Newcastle United 4 - 4 Arsenal: Absurdity

This is the moment my soul died. Pic via Guardian.

Newcastle United 4: Barton 68 (pen), 83 (pen), Best 75, Tiote 87
Arsenal 4: Walcott 1, Djourou 3, van Persie 10, 26

I'm not going to lie, I have no idea how to write this recap, because I still haven't really been able to completely wrap my head around what happened Saturday. I'll start by revisiting some things I said in the Everton recap from this midweek: "Do you know what worries me the most about the aftermath of this match? ... Arsenal have a knack of disappointing once the talk around them gets too hyped. ... We all know Arsenal isn't the most consistent side in the world. I guess that question will be answered Saturday on Tyneside."

Yes, yes it was. And I have the feeling that the ramifications of this match will be felt for a long time, in any number of possible directions.

Arsenal made two changes to the side that beat Everton on Tuesday (and my predicted XI was, again, correct) as Abou Diaby replaced the injured Alex Song in midfield and Andrei Arshavin, fresh off a goal and assist performance started as Tomas Rosicky dropped to the bench.

What a start it was, right? Andrei Arshavin put Theo Walcott through in the first minute and it was 1-0 Arsenal. Johan Djourou won a header in the box in the third minute and it was 2-0 Arsenal. A Walcott square ball found Robin van Persie in the tenth minute and it was 3-0 Arsenal. Then a Bacary Sagna cross found van Persie again, and it was 4-0 Arsenal. It was brilliant. Newcastle started mounting a threat after about half an hour, but on many plays in the box, Laurent Koscielny was there to clear. He was truly having a great match from the start, and everything was lovely at halftime.

It's quite astonishing how quickly a game can turn, however, and the big blow came immediately. Within five minutes, Johan Djourou was limping, having injured his knee; he could not continue and was replaced by Sebastien Squillaci, making for a much more unstable central back partnership. Then, Joey Barton's aggressive challenge on Abou Diaby made the Frenchman livid. He grabbed Barton by the back of the neck and threw him to the ground. Straight red card, all the way. Now, nobody is going to argue that what Diaby did deserved the red card. What is confusing is that Newcastle got away with a number of bookable offenses during the course of this match and Kevin Nolan once got away with doing exactly what Diaby did.

Those were two big reasons why Arsenal began to unravel. Now, I refuse to watch the highlights of this match, so my memory of the specifics in Newcastle's comeback are a bit hazy. The Magpies were given a penalty after the hour mark that was fairly soft, but was the type that you see given. Barton converted, then Wojciech Szczesny attempted to stall by picking the ball up first. This is when Nolan through him to the ground (and did not get sent off like Diaby) and somehow Szczesny was booked first. 4-1, and the tide was turning.

Newcastle certainly deserved their second goal as Best converted a cross, but the third was the most absurd. I'm not positive which player got the call, but it looked like either Laurent Koscielny or Tomas Rosicky were called for attempting to win a header. Barton converted again, as Szczesny this time got a piece of it, and things were getting painful. Then, a soft foul call on Rosicky, Arsenal clears the danger out to Tiote, who fires a wonder goal from 30 yards. Crushing. All the more crushing: Robin van Persie's injury time winner called offside (which I could not really tell from the camera angle but have heard it was a bad call.)

I don't really want to talk about this anymore. By now, you know what happened and you've made up your mind about Phil Dowd (who, FYI, has been dropped from this week's schedule.) It's time to move on.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: A convicted criminal, with some help from the officials

Arsenal 2 - 1 Everton: Gut Check

CONTROVERSY!!!!! Pic via Guardian.

Arsenal 2: Arshavin 70, Koscielny 75

Everton 1: Saha 24

Do you know what worries me the most about the aftermath of this match, despite its status as a crucial win? The fact that I've already seen the media talking about how this is the kind of match that the title contenders win. While that's true, this is becoming a superstition for me. Arsenal have a knack of disappointing once the talk around them gets too hyped. That being said, without the injured Samir Nasri for another three weeks, this team is going to have to start winning ugly, and they did just that yesterday.

Nasri's injury meant Arsenal could not start their usual "A Team" XI and the change was the return of Tomas Rosicky to the starting line-up. Arsenal had, in fact, made ten changes from the side that started the FA Cup tie with Huddersfield Town. Only Laurent Koscielny started both matches. His involvement in this match would turn out to be huge in many, many ways.

The first 10 to 15 minutes or so were all Everton as Arsenal failed to get out of second gear from the opening whistle. Jack Wilshere picked up an early booking within five minutes, as the match showed from the start that it would get a little feisty. Arsenal finally got a few quality chances going after a quarter of an hour. Robin van Persie had a free kick blocked. RVP's beautiful back heel pass to Cesc Fabregas was fired wide by the captain. Tim Howard made a big save on Theo Walcott. The chances were coming for Arsenal.

But, you can't say Everton didn't deserve a 1-0 lead based upon their dominating more than half of the match's first half hour. They got that lead on 24 minutes, but did so exceedingly controversially. Seamus Coleman tried playing a through ball to Louis Saha, who was at the time of the pass standing in an offside position. During the ball's flight, Laurent Koscielny attempted to block and clear the pass, but only got a touch on it, and knocked the ball into Saha's path. The linesman's flag never went up, Saha finished clinically, and Everton led 1-0.

To tell you the truth, there is way too much of a gray area in the wording of the offside law, to the point where I'm almost 100% positive that the wording for this situation says something along the lines of it being totally "up to the referee's discretion" instead of actually having a firm black-and-white answer for it. Saha was offside when the ball was played, so that should have made him offside. Both managers agreed. So, after all of the sexism controversy last week when Andy Gray said women don't understand the offside rule, I'm pretty sure this proves that nobody understands the offside rule.

Arsenal needed to shake things up at halftime; a loss would have put Manchester United eight points clear in first place. Alex Song had to be removed with injury after taking an accidental kick from Koscielny; he was replaced by Abou Diaby, who was solid. Everyone at the Emirates not wearing blue felt cheated by the officials. It was gut check time.

Tomas Rosicky was pulled in the 63rd minute for Andrei Arshavin, and the move worked within seven minutes. Cesc Fabregas's chipped through ball found the head of Everton defender Jack Rodwell, who could only nod a deflected header behind him, into the path of the Russian, who fired it in to equalize. It was Arshavin's first goal since December 29, a huge spark for the out-of-form Russian, and a huge lift for the team.

Arsenal celebrates Koscielny's winner. Pic via Daily Mail.

From there, Everton capitulated. Five minutes later, a Robin van Persie free kick was saved excellently by Howard, tipping it over the bar for a corner. On the set piece, several Toffee defenders covered Nicklas Bendtner, who had just come on for Jack Wilshere, leaving Koscielny wide open to knock a powerful header into the net. 2-1 to the Arsenal. And all that controversy from earlier became moot.

This match was quite a nasty affair, seeing eight yellow cards (five to Everton) and most recaps you read on this one should probably mention the fact that it was stunning nobody was sent off. Which brings me to Everton manager David Moyes's comments after the game, claiming that Cesc Fabregas said something so vile to referee Lee Mason while walking through the tunnel at halftime that he should have been shown a straight red card. Arsene Wenger has categorically denied that this happened. Quite honestly, Lee Mason did have a terrible game with the whistle, but Moyes's anger should be directed to him and not Fabregas.

Can you remember the last time Arsenal conceded the first goal in a league match and went on to win? It's only happened one other time this year, and it was October 16 against Birmingham. Arsenal passed that halftime gut check. There's no doubt about how much a win like this means for the team. But my fears still stand, as we all know Arsenal isn't the most consistent side in the world. I guess that question will be answered Saturday on Tyneside.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Andrei Arshavin

FA Cup: Arsenal 2 - 1 Huddersfield Town: Way Too Close

Samir Nasri got hurt. EVERYONE PANIC! Pic via Guardian.

Arsenal 2: P. Clarke 21 (og), Fabregas 86 (pen)

Huddersfield Town 1: Lee 66

So, there we were. Ridiculously early on a Sunday morning. It was the 85th minute, it wasn't even 9:00 a.m. in New York, and Arsenal were five minutes plus added time away from needing a replay against League One Huddersfield Town. The Gunners' B team, on ten men, not only could not put the Terriers away, but at times looked dangerously close to crashing out. And yet again, in the FA Cup at home against lower level competition, Arsenal managed to find a get out of jail free card. And..... exhale.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes were obviously necessary again because of Arsenal's jam packed fixtures list. The Gunners will host Everton at the Emirates tomorrow, making this FA Cup tie the first match of two in about 60 hours. Manuel Almunia returned, thanks to rest for Szczesny and Fabianski's shoulder injury. Sebastien Squillaci returned to center back, playing along with Laurent Koscielny and giving Djourou a rest. Sagna and Clichy dropped to the bench for Emmanuel Eboue and Kieran Gibbs, as expected. Abou Diaby returned from injury to start in a holding role with Denilson. Samir Nasri started in the middle with the captain's armband, joined by Andrei Arshavin, Nicklas Bendtner, and Marouane Chamakh. So, in total, two members of the normal starting XI got the start.

Arsenal had a few chances early to take the lead, but with them being taken by Arshavin and Bendtner, they did not come to anything. Bendtner, in fact, had one absolutely terrible miss when he attempted to one-time a volley shot, but missed the ball completely, much to the delight of the traveling Huddersfield support. He did, however, shut them up a few moments later. He struck a low drive to the corner of the net that would have gone wide, but a favorable deflection and a Huddersfield own goal later, it was 1-0 to the Arsenal.

The problem is, Arsenal got a little too comfortable with that lead immediately afterward. This problem became even worse when Samir Nasri picked up a hamstring injury and had to be replaced by Tomas Rosicky. Nasri will be out for at least two weeks, so everyone hold your breath for the next three league matches. Just before halftime, Arsenal found themselves in even more trouble when Sebastien Squillaci was caught keeping too high of a line and obstructed the path of Huddersfield's Jack Hunt, who was through on goal. Straight red card all the way.

Squillaci's red card meant Alex Song had to come off the bench to play at center half and Arsene Wenger went defensive, pulling off Chamakh. Through the second half, you could tell Huddersfield's equalizer was coming. It arrived in the 66th minute, shortly after a brilliant diving save from Almunia had kept the lead intact. The Terriers won a corner and it was 6'3" Alan Lee who won the header in the box. So, it was time to bring on the big guns, and Cesc Fabregas came off the bench for Diaby.

The tie was in the balance, Arsenal settled a little, but play still went back and forth. Did Arsenal have a winner in them? Turns out, yes they did, thanks to more help from the penalty spot. Nicklas Bendtner was hauled down in the box by Jamie McCombe (who should have been sent off) and Mark Clattenburg pointed to the spot. Cesc Fabregas stepped up, stutter-stepped twice, and sent Ian Bennett the wrong way. Arsenal were back on top with four minutes of regular time to play, then held on for the win.

All in all, another unnecessarily stressful match caused by the apparent lack of cohesion in the back-up squad. They are an individually talented squad that just doesn't get the chance to find form due to a lack of playing time. Their reward for sneaking by Huddersfield is a London derby with Leyton Orient. Let's pray Nasri gets well soon and that Arsenal can back to doing their thing in the league.

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

Manchester United 1 - 0 Arsenal: Uncreative Title to Match Uncreative Midfield

Wayne Rooney's miss was by far Arsenal's only highlight. Pic via Guardian.

Manchester United 1: Park 41

Arsenal 0

For all of the complaining about Howard Webb that we may do, especially in the heat of the match when I'm a good three pints in, the fact of the matter is, even if there were a number of dubious decisions at Old Trafford yesterday, Arsenal certainly deserved their zero points. I'm going to do my best not to go into the officiating decisions, but how United were not booked once in this match is a crime. I'm always much the optimistic one, but still, there's been a lot to be concerned about in Arsenal's play this season, so let's dive right into this.

Arsenal made only one change to the side that beat Fulham in the league last weekend, necessitated by an injury picked up by Lukasz Fabianski. This meant Wojciech Szczesny would make his first start in the Premier League. Despite declaring himself fit again, Manuel Almunia was nowhere to be found, further indicating that he has likely played his final match in an Arsenal shirt. The outfield players were as they were in the last league match, including Tomas Rosicky in the middle of midfield, with Andrei Arshavin to the left and Samir Nasri to the right. Cesc Fabregas, still nursing his hamstring, started on the bench.

Arsenal put themselves behind the eight ball a bit at the start; it seemed like the back four wanted to pass back to Szczesny to get him an early touch on the ball, but with United's pressuring, the home side had a few solid opportunities created by Arsenal's own backward motion, but nothing exceedingly dangerous. The Gunners settled in after about ten minutes.

But, when I say settled in, I mean they worked themselves into a groove through which they were never going to score for one simple reason: there was no creative spark. Again. Without a fit Cesc Fabregas, the central role has fallen to Tomas Rosicky, who has had a few strong performances in the past and a few clunkers, and yesterday was the latter. Without Fabregas, the formation seems to, at times, be all over the place and when coupled with Arsene Wenger's high risk-high reward scheme of having Alex Song push forward, it creates a dangerous situation of counterattack vulnerability when ultimately, there's no one in an Arsenal shirt on the other end of a poorly placed cross.

United scored the match's only goal shortly before halftime. Nani sent a deflected ball into the box (the deflection courtesy Gael Clichy) that found the head of Ji-Sung Park, who twisted an unstoppable header into the corner of the net. Szczesny had no chance. Sebastian Squillaci tried to close down on Park, but he was too late in getting this. This was because Park was not Squillaci's man to cover in the first place; Alex Song is the one that should have been on the Korean.

Arsenal had all of one solid chance to score a goal in the second half (and, all game, really.) Samir Nasri took a left footed shot that Edwin van der Sar could only parry to his left, into the path of Marouane Chamakh. But, the Moroccan found himself wrong footed and caught off guard, and by the time Chamakh got a foot on the ball to take a shot, central defender Nemanja Vidic had already closed him down to block it.

United could have taken a 2-0 lead when they were given a preposterously dubious penalty as Clichy was whistled for handball in the area. To make this call, it has to be an intentional handball (Webb waived off a more legitimate shout for a penalty when Chamakh accidentally handled in the first half.) Nani kicked the ball at Clichy's arm, which was at his side and on the ground supporting his body. How that could be viewed as intentional is beyond me. It was the linesman who waved for the call, but it's still up to Webb to whistle for it. What followed was Wayne Rooney missing the net ridiculously, in what was probably the best moment of the match for an Arsenal supporter.

Arsenal brought in some heavy artillery off the bench, in the form of Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, and Theo Walcott, but the three of them did nothing to change the flow of the match. The creativity and spark still wasn't there. In the end, it's another negative result in Manchester. A bit of a coincidental statistic to pass along, that I don't really think means that much in the grand scheme of things, is that Arsenal have never won the Premier League in a season where they have lost at Old Trafford. Again, small sample size (the Premier League only dates back to 1992) and bit coincidental, as Arsenal have won there and then not won the league as well (in 2006/07.)

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Nemanja Vidic

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

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

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.

Champions League: Arsenal 5 - 1 Shakhtar Donetsk: Perfect Day

A special moment at the Emirates. Pic via Guardian.

Arsenal 5: Song 19, Nasri 42, Fabregas 60 (pen), Wilshere 66, Chamakh 69

Shakhtar Donetsk 1: Eduardo 82

Most Gooners secretly or not-so-secretly wanted to see our former Brazilian-Croatian striker Eduardo score a goal on his return to the Emirates Stadium. Of course, since he plays for the other team, we all wanted it to happen while Arsenal was winning comfortably. Yesterday, therefore, could not possibly have been scripted any better. Meanwhile, the Gunners are now three points clear at the top of Group H.

Cesc Fabregas returned, a bit surprisingly, to the starting XI, from a hamstring injury he sustained while scoring a fluky goal at Sunderland a month ago. Tomas Rosicky also slipped into the starting side, meaning Abou Diaby and Andrei Arshavin dropped to the bench in the two changes to the side made since Saturday's win over Birmingham City. With Fabregas returning to the named side, Carlos Vela dropped out of the 18-man team and started for the Reserves (not impressively, I've heard.)

The early going was nervy and the Ukrainian champions had a little too much of the possession. I've heard it mentioned that ever since Arsenal failed to show up at home against West Brom, there has been an uncomfortable air of nervousness around the team until they finally get going.

Then, a gift. In the 19th minute, a Samir Nasri corner should have been handled comfortably by goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov, but, in a moment we would have called an "Arsenal audition" before Arsene Wenger decided not to buy a keeper anyway for some reason, Pyatov dropped the ball. Johan Djourou was there to kick it behind Pyatov, but not far enough sto score; Alex Song cleaned up the mess, picked up his second goal of the year across all competitions, and put the Gunners ahead 1-0. This was, of course, bad news for Shakhtar, a team that came to the Emirates content to steal a point and not more. Arsenal took a 2-0 lead into halftime thanks to a beautiful strike by Samir Nasri, firing home a cross from Alex Song from just outside the box.

Arsenal kept going in the second half and earned a penalty at the hour mark when Johan Djourou was preposterously wrestled to the ground in a headlock while waiting to receive a cross from a Nasri set piece. The fact that Adriano and Shakhtar protested the call and the booking was laughable. Fabregas pounded the penalty home and lifted up his shirt, revealing a happy birthday message to his mother. How sweet. Then, taking no chances with the captain's fitness, Arsene Wenger pulled Fabregas for Denilson. Just after, Eduardo was subbed on for Shakhtar.

Jack Wilshere got on the score sheet, playing his last match before starting to serve his three match domestic ban (oh, also, in the first half, he put in another fairly questionable tackle; get it together, Jack!), his first Arsenal goal since the 2008 Carling Cup and only the second in his career. Jack played a 1-2 with Tomas Rosicky and flicked a shot over the out rushing keeper to make it 4-0. Three minutes later, it was 5-0, when Chamakh was clear ahead of the Shakhtar defensive line while the entire bar thought he was offside. Chamakh actually paused when he received the pass, glanced over to see if the linesman's flag had gone up, then still had time to go clear in on goal.

At 5-0, Chamakh and Nasri were pulled for Arshavin and the return from injury of Theo Walcott, who had been left on the bench on Saturday. There was little left for Arsenal to prove, though it was good to see Walcott still has his pace. The match ended perfectly in the 82nd, with a brilliant half-volley shot into the corner by Eduardo, to make it 5-1. No Arsenal fan could ask for more and I don't think an away goal has ever received such a reception in North London.

Arsenal had a solid shout for a penalty in the 87th when Arshavin was shoved to the turf, but the referee held his whistle, though it would not have mattered. I think the best question is who would have taken the penalty anyway, with Fabregas and Nasri on the bench and Rosicky probably not taking penalties after missing at Sunderland. I think Arshavin is the obvious choice.

Of course, a question we can all choose to ignore is how the English media would portray Arsenal's comfortable win, and I leave you with this parting line from the Guardian's MBM: "The final whistle brings familiar confusion: were Arsenal brilliant or were there opponents deeply inept?"

Shut up, media.

International Gunner Watch - It's Almost Like Good News

Nice scarf, Tommy. Pic via Big Soccer.

With all of Arsenal's injuries, there will only be eight first team Gunners on international duty during this weekend's unfortunate injury period international break. This conveniently gives the wounded the opportunity to spend two weeks training and rehabilitating in London, or just watching pre-season NBA games, as shown in the picture.

Cesc Fabregas will not be playing for Spain, still out with a hamstring injury, but should be set to return immediately afterward the break. Please note that this is usually the exact opposite of how international breaks usually go for Arsenal players. Manuel Almunia should return to action for Birmingham City at the Emirates on the 16th as well. Theo Walcott may need another week, but may return for Arsenal's trip to Manchester City on the 24th. Robin van Persie is a bit behind schedule but could be back by the start of November. Nicklas Bendtner expects to be back in contention by the end of the month. Kieran Gibbs should be back within the next two Arsenal matches as well.

There's two bits of bad injury news and both are on the back line. Thomas Vermaelen's Achilles injury is slower to heal than expected and there is, as yet, no time table for his return. In addition, Bacary Sagna picked up a left thigh injury while training with France and has been dropped from the national squad for this week and sent back to London.

Also, there's the case of Carlos Vela, who was banned from the Mexican team for six months for organizing a hotel party after a friendly with Colombia last month. I think this is something Arsene Wenger, who is known to detest these breaks, should encourage more!

FRANCE: SAMIR NASRI / ABOU DIABY / GAEL CLICHY
Saturday v. Romania; Stade de France, Saint Denis
Tuesday v. Luxembourg; Stade Saint-Symphorien, Metz

France is currently in third place in Group D, thanks to their loss to Belarus. This time around, Les Bleus get to play the 5th and 6th place teams in the six team group. As mentioned above, France will be without the injured Bacary Sagna.

ENGLAND: JACK WILSHERE
Friday with U-21 v. Romania; Carrow Road, Norwich
Tuesday with senior squad v. Montenegro; Wembley Stadium, London

Despite being named to Fabio Capello's senior squad, Jack Wilshere will also be forced to play with Stuart Pearce's Under-21 squad in their Euro 2011 qualification play-off first leg against Romania in Norwich on Friday night. We're all worried he'll be overplayed by England, leading to an eventual injury plagued career, because as you probably know, it's happened before.

CZECH REPUBLIC: TOMAS ROSICKY
Friday v. Scotland; Synot Tip Arena, Prague
Tuesday at Liechtenstein; Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz

The Czech Republic have lost their first and only Group I match and sit in 4th place out of five teams. They had a bye round during the last international break.

RUSSIA: ANDREI ARSHAVIN
Friday at Ireland; Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Tuesday at Macedonia; Philip II Arena, Skopje

Russia is in 3rd place out of six in Group B. They lost to Slovakia and beat Andorra. Both of their matches are away from home in this set of rounds, but their one loss did come in Moscow.

IVORY COAST: EMMANUEL EBOUE
Friday at Burundi; Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium, Bujumbura

Ivory Coast leads Group I after 3-0 win over Rwanda, during which Eboue scored the third goal.

MOROCCO: MAROUANE CHAMAKH
Friday at Tanzania; Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium, Dar-es-Salaam

All four teams drew in Group D, though Morocco sits in 4th place out of four, since they played a 0-0 draw with a team that comes before them alphabetically (Central African Republic,) while Tanzania and Algeria's draw was 1-1.

ENGLAND U-21: HENRI LANSBURY
Friday v. Romania; Carrow Road, Norwich
Tuesday at Romania; Stadionul Municipal, Botosani

England's Under-21 squad plays a two-legged play-off with Romania to attempt to qualify for the 2011 tournament. The second leg is away from home since England finished second in their group.

POLAND U-20: WOJCIECH SZCZESNY
Sunday v. Germany (friendly)

Arsenal 2 - 3 West Brom: What!?!

Let the questions begin again... Pic via Soccernet.

Arsenal 2: Nasri 75, 90+1
West Bromwich Albion 3: Odemwingie 50, Jara 52, Thomas 73

I'm not going to sugar coat this; Arsenal was flat out awful yesterday and absolutely deserved to lose. This is the kind of match you have to win if you want to claim the league title. That said, remember: there are still 32 games to play in a long season. It's only September. One game doesn't make you a bad team. All hope is not lost. Yet. This weekend, we saw that Chelsea lost their first real test of the season, Manchester United can seemingly only draw away from Old Trafford, and Tottenham Hotspur is probably what we all know they are.

All credit in the world to the Baggies, of course. They came into the Emirates, played good football, didn't resort to ugly tactics to play the game, and thoroughly dominated much of the match. Top class, West Brom.

There were two changes to the side from the line-up that started at Sunderland last week, with Cesc Fabregas injured and Jack Wilshere dropped to the bench for a rest; Emmanuel Eboue got a start in midfield and Abou Diaby returned from the ankle injury he suffered against Bolton.

Arsenal did seem to have the better of play from the start and came close to scoring first when Andrei Arshavin hit the post twice after an Eboue cross. But even at that early stage, it was apparent that this was not going to be Arsenal's day. Their trademarks were not there. The precision passes lacked sharpness and missed the mark time and again, there was almost no creativity for the first 70 minutes of the match, and most players looked like they were just going through the motions. I think that's what was the most unacceptable about this match.

West Brom had the chance to go up 1-0 before the half when given a penalty; Manuel Almunia missed the ball and took out Peter Odemwingie in the box. The Baggies could not take advantage of the opportunity, however, as Chris Brunt took the kick poorly, Almunia guessed right and saved the shot.

But while Arsenal's performance in the first half was poor, it was downright shambolic in the second. Albion struck first five minutes after the restart. Jerome Thomas (formerly at Arsenal) skinned Bacary Sagna on the byline, then fed a cross through four Arsenal players who were caught watching to Odemwingie, who was not being marked as closely as he should have been by Alex Song. Easy goal thanks to poor defending.

Then, it got worse two minutes later. A bit of clever passing beat a hapless Song again. Gonzalo Jara was through and given time to shoot. It wasn't a particularly tricky shot, but it careened off Almunia and into the net. An absolute howler and the worst Almunia has allowed probably since that injury time goal at Birmingham last year or the own goal at home against United last year, just abysmal. In a matter of seconds, the game was spiraling out of control for Arsenal.

Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky came on for Eboue and Diaby, then Carlos Vela was brought on for attacking purposes as Laurent Koscielny was pulled, slotting Song into the back four. Things then managed to get even worse as Thomas made it three to West Brom. Almunia came out to challenge Brunt poorly (think of those goals Ibrahimovic scored for Barcelona in the first leg last year), then Brunt coolly slid a pass back to Thomas, who had another easy goal with Almunia in no man's land.

Arsenal (by which I mean pretty much just Samir Nasri) made an effort to make the scoreline a little less embarrassing on paper. Two minutes after Thomas's goal, Nasri hit the crossbar, then eventually created another opportunity for himself and slotted in a shot from about six yards out despite being covered by about four Albion defenders. Nasri added a second from about fifteen yards out in the 91st, with four minutes left to play. But, Arsenal had dug the hole too deep. A Wilshere cross to Rosicky at the top of the box in the 95th was one-timed over the bar, and that was it.

Nasri was fantastic, as usual. Almunia was horrible. Song was not his usual self and might have had one of his worst games in about two years (it seemed to me that he might have been hesitant to challenge in his usual manner after being sent off last week.) Diaby was unnoticeable. Everyone else was just mediocre.

Now, let's pray to the football gods that Fabregas and Vermaelen are fit for Chelsea next week.

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.

Sunderland 1 - 1 Arsenal: Chant Protocol

Too much time on my hands. Pic via Dailiy Mail.

Sunderland 1: Bent 90+5

Arsenal 1: Fabregas 13

We here at Hipster Gooner enjoy nothing more than celebratory singing and chanting at the bar during the course of an Arsenal win. But, we also understand that there are right times to celebrate and there are wrong times to celebrate. The dying minutes of a nervy match with a 1-0 lead is a wrong time.

I love the back-and-forth chanting of "Arsene Wenger's red and white army" at the end of a win; it's always an incredible experience to hear so many Gooners singing, in full voice, for a victory. However, if you chant it at the wrong time, it can be a bit of a jinx. It should only be sung while winning comfortably (by at least two goals) and only during second half injury time; never before the 90:00 mark and never while up by one. The regulars couldn't reel in those who sang the chant yesterday and the jinx, of course, came into play. We're sorry. We tried.

There were no injuries and no returns from injury between Wednesday's Champions League match with Braga and Saturday's match, so Arsenal's starting XI remained unchanged. It was obvious, however, that Arsenal appeared more lethargic at the start, playing a road fixture after a midweek match while Sunderland were the more well-rested side.

The Black Cats dominated the first half of play, but it was through a strange series of events that Arsenal held a 1-0 halftime lead. In the 13th minute, Sunderland defender Anton Ferdinand held onto possession for a little too long without clearing, allowing Cesc Fabregas to close him down. When Ferdinand finally attempted to clear, it hit the charging Fabregas in the ankle and flew back toward the goal. Sunderland's goalkeeper Simon Mignolet was too far forward off his line, the ball was well over his head, and then it was in the net. As stunning of a fluke goal as any you'll ever see. The major downer of the first half was that Cesc Fabregas mysteriously left with an injuy; it's a hamstring and he will have a scan on Monday. There are rumors that he might miss a month. He was replaced by Tomas Rosicky, who also took over the captain's armband. That's relevant later.

The wisdom of halftime was that Sunderland could not keep up the pace and the pressure for another 45 minutes and that seemed about correct from the restart. Arsenal looked refreshed after the break and pressured for a second goal. Then, the turning point: Alex Song was sent off for a second yellow card (his first was a harsh call for dissent after a foul was called, the second was for obstruction.) Suddenly, the thought that Arsenal would coast past a tiring Sunderland squad in the second half held no water; the Gunners would be on ten men for the last half hour.

To compensate, Arsenal substituted Denilson into the midfield to replace the ineffective Andrei Arshavin. Arsenal managed to control possession better, even on ten men, with the Brazilian in the midfield, but the team would miss countless opportunities to score a security goal.

There was no better chance than a penalty kick in the 75th when Samir Nasri was hacked down in the box. Arsenal was without their usual penalty takers (Van Persie, Fabregas, Arshavin, Bendtner) for various reasons on the pitch so Rosicky, wearing the captain's armband in the place of the injured Fabregas, chose that he would take the kick himself. Rosicky did not look comfortable taking the kick and I wondered why someone like Marouane Chamakh or Nasri didn't take it. Rosicky made Mignolet guess wrong on the kick but fired high and over the bar. Opportunity wasted.

Even with the miss, it looked like Arsenal was going to steal three points from this fixture, right until the death. A match filled with questionable officiating from Phil Dowd was to end with four minutes of added time. Arsenal had cleared out from a corner kick at about 94:10. Sunderland was given one last chance. Gael Clichy had a poor clearance that deflected off Laurent Koscielny, into the path of Darren Bent, who fired home an equalizer past Manuel Almunia at 94:16.

Let's be honest, "four minutes of added time" does mean four minutes as a minimum, but you don't usually see four minutes of added time turn into four minutes and thirty seconds unless there's an injury. In this case, there was not. Arsene Wenger was livid about the extra amount of added time and there are claims that he "shoved" fourth official Martin Atkinson (I haven't seen a video, I assume he touched his shoulder, at worst, to get his attention.) In any case, Arsenal was about negative 15 seconds away from stealing three points when Sunderland was given one last chance to draw level. That's why this draw felt so much like a loss.

But let's be honest some more, Arsenal had no business winning this match. It would have been nice to take all three points from this fixture, but one point is more than the Gunners earned at the Stadium of Light last year, and that was after a two week break. There are, of course, still so many major concerns. The play of Gael Clichy this season has worried me, he seems to be the weak link on the back line. Cesc Fabregas's injury has come at a bad time; it would be nice to have him in top form at Stamford Bridge on October 3, so let's all pray his scan goes over well tomorrow. Andrei Arshavin is as mercurial as anyone on the team; there are matches like yesterday where he just doesn't seem to be bothered. Though I have to say in closing, that this was another solid and comforting performance from Manuel Almunia, who has not made a major blunder yet this season.