Another 3 points in the bag, another away-win, another battling performance,and yup....another great end to the weekend for us gooners. This team is surely punching above its collective squad size and depth but my goodness they are a determined bunch of fighting beauties aren't they. I honestly cant wait for them to be at full strength with Arteta, Carzola, Rosicky, Diaby (*cough* ok lets not get carried away) all back and 100% fit. They'll be phenomenal. But even before that happens, one new development i'v observed in recent times is the way this team approaches closing down of opponents. Its done almost like its 2nd nature now when we lose the ball. Depending on the area of the pitch, it begins with 3 players quickly forming a ring around the opponent whilst the center-backs narrow to prevent any striker being fed through between our lines, just incase those 3 players fail to win back the ball. This little tactical bit of play prevents us being exposed and its damn effective. Hats-off to the coaching staff and the lads for finding a way to incorporate this into our game, it certainly was not very evident last season. I know it takes tremendous energy and commitment to play this way for 90mins and lets face it, they can't do that. However, Barcelona in 2010/11 played exactly this same way and steam rolled everyone in their path, if we can emulate half of their achievements trophy-wise in that glorious period not many will mind at all.
So on to the game i said in my preview that Sunderland are a team currently struggling. They've now played both the big boys and the lesser teams and haven't fared comparatively better in both levels. Going into this game in that sort of form, it was a no-brainer who the favorites were but still..its the Epl and the experts will tell you that the entitlement mentality is a dangerous thing in this league. We began the 1st half quite well, the passing was fluid and the new boy Ozil though greeted with some tasty tackles and overzealous harrying from Sunderland players began to do his thing. It was nice to see a bit of the old Jack Wilshere with that trademark spin and swashbuckling runs and it was him that created the first bit of danger in the 6th minute, running straight at the heart of the Sunderland defence before being crowded out and dispossessed. I was a bit at a loss as to where he'd fit in the midfield with Ozil's inclusion but watching the game it was then apparent he was placed on the left-side of attack. Our domination was complete in the 11th minute when Mesut Ozil brought down a Gibbs long ball from defence in immaculate style and in one swift move laid the ball across to the unrushing Giroud to bang in the opener and his 4th league goal of the season already. The pass was from Ozil was beautiful but the finish also was synonymous with a man in red hot form. Now we were already a good team without Ozil but with him believe me, we have moved up like 5 notches in quality. And when Carzola returns on the left to pair with this guy....*dammn*. More brilliance followed from the German as he set up Walcott twice into good positions but sadly the Winger misfired. I tweeted during the game that with Ozil in this team now, its imperative Arsene surrounds him with more striking quality. I said this because a player like Ozil wouldn't like to see his hard work wasted with misses of the kind Walcott produced today. I know on most days Theo is more clinical than that, but you get the feeling against stronger teams than Sunderland such misses will be far more costly.
The game really ought to have been wrapped up at the end of the first half, and as the second began you just knew Sunderland would be eager to tilt the balance of play. I read a tweet that said ''No team in the EPL plays shit for 90mins..Not even Shit teams'' Funny as that might sound but its a bang-on accurate statement. And Sunderland corroborated it at the start of the 2nd half. A mix up in our area in the 46th minute, saw the ball floated to Adam Johnson in our box. The forward not in any way a good goal scoring position was rashly brought down by Koscielny. Ref Matt Atkinson blew for the pen and Gardner made no mistake from the spot. At that point the game changed as Arsenal panicked a bit and allowed the ''crowd influenced'' Sunderland grow in confidence. This sparked a rash of close shaves as the offside flag came to our rescue on more than one occasion where conceding would have been disastrous. Steven Fletcher saw his effort chalked off while Gardener swung a free-kick dangerously close. We desperately needed to find some calm and perhaps a goal and in the 67th min Ramsey stood up to be counted. In a rare foray up-field, Jenkinson swung a knee high cross that was just the right height and pace for Ramsey (ever wondered why he's called Rambo?) to Volley past the Sunderland keeper. It was a blow for the Home team especially as they had been the more dominant side until then. Suddenly there came a moment of controversy that left many scratching their heads. In the 70th minute, Bacary Sagna who had been excellent all game long in central defense got into a kind of tango with powerful American international Jozy Altidore for the ball just outside our box. Altidore won the Tussle coasted into the box and fired past Szcesney into the net but the referee overuled the goal and blew for the freekick outside the box! Di canio and the Sunderland Fans were going Mad but the decision stood. Now quite frankly at first i thought that was slightly dubious, but on second thoughts i felt if the referee had blown his whistle in the course of that foul to STOP the play, then the play should have been stopped. I get the argument of others that the advantage should've been allowed but by the whistle already sounding, no play should have continued at all.. Its a tricky one i have to admit and i'll just end that topic by saying we can count ourselves very lucky to have not lost Sagna or found ourselves back to 2-2. Intrestingly enough, in the 76th minute Ramsey popped up brilliantly in the box to slot in a third for us and add salt upon the injury of the hapless home team. The game was up and Sunderland had no fight left in them to comeback.
Post match analysis as expected have centered more on that Ghost goal, but no one can say we weren't deserving of our victory. We were by far the better team and that cannot be argued. The only sad point in the game for me was seeing Giroud on the turf clutching at his knee. We CANNOT afford to lose him now at all. And it is time for the medical staff to earn their wages and ensure our Big french stud is not sidelined. We've already lost Podolski and Sanogo to lose Olivier will be as bad as it can get. So fingers crossed. There's talk of a striker being on his way to us, but it all sounds like tabloid fodder at this point. But we'll see.
So its the dizzying heights of the top of the league we stand at least until Monday. Hands up if that's where you'd love to see us come May? A little day dream never killed anyone eh? It was a nice bit of work by the Guys and they have now won 7 straight league away matches. You won't need me to tell you that is a fabulous record. I leave it to you to judge where we draw this strength from away from home but as long as it continues you wont hear me complain. Champions league is back in the week and you can be sure i'll be back too.. later (Follow @tonyskill on Twitter)
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