Match Review: West Ham 1 Arsenal 3 - Premier League 26.12.13
The Gunners returned to winning ways on boxing day and also returned to the Premier League summit after beating West Ham. It was a slightly uncomfortable match though and we had to dig deep to earn the three points having fallen behind in the second half. Nevertheless, the lads pulled through and with City beating Liverpool, we are deservedly top with one game left in 2013.
On paper, it seemed a match we should dominate and win comfortably. Wenger made one change from the bore draw with Chelsea; Santi Cazorla replaced Rosicky, who dropped out of the match day squad. We did dominate, West Ham’s midfield simply didn’t have the quality to keep up with or contain ours and we got forward at will. West Ham seemed to have been taking notes from Chelsea and were only too happy to sit in a rigid shape and frustrate us. But what was frustrating was not West Ham’s attempt to stifle us, that failed pretty badly, it was our inability to finish the numerous chances we created. Cazorla, Özil and Walcott weaved around the West Ham players, with Gibbs and Sagna bombing forward, but we squandered a number of very good chances.
Cazorla had a header well saved after a cross was cleared, then Walcott missed a glorious chance, sidefooting wide after Ramsey chipped the ball over the defence. Cazorla fizzed a shot over the angle of the post and crossbar and Giroud yet again failed to convert when through on goal, dragging horribly wide of the far post when it might have been better to go for the near post. Whilst Giroud’s hold up play and link up play remains fantastic, his inability to score big chances is worrying, not just for us, but for him too it seems. He’s desperate to score and you could see the anguish and frustration on his face when he missed his latest opportunity. I don’t doubt his quality, he is a fantastic player and he brings a lot to the team, but the chances he’s been missing might hurt us. Had he converted against Chelsea for example, we’d have struck a significant blow in the title race. Questions are already being asked about whether we can win the league with him as our main striking option and with the January window imminent, he certainly seems to be feeling the pressure.
The chances continued to come and go: Ramsey worked his way into the box and shot when he should have crossed, Arteta hit an effort just wide after a free kick was blocked by the wall and Giroud failed to get on the end of first Özil’s and then Gibbs’ cut backs across the six yard box. We could have been up by three or more goals, but instead went in level.
Experience tells us that when Arsenal have been wasteful with their chances, they are almost always punished in the second half and punishment was very swift on this occasion. West Ham’s first attack of the half led to Arteta blocking a shot that came out to Kevin Nolan. Nolan hit his effort straight at Szczesny, but the normally reliable Keeper spilled the shot and gave Carlton Cole a tap in. So not only were we behind having been battering West Ham, but we also suffered the embarrassment of conceding to Carlton Cole. Not only this, but we seemed to completely lose our heads and we let West Ham in a number of times. There were chances for Jarvis and O’Brian both had brilliant chances before Cole squandered the best of the lot. We were seriously let off the hook in that 10 minutes of play as West Ham could have almost killed the game. As much as we had bad luck in the first half, we got it back in the second and we made sure we didn’t waste it.
After a very hairy start to the half, we finally got a grip of ourselves and started pounding on the door, the importance of the game clearly not lost on the team. It was a proper onslaught, Ramsey had a shot saved and Özil then had the follow up to that shot saved again. We didn’t have to wait long after that for the equaliser. Cazorla drove forward and found Walcott on the right side of the area and the winger cut inside and hit a bobbling shot that somehow avoided both centre backs and then rolled under the keeper in comical fashion. A slice of luck, similar to the one that Theo got against Man City, but it was one we deserved, after being so dominant for so long. A draw wasn’t enough though and fortunately, we kept up the attack.
Lukas Podolski had been brought on for Aaron Ramsey, worryingly because the Welshman had picked up an injury. It looks as if the midfielder will be missing for a while as Wenger said that the injury is a thigh strain that looks ‘serious’. Despite losing Ramsey, the team continued to dominate the game and Podolski immediately looked dangerous in his first game since limping off against Fenerbahçe. It was the German who provided the assist for us to take the lead as well. Gibbs was blocked attacking down the left side of the area and was forced to knock the ball back to Podolski. The German whipped in a fierce cross that was flicked on by Sam Tomkins and powerfully headed in by Theo Walcott. Walcott now has four goals in his last three starts and despite not playing at his best, is looking like he could be a major part of the team in the coming months.
But we weren’t done there, the team came forward still, looking to make absolutely sure of the win and were successful. Walcott chipped the ball into Olivier Giroud and the striker brought the ball down and managed to lay the ball back for Lukas Podolski to smash home his third league goal of the season. It was a brilliant finish and a really good assist from Giroud. He may not be banging them in himself, but the Frenchman’s assists and link up play have been a huge part of our success this season.
So a brief scare avoided by a very professional and determined performance. In some ways, a win like this is more of a boost than one where we win by three or four goals to nil. As Arsene is always keen to remind us, the team has a lot of character and they showed it in abundance. Now we face Newcastle away in our final game of 2013. It’s a tough one, Newcastle are in great form and beat Stoke 5-1 on boxing day. With City up against Palace at home, you can almost guarantee that we will need to beat Newcastle if we want to start 2014 top. There’s also the added incentive of Chelsea playing Liverpool straight after our game. One or both teams will be dropping points and we need to take advantage and widen the gap. It’s been a wonderful 9 months or so in terms of form, we’ve put more points on the board than any other team (even if we lose at Newcastle), one last big effort will see us deservedly at the top of the league at the end of it. Fingers crossed.
Stat of the game
Arsenal managed 29 shots and had 66% of the possession against West Ham
Teams
West Ham (4-2-3-1)
Adrián, O'Brien ■ (Demel 63'), McCartney, Diamé, Collins (Rat 38'), Tomkins, J Cole, Noble, C Cole, Nolan (Taylor 75'), Jarvis
Subs
Rat, Collison, Maiga, Taylor, Jääskeläinen, Diarra, Demel
Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey (Podolski 65’), Cazorla ■, Özil (Flamini 81’), Walcott, Giroud (Bendtner 85’)
Subs
Fabianski, Monreal, Jenkinson, Gnabry, Flamini, Podolski, Bendtner
Player Ratings
Szczesny - 5/10 - Maybe a little harsh, but he nearly cost us dearly
Sagna - 6/10 - Solid as usual and support the attack ably
Mertesacker - 7/10 - Consistently consistent consistency
Vermaelen - 6/10 - Fairly solid again, but reckless at times
Gibbs - 8/10 - One of his best games for a while, very threatening and defended well
Arteta - 7/10 - Exactly what was needed, metronomic and dependable
Ramsey - 7/10 - Better than his last few games, but worryingly injured his thigh
Cazorla - 8/10 - Superb, a real returned to form, an assist and constantly busy and a threat
Özil - 7/10 - Combined well with Santi and created a staggering EIGHT chances
Walcott - 7/10 - Two important strikes and should have had a hat-trick
Giroud - 6/10 - Not great, but not awful a good assist and hopefully goals will come again
Subs
Podolski - 8/10 - Back with a bang, a goal and an assist and he’s not fully fit yet
Flamini - N/A
Bendtner - N/A
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