Champions League: Arsenal 2 - 1 Barcelona: OOOOH TO BE A GOONER!

We've got Cesc Fabregas.

And Jack Wilshere. And Robin van Persie. And Andrei Arshavin...

Pic via Guardian.

Arsenal 2: van Persie 78, Arshavin 83

Barcelona 1: Villa 26

It's a pivotal month for Arsenal (but you know that already,) with a chance for silverware at the end, plus three other competitions of arguably more importance to worry about. Domestically, Manchester United looks catchable at the top of the Premier League, the Carling Cup final is the 26th, and a win on Sunday at Orient brings Arsenal to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.

Ah, but in Europe, it's a whole different monster, and thanks to losses in Donetsk and Braga in November, Arsenal started the knockout phase of the Champions League behind the eight ball, having not won their group. Their reward was Barcelona, the team that just can't stop fucking talking about Cesc Fabregas, the team that forced Arsenal out of this competition last year with a bit of a thrashing at Camp Nou, the team that plays the same style of football so well, you almost can't be blamed for developing some sort of inferiority complex.

But, with that draw comes an opportunity to taste revenge. A win at the Emirates on Wednesday night wouldn't put Arsenal through, of course, but they'd have the upper hand going away, and have given Barcelona something to think about. And oh boy, what a win it turned out to be.

Arsene Wenger made two changes to the side that beat Wolves at the weekend. Bacary Sagna was suspended, after picking up a red card in the final match of the group stage in December, so Emmanuel Eboue deputized at right back. In the slightly more surprising change, Samir Nasri was not just fit to join the squad, but he was also fit to start the match on the left wing, dropping Andrei Arshavin to the bench.

From the start, Barcelona started tippy-tappying it around for a minute or two, but unlike last year's encounter at the Emirates, Arsenal actually showed up at the start, and had the better of the chances through ten minutes. From a free kick, Samir Nasri dinked a ball on goal which Alex Song could not quite reach to redirect, and Victor Valdes in goal handled easily. Valdes later made a brilliant save on a tight angled shot from Robin van Persie. A few other Arsenal chances went begging as the final passes were too strong or the final touches were too heavy.

The bad news in the first ten minutes was the early booking of Alex Song, who clipped Lionel Messi before he could do anything too Messi-like about 35-40 yards out in the seventh minute. Throughout the first half, Song walked a fine line of picking up a second yellow card, which would have completely changed the complexion of this match.

Barcelona started to click after the ten minute mark, as the tippy-tappying resumed, and in the 15th minute, Messi should have put the Catalans up 1-0. David Villa sent him a through ball which saw Messi clear in on Wojciech Szczesny. The Pole stayed up as long as he could, but was eventually drawn to make a move, and Messi maneuvered brilliantly to flip a shot past him, which twisted just wide of the far post.

Despite all of Barcelona's building pressure, Arsenal nearly struck first on a brilliant counter-attack of their own. The pace of Theo Walcott started a chance as he picked out Cesc Fabregas on the break. Fabregas lined up a cross for van Persie, but Eric Abidal got a head in the way just in time. Then, Barca streamed forward and as Lionel Messi sent a through ball for Villa in the midst of Arsenal's offside trap, Gael Clichy backpedaled for no reason and played Villa on. From there, the finish was academic.

Much of the second half proceeded with Barcelona controlling the possession and tippy-tappy-tippy-tappying (I'm trying to include that phrase in as many paragraphs as possible.) Arsenal defended tenaciously, as you must against a team like this, to keep the match 1-0. A second goal was ruled out for Messi being offside and Szczesny made a huge save on Pedro as well. Yet, the feel at halftime was more optimistic than it was in either match with Barcelona last year. Sure, Arsenal was trailing, but they had created some chances this time. It felt like an equalizer could happen, as long as Arsenal could keep Barcelona from scoring again.

What the hell is that logo? I think it says, "Fuck Adebayor."
Pic via Daily Mail.

The Gunners had a strong start to the second half, and controlled a lot of the play throughout, but as in the first half, many of the chances went begging. It looked like, as Messi was, Robin van Persie was just not quite on form on this night. I guess he just wanted to fool us for 78 minutes.

Alex Song was removed for The Diminutive Russian, Andrei Arshavin, in the 68th minute, as Arsenal looked for more offense. Arsene Wenger spoke post-match about how the move could have backfired, and Arsenal could have found themselves two or three down. Alternatively, Song could have found himself with a second yellow, so not making the substitution could have backfired as well. So, who knows. Nicklas Bendtner came on for Theo Walcott in the 77th minute for a change of pace and style, i.e. the only really good way to use Bendtner, in my opinion.

Jack Wilshere's maneuvering won a corner kick as the clock reached 78 minutes. Arshavin took it, but Valdes caught safely. Then, Arsene Wenger angrily unzipped his coat. As Barcelona moved forward, Arsenal won a free kick at the halfway line and eventually Clichy found van Persie at a tight angle. From the byline, van Persie fired on goal, from an impossible spot, and managed to beat Valdes near post to make it 1-1. A brilliant, goal scorer's strike. And RVP's 12th goal in 12 games.

And so, the tide had turned. Barcelona tried to muster a challenge, but Laurent Koscielny (who was excellent) intercepted from Messi in the box. Wilshere hit Fabregas with a pass, and he played a powerful through ball for a breaking Samir Nasri, onside. Nasri ran out of space as he was closed down by the defense, however, so he cut back and sent a pass back toward the center. The pass found Arshavin, who thundered in a winner from 15 yards. And every Arsenal supporting place in the world went nuts.

Arsenal probed a bit for a third, but would not come up with it, then Szczesny made a tremendous stop in the dying moments before a Messi shot was blocked by two Gunners. At the final whistle, Arsenal sealed a 2-1 lead they will take with them to Camp Nou in three weeks. And, as tough as that match will be, not only was Arsenal able to fire a warning to Barcelona that this is not the same team that rolled over for them last year, but they were also able to build up a huge confidence boost moving forward into the four crucial domestic fixtures that come before the return leg. Arsenal have, in addition to two cup ties, Stoke and Sunderland at home in the league while United have road trips to Wigan, Chelsea, and Liverpool.

By the time Arsenal plays at Camp Nou on March 8, the landscape of this season could be quite different on all fronts, and with the way things are shaping up for the Gunners, it looks quite positive. Nobody knew how this team would react to blowing a four-goal lead at Newcastle. Well, their two performances since have been nothing short of spectacular. And it's a damn good time to be a Gooner these days.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Jack Wilshere

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

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.

Carling Cup: Arsenal 3 - 0 Ipswich Town, 3-1 aggregate: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

We're going to Wemberley. Que sera sera. Pic via Daily Mail.

Arsenal 3: Bendtner 61, Koscielny 64, Fabregas 77
Ipswich Town 0
Arsenal wins 3-1 on aggregate

This time yesterday, Arsenal was 90 (or 120) minutes away from either their first trip to a cup final since 2007 or a more heart-wrenching result. A poor first leg trip to Ipswich meant the Tractor Boys had nicked the lead in the tie, with every intention of "parking the bus" and stifling the Arsenal attack. For 150 minutes in this two-legged tie, Ipswich kept the door shut on Arsenal's potent office. Then, finally, the door broke down, Ipswich crumbled, and we're going to Wembley.

The good news (yes, I consider it good news) was that there was not very much rotation in the squad. Robin van Persie started. Cesc Fabregas started. Jack Wilshere started. The normal back four started. There were, in fact, only three changes to the side that beat Wigan at the weekend. Alex Song dropped to the bench for Denilson, while Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott dropped from the wings for Nicklas Bendtner and Andrei Arshavin.

Arsenal had a number of chances in the first half to bring the tie back to level terms by picking up the first goal, but could not sneak anything past Marton Fulop. Robin van Persie volleyed a deflected Bacary Sagna cross wide of the mark. Cesc Fabregas fired a shot straight at Fulop's chest. RVP, setting up for a header similar to the goal he scored last midweek at Leeds, nodded off the crossbar. A Fabregas shot later in the half rolled harmlessly across the goalmouth and wide on the other side. The goal just wasn't coming. Fabregas tried to draw a penalty in the 10th minute as well, but nothing was doing as it was a pretty clear dive.

Some bad news in the 13th minute, even if you're not triskaidekaphobic, as on a set piece Wojciech Szczesny and Bacary Sagna had a clash of heads, leaving both down for the count on the pitch. While the goalkeeper stayed on, Sagna could not continue and was replaced by Emmanuel Eboue. It's a concussion for the right back, who had to be taken to the hospital. He was not going to play on Sunday against Huddersfield Town anyway, but here's to hoping for a quick recovery.

Through fifteen minutes after the restart, it still looked like Arsenal's goal just wasn't coming and all of those thoughts about having not won a trophy in almost six years started to come back. Then, just at the hour mark, Jack Wilshere, who was solid all day, played a lovely diagonal ball to Nicklas Bendtner who raced forward, then cut back around the defender, and fired a perfectly placed shot to the far corner. Arsenal were on the board, the tie was level, and Bendtner has the habit of really shutting me up about him (but only occasionally, so he should try to do that more.)

So, the momentum had swung back in Arsenal's direction, and three minutes later, they pulled ahead in the tie. Andrei Arshavin's corner floated into the box, and instead of Arsenal losing out on the ball in the air as they tend to sometimes, Laurent Koscielny launched forward and beat Fulop to the ball, thundering a header to the back of the net. It was Koscielny's first goal in forever (I want to say Bolton in September but could be wrong,) but more importantly, it meant Arsenal had one foot in Wembley, up 2-1 on aggregate on 64 minutes. On 77 minutes, Arsenal sealed the deal. Denilson won the ball in midfield (that's not a typo) and Fabregas played a great one-two with Arshavin to the sneak the ball through Fulop's legs, giving Arsenal a 3-1 lead on aggregate. Andrei Arshavin may be out of form and may still make a number of errors we're not used to him making, but he can still be clinical at times, and certainly was here.

This is actually going to be Arsenal's first trip to the new Wembley Stadium. Their last cup final, in 2007, and their last cup win, in 2005, came at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Arsene Wenger said last year that the Carling Cup was a trophy not worthy of a parade (after Manchester City's regular starting line-up beat half of Arsenal's reserves) but the trophy drought needs to end. And, I'm sure you can't hear this enough, winning this cup in 1987 was considered the springboard to winning the league in 1989. Knock the tournament all you like, Arsenal has beaten some talented sides to get this far, and need to prove to themselves that they can win something. They're 90 minutes away.

West Ham United 0 - 3 Arsenal: They're No Ipswich

Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott help get the Gunners back on track.

Pic via Daily Telegraph.

West Ham United 0
Arsenal 3: van Persie 13, 77 (pen), Walcott 41

Arsenal's month of cup ties seemed to have come at just the right time, at least, that's what I thought when the month started. The first team regulars were starting to play brilliant football as a unit, so it couldn't hurt to have the opportunity to rest those players a few times, and keep the bench match fit simultaneously, right?

But then things went south; the "B Team" wasn't winning those cup ties as the regulars rested. And suddenly, there could have been something off about the psyche of this team heading back into league play. And so, on Saturday, Arsenal found the right tonic, a league match against West Ham United, a team currently in such disarray that they could not even come close to the same fight Ipswich Town put up on Wednesday.

The starting XI was not particular surprising, and once again for a league match, was exactly as I predicted. Basically, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The only changes from the side that started each of the last three league fixtures were required due to injury and suspension, with Wojciech Szczesny deputizing for the injured Lukasz Fabianski and Emmanuel Eboue starting again at right back, as Bacary Sagna served the end of his three match ban. In total, there were four changes from the side that lost at Ipswich midweek, with the returns of Gael Clichy, Alex Song, Samir Nasri, and Robin van Persie.

Arsenal started on the front foot and won a corner and a free kick during the first five minutes of play, but nothing came of it. West Ham had an opportunity to strike first within the first ten minutes as well, but a Zavon Hines square ball was cleared by Clichy for a subsequent corner that missed the mark.

Then, the miserable first match in a West Ham shirt for Wayne Bridge truly began. Bridge, who had fallen out of favor as left back at Manchester City, was signed by West Ham on a sixth month loan deal. I think this was only his second, at most, league start of the season. If you're not up to match fitness due to a lack of games, then having to control Theo Walcott's pace sounds like a nightmare, and for Bridge, it truly was. Bridge gave Walcott acres of space and time as he came down the right flank in the 13th minute, backing off and allowing Theo to send an uncontested cross into the box. Samir Nasri let the ball slip past him and it landed comfortably on the right boot of Robin van Persie, who fired it into the corner. Shambolic defending from West Ham and Arsenal had the quick lead they deserved.

Arsenal was frustrated for much of the first half in their attempt to pick up a second. Theo Walcott was through in the 18th but couldn't muster power behind his shot and Robert Green saved easily. West Ham's midfield got weaker in the 20th when Mark Noble went off injured. West Ham's best chance to pull level came in the 21st, as Johan Djourou scuffed a back pass to Szczesny. Carlton Cole pounced on the poor pass, but Szczesny saved, then Hines's rebound shot was fired high. Nasri had a shot saved in the 25th, Song had a shot blocked in the 27th, and van Persie hit the post in the 30th.

But, before halftime, Arsenal's second goal finally arrived. Wayne Bridge, covering Walcott, allowed van Persie to receive a chipped ball onside, then Bridge closed down on the Dutchman, leaving Walcott room to receive a cross in the six yard box. Bridge was goal side, but had no chance to block the pass, and Walcott tapped the ball into the roof of the goal.

One might think, game over at this point, but it was very fresh in my mind that Arsenal blew a 2-0 lead at Upton Park with only 16 minutes to play last season, so no 2-0 lead at West Ham will ever feel safe to me. Then again, West Ham came out lifeless in the second half this time, and much of the second period seemed to consist of everybody just going through the motions. In the 73rd minute, the camera panned to a number of Hammers fans fast asleep in their seats.

Then, Arsenal truly put the game away. Wayne Bridge's disastrous West Ham debut continued as he clipped Walcott in the box. Easy penalty call for Andre Marriner and Robin van Persie pounded the spot kick into the low corner, easily beating Robert Green who had guessed right. Arsenal then made their substitutions to rest some legs: Denilson on for Fabregas, Kieran Gibbs and Andrei Arshavin on for Walcott and Nasri. The trio did not make much of an impact.

All in all, a much needed win to correct Arsenal's mindset going into their FA Cup replay at Elland Road this week. The ship, once again, appears to have been righted, but I still fear a set back once the "B Team" gets a run out again.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Robin van Persie

Carling Cup: Ipswich Town 1 - 0 Arsenal: How Many Wake Up Calls?

Arsene Wenger is very disappointed in all of you. Pic via Daily Mail.

Ipswich Town 1: Priskin 78
Arsenal 0

Arsenal entered yesterday's Carling Cup Semi-Final at Ipswich Town likely thinking it would be a walk in the park. Their effort, in the end, was a mix of some complacency and a lack of sharpness. And as a result, Ipswich Town will go to the Emirates in two weeks with a deserved 1-0 lead in the tie. This is not acceptable, Gunners. To be fair, the majority of the credit in this result has to go to Ipswich Town for playing well and not to how poor Arsenal's performance seemed.

I don't think you can blame this loss on just complacency, though the mere fact that you ever can needs to be unacceptable as well. There are certainly players on this team who are giving 100% without getting results because of those who are not. And it doesn't help when the players who are giving it their all have a bad night simultaneously, as Cesc Fabregas did last night. And, Ipswich, on their night, took advantage.

Arsene Wenger made four changes to the side that needed a late lifeline to force a replay with Leeds United on Saturday, and somehow, I had nine of the starting XI right in my match preview (I think that's one of the only positives I had yesterday...) Laurent Koscielny returned for the injured Sebastien Squillaci in central defense. Jack Wilshere got the start over Alex Song in the midfield. And, Wenger recalled two big names in the attack as Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott started while Tomas Rosicky and Marouane Chamakh dropped to the bench. That move pushed Nicklas Bendtner to the central forward role (where he is slightly less useless but still fairly useless.)

Arsenal had a fantastic first... three minutes or so, and looked like they had about three chances to take a 1-0 lead in the first 90 seconds, but could not capitalize. Then, as the match settled down, Arsenal fell out of any rhythm it looked like the were building at the start. The first half progressed much as the first half went on Saturday. At halftime, I tweeted, "This is just like Saturday, except Arsenal is wearing yellow, have a stronger squad starting, and are playing worse."

The difference between Saturday and yesterday was that the chances were going the other way. There was a point in the first half when a statistic flashed on the screen that both sides had one attempt on target. But, it was Ipswich that had seven chances, compared to Arsenal's three. Even with Fabregas in the line-up, the offensive force just was not there. And, it was worse for most of the second half.

Some players looked like they were just having off nights: Fabregas, Walcott, Wilshere, Johan Djourou, and Kieran Gibbs spring to mind. Laurent Koscielny continues to play himself out of position challenging in one-on-one situations, which also continues to make things harder on his central partner. Emmanuel Eboue has a penchant for being burned at right back. Denilson and Andrei Arshavin just look like they can't be bothered at times; Arshavin is running out of passes on this if he hasn't run out with you already, Denilson surely needs to go. And, Bendtner just continues to be what we all know he is: an impact substitute at best, as long as he can play central forward and the opposition can't win headers.

Tamas Priskin put Ipswich up 1-0 in the 78th.
Pic via Guardian.

In the 76th, Arsenal should have taken the lead. Kieran Gibbs swung a cross from the left flank that just missed the head of Chamakh, the substitute, and caught an unsuspecting Fabregas on the right knee or thigh, on the six yard line, with a wide open net. And over the bar it went. Ipswich got out of jail there and took advantage, almost instantly. Tamas Priskin broke through the defense as Arsenal played a high line, fired low past a diving Szczesny, and put the Tractor Boys up 1-0. Yes, Priskin was offside, and yes, it should not have counted. But you can't say they didn't deserve it.

This match felt a lot like the loss at Braga did in November. Poor performance that looks like it's going to stay 0-0, then the opponent pings a goal, and Arsenal's desperate search for an equalizer goes wanting. Theo Walcott had two chances that were saved excellently by Marton Fulop, the goalkeeper who went to Manchester City on emergency loan last spring and allowed the goal that sent Spurs into the Champions League.

The moral of the story is that, while Ipswich deserved this win, you have to ask questions of Arsenal as to why they showed up with this performance. As my title asks, how many wake up calls does this team need before they stop getting complacent? Arsene Wenger blamed fatigue for the second half performance. That doesn't make any sense, since the players on the pitch largely haven't played much this year. And the players you could argue were fatigued weren't the ones who played lazy.

The tie hangs in the balance going back to the Emirates a week from Tuesday. I believe the lack of an away goal only comes into play after extra time (a 2-1 Arsenal win in 90 minutes would force extra time, not give the tie to Ipswich on away goals just yet.) In any case, let's move forward, bring back the A Team on Saturday, and take three points from Upton Park. Please?

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Tamas Priskin

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.

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

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

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

Carling Cup: Newcastle United 0 - 4 Arsenal: Up for the Cup!

Arsenal took the lead into halftime, thanks to absolute preposterousness. Pic via Daily Mail.

Newcastle United 0

Arsenal 4: Krul 45+2 (og), Walcott 53, 88, Bendtner 83

It looks like we're going for this one this year. There's been a different feeling around the League Milk Littlewoods Rumbelows Coca-Cola Worthington Carling Cup this season. It's hard to say why Arsenal appears to be taking this competition more seriously. Obviously, the last round being a derby against Tottenham had a lot to do with the squad's strength that night. I feel like the biggest reason behind the strength of tonight's squad was, quite honestly, the quality of Arsenal's second string of players.

But, if you're still wondering if Arsene Wenger is serious about this cup this year, keep in mind that he sent Cesc Fabregas on with twenty minutes to play in a 2-0 game.

With this being a Carling Cup game, it's not really worth discussing the line-up in terms of changes in the side since the last league match (FYI, there were nine changes.) Arsene Wenger decided to start a number of players returning from injuries: Laurent Koscielny, Nicklas Bendtner, and Theo Walcott. Wojciech Szczesny got the nod in goal (as I said in the preview, if he didn't start now, he wasn't going to this season.) Johan Djourou, Emmanuel Eboue, and Kieran Gibbs joined Koscielny on the back line. Denilson, Craig Eastmond, and Tomas Rosicky joined Theo Walcott in the midfield, with the Czech wearing the captain's armband. Carlos Vela joined Bendtner up front.

To fit the non-standard squad into Arsenal's standard 4-2-3-1 formation, Vela appeared to play the left wing with Walcott on the right and Bendtner up front, Rosicky played the central role, and Denilson and Eastmond played the holding roles.

The fact that Arsenal could not score in the first five minutes was a bit surprising, given the number of chances. A Vela shot was stopped by goalkeeper Tim Krul within the first thirty seconds, then Bendtner had about four shots blocked after the ensuing corner. The shots kept coming from Arsenal in the opening minutes, but nothing on target found its way past Krul. After this, the match settled into rusty frustration. Despite the flying start, Arsenal did not continue the match very well, in that touches and passes were off. A ton of first touches were terrible. This was clearly a side that 1) doesn't play together often and 2) doesn't see much playing time anyway and, as such, was rusty. Shaking that rust off was a huge point of this match.

The following ten minutes were all Newcastle. Nile Ranger beat Djourou and Szczesny found himself near the 18-yard-line to challenge and the young keeper missed. He did clip Ranger a bit, but nothing more and Ranger stayed on his feet, clear through with an open goal in front of him. Instead of burying it to give the Magpies a 1-0 lead against the run of play, he checked over to try to shoot from his dominant foot, allowing Laurent Koscielny to get back into position. Then, instead of dribbling around Koscielny, Ranger fired a shot right at him. Crisis averted. Not long after, Alan Smith had a beautiful strike from 25 yards out that clanged off the goalpost for a goal kick, though Szczesny actually got a fingertip to it. Kieran Gibbs left the match in the 18th minute with an injury he picked up earlier after a challenge; when was the last time he played a full match? Bacary Sagna replaced him, with Eboue sliding over from right to left back.

Then, nothing happened for about half an hour, unless you're a fan of crosses to nobody in particular.

Arsenal did manage to take a 1-0 lead into the halftime break thanks to an absolutely ridiculous own goal. Words cannot describe how preposterous this goal was, but I'll give it a shot. Arsenal won a corner in the final minute of the first half's added time. Bendtner flicked the set piece into the six-yard box and all hell broke loose. In the scramble, someone in red got a shot on target that was headed off the line by Ryan Taylor. But, the defender's clearing header landed on the back of the head of the goalkeeper Krul, who was on the ground in the scramble. The ball careened off Krul's head and into the net. No, seriously, that's what happened.

Returning from injury, Bendtner and Walcott have scored four goals combined in two games. Pic via Daily Telegraph. 

Arsenal added a second goal eight minutes after the restart, though this would not come without controversy. From a Newcastle goal kick, Bendtner was slowly jogging back into play, but the Arsenal defense won the ball. The pass sprung Walcott ahead with a brilliant through ball. Walcott was onside, but Bendtner, by miles, was not, so he cannot get involved in the play. Walcott was clear through on goal and chipped a shot over the charging Krul to make it 2-0. The controversy surrounds whether Bendtner impeded a defender, specifically Mike Williamson, from getting involved in the play. Walcott was off the races already and nobody was going to catch him anyway, but Williamson could have made it close. Instead, he was checked out of the play by Bendtner, who was offside.

So, the question is how you interpret the (exceedingly complicated) offside rule. In a split second, the assistant referee would have had to determine both whether Bendtner impeded Williamson and whether Williamson could have become involved in the play in the first place. Since Walcott was onside and running well ahead of everyone anyway, I can see why the goal was given, in spite of the gray area. 

Newcastle started pouring everything forward in a desperate attempt to equalize. They made offensive minded substitutions, bringing on the likes of Andy Carroll, Jonas Gutierrez, and Joey Barton. The Toon threw everything they could at Szczesny, who kept the door shut in magnificent fashion. He's talked the talk before and it's good to see that he can walk the walk as well. As a separate aside, I love that, considering he's got an impossible name for a chant, we at the pub have started chanting his name as "Mr. Smith."

As mentioned in the opening of this post, Arsene Wenger clearly wanted this win, as he brought Cesc Fabregas in off the bench, up 2-0, in the 71st minute. After about ten more minutes of Szczesny slamming the door shut (including a point blank save while on the ground off a corner,) Arsenal nabbed a third, as Fabregas slid a perfect ball for Bendtner, who lashed a shot into the top right corner. Walcott picked up a brace five minutes later, after a similar run straight up the middle of the pitch as his goal earlier in the half.

All in all, a great effort, against a side that certainly came to play, and an enjoyable match on the whole. There's a 6 in 7 chance that Arsenal will play another Premier League side in early December's Carling Cup quarterfinal, and two of those six sides were finalists in this competition last year (that's Manchester United and Aston Villa, by the way.) It's four straight wins across all competitions for the Gunners, a feeling that this team could actually win something this year that is growing with each and every win, and a string of players returning from injuries. Let's just keep this rolling, boys.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Theo Walcott

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.

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.