Match Report | Match highlights | Wenger’s thoughts | Credits: Sky Sports
Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla were becoming hugely influential players in this new-look Arsenal team, which made it all the more important to not rue their losses and get a positive result at Sunderland with little fuss. That is exactly what we did with a 4-1 win over them, and even though it appeared to be touch and go for a second, in hindsight this was definitely one of our more entertaining games of the season so far.
It would be remiss to overlook how fast we were out of the blocks in the opening minutes, an attribute that has been a welcome habit this season. We were fantastic, pressing Sunderland into submission and pretty much dictating possession and the state of play. Arsene Wenger’s enforced changes did little to diminish our chemistry; if anything, they enhanced it. Kieran Gibbs was exemplary on the left-hand side, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain continued his gradual escalation with a fine assist for Alexis Sanchez’s opener.
The cross was inviting, Sunderland were half asleep at the back and Sanchez was Sanchez, showing his height was only a number by typically winning the aerial battle and planting the ball into the far post superbly. I was perching enough about his header before realizing that the header was at the end of a twenty two passing move. The goal itself was just reward for our utter domination over the opposition.
Of course, our performance might have been more down to Sunderland being a little shite. I don’t find David Moyes to be as bad as the Internet suggests, but my does he have some work to do. Half of the players didn’t seem bothered enough to fight for him or the club, letting Arsenal slice them open time and time again. Aside from one free kick which could have caused Petr Cech some problems, they showed little from an offensive point of view.
But Arsenal being Arsenal, we gave them enough lifelines to get back into it. Granted, we were denied a crystal clear penalty by a quite atrocious referee, but even without his interference, we were doing a good job of making life difficult for ourselves. Mesut Ozil made a hash of three presentable chances and Oxlade-Chamberlain was impatient with two others.
It’s moments like these on which more important games will hinge. For the first time in a long time, most Arsenal fans can look at their team and assert it has goals all over the pitch. We certainly have the ability and we have shown our attacking prowess from time to time, but we’ve yet not shaken off that excruciatingly irritating habit of failing to put a game to bed.
It seems a frivolous complaint on the end of what proved to be a job well done, but it’s a point well worth mentioning. Past and present Arsenal teams have been culpable of this loss of concentration.
In any way, we let them into the game after Cech felled some Sunderland fella. I thought it would be one of those days where the Czech Republican would see red and our dominance over them would fall in pantomime fashion, but thankfully it wasn’t. It was only minutes after Jermaine Defoe slotted his penalty past him that Arsene decided to reach into his deeper recesses and bring on Olivier Giroud.
And look, whatever your thoughts are on him, it’s obvious the Frenchman’s introduction sharply tilted the game into our favour. He took advantage of another slick Arsenal move and Gibbs cross to navigate the ball past Jordan Pickford and minutes later, tried an unorthodox heading method that pulled off. Two touches, two goals. Can’t ask for more than that.
It’s not unfair or in any way biased to suggest that despite him not getting a lot of games this season, he’s still pretty important to this Arsenal team. True, he misses some great chances and has a knack for ghosting in games when he’s fatigued, but he’s not even close to the Chamakhs or the Sanogos we’ve had to endure. Indeed, he’s an honest lad who works his socks off and offers a different gravy if things get too mainstream.
The versatility and ‘Plan B’ness he offers to Arsenal is a point done to death, a point I don’t feel many counter anymore. But in addition to that, Giroud has a certain hunger and a desire to prove himself. He’s one who relishes competition and gets better in that atmosphere. I don’t think we necessarily needed his height or his physique to win that game (we were doing fine creating chances on our own), but we definitely needed his appetite. He took Sunderland by storm and got us some important three points.
It’s not only Giroud. I’ve had my concerns with Aaron Ramsey and I don’t think they’re vanishing anytime soon, but his substitution was just another reminder of how well stocked we are in every department of the squad. Despite loaning out Jack Wilshere and Calum Chambers (not to mention Danny Welbeck waiting in the wings), we seem to be well stocked in quality and quantity.
What remains to be seen is how Wenger uses it. Ozil, Bellerin and Iwobi are a few players who are racing toward the dreaded red zone, but benching them may also hamper our chances of keeping this unbeaten streak going. Yesterday, him bringing Giroud on spun the game on its head, one of many interchanges he’ll have to make to keep Arsenal competing for major honours this season.
This league season is shaping up tightly. Wins for Chelsea and Manchester City have narrowed the four-horse race (why bother including Jose Mourinho anymore?) Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte are hugely talented managers but have chinks in their armour, mostly because it’s their first English season.
That doesn’t discount the fact that it’s very much an uphill battle. The players over the past month have proven that they’re good enough to win us that battle, and Wenger deserves enormous credit for piecemealing them together. However, it’s still very much up in the air if he can manage them well enough to maintain consistency over the remaining seven months.
Let’s start with getting past the dreaded November.
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
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