Zzzzshoooop, Zzzzshoooop, Zzzzshoooop, Zzzzshoooop

from the bunker

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE

Carrow Road

Referee:  Phil Dowd

Norwich City v Arsenal 19 November 2011

Morison [16] Van Persie [27, 59]

Over the past few seasons the promoted sides have proven somewhat of a challenge to the Arsenal particularly in the early part of the season. With the disruption of international friendlies these matches can be even trickier, as the opponents often have few call-ups to national sides and can spend a good 10 days getting the bus parked just right in front of the goal.

The expected rearguard action from the hosts produced a series of goal-line clearances, and the usual lack of cutting edge from the boys in red made for a frustrating afternoon.  For once such a display wasn’t down to that bloody handbrake. We cut them open time and again but a combination of poor finishing and resilient defending meant a score line that very much flattered the team in yellow.

Van Persie got involved straight away with a couple of range finding efforts that drew criticism from the commentators. Apparently 31 goals in the calendar year and a rate of 2 per game over the last five gets short shrift from those fortunate enough to get paid to TALK about the game. As with the Chelsea match, there was a distinct feeling that he wouldn’t miss too many more chances that came his way, and as with the Chelsea match, he didn’t.

Meanwhile Walcott was absolutely lively on the wing and Gervinho was doing his part as well. Unfortunately, his part involved invoking the ghosts of Adebayor and Bendtner. The captain’s mission to up his creative play presented some gilt edge chances but the Ivorian just couldn’t convert.

What he did do was set up our equalizer not long after a clearance flummoxed the BFG and we once again conceded on our opponents’ first chance of the game.  Gervinho carried the ball for about 20 yards, cut inside and found Robin, who continued the move to a wide open Theo.

For many games now a regular feature in Walcott’s game is the foundation [kicking it one side of the defender then running around the other side] and this put him into a great position to slide a ball into the six yard box. Gervinho missed, but Van Persie didn’t.  Arsenal went in level at the break but should have been free and clear with a multiple goal advantage.

When Vermaelen burst down the left wing in the second half, the ball disappeared in the eclipse of Yao’s enormous head and there were visions of a sledgehammer against a pea but amazingly the ball went straight to the keeper. Gervinho could have had a hat-trick but instead the poor fella couldn’t score in a women’s prison with a stack of warrants.

The away fans were in great voice, giving Harry Redknapp a good rollicking and letting the home support know who they came to see. More chances went begging, and yet curiously there was a feeling that the next Arsenal goal wasn’t far off. Song was in the middle of another strong, disciplined showing, and combined with Ramsey to take the ball from the second Norwich goalkeeper [Martin] in the center circle to storm up the pitch.

Perhaps he thought Gervinho was slightly offside, which appeared to be the case, or perhaps he made the decision most would given his string of missed chances. Whichever the case, Alex made the right choice and found RVP, who stuck a delicious little lob over the keeper with his right foot and peeled away, celebrating his own finish complete with sound effects.  Zzzzshoooop must be Dutch for have some of that.

The captain will once again take the plaudits, but really the entire side put in a real shift. Vermaelen stood out in particular in defense, as did Song. Also like the Chelsea match, apart from the goal Mertesacker didn’t do much wrong. Szcz probably spent much of the match updating his twitter account. Koscielny did a wonderful job of slotting in on the right and did little wrong all day. It would be unfair to fault his lack of contribution going forward, especially because his efforts gave Theo freedom to terrorize the Norwich defense.

Santos played a similar role and again showed some excellent 1 v1 tackling. Arteta was the picture of calm and Ramsey continued to blossom into the player we saw before the mongoloid Stoke captain interrupted his progress. He has come along nicely and is beginning to play a significant part in making our attack really tick. Van Persie’s scoring dominance belies the combination play of a very impressive front four at the moment.

We should have scored more, it’s true. And given that we currently sit outside of the top four only on goal difference that might count as a valid criticism. But for me this is a match that we would have lost or drawn from about February of last season up until mid-September of the current campaign. So I take it as a great sign of maturity and resilience that the result never really looked in doubt even if we didn’t take all of our chances.  

That makes five straight wins in the league, only seven points off of second place, and a very good three points to kick off what is typically a tricky month for the Arsenal. Given the run of matches coming up for our rivals and our own schedule, by the time we face City in the league we could be far closer than any would have imagined just a few weeks ago. It is indeed good to be a gooner.


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