goonersphere logo website logo-02

Match Review: Sunderland 1 Arsenal 3 - Premier League 14.9.13

Well, that was a bit of a roller coaster. I’ll never understand Arsenal’s insistence on putting us through the mill as much as possible. We could have been absolutely miles out of sight by half time and yet we found a way to keep Sunderland in it. If we had finished half our first half chances it would have been a stroll in the park. But as frustrating as it is that we made it difficult, we did come away with a good result and another three points. There were some significant positives too and they shouldn’t be forgotten despite a nervy second half.

Özil - Image courtesy of dailymail.co.uk

You won’t see many games where a team has nearly 75% possession in a half in the premier league. But such was the dominance of our midfield and the space they were afforded that Sunderland looked out of their depth. Mesut Özil, one of the best creative players in the world, was allowed to wander around Sunderland’s half in almost complete freedom, passing the ball around without hinderance. It didn’t take long for him to get his first Arsenal assist too and it was a thing of beauty. Kieran Gibbs played a long through ball over the top and Özil, having made a fantastic run inside the full back, brought the ball down with lightest of touches. One look over his right shoulder and the German squared an inch perfect ball into the area for Giroud to finish brilliantly. It was a goal of immense quality and it gave us a deserved lead.

From there, it was total dominance, apart from a Sunderland corner which crashed off our bar. Corner's have always been a cause for concern with Arsenal and today we were very shaky. For me, the problem is not having players attack the ball, we are so static and it's been picked up on so many times that we just let attackers get a running jump. We look most secure from set pieces when we have a player like Giroud attacking the ball, challenging in a way that you can't off a static jump. We need to stop giving away chances like this, it's too easy a weakness to exploit at the moment.

Özil and Giroud celebrate Arsenal Sunderland - Copyright AFP, Getty and dailymail.co.uk

Aside from that chance, there was nothing there for Sunderland. Arsenal had all the play, looking at FourFourTwo's player influence map, you could see the two Sunderland full backs were being forced very deep and the wingers could barely get past the halfway line. The fact that Sunderland let us have an extra man in midfield was a huge part of this dominance; Arsenal attempted 114 passes in Sunderland's final third, with 92 successful, while Sunderland managed to complete just 93 across the whole pitch. Yet we couldn't double our lead and Özil made a number of fantastic passes that should have brought goals. In particular, Theo could have had a hat-trick before half time, but failed to finish a number of clear cut chances. He looked composed enough but managed to find the keeper where usually he'd have converted. He's getting in the right positions, but struggling to hit the back of the net and I'd be hesitant to start laying on the criticism at the moment. He was one of our best players last season and just because he hasn't quite hit form yet, it doesn't mean it's time to turn on him. It'll come for Theo, it's early in the season and there's plenty of time for him to make the most of it. Unfortunately in this game, his profligacy nearly cost us, we went into the break 1-0 up when it should have been 3-0 or more. It was inevitable what would happen next.

The second half brought the al too familiar sight of an opposition team taking advantage of somehow still being in the game. Despite having had a little over a quarter of the possession, Sunderland drew level soon after the break. We looked nervous from the outset and it was sloppy defending that saw Adam Johnson get free in the box and Koscielny's lunge brought him down. It was a really silly tackle from a player who should know better by now, having given away one penalty in a similar fashion this season he should have learnt his lesson. It's an aspect of Koscielny's game that some time's comes off as a world class tackle, but equally can cost us dear (e.g. Man City). He's just rash sometimes and while I still think he's a magnificent defender, he needs to cut out these brain melts. It was an obvious penalty and it was despatched by substitute Craig Gardener. Just like that, the old Arsenal nerves kicked in. Sunderland saw more of the ball, looked threatening and our defense seemed to lose their shape. The home team even had the ball in the net after Arsenal panicked and failed to clear, but it was rightly ruled out for offside. We also conceded a freekick that was whipped in, missed everyone, hit the post and somehow didn't end up in the net, but again the offside flag was raised. The fans were noisy all of a sudden, the Sunderland players were getting tight and we were looking vulnerable.

Gardner scores for Sunderland - copyright AP & dailymail.co.uk

But in the 67th minute we restored our lead with a sublime goal. Flamini found Wilshere, who played the ball to Jenkinson down the right flank. Jenks drove forward, looked up and fizzed a cut back to the edge of the area. Ramsey was there and hit a magnificent first time volley into the bottom corner. The assist was magnificent, the finish was world class worthy of any top striker and it was typical of Ramsey's continued stunning form. The control and composure was incredible, even more so when you consider he used to rival Gervinho for a lack of finishing ability. He is rapidly turning into one of the standout midfielders in the Premier League and I couldn't be more happy for him after what he's endured.

Of course, Arsenal couldn't let us go without another heart stopping moment. This time it was Sagna having a hairy defensive moment. We failed to put pressure on the ball in midfield and the ball was played forward to Altidore who grappled with Sagna. This is where things got interesting. Referee Atkinson blew the whistle quite quickly for a Sunderland freekick, but Altidore went on and squeezed the ball under Szczesny and the ball crossed the line before it was cleared. Atkinson had no option but to pull play back for a freekick and Sunderland were less than happy. In my opinion, there wasn't that much in the original contact, both players were fighting to get to the ball and Sagna lost out. If it had been the other way round and it was an Arsenal move pulled back for a foul when we could have equalised, I'd have been fuming. The ref should have played advantage, or not given anything, and the goal should have stood. We got away with that moment in a big way. Sunderland can feel rightly aggrieved and it could've have made a difference to the outcome of the game. What the outcome would have been if the goal had been allowed is anyone's guess, it would be a bit tenuous to claim that Sunderland would have got a point or better if it had. Who's to say it wouldn't have spurred the Arsenal players into action and still ended up with an Arsenal win? It would have been a massive help to Sunderland, but it's not the reason they lost. They lost because we were by far the superior team and we showed that in our third goal.

Ramsey Scores - Copyright AP & dailymail.co.uk

Ramsey passed the ball to Özil, who gave it to Giroud and he tucked a beautifully weighted pass round the corner back into the path of Ramsey, who'd continued his run and swept it home. Another classy goal and another classy finish from Ramsey, who notched up his second as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Thankfully it killed the game and allowed us to make a few subs, Theo and Özil made way, before Giroud worryingly had to be replaced by youngster Akpom. Let's hope his knee is ok, because if he keeps his form up, he could be looking at 20-25 goals this season.

Ramsey and Gibbs - Copyright Getty & dailymail.co.uk

It should have been a lot easier, but bearing in mind we have probably the worst injury situation in the league, I'm happy to just get the win and move on. Without Arteta, Diaby, Chamberlain, Podolski, Arteta, Cazorla, Mertesacker, Rosicky and having been missing Vermaelen for an extended period, we have made our way to the top of the table and beaten the spuds along the way. Aside from the Villa game, we've made a great start and it's testament to the manager and the players who are fit. Imagine what we could do with everyone fit...

Teams

Sunderland (4-4-2)
Westwood, Celustka, Colback, Diakite, Valentin, Ki Sung-Yeung, Johnson, Vaughan (Gardner - 46' ), Mavrias (Borini - 71'), Fletcher (Wickham - 77' ), Altidore
Subs
Mannone, Brown, Cuellar, Larsson, Gardner, Wickham, Borini

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Szczesny, Jenkinson, Sagna , Koscielny, Gibbs, Flamini , Ramsey, Özil (Vermaelen 80'), Wilshere, Walcott (Monreal 89'), Giroud (Akpom 90')
Subs
Fabianski, Vermaelen, Monreal, Frimpong, Myaichi, Gnabry, Akpom

Player Ratings

Szczesny 7/10 Didn't have much to do, but continues to look confident
Jenkinson 7/10 Great assist for Ramsey but needs to work on defensive positioning
Sagna 6/10 Poor moment against Altidore, will hopefully be back at right back soon
Koscielny 5/10 Below par and nearly cost us with the penalty
Gibbs 8/10 Really great performance and a sublime pass in the build up to the first goal
Ramsey 9/10 A man in superb form. Two classy goals and ran the midfield as usual.
Flamini 7/10 Did what he does best, shout, point, tackle and get a yellow card!
Özil 8/10 Stand out performance despite just one training session and having the flu...
Walcott 5/10 Got into good positions, but wasted chances and didn't help defensively
Wilshere 7/10 Improving as he searches for his best form. It'll come for him
Giroud 8/10 Turning into a fantastic premier league striker, hold up play improving a lot
Subs    
Vermaelen   Good to see him back
Monreal   Being kept from starting by an in form Gibbs
Sagna   Made his league debut

Tell us what you think! If you agree, or have a different view, please leave a comment in the comments section or why not write a response or your own article on YouWrite?

Think you know Arsenal? Test your Arsenal knowledge on our trivia page and see if you can beat the top score.

Don't forget to like us on Facebook, add us to your G+ circle and follow us on Twitter.

SHARING IS CARING

Tags: Premier league, Ramsey, Giroud, Özil, Sunderland

Featured On

FFC Blog Network Arsenal News & Transfers

Arsenal PRSS Arsenal News

“as

Partners