Match Review: Newcastle 0 Arsenal 1 - Premier League 29.12.13

The victory against Newcastle is probably the dictionary definition of grinding out a result. With City having scraped a win against Palace the day before and Chelsea hosting Liverpool following our game, three points were very much needed. A win would also mean we would finish 2013 top of the Premier League, something that not many would have predicted.

Arsene was forced into a number of changes, due to some injuries and illness. Ramsey is out for a while with a thigh strain and was replaced in midfield by Jack Wilshere, back from serving a two match ban. Mesut Özil will miss the home game against Cardiff and is a doubt for the FA Cup tie with Sp*rs with a shoulder knock, his place taken by Thomas Rosicky. Laurent Koscielny was probably due to return to the starting XI anyway after his injury at City, but his return was enforced because of Vermaelen’s illness, with the Belgian dropping out of the squad altogether. Monreal also came down with illness and dropped out of the squad. The other change saw Arteta rested with Flamini coming into the holding midfield role.

We started in a very positive manner, controlling the possession completely and taking the game to Newcastle. The passing and movement was good, it was just the final ball that was lacking. We’ve seen it quite a few times from Arsenal that the first 15 minutes or so we come out and get right on the front foot, but can’t force the breakthrough. After that Newcastle settled well and began to see a lot more of the ball and did threaten a few times. Things got very tight, both teams struggled to put their attacks together properly, losing the ball from sloppy passes or good work from the opposition defenders. Towards the end of the half we had a few shots from range, Rosicky, Cazorla and Wilshere all trying their luck, but not producing anything very testing. In fact Newcastle had the two most threatening moments, right at the end of the half. Koscielny gave the ball away in midfield and had to race back to block a shot from Cabaye. The rebound dropped perfectly for Sissoko, who smashed a brilliant effort from 30 yards which Szczesny saved acrobatically. From the resulting corner, the ball went to the back post and was headed towards the far corner by Williamson, only for the ball to come back off the bar and be cleared by Giroud. Wilshere was on the line and would probably have cleared it had it been on target, but it was still a heart stopping moment going into the break.

The second half was very flat at the beginning. Both teams continued to struggle to construct meaningful attacks, both defences standing firm. That was until the 65th minute, when Tiote brought Santi Cazorla in the middle of the Newcastle half. Walcott stepped up and floated the ball in towards the penalty spot and Giroud somehow ended up unmarked and able to glance a header past Krul. It was a little out of the blue and certainly the result of a Newcastle lapse rather than our own brilliance, but they all count and it gave us the advantage.

We had a couple of chances to extend our lead, the best of which came when Krul blocked a shot and Walcott reacted quickly to chip the ball over the keeper only for a Newcastle defender to head his effort onto the bar. The ball fell to Giroud, but he scuffed his attempt away from the goal. It didn’t even get closer to the goal, it was more of a clearance than a shot. It seemed that this prompted Wenger to settle for what he had. Worryingly, Gibbs had been substituted in place of Arteta, presumably due to injury. This meant Arteta became the holding midfielder and Flamini moved to left back.

With a make shift defender in the back four, the team seemed to move into a containing mode and Newcastle began throwing everything at our team. Ben Arfa had already been brought on before our goal and he was followed by Ameobi and Haidara. Wenger responded by introducing Jenkinson and Bendtner, the former to make the backline a five and the latter presumably to try and hold the ball up and win headers in the box. While Newcastle were giving it everything they had, they never really troubled a resolute Arsenal defence. The closest they came was when Szczesny had an absolute brain melt and cleared a back pass straight into the face of the onrushing Loic Remy, only for it to bounce just wide. Flamini struggled to deal with Ben Arfa a couple of times, but the Newcastle man was selfish and chose to shoot a number of times when he could have crossed or passed. Tim Krul came up for corners twice, but Szczesny did well to come out and punch clear. In the end, despite giving Arsenal fans everywhere a horrible last twenty minutes to watch, it was a very hard fought and very satisfying result for the Gunners.

Three of our five games in twelve days over with and Arsenal are both undefeated in them and also remain at the top. We’ve now played every team once, including having to deal with games against Napoli, Dortmund and Marseille. We’ve had some horrendous runs of games, one of which we’re currently in the middle of, but seem to mean we face all the big teams in a big cluster. Coming up in February and March, we’ll face consecutive games against Liverpool, Man Utd and Bayern and then another run of Bayern, Sp*rs, Chelsea, City and Everton, with four of those five games away from home. The odds are always, deliberately or otherwise, stacked against us, but we keep on pushing forward and surprising everyone. We’re title contenders, no doubt and we can be very proud of what this team continues to achieve despite constant adversity.

Stat of the Game

Mertesacker completed 28 out of 28 headed and non headed clearances, Koscielny completed 19 out of 19. (via Stat Zone)

Teams

Newcastle (4-2-3-1)
Krul, Debuchy, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon, Tiote, Anita (Sh Ameobi 74’), Cabaye, Sissoko (Haidara 79’), Gouffran (Ben Arfa 62’), Remy
Subs
Cisse, Ben Arfa, Haidara, Sh Ameobi, Yanga-Mbiwa, Elliot, Sa Ameobi

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs (Arteta 70’), Flamini ■, Wilshere, Cazorla, Rosicky ■, Walcott (Jenkinson 80’), Giroud ■ (Bendtner 86’)
Subs
Fabianski, Jenkinson, Bendtner, Arteta, Gnabry, Miyaichi, Podolski

Player Ratings

Szczesny - 5/10 - Made one very good save, but also had one major brain melt. Lucky.
Sagna - 7/10 - Dependable and looks less exhausted now he has support on the right
Mertesacker - 8/10 - A big wall of German awesome
Koscielny - 6/10 - Lucky to get away with a few stray passes, but still solid
Gibbs - 6/10 - A quiet game from the left back and worryingly went off injured
Flamini - 8/10 - A brilliant, gritty performance from the frenchman, much needed
Wilshere - 6/10 - Has the chance to impress in a central role over the next month or so
Cazorla - 6/10 - Looked threatening in the first half but tailed off in the second
Rosicky - 7/10 - Exactly what we needed, busy and full of energy
Walcott - 6/10 - A bit meh really
Giroud - 7/10 - Had a tough game, got some rough treatment, but won us the game
Subs
Arteta - 6/10 - Came on and had to focus on just keeping Newcastle at bay
Jenkinson - 7/10 - Did a good job coming in in a difficult situation
Bendtner - N/A

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