started putting Sunderland under pressure. We didn't have many chances, until the 11th minute, when a great long ball by Gibbs to Ozil, allowed the German to run on the left and he gave a nice pass to Giroud who had a great one time finish! After we scored, we stayed in complete control of the game and created and missed a chance after chance! First Ozil gave a phenomenal pass to Theo who had only Westwood to beat but got his shot blocked; Walcott was the guilty party again towards the end of the half, when he had another shot blocked by Westwood and then missed an open header wide of the goal. When we went into half time only 1-0 up, i was fuming, because you know that when you don't finish a team off when you have the chance, things can get complicated later on.
Just as expected, Sunderland got a goal back pretty much out of the blue, after a very clumsy challenge from Koscielny. Gardner took the penalty well and all of a sudden, a game we completely dominated was tied at 1-1 with the Sunderland crowd going nuts! It took is 15 minutes to recover from this goal. We looked shaky at the back and Sunderland were all of a sudden, all over us. Thankfully we didn't concede another goal (Fletcher got one disallowed) and around the 60th minute we started to get back to our football by dominating possession. We put Sunderland under quite a bit of pressure and eventually Ramsey scored a brilliant volley after a great cross by Jenkinson!
The goal was a big boost for us, but our midfield was getting a bit sloppy. Ozil made a few bad passes which led to counters for Sunderland. In one of them, Altidore out-muscled Sagna on the left, but luckily for us the referee blew his whistle and didn't give an advantage, otherwise the ball was already at the back of our net. I understand why Di Canio and the Sunderland players were frustrated, but if you watch the situation carefully, Atkinson blew his whistle way before Altidore got one vs one with Szczesny! That was a huge break for us, but we still struggled at the back until after a great move, we scored a third goal! Great one touch passing allowed Ramsey to be one vs one against Westwood and he didn't miss from there. At 3-1, the game was all but done, but Sunderland tried to score until the end and had some half chances.
The defense today was so-so. They went from having no work and looking very solid in the first half, to looking super shaky after they gave away a cheap penalty. Koscielny as i mentioned, had a very clumsy tackle when he fouled Johnson, other than that he played OK for the most part. Sagna was clearly out muscled by Altidore during that controversial decision in the second half, but then again Altidore is a huge guy and any defender would struggle with him. Jenkinson had a pretty good game, was very active and gave a great cross to Ramsey for our second goal. Gibbs was also solid most of the game, even though at times in the second half, there were some threatening runs on his side of the pitch. It was great to see Vermaelen back even if it was only for a few minutes! We are going to need all the bodies that we have, because Champions League football is starting next week and our squad is not that big right now.
Our midfield was strong today. As anticipated Ozil made his debut, there were reports that he was sick and his involvement was questionable but with the unavailability of Cazorla, he pretty much had to suck it up and play. He made instant impact with his assist for Giroud's goal. He looks like the player we expect him to be: good vision and movement, great passing skills. He gave Walcott a phenomenally weighted pass to get him alone against the keeper. Not many players have that touch and accuracy. Physically he struggled at times, especially in the second half when he gave away some cheap balls and got pushed around a bit, but he will get used to the physicality of the league and will be a huge player for us! Ramsey was obviously our best midfielder today. Not only did he score the two goals, but he was very active all over the pitch. Wilshere also had a strong game, i think he will really benefit from Ozil's presence because it will take some of the attention away from him. He is also a fucking straight up guy man, in the 84th minute, he cramped after a collision, he was about to ask for the doctor to come in and maybe waste some time, but he heard the crowd booing, so he sucked it up and got up and got on with the game. Not many players will do that, most of them would fucking act like they are injured even if they didn't cramp. Flamini was rock solid in his defensive role. This guy brings experience and passion with him and really throws himself out there.
Walcott was the most disappointing of our midfielders. He wasted three really good opportunities to score and towards the end of the game either got tired, or just got lazy but there were a few moments where he didn't even bother chasing the Sunderland players with the ball only a few feet from him. Then in the 87th minute when Jenkinson broke away on a counter and delivered a cross from the right side, Theo was jogging towards the penalty area, not really trying to get in there and maybe get his head on the ball. For him to build on last season, he has to score when he has clear chances, especially when there are more than one or two.
Giroud was in top form again. Scored a very nice goal with a first touch shot, which looked much easier than it actually is. He also assisted for Ramsey's goal and is getting better at releasing players with one touch passes when he is being pressured by defenders. The only negative for him was that he jammed his knee when he tried to go back for a cross, considering we don't have too many options at striker right now, let's hope he is alright.
So, a great win for us! We need to get better at finishing teams off when we have their backs on the wall, but the good news is that this team looks resilient. We have a lot of players who are maturing and are ready to take responsibility on the pitch. Adding Ozil to the mix should increase our creativity even more. My only worry is that Wenger might overplay the squad. I really hope he rotates players and creates a good balance so we don't burn out this core 13-14 players that are available right now. Arsenal top of the table at least until Monday! What a pretty sight for my eyes! C'mon You Gunners!
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