Sunderland 0 - 1 Arsenal: Every side of Arsenal

First Half

Arsenal were facing problems even before the game started when Laurent Koscielny injured himself in the warm-up. Our current shortage of centre backs meant that Bacary Sagna had to slot in alongside Mertesacker as Jenkinson came in at right back. It's so very Arsenal that a player who was already a doubt for the game injured himself mere moments before kick off, forcing us to play an out-of-form player as a make-shift centre back.

Things looked up considerably during the half, though. After a very open eight minute start that involved a decent chance for Sunderland, a yellow card for a bad tackle from Clattermole, a good chance for Walcott, another shot on target from us and a yellow card for Jenkinson, Arsenal settled into a good rhythm and controlled the game. Wenger's decision to leave Podolski out and deploy an extra midfielder in Ramsey seemed vindicated as our midfield proceeded to dominate. Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla, roaming about all over the place, were a joy to behold. Even though Sunderland put in a number of strong tackles, they couldn't contain those two.

We made a lot of half-chances. Walcott seemed intent to shoot on sight, with a decent volley saved comfortably and shot from just outside the area steered wide. Giroud had a good effort that went just wide of the far post. Ramsey's drive from distance was saved very well by Mignolet.

Sunderland really weren't threatening and a goal inevitably came after some more good player. Wilshere breezed past two Sunderland players before finding Walcott in the D. Walcott turned to create space and opted to lay the ball off to Cazorla instead of shooting at goal. First time, Cazorla drove the ball into the far corner.

It was the sort of high quality finish that we'd been lacking in this half. There weren't a lot of clear cut opportunities for us as were intent on playing narrow and through the centre, where Sunderland made sure they had plenty of bodies.

The score should have been 2-0 going into half-time after Ramsey found himself with a glorious chance. Unfortunately, he failed to beat the Sunderland keeper. 1-0 at half time.

Second Half

The tide of the game changed quite drastically when Wilshere was forced of due to injury in the 49th minute. Suddenly, Sunderland seemed to gain confidence while Arsenal seemed to struggle to regain control over the game; not helped, of course, by Diaby not being up to the pace of the game.

Around the 66th minute, with Sunderland in the ascendency, Jenkinson picked up his second yellow card for a poorly timed tackle. Sessegnon had beaten him easily and he dove in, getting no where near the ball in the process.

Down to ten men, we really had to defend with our backs against the wall. Ramsey went into right back while Giroud tried to latch onto any passes we could get to him. We managed to create some of our best chances during this period; Diaby placed a shot straight at the keeper, Giroud shot wide, Walcott hit the post and Cazorla shot over twice from good positions.

At our end, there was a bit of last-ditch defending going on. Szczesny made about four important saves to keep us in while Sagna and Mertesacker stood firm against the several balls that were pumped into our box. Ramsey was dogged at right back, while Diaby and Arteta did their best to get in and help while looking to see if they could counter attack. Even Giroud was getting involved, getting in some great defensive headers.

Somehow, the game ended 1-0.

Nothing like a old-fashioned, battling away win

We saw just about every side of Arsenal today: the unlucky injury-plagued side before the game with Koscielny's injury; the fluid, beautiful football side in the first half; the rash and error prone side with Jenkinson's red card; the typical wastefulness in front goal in the second half and the steely, determined attitude that we, unfortunately, don't see often enough.

The game could have and probably should have been a comfortable win with the amount of chances we had, and on another day it could have ended in a draw or defeat because we didn't take those chances. Nonetheless, it was a battling display where everyone put in 100% to ensure that the three points were safe. Although it was tough to watch at times, there's something greatly satisfying about winning this way. The reaction of the players after the final whistle said a lot.

At this point, every win is vital and we've got a couple more winnable games this month before a season-defining March with games against Everton and Spurs coming up.

Our finishing

Great performance when we still had XI on the pitch though. Could have been an absolute blowout on another day.

Wtf was that game

Amazing performance defensively. Sagna was a ROCK. Szczesny was unbeatable.

Atleast 4-5 easy chances missed

but Szczesny and Sagna were both BEASTS

3) Chelsea 49pts
4) Spurs 48pts
5) Arsenal 44pts
6) Everton* 42pts

*play Man Utd (a) tomorrow.

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Next 3 AFC fixtures: Blackburn (h) Bayern Munich (h) Aston Villa (h)

What an amazing game..
We dominated and lead the first half.. How things can change crazy..? Then we saw us defending a goal lead with 10 men with Sagna at CB and Ramsey at RB...
I totally gave up when Walcotts finish hit the post.. How destroyed will be the team if we dropped points after that..
Cunderland was worse than Stoke.. Almost all our players were knocked down and bruised.. Giroud was so good defensively and in the second half with his passing.. But he was wasteful in front taking wrong decisions many times.. He is very important in such a game when we can just hoof the ball upto him.. Our game was very good that we could create many chances with 10 men but failed to finish off the match.. Arteta showed his experience in the last 30 mins keeping possession and winning fouls.. Cazorla had a better match but his shots were too wide.. Walcott looked threatening.. Wilshere is the driving force of this team.. Hope he is find and it was only a precaution..
So a hard fought win inspite of bad luck and poor finishing.. Helping us to stay near Chelsea and Bale..

Ratings
Sczeny- 8 amazing reflex saves and held his nerve well to win the match..
Jenko - 4 looked out of touch.. And his inexperienced showed again..
Sagna- 8 motm.. Looked so comfortable as he was playing cb his whole life..
Metskr - 7 great match..
Monreal - 5 was poor..
Ramsey - 6 looked good in the first half.. Later did a good work at RB holding possession well and some good passing..
Arteta- 6.5
Wilshere - 7
Cazorla - 6.5
Giroud - 6
Diaby - 6
Walcott - 6

Perfect title yet again Jay,we saw the good,the bad and the ugly side of our team.

But what matters at the end of the day are the 3 points.

Hope Everton draw against Utd, then we're set for that 4th place trophy.

Jenkinson almost cost us 3 points, wtf is he doing?

Our finishing in front of goals was just .

Raptorgunner wrote:Jenkinson almost cost us 3 points, wtf is he doing?

He was so off the pace today, poor passing, poor defending, rash tackles.

Sagna and Szczesny. What beasts. World class from both today

For the first time, the entire midfield had a good game. Jack and Santi were just class while Ramsey put it a decent performance.

Giroud Stats took a big hit today.

Physically im suffering from that 2nd half

Mentally im Glad thats another 3 delicious points

Bacay Sagna: 14 Clearances, 1 Tackle, 2 Interceptions, 5 Aerials Won, 79% Passing Accuracy. and Woj

loved the way our midfield played in 1st half
shame about missed chances
Goal difference matters after all

any news on jack?

Any news on Jack? do we even have enough players to play Bayren?

Wenger said Jack should be just a few days.

Arsène confirms that Jack Wilshere's injury isn't serious, and he'll be out for a "few days". Great

You guys know what "few days" mean right?

Let's hope that's not the case.

I think I'm a good 20 years older after watching that match.

Deserved victory. Or maybe I should say a well needed victory. Keeping pace with Spurs and Chelsea and moving above Everton (at least for the time being)

Sagna was fecking BOSS!!! Szczesny made some crazy saves and won us the match. Our linkup play in the first half was very good and very pleasing on the eye. Wonderfully worked goal. We had a lot of other good chances which we wasted. But at the end of the day we got the win, and with that, building up some momentum as we're heading into a crucial part of the season.

P.S. Hope Wilshere's injury ain't serious.

Full first half https://www.dailymotion.com/video/kE62hcG1IB64K23No0C

Full Second half https://www.dailymotion.com/video/k3nm30U19zVgfY3No57

I think it was a good decision for Arsene to not take Giroud off. Even though he was poor in the opposition half. His height was the key at corners and Freekicks. Along with Diaby.

Sczeny- 8
Jenko - 4
Sagna- 9
Metskr - 7
Monreal - 7
Ramsey - 7
Arteta- 6
Wilshere - 7
Cazorla - 7
Giroud - 4
Diaby - 5
Walcott - 7

Impressed with our fighting qualities after Jenks got himself sent off.

Thought Sagna was outstanding at CB.

Bad game from us but good result no doubt. Clean sheet and win.

We need to do better than this though, Sunderland played like we do when we are losing and we did like our opponents do when they're winning. Instead of passing the ball around and frustrating the opponent, we acted like a midtable team and set back for almost 30 minutes.

Can't help but feel that the Bayern match will be a disaster, imagine Ribery, Kroos, Müller all coming at our defence - I don't expect us to beat Bayern but I really hope it won't be as embarrassing as last season vs Milan or even worse. Not asking too much am I?

I think you're being harsh there, Urban. No doubt the win should have been more comfortable, but it's very difficult to control possession when you're a man down against a side with their tails up, especially when one of your best midfielders had gone off injured and another was playing as a make-shift right back.

The scoreline is deceptive and makes our performance looks worst than it was. If we had taken a couple of the numerous chances we had created, we'd all be praising how we played an excellent counter-attacking game with ten men. We didn't take those chances, but we were still sensible in committing the majority of the team to protecting the lead. How many times in the past have we complained that we don't do enough to protect leads?

As for the Bayern game, I don't use being embarrassed. If the team puts in 100% effort and plays with belief, it stands a good chance of winning the game.

I thought the performance was good, We created a number of chances and defended well. The first half was probably the best football we have played all season apart from the reading game. The only disappointment was how wasteful we were in front of goals.