Match Review: Arsenal 2 vs 0 Cardiff City: (Blood Pressure test at the Emirates ends in Joy)

samurai savior strikes

Phew! If you have been an Arsenal supporter as long as i'v been under Wenger's years, you would have been familiar with what we saw yesterday evening. A tense, nervy, distressing end to a game that we need a win from.. then in a twinkle of an eye...excitement, Joy, Relief, and fan gloating as we eventually win....This occasion, the first day of the Year 2014 we got lucky and got the result we wanted ..In the past,we certainly have seen many down the years that didn't end quite as happily but still this sort of games always serve to remind us that football is never cut and dried. You cannot simply go into a game expecting your opponents will not be tough because they are not a big name in the game. I don't think we underrated Cardiff city in any sense, the terrible weather conditions were similar to the Chelsea tie and definitely affected the flow of our game. But my feeling whilst watching how we played so much better in the 2nd half was that we never really gave everything we could've given in terms of effort in the 1st half. Over at the pub, i kept asking Gooner Sam (my pub mate)'' why didn't they play like this in the first half..we would have wrapped the game up earlier'' the answer he gave was in his characteristic one liner...''cos' they know there's no Third Half'' he said..''They know they either go for broke now or we drop points..simple as''. So after labouring with no end result in the first-half, we camped in the Cardiff 18 yard box desperately trying to break them down in the 2nd half. Being so organised, they stood their ground and wouldn't let us breach them to find an opening. Then on came ''Iceman Nick'' for Podolski in the 65th min and in the 89th minute he did what some of us have known as his trademark back in the day, he grabbed a late goal to calm our collective nerves. What i liked about the Goal is his instinctive, and calm execution of the strike. Make no mistake, many a good players would  have skied that effort easily due to (a) The playing conditions  (b) the Haste to score knowing time was running out and (c) lack of anticipation of that all important rebound. Walcott then scored his 5th goal in 5games to bury the visitors.

Its still a long way to  go in the season, so we can't over celebrate though. We need to quickly forget this win and look to the next game which is  Tottenham in the FA cup. A win in that game will no doubt boost belief and confidence moving forward. Quick word on Podolski, he may not have performed as expected last night, but as the boss explained..we have to recall he has been out for 4months. However, he has shown before last night that his game isn't suited to the lone striker role. Perhaps a left-sided attacker yes, but never up top. He lacks the ability to make those runs  and position himself in areas where he can be dangerous with that left foot. All this boils down to us appreciating Giroud and the work he does in that lone striker role. Its not an easy role. 

Back to the Top of the league, and yes it feels good. However the warnings of dropping point  that this game provided last night must not be lost. We must give everything from the first to the last minute regardless of who it is we are playing. Its risky business to go through the motions in the 1st half, believing we can always then step it up in the 2nd. We got away with this one, so we march on. Back at the weekend.