Match Review: Arsenal 2 Swansea 2 - Premier League 25.03.14

Arsenal’s title hopes have all but evaporated following a dismal draw against Swansea. A cold tuesday night at the Emirates stadium saw a tentative performance and a damaging result for the Gunners. The scars of Saturday’s mauling at Chelsea showed very clearly as we laboured to break down a stubborn Swansea defence. Suddenly our season is teetering on the brink of disaster and we face a fight to secure our involvement in next season’s Champions League.

Both Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started the game after the former had his red card transferred to the latter and the latter then had the red card overturned. This was good news, purely from the point of view that we have a horrible injury crisis at the moment, not from one of form and performance. The casualties from the weekend were Koscielny with injury and Lukas Podolski, who dropped to the bench for Flamini.

As soon as the game got underway, in front of a less than capacity crowd, you could tell that there was some serious fear in our play. The ball moved slowly, as did those not in possession and you could tell it was not going to be an easy evening. If the team was hoping for a quiet first half to help build some confidence and belief, thy were wrong. Against the run of play, Swansea’s left back was allowed the freedom of the Arsenal half and played in a simple cross towards Bony. Despite being the only Swansea man in the area, he still managed to beat Vermaelen with embarrassing ease and plant a header well out of Szczesny’s reach. An already quiet Emirates fell deathly quiet as the limited Swansea contingent celebrated.

The team looked despondent at letting in yet another early goal and there was no immediate response. We dominated the possession and passed it about from side to side, without threatening the Swansea goal. Bar a few half chances from Chamberlain and Cazorla, we went in at half time a goal down and having failed to create a single meaningful chance. The players walked off to boos and a second defeat in a row was looking worryingly possible.

The second half show no variation to the first, as Arsenal continued to look laboured and Swansea continued to look comfortable. They were even threatening on the break, with Michu having a particularly good chance to extend the lead, but slicing the ball high into the air. Our continued struggles prompted Wenger to make a fairly early change, the woefully ineffective Chamberlain being replaced by Podolski. The German was a bit unlucky to have been benched after he played just 15 mins of the defeat at the weekend. Not much changed really, the shape was still poor, there were no options for the man in possession and we just looked generally clueless. That was until the 72nd minute when, finally, we put together a move of purpose.

Cazorla played a cross field ball to Gibbs on the left of the Swansea area and for once, he got right at the Swansea full back, beating him and chipping the ball back across goal. Another first for the night was that there were actually some players other than Giroud in the box and it was Lukas Podolski who was on hand to divert the ball in. It was a very good finish, as the ball was at a very awkward height, but as many have said, he is a brilliant finisher. No celebrations, the players ran straight back to the centre circle.

Barely twenty seconds passed and suddenly Arsenal were ahead having looked like they could play for a week without scoring. Swansea played a sloppy pass from kick off and of all people, Cazorla got his head on the ball and delivered it to Podolski on the left. The German strode forward and delivered an absolutely stunning ball into the box, evading two defenders and allowing Giroud to convert with ease. A slightly fortunate goal from the perspective that it came from a Swansea mistake straight from kick off, but Podolski’s cross was brilliantly accurate, deserving of a goal. An undeserved lead if we’re being honest, but one the whole stadium and the team was very grateful for.

Now with a lead to protect, Arsenal went for a more conservative approach. Kim Kallstrom came on for Rosicky to sure up the midfield and Sanogo replaced Giroud, probably to give the Frenchman a bit of a rest before facing City on Satruday. Kallstrom showed some very nice technique and seems to have an extremely good long pass on him. However, he is severely lacking in any sort of pace and he looked a little worrying in the tackle. With the ninetieth minute approaching, it seemed that we were going to get away with our poor performance. But there was a horrible sting in the tail.

Swansea threw men forward in search of the equaliser and they got one, in the last minute, in the most frustrating fashion. Rangel received the ball and flicked it round the corner for Leon Britton, who had escaped the attention of both Flamini and Kallstrom and surged into the box. He lost his balance and Mertesacker came in with a sliding tackle, that was perfectly timed as ever. Unfortunately for us, the ball then rebounded of the onrushing Szczesny and then in turn onto Flamini and into the net. An absolute sickener. No time to try and find a winner. A summation of how things have gone over the last few days. The stadium emptied as quick as I’ve ever seen and the team trudged off dejectedly.

The result is a huge blow to our season. Our title challenge was pretty much over on Saturday, but this has put the final nail in the coffin. Not only that, but we’re now only six points ahead of Everton and the Merseyside club have a game in hand, at home to Crystal Palace. We have a home game against City at the weekend, while Everton face bottom side Fulham. City will be fancying their chances against an Arsenal side that look bereft of confidence and seemingly at sea tactically, while Everton will surely dispose of Fulham without much trouble. It means that should we lose against City and then follow that with a defeat to Everton, we will descend to fifth place and Everton will still have a game in hand. While I’m sure we’ll avoid this and I’m even more sure we will finish fourth, we are now in a battle for our Champions League status. Sp*rs would also be back in the picture should our poor form continue, so a change in fortunes is absolutely vital. If not, a season of huge promise could end up in unmitigated disaster.

Teams

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Flamini, Arteta, Cazorla, Rosicky (Kallstrom 79’), Chamberlain (Podolski 57’), Giroud (Sanogo 89’)
Subs
Fabianski, Jenkinson, Podolski, Gnabry, Kallstrom, Bellerin, Sanogo

Swansea (4-4-1-1)
Vorm, Rangel, Chico, Williams, Taylor (Davies 73’), Britton, Shelvey (Hernandez 79’), De Guzman, Routlege, Michu (Dyer 63’), Bony (Y)
Subs
Amat, Hernandez, Dyer, Canas, Tremmel, Alvaro, Davies

Player Ratings

Szczesny - 6/10 - Not really at fault for either goal and had nothing else to do
Sagna - 6/10 - Had a mixed evening, not troubled defensively really
Mertesacker - 6/10 - Looked to miss his usual partner
Vermaelen - 4/10 - Bullied by Bony from start to finish, surely off in the summer
Gibbs - 6/10 - Largely isolated going forward, but helped us score when in really mattered
Flamini - 6/10 - The own goal was unfortunate, but did originate from his own mistake
Arteta - 6/10 - Receiving a huge amount of abuse from fans, still a quality player
Cazorla - 5/10 - He keeps ending up too deep to influence, which needs sorting
Rosicky - 7/10 - Always gives everything, one of the only ones willing to run at Swansea
Chamberlain - 4/10 - Had another shocker, badly out of form since Bayern
Giroud - 7/10 - @ me, gave his all, often against 3 defenders and got a vital goal
Subs
Podolski - 8/10 - Game changing performance, should have been game winning
Kallstrom - 6/10 - Looked decent, but can’t see him starting any time soon
Sanogo - N/A

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