What took you so long, guys? Pic via Daily Mail.
Arsenal 1: Song 88
West Ham United 0
It had all of the makings of "just one of those days" for Arsenal. The Gunners certainly had their chances, but weren't exactly firing on all cylinders. It's super-cliche, and you've heard it about eight billion times about this match already (sorry the recap is late, I blame Halloween,) but championship caliber teams have to be able to win ugly: Chelsea pulled three points out of nothing at Blackburn on Saturday; Manchester City did not at Wolves.
Arsene Wenger made only one change to the side from the eleven that beat ten man Manchester City last week. Laurent Koscielny, returning from a back injury, slipped back into the line-up, replacing Johan Djourou at center back. Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner started the match on the bench.
A major cause of concern, and perhaps a major reason why it took Arsenal so long to find the winner, was the fitness of captain Cesc Fabregas. The Spaniard returned from a hamstring injury about two weeks ago and saw twenty minutes off the bench, surprisingly but I suppose he needed the minutes, on Wednesday in the Carling Cup at Newcastle. Fabregas picked up a twinge in the hamstring again in the first half on Saturday, and Arsene Wenger nearly pulled him from the side at halftime. Fortunately, Fabregas improved in the second half and eventually Arsenal found the winner. I'd say it's unlikely Cesc makes the trip to Ukraine on Wednesday.
Speaking of that winner, it marks Alex Song's fourth goal of the season; Song had four career goals coming into this season and only scored once last year (a header at Portsmouth.) The build up to the goal came courtesy of Gael Clichy, who cut back in around a defender, switched over to his right foot, and sent in a cross to the box that was met with the head of the diving Song, who poked it past a helpless Robert Green in the 88th minute. The last time Arsenal left a winner so late, we coined the term tantric football.
And speaking of Robert Green, he was far and away the best player on the pitch on Saturday, at times single-handedly keeping West Ham in contention. The Hammers are a side desperate for points, sitting at the bottom of the league table, and now three points adrift of their nearest competition. They played desperate on Saturday (and they always seem to get up for Arsenal matches,) defending with tenacity (there was one period when West Ham blocked about five or six Arsenal shots in a row, all while having a player down injured in the middle of it all,) and looking occasionally dangerous offensively. Lukasz Fabianski did not have to make any superb saves in this one in order to keep another clean sheet, Arsenal's third in a row across all competitions.
But, it certainly felt like Arsenal's winner wasn't coming, because Robert Green's saves became more and more ridiculous. In the first half, he stopped a close range effort from Fabregas, then tipped a powerful Sebastian Squillaci shot over the bar. Fabregas was robbed again in the second half, as was Theo Walcott twice (once by the goalpost,) and Samir Nasri fired a perfect free kick off the crossbar as well. Six brilliant chances had gone begging before Song's header sealed three points.
In terms of how the rest of the team performed, the defense was solid and it's good to see Koscielny back from injury. Alex Song continues to frustrate in that he seems to drift out of his holding role into a box-to-box role, but if he keeps scoring 88th minute winners, I'll give him a pass. Denilson had an off game, but he's likely dropping back to the bench now that Jack Wilshere's suspension has been served. Nothing I can add about Andrei Arshavin hasn't been said already.
All in all, with a treacherous month of fixtures ahead (more on that in a post coming later today,) it's good that Arsenal come in with a load of confidence, and winning now four matches across all competitions is a good start. A win on Wednesday in the Ukraine will essentially seal Arsenal's winning the Champions League group and render the later trip to Braga as moot, which would be nice since that match falls between tricky fixtures against Spurs and Villa. The pieces are falling into place for this team. Let's just hope they keep rolling.
And speaking of Robert Green, he was far and away the best player on the pitch on Saturday, at times single-handedly keeping West Ham in contention. The Hammers are a side desperate for points, sitting at the bottom of the league table, and now three points adrift of their nearest competition. They played desperate on Saturday (and they always seem to get up for Arsenal matches,) defending with tenacity (there was one period when West Ham blocked about five or six Arsenal shots in a row, all while having a player down injured in the middle of it all,) and looking occasionally dangerous offensively. Lukasz Fabianski did not have to make any superb saves in this one in order to keep another clean sheet, Arsenal's third in a row across all competitions.
But, it certainly felt like Arsenal's winner wasn't coming, because Robert Green's saves became more and more ridiculous. In the first half, he stopped a close range effort from Fabregas, then tipped a powerful Sebastian Squillaci shot over the bar. Fabregas was robbed again in the second half, as was Theo Walcott twice (once by the goalpost,) and Samir Nasri fired a perfect free kick off the crossbar as well. Six brilliant chances had gone begging before Song's header sealed three points.
In terms of how the rest of the team performed, the defense was solid and it's good to see Koscielny back from injury. Alex Song continues to frustrate in that he seems to drift out of his holding role into a box-to-box role, but if he keeps scoring 88th minute winners, I'll give him a pass. Denilson had an off game, but he's likely dropping back to the bench now that Jack Wilshere's suspension has been served. Nothing I can add about Andrei Arshavin hasn't been said already.
All in all, with a treacherous month of fixtures ahead (more on that in a post coming later today,) it's good that Arsenal come in with a load of confidence, and winning now four matches across all competitions is a good start. A win on Wednesday in the Ukraine will essentially seal Arsenal's winning the Champions League group and render the later trip to Braga as moot, which would be nice since that match falls between tricky fixtures against Spurs and Villa. The pieces are falling into place for this team. Let's just hope they keep rolling.
Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Robert Green
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