I finally have a goal to write about! Mikel Arteta scored against QPR in the 84th minute to give us an unconvincing win against bottom of the table QPR who had Stephane M'Bia sent off.
The big talking points of the day were the return of two of our players from long term injuries. They were of course Bacary Sagna and Jack Wilshere. I was very impressed with both of them today. I didn't have much expectations for either of them to make a huge impact as they have been injured for so long but Wilshere especially looked like he hasn't been out of the game at all and was easily our most creative player whilst he was on the pitch. Sagna showed signs of why he should be starting in the team despite Jenkinson doing so well as his deputy. After 66 minutes Jack was substituted off for Theo Walcott who made his first appearance since getting injured on International duty.
The first half was very dull. Arsenal started brightly but after a while went back to the stale football we've seen over the last couple of matches. The only shots of note was a header from Ramsey which hit the bar and an effort from the edge of the area from Giroud which was palmed away by Cesar in the QPR goal. Arsenal stepped it up a gear in the second half however yet couldn't make too many clear cut chances. Santi Cazorla should have made it 1-0 when Walcott's cross fell to him unmarked in the box but he blazed it over. With 79 minutes gone, Stephane M'Bia was brought down by Vermaelen but then lashed out at him and the ref had no choice but to give him a red card. 5 minutes later Arsenal finally made the break through. The goal came in a chaotic pinball fashion as first Giroud's header was saved by Cesar, it then fell to Arteta who headed against the bar but the ball kindly dropped to his feet for him to smash it home. My reaction was not my usual cheer of YES! but instead was FINALLY! which sums up the mood I think all us Gooners were in.
QPR didn't really threaten but had a couple of chances at the end. Granero dragged a shot wide and Jamie Mackie hit on straight at Mannone. It was a nervous finish and one that isn't good for my heart but we held on to take all 3 points.
So our first goal and first win since beating West Ham 3 weeks ago and I personally don't care if it wasn't a typical Arsenal performance. Sometimes you just have to grind out these types of results. Santos played a lot better than he did midweek although he was rarely troubled and even Ramsey put in a good shift, once he was moved to his favoured position in the middle. We also saw a late cameo from Arshavin who I thought looked decent. He made a great tracking back tackle late on.
Very much looking forward to see who will play midweek against Reading. Hopefully we will see a little more of Jack Wilshere.
No comments:
Post a Comment