"HAHA! We're winning before you could even find a Web stream!" Pic via Guardian.
Wolves 0
Arsenal 2: Chamakh 1, 90+4
It might have taken under 40 seconds for Arsenal to take the lead at Molineux tonight, but it certainly took all of the match to make that lead comfortable. Marouane Chamakh picked up a brace, scoring in the first and final minutes of play to get Arsenal back on the winning track. Chelsea's win means Arsenal remains five points out of first place, but they are now one point out of second after the Manchester derby ended in a boring, boring draw.
Three changes were made to the side that didn't really show up on Sunday: Laurent Koscielny's suspension meant Johan Djourou returned to partner Sebastian Squillaci at center half. Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott dropped to the bench; Andrei Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky started on the wings in their place, on the left and right, respectively.
Chamakh's opening goal was the fastest Premier League goal in Arsenal history. I can't quite get a consistent number of seconds it took from various media outlets. The BBC says 37 but Arsenal's own recap says 38. The match commentators said 39. Let's go with that lowest one then and say it was 37 (that was always a lucky number for me, too.) Tomas Rosicky won the ball in midfield, found Alex Song in space, who found Chamakh's head with his cross.
From there, as expected, Wolves put up quite a fight. No team has taken three points from Wolves easily this year: Chelsea came away with one of their most uncomfortable wins at Stamford Bridge this season, while Manchester United left it until the death to win at Old Trafford on Saturday. And City outright lost at Molineux. A lack of adroit finishing kept Arsenal from coasting to the finish line, especially two specific chances in the second half: Cesc Fabregas was through on goal and fired poorly wide, then Djourou poked the ball wide during a goal line scramble after Squillaci couldn't find it in his own feet.
Thanks to missed opportunities, the end was nervy, and I'm sure we all thought back to that finish at Sunderland two months ago and realized this was a similar situation (aside from not being down to ten men.) Lukasz Fabianski, wearing a whole lot of bright pink, kept his clean sheet with a number of remarkable saves. Wolves kept banging on the door in the final minutes, but Fabianski and the Arsenal defense kept pushing them back out. Fabianski made a brilliant, one-armed, diving save in the 93rd minute that had the feeling it had sealed the game, but then he threw the ball back into play way too quickly. Time killing, anyone?
But, do you know what's better than time killing? Scoring another goal, which is what Arsenal did from that possession. Fabianski's throw found Rosicky who passed to Fabregas who chipped a through ball to Chamakh, who coolly picked up his brace past the diving American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann. Chamakh picked up a goal in the first minute and another in the 94th, the longest time between goals scored by the same player in the same Premier League game.
Unfortunately, much of the talk after the match was about Cesc Fabregas's tackle on Stephen Ward, which left Ward with a huge gash on his leg and saw the Wolves player taken off the field on a stretcher. Referee Mark Halsey chose only to show Fabregas a yellow card as the fans at Molineux were screaming for blood. There was never intent in the challenge, Fabregas was sliding across to block a clearance along the line and arrived late. A yellow was fair, but a red card would not have been out of the question (though harsh;) Joe Cole was sent off at Anfield for the exact same offense on opening day. which back then I called "ill-timed but not ill-intentioned." Meanwhile, Andrei Arshavin and Alex Song also took challenges that could have been leg-breakers, so, considering Fabregas and Arsene Wenger apologized and Wolves have moved on, having taken it like men, let's all just move on and shut up about it, okay? Yes, I'm talking to you, Alan Hansen on Match of the Day.
So, to recap: Fabianski has bounced back from his one poor showing this season, which is great news. Chamakh has bounced back from looking sluggish on Sunday, which is great news. The back four looked more competent than they have in the past, which is great news, though with Thomas Vermaelen's season possibly over with his Achilles injury, it's going to be touch-and-go back there all year. I can't really say anyone had a poor performance. Arsenal needed these three points and it's great to see the side actually put up a quality fight to get them. Now, in a stretch of fixtures that will define the rest of the season, let's get three more at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Lukasz Fabianski
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