We did it. A goal from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud showed the jitters of Manchester City, as they rolled over and helped us stroll to a 2-1 win. In truth, it was a win made hard work of when Yaya Toure floated one in the top corner, but aside from that it was dominating stuff, which everyone connected to Arsenal can take a lot of heart from.
The team that made it to the starting lineup was pretty much as expected. Talk of Alexis Sanchez being on the bench was dispelled when the manager said, post-game, that he won’t be fit until “the 10th of January”. While it’s not unreasonable to take whatever Wenger says regarding injuries with a kilogram of salt, it would be an ideal day to be fit. It would mean a spare from the grueling Christmas schedule and a potentially fully fit Alexis before Stoke away and Chelsea to follow.
I’d be lying if I said the start didn’t irk me. While City weren’t creating huge openings, they certainly had the lion share of possession and we didn’t have much to work with. Minds around the stadium became wary, and – had that Kevin de Bruyne chance not gone begging – could have become defeatist.
As it stood we were given a lifeline, and my did we make optimum use of that. Laurent Koscielny forayed into midfield and played a courageous forward to Mesut Ozil (it’s underestimated how often he does that). The German played a pass that was perhaps meant for Giroud, but Walcott took it in his stride.
What followed was a delight to see. Cutting inside just enough, Walcott twirled in a Thierry Henry-esque sidefoot beyond Joe Hart, nestled into the back of the net. For all the anonymity Theo offers, there’s just something about him that gets us goals and assists, even in big games like now. One shot, one on target, one goal.
In one swing we had shattered City’s confidence and it showed. I’m highly critical of our mental fragility, but it must also be noted how introverted City became after trailing. All of a sudden Otamendi and Mangala became nervy, and it was the latter’s mistake that doubled our lead.
Panicked, Mangala threw a ridiculous pass to Fernandinho which completely missed him and hit Walcott instead (I think). He passed it to Ozil, who – like all Gods of football do – waited until the right moment and played it to Giroud. Giroud’s touch was on par, and his nutmegged drill through Hart’s legs, perfect.
It added another goal for Giroud and two more assists for Ozil, who is touching bewildering levels of perfection now. It’s surreal to imagine where we’d be without him. Even in the absence of key men like Santi Cazorla and Alexis (not to mention the number of games Ozil is playing), what he’s offering is simply astounding. We paid £42.5m for him to make title-winning contributions as such, but hardly did we expect him to deliver them every game. As of now, that sum looks like a bargain.
We pretty much had them at arms-length after that goal, and had an array of chances to increase our lead. Joel Campbell could have done better a couple of times, as could Aaron Ramsey. Speaking of whom, am I the only one who notices how unreliably he performs every game? For every wonder-assist there are four terrible passes, and for every goal there’s an easy chance shanked. The workrate he puts in for the club is commendable, but there’s something tactically naive and unpredictable about him I cannot shake off.
We slacked a bit and let them nonchalantly get back in the game, which signaled panic stations a bit. The last ten minutes were filled with half-chances and shameless simulations, which could have gone the other way. The end was nervy, it was also a tad unconvincing, but the three points in the end quashed away all those worries.
Don’t let those ten minutes fool you – Arsenal were better than City yesterday. There are a lot of similarities to the mental fortitude of both these sides, which meant that the opening goal was always important. City had their chance and KDB tanked it, we had our half-chance and we took it.
The win means that we’re perched nicely for top spot when Leicester City’s purple patch turns blue. What whoever’s done at Leicester is quite remarkable, but it’d be impossible for them to sustain it over a season. The fact that they’re on top of the table speaks more about the league’s qualities than theirs. It’ll be surreal to see them put together a Champions League fight, but quite impossible to see them win the league.
Manchester’s City and United – are only realistic rivals for the title – are looking in bad shape. Chelsea are long gone and may not even make Europa. If not the entire league, certainly the levels of the top clubs of England have fallen quite dramatically, offering us a clear run to the trophy. We have to take it.
It’s up for debate if we can. In years like 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2014, the fear of failure and the expectation of winning got to the club and delivered embarrassing collapses. Wenger did not know how to deal with it. I’d wager he still doesn’t.
However, this league is forgiving. Losing to West Bromwich Albion is not as harmful as it would have been two years ago, because other teams in and around us are doing the same. Despite how unpredictable this team is under the spotlight, it’s becoming apparent that other teams are, too. Winning the league would be being the best out of a reasonable bunch, but it would still be being the best.
The win yesterday was excellent, but it also put all eyes on us. We’re the favourites for a league that no one seems capable of winning. If we go on an unbeaten streak and win, say, eight of our last ten, our competitors could slip away like Gerrard and give us a much-needed gap. Will we create that?
Based on yesterday’s performance and result, we just might.
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
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