It was a really strange game and a strange week for football last week all around Europe. if you read on and see some of the stuff that went...
It was a really strange game and a strange week for football last week all around Europe. if you read on and see some of the stuff that went down (I’ll make a little summary of some at the end of this post).
Arsenal had just come of a much needed win away from home in Europe against Marseille and it was Ramsey who held the headlines again. Coming into the Stoke game, it was one that brought back some negative memories to the mid-fielder as he got his leg broken by the ‘shameless and brainless’ tackle of the quite “good-for-nothing” Shawcross. Time and time again many an Arsenal fan wanted him to score against Stoke but he hadn’t done that since the leg break, however, he didn’t pass up the opportunity this time around.
Also it was the home debut for Mesut Özil and he wasted no time in endearing himself to the home crowd as he had a hand (or should I say leg) in all three (3) Arsenal goals. Also it was a great game for Flamini who may not have been the signing that got fans excited as much as Mesut for instance but the important thing is that he is delivering on the pitch and that it exactly what matters in football – Results.
I had watched Stoke’s previous game against City and I had noticed their change in style as they had the ball on the ground more often than not and many a time during the match I thought it was Sunderland that was playing and not Stoke. On another day, Kenywne Jones should have scored at least goal in that game for them but it ended 0-0.
"Footballistically" speaking, I was impressed and I knew that Arsenal would have their work cut out especially when you consider we had to meet them after an away game in the Champions league. So it was.
No Arsenal game this season has started without a bit of unfortunate injury news and this one was no exception as news of Walcott’s unavailability filtered in and Gnabry had to step into his place on the pitch while Ryo took Gnabry’s place on the bench.
As most of Arsenal’s play has been all season long they dominated the opening exchanges and got a goal within 6 minutes as Ramsey who is in rich goal-scoring form could not help but be in the right place at the right time as Özil put in a free-kick which the keeper parried away but Ramsey was on hand to turn it in and he could not resist but put his finger across his lips to depict ‘shhhh’ to the Stoke fans who actually boo him for whatever reason every time he plays against them as the Arsenal fans showed their support by singing, “One Aaron Ramsey” . 1-0
Arsenal continued to dominate for the next 10-15 minutes but Stoke fought back and they pressed to an extent. The difference was that Arsenal are used to playing this type of system and have the players with the required technical per-requisite to execute such a style.
Stoke however would get back on level terms through a bit of poor play from Arsenal and a bit of luck on their part as Gibbs lost the ball and the ball was moved swiftly enough and Arnuatovic had a volley that hit the bar but came back to Geoff Cameron who scored to level the scores. He then became the third Geoff ever to score in Premier league history. 1-1
As an Arsenal fan, I normally would have started panicking at this moment but I didn’t. Was it the Özil effect? Maybe. Or have I become so used to disappointment from Arsenal that I don’t get bothered with slip-ups? Maybe. Or was I just too sure we had it in the tank to beat Stoke? Maybe.
Soon enough we got our next goal. Özil had already fired a warning shot about how good he was at taking set-pieces and how poorly Stoke were going to cope 4 minutes before the eventual goal, when he crossed but Mertesacker despite getting on the end of it couldn’t put it in. On the 2nd occasion however the stand-in Arsenal skipper could not be denied as he scored with a looping header over Asmir Begovic. The two had made this exact combination for the German National team just about 2 weeks before. 2-1
Arsenal consciously ensured they entered into the break with the lead despite the fact that Stoke had the opportunity to equalize soon after that goal.
The second half saw Stoke dominate possession and seemingly be the more impressive team from open play. However they lacked the much needed final ball. I wonder if the ex-barca midfielder Marc Muniesa would provide them with a bit of that. There was always a feeling that Arsenal needed a security goal just to ensure that there were no last minute slip-ups. It would come again from a set-piece.
Özil was again the provider from a free-kick and Sagna was the player at the end of it. It was his first goal in 19 months since the first edition of 5pur2 and boy did he celebrate it. 3-1
Wenger immediately rung the changes. He took of Wilshere and Gnabry (who had a good game) for Monreal and Ryo. While he ensured Özil enjoyed a standing ovation from the home crowd when he took him off for Arteta who was just returning from an injury.
Arsenal had to do a lot of defending and sitting back since there was tiredness and frankly no need to attack. Final whistle. The fans burst into songs of we are top of the league and why wouldn’t they, they’ve had to endure the rat race at the beginning of the season for so long now.
It was a much needed win for Arsenal. A brilliant home debut for Mesut Özil. A fantastic game from Flamini. An impressive game from Gnabry because Stoke isn’t the “ideal” club to make your full premier league debut against. He may not have scored any scorcher of a goal or produced a brilliant assist but he was tidy and offered a bit more defensively than Walcott because he not only tracked back, he recovered the ball on a certain number of occasions. I think Joachim Löw who was present at the game would agree with me too.
It was great to have Arteta back too. He is my best Arsenal player and I’ve felt time and time again that we’ve missed him and if we hadn’t signed Flamini when we did, we probably would have been singing a different tune concerning this season.
So what strange things happened this weekend
- Mikel Obi scored!!! (Seriously!). I’m happy for him as a Nigerian but not necessarily as an Arsenal fan
- Balotelli missed a penalty for the best time in his career
- Arsenal scored from 3 set-pieces against Stoke while Stoke scored from open play
- Barcelona conceded possession to Rayo Vallecano and had the lower possession stat in the league since 2008 against Madrid'
- United lost in a big way with Webb in the middle
- Arsenal have now won 2 games in a row with Mike Dean officiating since God knows when (this one boggles my mind)
