Arsenal 0 - 0 Manchester City: Boring, Boring City

"I am going to hit you in the head with my own head!" Pic via Guardian.

Arsenal 0

Manchester City 0 

In yesterday's big title implication showdown at the Emirates, we learned a few things. Mainly, that Arsenal are still a little rusty in the finishing department, to a frustrating level, and that Manchester City has no intention of trying to win big matches. Their strategy to win the league seems to be "steal a point against your title rivals and hope you do better against the rest of the pack than they do." Never before has a team in second place tried to win so little.

As expected, Arsenal started with the same XI that played against Chelsea last week and against Birmingham at the weekend, with Fabianski in goal, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, and Clichy on the back line, Father Christmas Song and Wilshere in the holding roles, Fabregas in the middle, van Persie up front, and Nasri and Walcott on the wings. Manchester City started with a goalkeeper, Carlos Tevez, and apparently nine defenders.

The first ten minutes of this match were, quite honestly, ridiculous. Jack Wilshere sent a brilliant cross through the face of the goal that Robin van Persie could not quite reach to tap into the gaping net in the second minute. City went the other way and James Milner had a shot twist just wide in the sixth minute (City's best chance of the game, FYI.) Then van Persie hit the post in the eighth minute and Wilshere had a shot saved by Joe Hart in the ninth.

The, things started settling into nothingness for a while. In the 27th, Arsenal hit the post again about ten million times. Actually, it was three, as they hit both posts and the crossbar. Cesc Fabregas pounded a shot that careened off the same post van Persie had hit twenty minutes earlier and the rebound bounced to Theo Walcott, whose shot ricocheted off the other post and then off the crossbar. You should get a point for hitting all three in quick succession like that! Then again, Walcott was ruled offside. Arsenal then became Arsenal again, in that they began passing the ball too many times in the final third while always neglecting to take shots. The match was still, shockingly, scoreless at halftime.

Arsenal continued in the same pattern of missed opportunities in the second half, and by the hour mark, you could tell it was just one of those nights. Arsenal took almost every corner short, as they had no chance of winning a ball in the air in the box. Generally, that led to more Arsenaling before a misplaced pass and loss of possession.

Walcott was removed in the 67th for Andrei Arshavin and the young Englishman was none too pleased about the move. Tactically, this pushed Samir Nasri to the right wing. Then, the puzzling change. In the 81st, Nicklas Bendtner came on, surprisingly instead of Marouane Chamakh. But, that's not the most puzzling part. Bendtner came on for Jack Wilshere, which also isn't surprising, as Arsene Wenger was bringing on a striker for a midfielder as the team was in need for a goal. And then, inexplicably, Bendtner played on the left wing, which meant Arsenal's formation had changed to a 4-1-Nonsense. Arsenal's best chance in the closing minutes came from a Robin van Persie free kick which he fired over the bar.

Both sides ended on ten men.

Things got nasty in the 88th, as Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta got into an argument on the touchline, both head-butted each other, and both were sent off. Sagna was clearly the aggressor (as such, Zabaleta has appealed the red card and Sagna will not; I hope the appeal is deemed frivolous.) Sagna now faces a three match ban, against the likes of Leeds, Ipswich, and West Ham, three Championship sides (zing!) After this, City made a substitution to take their only offensive player off in exchange for a defensive midfielder. As such, City were booed off the pitch after the match.

In the end, a dreadful match that only serves to please Manchester United, who are suddenly starting to coast ahead in the title race. Someone needs to beat them, and soon. I think their next league game is at Spurs. Ahh, don't make me root for Spurs... Oh God, I'm getting sick just thinking about that match a week from Saturday. Anyway, Arsenal are now four points out of top spot and United has a game in hand, so you should probably think of it as seven. Now it's time to start thinking about the domestic cups for a little bit, and try to forget about what happened yesterday as quickly as you can.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: The woodwork behind Joe Hart

Wigan Athletic 2 - 2 Arsenal: House of Horrors

Wrong net, Sebastien. Pic via Daily Mail.

Wigan Athletic 2: Watson 18 (pen), Squillaci 81 (og)

Arsenal 2: Arshavin 39, Bendtner 44

Monday's psychologically crucial win over Chelsea would mean nothing if Arsenal could not keep the winning ways going; dropping points on Wednesday at Wigan Athletic would likely undo many of the positive strides this team made at the Emirates this week. The 2-2 draw didn't undo everything Arsenal accomplished on Monday, but it certainly has taken the luster off. Perhaps more importantly, it raises, again, many of the same questions about this team.

First and foremost, Arsenal made a stunning eight changes to the side that started on Monday, which isn't entirely surprising given this match took place only 48 hours later. I was expecting maybe five changes at most and I think eight was a bit much. However, unlike what I may have drunkenly thought at the pub yesterday, rotation is not the reason Arsenal dropped points in this match (FYI, I just typed "lost this match" before correcting myself, because that's how it feels.) Of the eight players who entered the squad that did not start on Monday, seven are internationals. Even if it wasn't our top choice side, these are players who still should get the job done at Wigan.

So, in terms of what those changes were, Emmanuel Eboue started out of position at left back for Gael Clichy and Sebastien Squillaci returned in place of Johan Djourou. Abou Diaby and Denilson started in the holding roles for Alex Song and Jack Wilshere (Denilson is the one change that's not an international.) The front four changed entirely as well, with Marouane Chamakh starting up front, Tomas Rosicky starting for the suspended Cesc Fabregas, and Andrei Arshavin playing left wing with Nicklas Bendtner on the right.

Wigan started the match strong and really took it to Arsenal right off the bat. The Latics, in fact, should have gone ahead 1-0 as early as the third minute when Hugo Rodallega dispossesed Laurent Koscielny, found Tom Cleverley, whose cross back for Rodallega just missed the Colombian's head. Poor piece of defending from Koscielny to let Rodallega get in that position.

Wigan would, however, go up 1-0 in the 18th minute from the penalty spot. Just centimeters inside the area, Koscielny was caught with his leg out and Charles N'Zogbia took the opportunity to go down to draw the call. From the live action, I thought it was the correct call, but on replays saw that there was almost no contact and N'Zogbia went down easily. Ben Watson took the spot kick and scored, despite Lukasz Fabianski guessing right.

From there, every Gooner in the world was wondering which Arsenal team would respond. Would they capitulate or respond? By the half hour mark, Arsenal started to respond, thanks to the play of Arshavin and Bendtner, and after a six minute span near the end of the half, Arsenal turned their deficit into a 2-1 lead. The turning point started with a calf injury suffered by Abou Diaby. Reports are that he'll be out for a few weeks ago. This meant the introduction of Jack Wilshere, and therefore, a bit more creative spark in the midfield.

Bendtner puts Arsenal up 2-1 at halftime.

Arsenal drew level in the 39th minute. A Bendtner shot was only parried away by Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi and the rebound bounced to Arshavin, who thundered in an acrobatic volley shot. Five minutes later, Arsenal had the lead. Arshavin's through ball was not the best and there was an element of luck in Bendtner getting through two Wigan defenders but his finish was superb. Suddenly, things were looking up.

The second half brought some problems; Arsenal seemed content to coast with their lead. They nearly had a third in the 59th off a corner, but Chamakh's header whistled just wide of an unattended post. They didn't completely take their foot off the accelerator, as they did at Wigan in April, but they still did not do enough to put this match to bed.

It looked like they wouldn't need to for a while, especially when Wigan was reduced to 10 men in the 79th minute, when N'Zogbia foolishly headbutted Wilshere. Yet, three minutes later, Wigan were level, and it came from a common Arsenal problem, that is, poor defending on set pieces. Gary Caldwell positioned himself goal-side of defender Sebastien Squillaci, which meant then when the ball was delivered, there was absolutely nothing Squillaci could do to save the situation, taking an own goal in the process.

Arsenal's knee jerk reaction was to bring on Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott, giving them all of seven minutes plus injury time to pick up a winner. Walcott was invisible, but Nasri came close and Arsenal should have had a penalty in the 89th, when Nasri's free kick struck a Wigan arm in the box. It's exactly what Fabregas did to get booked and concede a penalty against Spurs in November. Arsenal should have had the chance to win the game from the spot, but Lee Probert did not give them the chance.

That said, you can't blame Probert for the draw based on that decision. You can't entirely blame Arsene Wenger for making so many changes either, this is still a squad of quality substitutes that should still be expected to pick up three points at Wigan. You can blame the lack of vocal leadership on the pitch (which, I guess is a byproduct of so many changes) and you can also blame the continuously poor defending on set pieces (how has this not yet been fixed in training?)

Well, four points from two matches in the festive period so far, which I think we all would have taken at the start (though we would have assumed the draw and win would have been in different fixtures.) Now, a huge road trip to Birmingham on Saturday and another crucial chance to get back on the right track that needs to be taken.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Andrei Arshavin, though really, there were no standouts for this choice.

Arsenal 3 - 1 Chelsea: There's Only One Team in London

Nothing better than Theo Walcott celebrating behind a beaten Petr Cech. Pic via Daily Mail.

Arsenal 3: Song 44, Fabregas 51, Walcott 53

Chelsea 1: Ivanovic 57

You heard about it over and over and over again, that Arsenal could not rise to the occasion and win the big games. They hadn't beaten United or Chelsea in over two years. There was a psychological issue to overcome here, and if they couldn't jump over that hurdle, then this would probably not be Arsenal's year. On Monday, Arsenal finally passed the test.

Arsenal made a surprising and very welcome five changes to the side that lost at Old Trafford a fortnight ago. Lukasz Fabianski passed fit and returned to his place between the sticks as compatriot Wojciech Szczesny dropped back to the bench. Johan Djourou entered the starting line-up (finally!) as out-of-form Sebastien Squillaci dropped. Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie were both finally fit to start at the same time as Tomas Rosicky and Marouane Chamakh dropped, the latter needing a little rest. The biggest change was the return of Theo Walcott to the starting XI, as the lately ineffective Andrei Arshavin was banished the substitutes' bench.

In refreshing news, Arsenal had a strong start to the match, showing there were no signs of the nervousness the Gunners showed at Old Trafford. Cesc Fabregas spoke about the team being scared to lose in Manchester two weeks ago; Arsenal showed right off the bat that this was not the case against Chelsea. It was clear that Fabregas was back to full fitness and that the wingers, Samir Nasri on the left and Theo Walcott on the right, would cause Chelsea's back four problems. There were times when Walcott was running circles around Ashley Cole, and there is really nothing better than that for a Gooner.

That being said, Arsenal's attempts to pick the lock were met with some resistance at the start and through the first half hour, there wasn't much to speak of either way in terms of chances. Perhaps the first sign that Arsenal's luck against the Blues had turned was when Didier Drogba fired a shot wide on his first occasion in space. Drogba and Chelsea always seem to take advantage of every chance Arsenal gifts to them and this time, that didn't happen. That was Chelsea's only chance in the first half.

Rogue striker? Pic via Guardian.

Arsenal finally got in the door just before half time. Just after a brilliant chip shot from Samir Nasri was brilliant saved by Petr Cech's fingertips, Alex Song scored the opener. Song and Wilshere played a lovely one-two on the outside of the area to Fabregas, who went down in the box. Mark Clattenburg played advantage (it's hard to say if a penalty would have been given, I actually doubt it) and Alex Song took a left footed shot across the face of the goal and into the low corner.

Now, we've seen Arsenal capitulate from this position before, but their start to the second half was fantastic, in fact, they stole the ball back from Chelsea after just one pass to kick off the half. Arsenal had a second in the 51st, as a Michael Essien back pass succeeded in finding Theo Walcott. Walcott's pass across goal was tipped by a diving Cech, but only as far as Fabregas, who pounded the ball into the gaping net. Then, a third goal, as Walcott dispossessed Flourent Malouda, found Fabrgeas, who slotted a brilliant return for Walcott who found the net himself this time. Arsenal had three goals in ten minutes spanning both halves.

Remember, though, that this is Arsenal, and they never make it easy. Which is why it wasn't exactly shocking to me that Chelsea pinged a goal back four minutes later. Chelsea has a habit of burning Arsenal on set pieces and on this occasion, a perfectly placed free kick from Didier Drogba found the head of Branislav Ivanovic, who headed one home. The blame for this lies largely on Laurent Koscielny, whom Ivanovic leapt over, though Lukasz Fabianski, caught in a moment of indecisiveness, moved himself into a position where he had no chance to make a save.

We've seen Arsenal collapse in positions like this, but that was not the case on this night. Samir Nasri had a chance to add a fourth for Arsenal but his chip could not beat the arm of the out-rushing Cech. Abou Diaby returned for the first time since October and he had a chance to score, but took way too much time, tried switching to a favored foot, and let Frank Lampard get back to block. Chelsea looked threatening at times, but wasted all of their opportunities, and truly are now, a team in shambles.

From a player-by-player perspective, Fabianski had very little to do, Johan Djourou was fantastic at center half, Alex Song did well in both directions, and quite honestly, Arsenal's entire midfield and forwards dominated this match. There is no doubt about it. This was more than just three points for Arsenal. The belief is back. The confidence is back. This was probably their biggest win in at least two years.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Theo Walcott

Champions League: Arsenal 3 - 1 Partizan: You're Killing My Nerves

Who do you think this is? Guardian was told it was Song. That's not right...
Other images via Daily Mail.

Arsenal 3: van Persie 30 (pen), Walcott 73, Nasri 77

Partizan Belgrade 1: Cleo 52

Well, that was close.

There were 21 minutes this afternoon where I was absolutely terrified of seeing Arsenal in the Europa League really soon. I was pretty much a Braga goal away from total heart failure. Then, the Gunners made a substitution I thought was a quarter of an hour late, it paid off, and Arsenal secured qualification... and a date with a German side or a Spanish giant in the Round of 16. But the process in getting there, well, it was unpleasant.

Arsenal made three changes to the side that started against Fulham at the weekend. Laurent Koscielny was able to start despite picking up a concussion, so that was not one of the three changes. Kieran Gibbs started at left back in the place of Gael Clichy, Denilson started in the place of Jack Wilshere in midfield, and Robin van Persie started up front alongside Marouane Chamakh, in place of Tomas Rosicky.

This meant Arsenal would again, not play their standard 4-2-3-1, considering the RvP/Chamakh pairing; this is really more of a 4-2-2-2 with the usual holding midfielders playing back, Nasri and Arshavin playing along the wings, and the strikers up front. Of course, it's probably just easier to call it a 4-4-2. Then again, chatting with fellow Hipster Gooner contributor Jack Palmer during the match, he suggested that the formation is more easily described as "Leaky-Shaky-Melange."

There was talk in the lead-up to the match about how important it was for Arsenal to start on the front foot. Given how Arsenal can get nervous at home this season, scoring the first goal and moving forward from there was crucial. The boys in red and white were content trying to pick the lock to score their first goal during the first quarter of an hour, but they were met with much resistance; Partizan was completely content with getting as many players as they possibly could behind the ball. Combine this with Jack Wilshere on the bench, Samir Nasri out wide, and Andrei Arshavin having the beginning of an abysmal game, Arsenal was not getting much done creatively. There are times when I love Arsenal's tippy-tappy, pick the lock style, but at the start of a match like today, you've just gotta bang the God damned door down.

Robin van Persie puts Arsenal ahead from the spot.

The match turned slightly for the worse in the 17th minute when continuously unlucky Kieran Gibbs got his boot caught in the ground, causing him to turn on his ankle. He was stretchered off, then popped back up and came back out onto the pitch for about ten minutes and limped about before being taken off for Emmanuel Eboue. It's really a shame that Gibbs can't seem to go more than two or three games without picking up an injury, this time, without any contact whatsoever. This was a freak accident and hopefully it does not mean a long time on the sidelines for the young Englishman, as I much like Gael Clichy being pushed for his playing time.

Of course, with Clichy not on the bench (out with illness), Eboue was forced to play left back, a position he does not normally play. Even when Gibbs went off with injury at Newcastle in the Carling Cup, Eboue came on and played right back while Bacary Sagna slipped over to the left to cover. The injury led to a lull in concentration from the Gunners, their touches were a bit sloppier (not to say they weren't a little poor even before that) and for about ten minutes, partially while Gibbs was still on limping, Partizan looked threatening on the break. With the way Arsenal's back four have fared lately, anything was possible, but the home side came out of that period unscathed. Partizan tried to exploit Gibbs's injury while he was still on, but could not muster a chance on goal.

There has also been a lot of talk lately about Alex Song's positioning and in the post-match interviews over the weekend, Arsene Wenger confirmed that it was his decision to tell Song to push up a little more than in the past. However, it was Song's forward positioning that led to the chance that led to Arsenal's first goal, though in a roundabout way. Song came up with the ball at the right corner of the penalty area, then slipped a pass through to Robin van Persie. As the Dutchman tried to turn back toward goal, he was tripped by Radosav Petrovic, and the Italian referee pointed to the spot. At the first angle, I thought it was a dive, but that's because Petrovic's tripping leg was obscured. Good call and van Persie did not miss, seizing the opportunity to bury his first goal of the season. Arsenal led 1-0 at the half, though it was not convincing, and it was by no means entertaining.

"Here we go again..."

We've seen Arsenal so many times this year take the lead into halftime, then capitulate early in the second half. It happened against Spurs, it happened at Villa, and it happened again today. And oh boy, was it a shambolic goal. Arsenal started the second half looking for their second goal (and the first 45 seconds of the second half were more exciting than any of the 45 minutes of the first), but in the 52nd, Cleo took the ball 25 yards out, with no Arsenal defenders in front of him, save Sebastian Squillaci. Cleo took a shot, it caromed off Squillaci's foot and popped high in the air, leaving Lukasz Fabianski absolutely no chance. Suddenly, it was 1-1. Suddenly, the doubt was creeping in again. And suddenly, a Braga goal could've meant the Europa League in the coming months.

If you were nervous from the start of this match, like I was, then the next 21 minutes must have been absolutely terrifying. Chance after chance after chance went begging. At the hour mark, I questioned where Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere could have been hiding. The change of pace had to happen and Andrei Arshavin's disastrous game was dragging Arsenal down. There was no creativity; Samir Nasri was playing as hard as ever but could not find a finish. Robin van Persie and Marouane Chamakh looked uncomfortable together combining up front. Something had to change...

Theo Walcott sends Arsenal through.

The change finally came in the 66th minute as Arshavin was removed for Walcott. A nifty little one-two between he and Alex Song drew a foul as Walcott was body checked to the ground just outside of the box. RvP took the kick, it swerved beautifully, but Vladimir Stojkovic made a top class save and tipped it over the bar.

But seven minutes after coming on, Theo Walcott had a winner for Arsenal. A Sagna cross was blocked down, but cleared only as far as Theo, who chested it down and one-timed a shot across the face of the goal and into the net. And the panic was averted.

Then, Arsenal got a third just four minutes later to make the scoreline a little prettier (considering the effort today was, on the whole, abysmal.) Nicklas Bendtner, who had just come on for Chamakh, played another nifty one-two with Song (maybe he's not such a rogue striker after all,) Song found Nasri at the top of the box and he pounded a strike into the net to make things a little more comfortable.

The end of the match would not be without a little more bad news for Arsenal. With a Partizan striker through on goal and the possibility of a very nervy finish, Bacary Sagna, the last defender, tripped him just ahead of the box, and took a red card for the team. The resulting suspension in the Round of 16 is worrysome, but Sagna made a choice to ensure that Arsenal would be through and not make things more difficult in the final five minutes should Partizan have scored. Mind you, he did not know at the time that Shakhtar led by two and qualification was all but guaranteed.

In the end, this was probably not a good build up to a huge tilt with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday and I would love it if I could write a recap where I don't feel the urge to use the word "nervy" in every paragraph. Today we learned: 1) Chamakh and van Persie don't work together yet, 2) we need a creative player in the middle at all times (choose between Fabregas, Nasri, Rosicky, or Wilshere), 3) something has got to be done about this home form problem, and 4) we're off to either Germany or Spain in the next round.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Theo Walcott

Arsenal 2 - 1 Fulham: Samir Nas-a-ri! Nas-a-ri! Samir Nas-a-ri!

SNOOOOOOOOD! Pic via Guardian.

Arsenal 2: Nasri 14, 75

Fulham 1: Kamara 30

If you listen to the British media (and in so many cases, you really shouldn't), you'd be led to believe that it's absolutely appalling that Arsenal are top of the league at this moment, in spite of all their deficiencies. How could a team that concedes so many goals be in first? Well, FYI, only four teams have conceded fewer than Arsenal's 18. Chelsea has been a little more consistent (in that they were consistently great and are now consistently wobbling) and Manchester United can't seem to win in the league away from Old Trafford. The real story is just how strange this title race is going to be this year.

Once again, Arsenal have come away from an uncomfortable match with three points. A month ago, after beating West Ham 1-0, the pundits said "this is the kind of win that a champion grinds out." Now, after four losses in the month of November, the Guardian says the league is "succumbing to a form of 'leadership by the worst'."

Arsenal made nine changes to the side that beat Wigan in the Carling Cup on Tuesday, however, the side was unchanged from the XI that started at Aston Villa a week ago. Tomas Rosicky again filled the box-to-box Fabregas role, Andrei Arshavin and Samir Nasri started on the wings, and Marouane Chamakh started up top.

Andrei Arshavin nearly put the Gunners up in the early going. From a free kick taken by Jack Wilshere, Sebastien Squillaci's header down came to the feet of the diminutive Russian, whose shot was stopped point blank by former Arsenal transfer target Mark Schwarzer. Nasri came close as well, with a shot just wide following a through ball from Arshavin.

But Nasri would not miss in the 14th. Aaron Hughes failed to control a back pass and Arshavin pounced. Arshavin waited to send the ball through to Nasri, who made two defenders look foolish with his footwork (much as that child did to me on numerous occasions during the kick around on 14th Street during the Gooner Holiday Party) and thundered home Arsenal's opener. A Nasri cross nearly added another, but it hit Dickson Etuhu on defense instead of Arshavin and Schwarzer made the save. Alex Song missed wide on another chance after a cross from Rosicky.

After being ripped to shreds by the Arsenal attack for almost half an hour, Matthew Briggs was pulled from the game and replaced by Chris Baird. Though it was unrelated, Fulham's offense started to get in gear at this point. The Cottagers continually attempted to get Diomansy Kamara through on goal, but twice he was flagged offside. In the 30th, miscommunication between Squillaci and Laurent Koscielny led to a disastrous clash of heads, the latter taking it the worst. As Koscielny was dazed, Fulham took advantage. Clint Dempsey dribbled around a poor challenge from Song and found Kamara, slipping through the defense in the spot where Koscielny would have been covering if he wasn't concussed. An easy equalizer.

Johan Djourou came on for the injured Koscielny, and while the Swiss center back impressed during this match on the whole, his first moments in the match were rusty. Kamara was through one more time on goal after beating an offside trap, but Lukasz Fabianski made an excellent block. The Arsenal back four are clearly the Achilles heel of this team (no pun intended on Vermaelen's injury) as are those moments where Arsenal seem to flick the switch off. Kamara's goal stunned Arsenal to the point where Fulham absolutely dominated the final 15 minutes of the first half. If the half were about five minutes longer, the Cottagers could have had a crucial second or even third goal.

Arsenal had a number of chances early in the second half, including wide shots from Rosicky and Song, the rogue striker, plus an Arshavin shot that was saved by Schwarzer. Rosicky was pulled off for Robin van Persie in the 63rd, but soon, the chances began to go Fulham's way. Van Persie's first real involvement in the match was to block a Fulham shot off the line after Fabianski failed to punch a cross clear following a corner. Nervy moments indeed. For about twenty minutes, it looked like if a winner was coming, it'd be the boys in white scoring it.

But the brilliance would once again come from Samir Nasri and the boys in red had their winner in the 75th minute. Andrei Arshavin passed forward to van Persie, who looked like he was teeing up a shot on his left foot. Instead, he slipped a pass to Nasri, who deked around John Pantsil and Schwarzer, then turned his body around to fire the ball into the net from the tightest of angles. Nasri looked like he might have slightly aggravated the knee injury he picked up on Tuesday, but Arsenal had already used all three of their substitutes.

Fulham kept knocking on the door and the ending was by no means comfortable for a Gooner, but when the dust had settled and when Everton had equalized at Stamford Bridge, Arsenal had three points and were sitting on top of the league table. This team has so much to still work on, but first place is first place. I still have three wishes for this team as we enter the holiday season: a little more strength in the back line, a killer instinct to put teams away when they have the chance, and for Alex Song to remember what position he plays.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Samir Nasri

Aston Villa 2 - 4 Arsenal: It's Never Easy, Is It?

Yay! Pic via Facebook.

Aston Villa 2: Clark 52, 70

Arsenal 4: Arshavin 39, Nasri 45, Chamakh 56, Wilshere 90+3

Despite dominating large stretches of the match, including pretty much the entire first half, Arsenal still managed to make things difficult for themselves by conceding twice in the second half. After a difficult week on the pitch, a 2-0 lead at halftime just never feels safe anymore. In the end, the Gunners had answers for Villa's comebacks, and Arsenal once again pulled out a win in a tricky road fixture. Now, if they could only work on their home form...

Arsene Wenger made seven changes to the rotated side that looked disastrous at Braga. Three changes were made on the backline as Bacary Sagna, Laurent Koscielny, and Gael Clichy returned. Tomas Rosicky slipped in for the injured Fabregas. Alex Song, Andrei Arshavin, and Marouane Chamakh all returned to the side as well.

For all of Arsenal's pressure, there was nothing to show for it until the very end of the first half, when the Gunners struck twice. Andrei Arshavin took advantage of a number of defense miscues and finished his 30-yard dash by slotting the ball passed Brad Friedel and into the net for his first goal in the league since his winner at Blackburn in August. Arsenal should have had a second moments later, but Chamakh's shot hit the side netting. That second did come just before the half, as Samir Nasri thundered home a shot coming from a corner.

Arsenal were bright on the attack in the first half, but then again, they were the same last week at the Emirates and we all know how that turned out. And the script looked the same at the start of the second half this week. Arsenal were on the back foot after the restart, and Villa struck in the 52nd as Ciaran Clark fired home a poor clearance from Sebastian Squillaci. The goal probably should not have stood; even though he never touched the ball, John Carew was standing in an offside position and screened Lukasz Fabianski, which, by the letter of the law, is still interfering with the play. The rule here is so open to interpretation, though, that it's hard to fault the call not being made.

Unlike last week, when Arsenal fell further on the back foot after conceding, the Gunners answered Villa's strike immediately. Rosicky slotted a through ball to Chamakh, who found the net passed the outrushing Friedel. But, this match was far from over, and Clark made things difficult in the 70th, pounding a corner kick off the crossbar and straight down over the line. Twenty minutes to play and it was close again.

Arsenal waited until the 85th minute to finally make defensive substitutions, bringing on Kieran Gibbs and Denilson while removing Nasri and Arshavin. Gibbs took a ball to the corner to kill time and ended up winning a corner kick, after which Arsenal sent almost nobody forward for the set piece (which seemed odd; why not just take the corner short?) At least the Gunners took the pressure off the final minute as they regained their two goal lead in the 93rd. Jack Wilshere had the goal, his first in the Premier League for Arsenal, heading home a cross from Chamakh from close range. And, for at least two hours, Arsenal were top of the league for the first time since March.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Andrei Arshavin

Everton 1 - 2 Arsenal: A Perfect Weekend

Seriously, why couldn't Arsenal wear red? Was it the poppies? Pic via Daily Mail.

Everton 1: Cahill 89

Arsenal 2: Sagna 36, Fabregas 48

We saw both Arsenal teams at Goodison Park yesterday: the team that can control play for long stretches and the team that gets a little complacent, takes its foot off the accelerator, and struggles. Thankfully, that first team built up a large enough lead so that the second team managed to hold on. An unnecessarily nervy finish aside, Arsenal still should be applauded for picking up six less-than-easy road points in the last five days and closing the gap on Chelsea at the top of the table to two points. Remember, Arsenal was seven points out after losing at Stamford Bridge last month. It's an interesting season, indeed.

Arsenal made only one change to the side that beat Wolves on Wednesday, replacing Tomas Rosicky on the right wing with Samir Nasri, the more usual starter. Laurent Koscielny served the second and final match of his ban for his professional foul plus red card accumulation. He still stands to face another one match accumulation ban for his next yellow card, for your information.

Everton dominated the possession for much of the first ten minutes, though had little to show for the control. Arsenal finally managed a threat in the 10th minute when a Samir Nasri shot was blocked by Sylvain Distan. Tim Cahill had a golden opportunity to put the home side up just a minute later, but nodded a brilliant cross from Seamus Coleman wide of the mark. Andrei Arshavin followed with two long range shots that were just off as well.

Despite the Toffees' early pressure, Arsenal settled into the match well and dominated the rest of the first half, finally taking the lead in the final ten minutes of the half. Tim Howard made a brilliant save on a Nasri shot, but the ball never went out of play and Arshavin retained possession, slotting a pass into the box for Bacary Sagna, who thundered a shot past Howard to score his second career goal. They say a goalkeeper should never be beaten on his near post, but this shot was an absolute screamer. I had originally thought it hit the crossbar and bounced in and chalked it up to being a lucky goal, but on replay, saw how perfect the shot really was.

Puzzlingly at the time, Jack Wilshere was replaced at halftime by Denilson, leading everyone to believe that he must have picked up a knock during a first half where Everton played him quite physically. However, the substitution was explained to have been more tactical in purpose and Wilshere needed the rest, too.

The tactic didn't sit well with me at the start, as it felt like a negative substitution in what was only a 1-0 match. However, Denilson was fantastic in the holding role, and Arsenal extended their lead in the early going of the second half. Denilson found Cesc Fabregas with a pass, who then proceeded to play a 1-2 with Marouane Chamakh, as the captain one-timed a volley past Howard to double the lead.

From this point, controversy settled in. First, Everton attempted to ping a goal back immediately and Tim Cahill found Louis Saha with a flick-on and Saha was just about to be through on goal when Sebastien Squillaci tripped him and the foul was called. If he was clear and Squillaci was the last defender, then the center back should have been sent off. I thought at the time that he was level with Gael Clichy, however, and was not truly the last man back. Howard Webb showed only a yellow card, and the eventual free kick was straight at Lukasz Fabianski.

Then Fabregas, for the second time this week, escaped a straight red card with just a yellow on a similar challenge, arriving late to block a clearance. Let's be honest here, his tackle on Wednesday was not a red card and his tackle yesterday was even less severe. The media has been blowing these Fabregas challenges way out of proportion lately; both clearly did not have intent and this challenge was not even close to violent.

Arsenal had a few chances to put this match to bed but could not extend the lead to three, then for the final half hour, relaxed a little bit too much, content to sit on the lead. Manchester United learned back in September that sitting on a lead is not safe at Goodison Park, as they were burned twice in injury time to turn a 3-1 win into a 3-3 draw. Fabianski, as he did on Wednesday at Molineux, saved Arsenal's ass through the final ten minutes of the match, but this time, conceded in the 89th. Arsenal chose not to defend too much on a corner and Saha nodded a cross down to an open Cahill, who fired a shot past a helpless Fabianski. And suddenly, it was 2-1, and worry seeped in.

Immediately, a defensive change as Chamakh was pulled for Emmanuel Eboue. Everton had about two more chances, but Fabianski shut the door and Arsenal held on to take all three points. Given the other results this weekend (United draw, City draw, and *gasp* a Chelsea loss at home), Arsenal are deep in the thick of the title race in the early stages. They've shown they can fight for wins like a champion. If only they'd just stop showing signs of complacency when they think the match is comfortable, then this team can do some great things.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Cesc Fabregas

Wolves 0 - 2 Arsenal: Start and Finish

 

"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

Arsenal 0 - 1 Newcastle United: Srsly?

Well, hey, Chelsea lost! Pic via Guardian.

Arsenal 0

Newcastle United 1: Carroll 45

After Wednesday's loss in the Ukraine, there were many who said they would rather lose that match than lose on Sunday in the league. I think everyone feels rightly distraught now that they've actually lost both. And yet again, Arsenal fails to capitalize on a Chelsea loss (though, it's probably a blessing of some sort that Arsenal does not find themselves waking up this morning eight points off the pace.)

There were two changes made from the side that beat West Ham a week ago (I'm not going to compare the side to the rotated squad that played in Donetsk mid-week.) Jack Wilshere returned to his holding role from suspension, meaning Denilson dropped to the bench. In form Theo Walcott got the start on the right wing, pushing Samir Nasri to the left, and dropping Andrei Arshavin to the bench. Robin van Persie made a surprise return to the bench after only one full training session on Friday.

Arsene Wenger blamed complacency for Arsenal's Champions League defeat this week and said in pre-match interviews that, after already losing at home to West Bromwich Albion, the team would not be caught like that again, that the lessons had been learned.

It didn't look like it. This was, for sure, Arsenal's worst performance of the season, and I'm hard pressed to think of any performances at home that were as poor as this from last season. Now, I'm running too late this morning to wax poetic on this disaster, so here are the dirty details of this one in bullet point fashion:

• It is apparent to me that Cesc Fabregas is still injured, at least enough to make him completely ineffective. The offense cannot run if your playmaking attacking midfielder is struggling to complete passes. An uncharacteristically high 16 of his 60 passes were unsuccessful. It's even more worrying to me that Samir Nasri picked up a knock, too.

• Newcastle's goal came courtesy the Lukasz Fabianski we're more used to. Wenger blamed "over confidence" on his coming out for a ball on which he did not have to, which is kind of a laughable excuse. What really happened was Fabianski hesitated, jumped late, and even more inexplicably, he jumped behind the attacker, Andy Carroll, who had already been lost by Chamakh marking him. 100% on the Pole, probably for the first time in his recent run in the side. So, let's buy in January, okay?

• In two of the last three home league matches, Arsenal have conceded a goal on their opposition's first legitimate chance on goal. Birmingham City and Newcastle United both opened the scoring with their first shots on target.

• Wenger made his substitutions earlier than normal, in desperate times down a goal, with the first two coming before the hour mark. Andrei Arshavin did essentially nothing, while Robin van Persie was clearly not ready to play 35 minutes. So, even though the changes were made early, they didn't work.

• I don't see why Jack Wilshere was removed at 73 minutes for Nicklas Bendtner. Wilshere is a work horse and can always give you 90 solid minutes. Why one of Arsenal's better players on the pitch was removed baffles me, aside for tactical reasons which ended up failing anyway. A holding midfielder was replaced by a goal scorer while down one, I get it, but the result was an increasing inability to win the ball in the midfield to get it to the goal scorer anyway. Of course, tactically speaking, hindsight is 20/20.

• Laurent Koscielny's red card, which he picked up for a professional foul, will likely be appealed. The foul was called by the linesman, in such a position where Mike Dean was forced to show red. The appeal needs to prove that it should not have been a foul in the first place, as I don't think we're going to get around Koscielny being the last defender and the attacker being through on goal. Wenger claims that Squillaci was covering, but I didn't think so at the time. As soon as the whistle blew, I knew it was red.

• Arsenal's league form at home: Two losses, two unconvincing wins, and two convincing wins that were aided by their opposition ending the match with ten men.

Okay, there's no time to dwell and sulk about this one, as Arsenal travels to Wolves on Wednesday for their first midweek league fixture of the season. Let's hope some consistency and focus makes the trip, too.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Cheick Tioté, who outplayed Fabregas in the midfield.

Champions League: Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 1 Arsenal: Second Guess

This wasn't as awesome as that other Eduardo goal. Pic via Guardian.

Shakhtar Donetsk 2: Chygrynskiy 28, Eduardo 45

Arsenal 1: Walcott 10

I am going to inevitably keep this recap short, because if I don't, I run the risk of going off on tangents and having the whole thing turn into a profanity laced tirade about Arsenal's performance yesterday. On Monday, I outlined why it was crucial for Arsenal to pick up three points in this fixture, since it would clear their path to the knockout phase, and allow Arsene Wenger to rotate the squad in the remaining two group fixtures. Instead, injuries forced Wenger to make a number of changes anyway, and it was costly. Those two remaining fixtures now look like must-wins for Arsenal to finish top of the group.

Arsenal made a whopping seven changes from the side that beat West Ham United on Saturday. But, only four of those changes were necessitated by injuries, as Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song, Denilson, and Andrei Arshavin dropped out. I'm under the impression that most of these were precautions and three could play Sunday (one hopes, though Denilson will drop for Jack Wilshere back from suspension.) In came Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky, and Craig Eastmond.

Three changes were the case of rotation in the squad, the use of which in this match, a must-win as I've outlined before, bothered me significantly. Bacary Sagna and Laurent Koscielny dropped to the bench for Emmanuel Eboue and Johan Djourou. Nicklas Bendtner started up front in the place of Marouane Chamakh.

Why rotate so much now when winning this match allows you to rotate during a more difficult stretch of fixtures in the future? Arsenal plays Newcastle at home on Sunday. After their next group stage match, one on which there is now more pressure to win, they play Aston Villa away. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Sure, it started off well enough. Arsenal took a lead within ten minutes thanks to the pace of Theo Walcott. In clearing a corner, Jack Wilshere's ball out of danger sprang Walcott, whose lightning quickness meant that nobody was going to catch him. He slotted a neat little ball under the diving keeper and Arsenal looked like they'd win comfortably. Which, apparently, set them up perfectly to be complacent for the oncoming Shakhtar onslaught.

The Ukrainian side dominated the rest of the first half, essentially, and they drew level just before the half hour mark, after a bizarre run-up. Wilshere was fouled but the referee played the advantage to Arsenal, who after a pass or two, lost possession. Suddenly, Shakhtar was racing the other way against ten defenders, and a caught out of position Eboue was forced to commit a foul and pick up a booking to prevent further damage on the counter. The damage would come on the resulting free kick anyway, as a perfectly taken strike found the head of Dmytro Chygrynskiy, then glanced off Craig Eastmond and into the net. Originally an own goal to the young Gunner, the deflection was of a shot going on goal anyway, and Chygrynskiy eventually got credit.

Arsenal played about five solid minutes of time in the first half after their opening goal, but it all came crashing down just before halftime. On the break, Gael Clichy was absolutely skinned alive by Darijo Srna, who then slotted a perfect cross for Eduardo to one-time past a diving Fabianski. To his credit, the Crozilian again did not celebrate him goal. But the stadium certainly did, and it's a goal that can never happen at this level. Clichy's error was inexcusable. He had briefly won back possession, only to try to dribble his way around Srna instead of clearing. He paid the price and looked foolish in the process.

There were a few chances for Arsenal to equalize in the second half with Wilshere coming closest in the early going, but after a while, all of Arsenal's efforts were coming from 20 yards out with very little to challenge Shakhtar's defense. Another sign of rotation appeared when Carlos Vela was the first substitution, with Marouane Chamakh coming on with only about 17 minutes to play at most. Then, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas came on with only nine minutes with which to work. It looked at certain times like Arsenal had no intention of winning this match; they lacked spark in their play for about 70 minutes in total.

Bright spots existed, of course. Lukasz Fabianski was stellar again; let's hope the fact that he was on the losing end doesn't shatter his confidence. Johan Djourou is improving game-by-game, though he still has one too many adventures at center back for my liking. Jack Wilshere did not lose a beat during his suspension and Theo Walcott looks just as fired up as he did before his injury.

On the negative side, after a positive run of games, Nicklas Bendtner was largely useless yesterday. For all of the great work we've seen from them in the past, Samir Nasri and Tomas Rosicky had off nights in terms of their creativity. Gael Clichy needs someone to challenge him for his starting job since Kieran Gibbs seems perma-hurt. I don't think Craig Eastmond is quite ready for the European stage; Henri Lansbury, who was left on the bench, is arguably more ready. Everyone else was fairly mediocre (that apparently means Eboue, Squillaci, and Vela), while Chamakh and JET didn't get enough time to warrant much judgment.

Disappointing match, all in all. One in which Arsenal saw their future fixtures get a little more difficult. I think that's what makes it worse.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Darijo Srna

Manchester City 0 - 3 Arsenal: Class Over Cash

Roar. Pic via Daily Mail.

Manchester City 0

Arsenal 3: Nasri 21, Song 66, Bendtner 88

Well, that was satisfying, wasn't it? There's been a lot of talk from the pundits about Arsenal's recent inability to pick up three points in big games. Against the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, and Manchester United, the Gunners picked up just one point from a possible eighteen last year. After the loss at Stamford Bridge earlier this month, the questions of whether this team is ready to challenge for a title came up yet again. Did yesterday answer that question? Read on...

Arsenal made two changes from the side that beat Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek: Andrei Arshavin returned to his usual spot on the wing as Tomas Rosicky dropped back to the bench and Denilson started in midfield, replacing the banned Jack Wilshere, serving the first game of his three match ban.

Things started nervously for Arsenal as Carlos Tevez sent a cross into the box in the second minute that found the backheel of David Silva and appeared to be destined for the corner of the goal, but Lukasz Fabianski made a diving reflex save to prevent a fast City start. Then, things went south for City, as in the fifth minute, a through ball sent Marouane Chamakh ahead of the defense and the young defender Dedryck Boyata hauled him down. Boyata was the last defender and that's a red card every day. City would be on ten men for 85 minutes. Arsenal, perhaps unsurprisingly, did nothing with the free kick.

The man advantage gave Arsenal the lion's share of possession, but they had nothing for it until the 21st minute except a handful of yellow cards, as the game was getting a bit chippy and out of hand. Then, a one-two between Andrei Arshavin and Samir Nasri sent the Frenchman clear in on goal and Joe Hart was left helpless as Nasri fired a brilliant shot into the top of the net, to put the Gunners up 1-0.

Arsenal led through the first half, but it never felt comfortable, as it always seemed City could draw level on any given rush. An opportunity was presented for Arsenal to score a second goal late in the half, as Vincent Kompany took down Cesc Fabregas in the area, giving the Gunners a penalty. Hart, however, saved the penalty to keep it a one goal match, and while it was great save, it was also a poorly taken penalty in that Fabregas telegraphed where his shot was going with the way his body was turned. Arsenal's lead was still just one at halftime.

A lot of credit has to go to Manchester City for not rolling over into a defensive shell once they were on ten men, especially considering this is a side that has played three defensive midfielders in a 4-5-1 against big clubs in the past. Instead of dropping back into a 4-4-1, City actually played more of a 4-3-2 for the duration of the match. As a result, as mentioned above, City's attack always looked like it could still be lethal at any given moment, especially at the start of the second half. The game was, therefore, to hang on until City fatigued, then pull away.

After twenty nervy minutes of chances, which also saw the introduction of Emmanuel Adebayor for a knackered Carlos Tevez (by the way, who didn't love it when Alex Song pulled Ade's hat off and tossed it to the ground?), Arsenal finally got the breathing room they needed. A Fabegas pass intended for Chamakh was blocked by halftime substitute/left back/cuckold Wayne Bridge, but not cleared, and it ended on the toe of the aforementioned Song, who fired it into the corner of the goal. 2-0, twenty minutes to play, against ten men, and everything was looking rosy.

Rosicky, Theo Walcott, and Nicklas Bendtner got in the action during the later stages of the game and the big Dane got his first goal of the season as well in the 88th. Samir Nasri did a brilliant job keeping the ball from rolling into touch for a throw-in and City stopped for just a second, thinking the ball was out, allowing Nasri to send the through ball to Bendtner, just onside, who powered a low shot past the outrushing Hart. Three-nil to the good.

City tried desperately to get on the score sheet, but Adebayor missed a simple header from six yards out in the 90th, then Fabianski brilliantly saved a hard shot from Jerome Boateng in the 91st. Fabianski had yet another solid game in goal, made a number of critical saves at crucial times, and earned his second straight clean sheet against Manchester City, and Arsenal's first away from home in nine months.

So, did this match answer the question of Arsenal's preparedness to challenge for the title. I'd say yes, though plenty will likely say no based on the red card. The biggest reason I say yes is because the confidence is starting to return and build. The monkey of not winning big games is finally coming off the Gunners' backs. The talent is there and working together as a well oiled machine; just think of Arsenal's depth in that they could bring players like Rosicky, Walcott, and Bendtner off the bench even with Wilshere suspended. The defense is a little shaky, but they're still the part of the squad hardest hit by injuries.

Three huge points; this team could really springboard from a win like that.

Arsenal 2 - 1 Birmingham City: Same Old Arsenal...

Sorry I jinxed you in this week's preview, Jack. Pic via BBC.

Arsenal 2: Nasri 41 (pen), Chamakh 47

Birmingham City 1: Zigic 33

When Arsenal plays Birmingham City, discussion always, at some point, goes back Martin Taylor's studs up challenge that broke Eduardo's leg in February of 2008. Saturday, the sickening tackle was provided by Jack Wilshere. But, more on that later... All in all, what we saw Saturday from the Gunners was, on the whole, unsurprising: a few creative plays matched by a lack of creative spark in the final third. Then again, three points are three points, and they were very necessary.

Arsenal made two changes to the side that lost 2-0 at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago, both necessitated due to injury: Bacary Sagna picked up a thigh injury at Chelsea and Laurent Koscielny picked up a back injury... somewhere... meaning Emmanuel Eboue started at right back and Johan Djourou paired with Sebastian Squillaci at center half. In good news, both Nicklas Bendtner (groin) and Theo Walcott (ankle) returned to the side and started on the bench.

The Gunners had a few chances to open the scoring that were unsuccessful; a series of 1-2's between Jack Wilshere and Marouane Chamakh set up the Moroccan with a great shot at goal, which was blocked brilliant by Stephen Carr. Then, in the 17th minute, Arsenal had an open goal canceled out by the assistant referee's flag, as he judged Squillaci to be offside when he headed in a Samir Nasri free kick. Replays were not very convincing. In the 24th, Gael Clichy had a chance at goal slide just wide after getting a look thanks to a defensive error.

Birmingham then picked up the opener against the run of play in the 33rd, as a Keith Fahey cross found the head of Nikola Zigic, who is about eleven feet tall. Zigic nodded home a perfect header, twisting away from Lukasz Fabianski and into the far bottom corner of the net. Brilliant stuff which was, thanks to Zigic's height, practically indefensible. The Blues almost picked up a second a few minutes later thanks to a breakdown on the Arsenal back line (which is happening at least once or twice per game now), but Zigic's shot at a brace was fired over the bar.

Arsenal equalized within ten minutes, but it was not without controversy. Scott Dann barely clipped Chamakh's foot as he passed him and Chamakh went flying; Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot, awarding a penalty. Was there contact? Some, yes. Did Chamakh embellish it? Absolutely. Though, there was nothing wrong with the spot kick itself, with Samir Nasri pounding a shot past Ben Foster, who had gone the wrong way, and Arsenal and Birmingham were on level terms at 1-1 at the half.

The Gunners took over the match right away in the second half and took the lead within two minutes of the restart, thanks to some brilliant footwork from Chamakh, as he dribbled around several defenders, forced Foster to dive, and worked himself to have an easy shot at a gaping net from along the by-line. Classy stuff and a brilliant finish, something Arsenal could really use more often.

And I say that because much of the script of the second half (as in the first) went the same way a lot of Arsenal games have gone this year (hence this recap's title.) For as much possession and control the boys in red and white may have in a match (it was 62% to Arsenal in this one), they seem to get flustered in the final third. When you are without Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, and Theo Walcott due to injury, a lot of that creative spark isn't on the pitch. The mercurial Andrei Arshavin might show flashes of brilliance, though this week, there were none from the Russian. Abou Diaby had a solid game in the central role, but never seems to pick out the right pass once he reaches the 18-yard box. Chamakh and Wilshere have combined for numerous chances this season, and Wilshere picked up the assist for Chamakh's goal. But, other than that, a ton of chances go begging. I've read Birmingham fans talk about how they deserved a point from this match, and they might be right, but this was largely so close because Arsenal often can't finish what they've started.

Now, on to the ugliness. Samir Nasri kneed a guy in the back. Emmanuel Eboue launched a scissor tackle on Liam Ridgewell. Both received only yellow cards. It wasn't all one sided, as Birmingham escaped penalty in the first half, shortly before Arsenal's goal, when Marouane Chamakh took an elbow to the head. But the stories are all coming from what happened in the 93rd as Jack Wilshere went in over the ball, foot raised, and studs showing into a challenge of Zigic. It was a terrible challenge and an obvious straight red card. It's a three match ban for violent conduct and Jack will be back domestically on November 7 against Newcastle (he'll miss two league fixtures and the fourth round of the Carling Cup.) He can play in Europe tomorrow.

As an Arsenal supporter, this is one of those situations you have to talk about while at the same time not being hypocritical. Zigic did not have his leg broken, but he could have. There are a few differences here from what Arsenal has had done to them in the past. Is Jack Wilshere that kind of player? Yes, in that he can occasionally get caught up in some recklessness caused by his youthful exuberance. But he's not flying into challenges solely trying to make sure the other guy can feel it, as we've seen from the likes of Karl Henry, Nigel de Jong, and of course, Ryan Shawcross. There have been too many instances where those players have not acknowledged being in the wrong. Jack has apologized, knows he was wrong, and will learn from this experience. He's come close to having some pretty bad challenges in the past this year, again, because he's young and in some instances, possibly trying to do more than he should. He has to learn not to cross that line. I think he will learn.

Oh, and as a passing note, what ever happened to Martin Taylor after the Eduardo incident? Well, he scored for Watford on Saturday.

Carling Cup: Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 4 Arsenal, a.e.t.: Worth Every Extra Minute

Henri Lansbury's first Arsenal goal came at White Hart Lane. Legend. Pic via Guardian.

Tottenham Hotspur 1: Keane 49

Arsenal 4: Lansbury 15, Nasri 92 (pen), 96 (pen), Arshavin 105

I don't think there is anything more satisfying then watching a North London derby that ends with fans streaming towards the exits as fast as they can at White Hart Lane, while the Arsenal section goes mental.

Arsene Wenger, watching from the director's box while serving a one match touchline ban for using the wrong method of getting Martin Atkinson's attention on Saturday, made eight changes to the side that drew at Sunderland, which actually resulted in a surprisingly strong side for a Carling Cup tie. Then again, it was the North London derby. Lukasz Fabianski was given his eight billionth second chance in between the sticks. Johan Djourou was given the chance, as expected, at center half along with first team regular Laurent Koscielny. Emmanuel Eboue and Kieran Gibbs played right and left back, respectively. Jack Wilshere, Samir Nasri, and Denilson started in midfield; Tomas Rosicky, Carlos Vela, and the young Henri Lansbury started up front.

Only three of those were changes from the starting XI on Saturday; Denilson and Rosicky came off the bench on Saturday and started today; Lansbury was the only reserve to crack the line-up, shocking for an Arsene Wenger managed Carling Cup squad, but typical for a North London derby in any competition.

Arsenal controlled possession early, but could not muster much out of it for the first ten minutes. In the 11th, the Gunners had their first shout for a penalty, but nothing was called by Lee Probert as Lansbury was tripped just inside the area by Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Probably should have been a penalty, but the first contact from the Cameroonian defender was just outside the area. Still, it was a missed foul in a dangerous spot.

That didn't matter much four minutes later as the Gunners struck first, in lovely fashion. Major credit on the goal goes to Jack Wilshere, who played an absolutely perfect cross along the six-yard box, where only the sliding Henri Lansbury could knock it into the net. It was the first Arsenal goal for the lifelong Gooner from Enfield in his first start.

Arsenal had two chances later in the first half flagged for offside. The first call was borderline, the second, blatantly wrong. Kieran Gibbs was through after another superb ball from Wilshere and maneuvered around the goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa as well before everyone realized the linesman's flag was (wrongly) up. The match remained 1-0 at halftime, with Arsenal having controlled most of the opening 45 minutes.

Tottenham made two substitutions, bringing on Robbie Keane and Aaron Lennon, and switched to a 4-4-2 and a more convincing attack line-up, and it worked in four minutes. Robbie Keane, ridiculously offside, was allowed to play on after a through ball and fired a low shot which squeezed just through the arms of the diving Fabianski and into the net. It was a hard hit ball, no doubt, and I know we can be rough on Fabianski because of his hundreds of thousands of errors in the past, but I sincerely feel that he should have had that shot and that Almunia would have had that shot.

Spurs' new found attacking style lasted for about seven minutes before it was all Arsenal again, but the Gunners could not find a go-ahead goal in normal time. In the 62nd, Carlos Vela headed a cross wide. In the 70th, Tottenham had their best chance for a winner as Aaron Lennon was through on goal, but Koscielny slid in with a perfect tackle to deny him. Arsenal brought on Marouane Chamakh and Andrei Arshavin in the 73rd minute to go for the win.

Lansbury was booked for a challenge in the 83rd that marked the first time in a long time that I actually clapped for a booking; this was the kind of "yeah, I'll take a booking to deny a scoring opportunity" kind of challenge that you like to see every once in a while. Two minutes later, looking for a brace, Lansbury whipped a shot that, while stopped comfortably, was one of Arsenal's best looks at goal since their opening goal.

The final minutes of normal time really seemed like a winner was coming for Arsenal. Denilson hit a 22-yard rocket in the 89th that was only palmed down by Pletikosa, but Samir Nasri could not get a foot to the rebound. It was a situation fairly reminiscent of Nicklas Bendtner's winner at Hull City in March, with a little more traffic in front. A free kick from Wilshere in the 90th flew past everyone until finding Djourou on the back corner, but his header could not be directed on goal and was cleared. Two minutes later, Eboue had a deflected look at goal, but there would be no regular time winner for anyone and the match headed to extra time, with every nerve in my body shaking.

Spurs kicked off extra time, but within thirty seconds, it was a penalty to Arsenal. Samir Nasri took a through ball from Arshavin and was taken down by Sebastien Bassong to set up the penalty. Nasri's strike was not the best (but on goal, unlike Rosicky's on Saturday), but the keeper guessed wrong, and Arsenal led 2-1. It was high enough that it would have been saved had Pletikosa guessed right.

Then, three minutes later, another through ball from Arshavin and another penalty to Arsenal, as Chamakh was hauled down by the arm by Steven Caulker. Nasri's penalty this time was perfectly along the ground to a corner, Pletikosa guessed wrong again anyway, and six minutes into extra time, it was 3-1 Arsenal.

As Spurs fans raced for the exits, Arsenal grabbed a fourth; this time, the through ball was to Arshavin and into the net, from Wilshere. Spurs nearly pinged one back from a corner in added time of the first half of extra time, but Robbie Keane flick on goal was stopped on the line by Nasri.

Then, this Spurs fan child cried.

Tottenham clearly appeared like they no longer wanted to be there for the final 15 minutes, as Arsenal passed the ball around, savoring a 4-1 win at the Lane and another round to maybe draw a weaker side and play some more youth in late October.

Oh, the down side. Of course, there's a down side. Kieran Gibbs left hurt, and might have re-broken the metatarsal he hurt last November that kept him out for pretty much the rest of last season. How about that. And the third string left back, Armand Traore... he's out on loan. And the first string left back, Gael Clichy, has probably been the weakest link on the back line this year.

But, anyway, happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. 4-1 win at the Lane.

Reserves: Arsenal 4 - 3 Blackburn Rovers

Sebastian Squillaci makes his debut in red and white at Underhill Stadium. Pic via Arsenal.com.

Arsenal 4: Aneke 45, Afobe 59, 84, Emmanuel-Thomas 87

Blackburn Rovers 3: Benjani 26, Dunn 42, 72 (pen)

The international break has afforded teams the opportunity to test their recovering players in the waters that is the reserves league. As such, four normally first team Gunners started for the reserves squad in their second fixture of the season, as they hosted Blackburn Rovers reserves at Barnet's Underhill Stadium in North London. Arsenal entered the match 1-0 on the season, having beaten Bolton's reserves 5-0 in late August.

Center back Sebastien Squillaci made his debut for the squad and played all 90 minutes alongside a back four that included Johan Djourou, perpetually recovering from his own injury problems. In addition, Denilson, who has not played a match since last season, started in the midfield as he's recovering from an abdominal problem, and Lukasz Fabianski started in goal, as he is trying to recover from being Fabianski. Maybe it's not surprising that the reserves conceded three.

To be fair, Blackburn Rovers also started four players from their first team who are trying to return to the line-up, and took a 3-2 lead on a penalty (which had been conceded by Djourou) before Benik Afobe equalized for Arsenal, then Jay Emmanuel-Thomas won the game three minutes from time.

International Gunner Recap - France Lost?!

Cesc Fabregas and Carlos Vela both saw time in Mexico City as Spain and Mexico played to a 1-1 draw. Fabregas played only the first half for the World Champions, while Vela played 58 minutes.

Theo Walcott started for England in their 2-1 win over Hungary at Wembley. Kieran Gibbs replaced Ashley Cole at halftime. Steven Gerrard had a brace (hopefully he won't duplicate that feat Sunday) and was replaced by Jack Wilshere, making his top level international debut in the 84th minute.

Andrei Arshavin's sixth minute cross was bobbled by Bulgaria's goalkeeper, setting up the only goal in Russia's 1-0 win. Samir Nasri played 79 minutes as France lost 2-1 in Norway.

I haven't been able to find information about how the other four first team Gunners involved in international play today fared. Here's a recap of scores, though:

Thomas Vermaelen and Belgium lost to Finland 1-0.
Lukasz Fabianski may or may not have played for Poland in their 3-0 loss to Cameroon.
Tomas Rosicky and the Czech Republic waltzed to a 4-1 win over Latvia.
Marouane Chamakh and Morocco beat Equatorial Guinea 2-1.

International Gunner Watch - Useless Friendly Time!

Damn you FIFA, who cares about this round of friendlies, anyway? Pic via Internet News.

Well, here we go again. The Premier League campaign starts in just four days for most teams in England (five for Arsenal and Liverpool and six for Manchester United and Newcastle United.) Euro 2012 qualifying doesn't start for another month or so. So, what better time for FIFA to arrange a mess of international matches that don't count!

Let's assess the damage for Arsenal. 14 Gunners have been selected in this round of pointlessness including 12 first team members. Arsenal does dodge a few bullets in certain circumstances, especially with the much maligned French World Cup team left behind and Robin van Persie and much of the Netherlands World Cup squad omitted as well. Anyway, here are the players you should be praying return to North London in one piece:

Emmanuel Eboue and the Ivory Coast will get their friendly out of the way pretty much faster than everyone else. Of the 12 first team Gunners involved in this round, only Eboue plays today; the rest play tomorrow. Not only is that fortunate for the team trickster, but their friendly against Italy is also being played in London, at West Ham United's Upton Park.

Cesc Fabregas and the World Cup winning Spain squad will be getting back together again, where they will all likely attempt to brainwash him into joining Barcelona. They'll be playing against Carlos Vela and Mexico in the 105,000 seat Azteca Stadium. Every time Carlos Vela plays a friendly at home in Mexico, it seems like it takes him two weeks or more to recover from the resulting jet lag. Hopefully Fabregas can handle the time differences a little better, otherwise I fear we won't even see Cesc in red and white for a month.

England named three Gunners in their squad for their Wembley Stadium friendly against Hungary; all of whom were of course left behind for the World Cup: Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, and Theo Walcott. As much as I'm excited to see these guys outperform all of the Spurs, United, and Chelsea players that crashed out of South Africa, I just hope the notoriously bad Wembley pitch doesn't cause any damage.

With a trip to Anfield looming around the corner, the team obviously needs Andrei Arshavin ready to terrorize the Reds as he has in the past (to the tune of five goals in two matches. I am not going to stop reminding you all about that.) Arshavin was held out of the Legia Warsaw friendly with a slight muscular problem, so we may need to hope extra hard that Russia's friendly with Bulgaria in St. Petersburg doesn't do any further damage to our Diminutive Ridiculous Facial Expression Maker.

Samir Nasri was left out of France's World Cup catastrophe but has been recalled for this week's friendly with Norway in Oslo. Every French player that was in South Africa has been left behind for this one, which is honestly great news for Abou Diaby, Bacary Sagna, and Gael Clichy. This is also fairly good news for Nasri, who is keen to rebound after a difficult campaign last year. You can tell the fire to succeed is in him this season, and that's exciting.

Thomas Vermaelen is the only Arsenal defender recalled by his national team, which makes sense, since he's Belgium's captain. They'll play Finland in Turku, the Official Christmas City of Finland. Speaking of international defenders, Laurent Koscielny has declared his intent to play for France rather than Poland.

Speaking of Poland, Lukasz Fabianski has been called for their match against Cameroon (who will not feature Alex Song.) Tomas Rosicky is with the Czech team in Latvia and Marouane Chamakh makes his first international appearance as a Gunner as Morocco plays Equatorial Guinea in Rabat.

Two Gunners will also plays friendlies with their country's respective Under-21 sides: Henri Lansbury with the English U-21's against Uzbekistan in Bristol today and Vito Mannone with the Italian U-21's against Denmark tomorrow.

Safe travels to all!