Arsenal v. Aston Villa 3-0 27/Dec/09

The skipper completed in a thirty minute performance a brace.
[Photo: Jonathan Brady/EPA via Guardian]

In a twenty-seventh minute "cameo" Cesc Fábregas reassured his commitment to Arsenal's cause and put Aston Villa in trouble just as his brace made the difference. Despite the injury some thought that it was 'worth the risk. Within this brief span of thirty minutes, the Spaniard secured what for the Gunners meant a step closer towards the Chelsea in the hot pursue for May's silverware.

Whilst the battle between direct fourth-place rivals meant a lot more than just gossip from the media, the match resulted to be quite an attraction. After this troubled encounter the Londoners face a tricky four week schedule with a travel to struggling Pompey, a home fixture against Everton, an FA Cup tie against Hammers and a double feature at Bolton.



The exact moment of beauty.
[Photo: Getty Images via Daily Mail]


For most of the first half, the fight between the two teams was fierce. The opposition really did not give the Gunners much chance to score: meanwhile the efforts were neutralised by what seemed a really solid defence. Even when Arsenal created chances - mainly one by Eduardo and a volley by Nasri - the deadlock imposed by O'Neill's men was tough. For large periods of the first part, the Londoners appeared to have the upper-hand whilst many of the attempts came from the vigorous right-hand side. Strangely, not even a single cross was made by Traore. The physical contest was won by the home team, that by the break had made nothing more of a push towards their opposition.



Limping after his second.
[Photo: Guardian]

If the previous half provided the Gunners with plenty of possession, their hopes were revitalised when a rampant, brilliant and lucid Cesc Fabregas came off the bench to put his team back on track. Before this entrance, the home side made enough attempts to put Friedel on target several times. With the inclusion of the Spanish international, in the 64th minute, the home team rose above level. Cesc, marshaling all the players, reordered the midfield and in one of those occasions was kicked in the edge of the box by Dunne.
Immediately afterwards came the second consecutive free kick goal in the last two matches. If Denilson and Nasri were to take the ball, immediately Cesc grabbed it, and with a dexterity of a master, put he ball in the farther side of Friedel's goal; a wonderful cherry on top of the icing, the Spaniard was proverbial.
After the goal (and until the end of the game) the Gunners strolled past the Villains, creating at least three more chances. In one of them, Cesc was fed by Theo on the wing and scored. Unfortunately, although he completed his brace, the captain was limping and eventually got substituted. Afterwards, even with morale high the defence look focused enough to not give away two goals as in previous matches. In one rampaging counter-attack, Diaby finished with a trade-mark goal after passing through a couple of bodies before ending the game.

Arsenal v. Hull City 3-0 19/Dec/09

Nasri against the thick of Brown's troops.
[Photo: John Sibley/Action Images via Guardian]


After the draw in Turf Moor last Wednesday, the Gunners received one team that has been annoying their aspirations - even if just theoretically . Whether the absence of Cesc Fábregas meant something of a void, the home team were able to cope with the absence of their talismanic captain. Particularly the work of the three man in midfield was outstanding: Diaby provided one and created another as well as Denilson's beautiful comb while Song proved once again that he is the driving force for all the creation.
Palmer's verdict could not be closer to reality: "A depleted Arsenal got the job done and they will need to win plenty more games like this if they are to push Chelsea close in the second half of the season. Their lack of strength in reserve must still be a major concern."
It was of the utmost importance to see a win, for many believed that after the previous draw, Chelsea could have regained a broader lead in the table. With the current situation the Gunners stand six points behind their London counterparts with a game against Bolton in hand. The other news was the Champions League draw: the Londoners were drawn with FC Porto, a team that in the past have proved to be a rather toilsome if not annoying. Last year it was Cristiano Ronaldo's long range driver that gave Utd the edge.



[Photo: Getty Images via Daily Mail]


Most important was the question of Arsenal's midifield vacancy and Diaby did not disappoint. Where in the past he had received flak from nearly all Arsenal quarters, today he impressed in a rather industrious fashion. His shot at the 14th, as well as his fellow countryman's Nasri in the next minute, proved wrong the strange outcome of the first half. Whereas the Gunners made an effort to control the ball throughout the whole of the first half, the labour in which the physicality of Hull's game was based deprived most of the home jingle. Shots from Eduardo and Arshavin provided the necessary statistics against a pretty even match.
It was not actually just before halftime that interesting things happened. Nasri sparkled a riot in which the young Frenchman and Stephen Hunt saw yellow cards. Right after the incident, Denilson took what appeared to be a freekick in possession of the ex-Marseille midfielder. The Brazilian impressed the whole stadium by deliciously curling the ball away from both the defensive wall and the keeper. Even if the Gunners did not enjoy the usual football they deploy at the Emirates the tough force behind Arsenal's effort came to light.



Diaby sums up his performance of the day.
[Photo: Reuters via Daily Mail]


Particularly enthralling resulted to be the second half. Arshavin set Eduardo a decent pass that ended in a wide effort or as Gunnerblog sums it in his Twitter: "Bergkamp-esque turn by Eduardo but he misses the target". Ten minutes after the halftime whistle, Sylvestre "pulled" Cousin's jersey to concede a penalty. Whether the lightness of the challenge or the rigour imposed by the referee were the main factors, Almunia did save in an outstanding manner the spot kick from Giovanni.
From then on the opposition cracked and vanished to mere dregs. Eduardo opened his personal account after a strolling counter on the box by Abou Diaby. If he proves to be consistent in this trademark events, we may be seeing the force of the replacement of Song when the ANC takes place in January. After a couple of substitutions the Gunners dipped yet another strike with the same Frenchman at the tip of the spear: a devilish strike after a play that he, with Song, manufactured throughout the final third of the pitch.

Burnley v. Arsenal 1-1 16/Dec/09

The precise moment of the flaw.
[Photo: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images via Guardian]


Another travel to the north in one week saw the Gunners draw at Turf Moor against a hapless yet industrious side. Where at moments both teams struggled to find their own forms, there was one of those clashes in which both earn one point where actually the totality of the three could have made a lot happier either set of supporters and players. Burnley cannot be accused of playing to draw, neither Arsenal of underplaying: the constants that the Londoners face each time they travel to hostile grounds are, by this time of the season, measured and should be taken into consideration.
The previous win against Liverpool mattered little in this case. Even when the schedule seems to be an easy one, the fact that another pause comes between the home games against Hull and Villa could benefit the current situation instead of hampering it. Burnley resulted a rock on the path? as Wenger's ambitions once more took halt and should be no more than that as another lesson is learned.



[Photo: Mirror Football]


The haphazard beginning saw Vermaelen nearly scoring in his own goal, but Almunia palmed away timely. The northern team had several opportunities to counter the Gunners' approach. Within the first minutes they deployed their usual custom when visiting teams, specially with difficult travels such as this one. In the seventh minute, they took the lead through Cesc Fábregas after combining with Burnley's moronic defence
The London skipper made himself present for Carlyle's defence as he strolled past one defender and lobed the ball to shoot wide. The visitors made around five "warnings" when the clock approached the quarter of an hour. The clearest of them was a combo between Nasri and Arshavin; his try made the woodwork tremble nevertheless.
Pressure by Coyle's men gave them a bounty they could nor reject; Vermaelen gave away a penalty and Alexander squared things up three minutes to get to the half hour mark. From that point on, the Clarets made a crusade to grab a lead, which really did not seem strange taking into considerations the state of Arsenal's defence.
As the final minutes o the first half ended, the home attack began to grow as the Spaniard skipper had to be replaced by the young Welshman due to an early injury. Instead of finishing the first part at top gear, the sense that the Londoners entered into a kind of a no-way out trap appeared to be welcomed by the home supporters.



[Photo: News of the World]



Reaching the 56th minute the visitors had their first approach of the second part through a largely common, standard corner. Walcott summed up his terrible form with a wide shot at row-z, which was by far the clearest chance of the match for his side. As the Clarets took advantage, Eagles made a surreptitious move to edge Silvestre and Nasri; his subsequent shot hit the post violently, all this at the 62nd minute. Eduardo came on for Theo a couple of minutes later. From the sixtieth minute to the eightieth minute, Coyle's men scrapped a load of chances, beginning with Foster's at 65th. A disallowed goal broke the hearts of the Burnley supporters at Turf Moor as Fletcher found himself offside.
With the craft of Nasri, slowly the home team's dominance began to dissolve as the visitors' began to increase. Despite this great endeavour there should have been a penalty awarded to Burnley as one of those clumsy tackles by Sylvestre came out. Yet the final five minutes produced some desperate football by both teams. Instead the stalemate remained and the two teams shared the two points; probably any of the eleven men would have been happier with the three.

Liverpool v. Arsenal 1-2 13/Dec/09

Childish defending gave Liverpool the lead
[Photo: Ian Hodgson via Daily Mail]


This time the "kamikaze football" had to wait as the Gunners finished the Merseyside team in "two halves". The Gunners are assuring a reputation of something like Jekyll and Hyde: sublime attacking prowess with tremendous effective goal-scoring abilities against dismal and depleted lack defending talent. Even when the key word for a successful run of games is consistency and considering external factors -such as injuries- permeate in the final decision it is imperious that the form is sustained.
Whether the halftime rant Wenger gave to his players was as surprise, it seemed to have the effect needed. Maybe one of those techniques from Football Manager really works.



[Photo: Tim Hales/Associated Press via Guardian]


In the "first half" the Liverdpudlians were very much abusing the young visiting team. The first attempt came from a link between Torres and Gerrard, which the Spaniard wasted. Another one came from Liverpool's main striker which ended in Gerrard blatantly diving at the feet of William Gallas. The hectic start of the match was combined with the inability of the visiting defence to cover the spaces left by the defence. Instead Torres kept terrorising the London back over and over, when the twentieth miute mark was approaching.
The hostility that the Gunners put was by far one of the poorest that we had seen in the season: flops, pass misses, poor challenges, no attacking dimension at all. With fifteen minutes to go the threat proposed by the home team was a real worry. Within a space of ten minutes the Reds managed to put their counterparts agaisnt the wall, mainly through the incursions of Glen Johnson. Not a single attacking chance came from the Londoners as the match wore off.
The first attempt was a weak driver from Nasri, in the 36th minute. Obviously Liverpool's efforts paid bountiful dividends within five minutes: Almunia made one of his common timid approaches to the ball and Dirk Kuyt tipped to get the ball in the back of the net after hitting a couple of legs.



Andrey Arshavin, again the saviour as the last season.
[Photo: Getty Images via Soccernet]


Following the late lead and the desperate measures that Wenger took, the Gunners went out with renovated spirits for the second half. Luckily enough for the visitors, the leveller came pretty fast after nearly seven minutes of game. Before Johnson's own goal, the threat of Torres set up several chances for the Gunner defence. The momentum that Liverpool had during the first ten minutes of the first half, was exchanged by the fierce and aggressive style Wenger's men deployed.
The lead came, as Andrey Arshavin grabbed a lost ball before striking it in Reina's net, with a reminiscence of that 4-goal salvo last season. If there was a moment in which the Liverpudlians could have closed the gap it was when Howard Webb booked two Arsenal players for a couple of fair challenges.
As the match wore off and two substitutions were made, the current result was likely to stay due to the absence of a decision by the Liverpool squad. Two more injuries, near the end of the game arrived to the already-depleted London squad. When Sylvestre and Ramsey came in there was a sense of an achievement by many of the visiting players. The final whistle - which came after five minutes of injury time instead of the announced four - was a relief to many supporters and at this stage of the tournament.

Olympiakos v. Arsenal 1-0 9/Dec/09

[Photo: Giorgios Karahalis/Reuters via Guardian]


In another Carling Cup (sorry!) Champions League match, the young Arsenal "reserve" team lost their last game at group stage in Athens. With a place in the last sixteen already secured, the Gunners needed just a draw to end their comfortable group with a perfect record - a thing that it actually did not happen. This math was yet another exercise and a leap of faith from the high ranking officers in London to provide younglings with such an unfathomable test as visitors in Europe. With and average selection of 21 years, Kyle Bartley and Thomas Cruise were among the debutants. ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley asserted in an unmatched way the "unbeaten leaders of the Greek league against Arsenal reserves".



[Photo: Reuters via Daily Mail]


As it seemed that the incredible atmosphere in Athens could break the young guns' hearts, they managed to please the the visitor supporters at least for the first twenty minutes. The fierce Grecian defence led the way from having the London team at their won end, to providing three clear chances in the following ten minutes.
Even though in the first ten minutes the young Gunners posed an outstanding disposition, the impetuous defending and the off-guarded central defenders showed a lack of unity. The visitors travails were acquiesced by the little resistance from the Greek side, such as Ramsey's wide shot in the 34th.
The Welshman, at the heart of every movement, managed to give pace to the Londoners' match. With two yellow cards in the final 6th minutes, they looked to end the half in a high note but instead the home team made a step forward just by winning in possession and confidence.



The best man in the field for the Gunners, just after wasting a valuable chance.
[Photo: Reuters via Daily Mail]


If the first half was outstanding regarding the age of the visiting starting XI, the Gunners let themselves and their travelling supporters down as Leonardo scored just within a minute and a half from start. The London defence was caught off guard and Leonardo just went past through the remaining dummies and finished against Fabianski. In the counterpart Ramsey fed Vela in an incredible opportunity, which was timely saved by Nikopolidis.
With half-hour to go, the Gunners really did not look as if they were able to break the opposition in two, despite the number of opportunities they created. Reaching the 75th minute, luck was running out as Galitsios crashed with Sylvestre, although both players continued; Sunu replaced Jack Wilshere.
As the minutes went, the difference that was established as minimum in the previous half, slowly passed away as the London youngsters proved to be nothing but a "childish" match for the Greek team. One thing is to play every one or two weeks a merely competitive reserve match, and the other is playing week-in week-out for the last three months in such a demanding league as the Greek. Mainly, it was the physical shape of the visitors which kept them aside for contending in the last ten or so minutes. Still, Ramsey managed to deflect a venomous corner into Leonardo's body, who covered the near post.