Match Review: Arsenal 2 Cardiff 0 - Premier League 01.01.14

Happy New Year everybody! My first match review of 2014 and thankfully, I’m reviewing a win. Just. We left it very late to snatch the points from a stubborn Cardiff side, who we were struggling to break down. It was a huge win too; City beat Swansea in the early kick off, meaning that nothing but a win would see us return to the top. On paper it looked like we should beat them comfortably, but it proved a grueling match in poor conditions. But, thankfully, we managed to scrape the points and when you’re chasing the title, that’s what you need to do.

Again, Arsenal were forced into a number of changes from the side that beat Newcastle. Kieran Gibbs is out for a while with a hamstring problem and Monreal managed to recover from illness to take the Englishman’s place at left back. Arteta returned to the starting line-up in place of Rosicky and perhaps the biggest surprise was that it was Podolski rather than Bendtner that replaced the injured Giroud up front. It was quite a relief after the rather scary rumours that Vermaelen, Monreal, Walcott, Wilshere and Rosicky could all be missing out.

The weather was filthy and the start of the game mirrored that. The pace of the game was slow and Cardiff set up in the way many a team have at the Emirates, looking to soak up the pressure and frustrate us. We struggled to raise the tempo and our attacks suffered from a lack of off the ball movement, we looked a bit short of ideas from the off. Our biggest threat seemed to be looking to play a ball over the top to Walcott and it nearly worked when he first hit the side netting from one effort and then almost set up Lukas Podolski, but the German squandered the chance.

Cazorla had a good chance to shoot from the edge of the area but dragged his shot horribly and Monreal, who played extremely well throughout, got forward down the left only to see his cross fizz across the six yard box with no-one to convert. Walcott had another two chances, but both times missed the target from inside the area. We also had a bit of a warning shot across our bows, when the excellent Jordan Mutch broke against Koscielny and Mertesacker and had his shot saved by Szczesny. A frustrating first half of half chances and a couple that we should have done better from, but overall a lack luster performance.

Our performance started to pick up a bit in the second half. We started pressing a little higher up the pitch, not affording Cardiff the space to pass it around the back to release pressure like they had done in the first half. Cardiff had less and less of the ball and it became nearly constant Arsenal pressure and to me, it looked like Wilshere was leading it. He was a key part in nearly every move and really took on the playmaker role with Cazorla a key part of this too. But it just wouldn’t fall for us. Wilshere nearly scored a wonder goal, beating a couple of defenders and then lashing against the post. Then Per Mertesacker missed two huge opportunities from free headers, the first of which he should have scored and then second he was unlucky to see cannon off the post.

It was at this point that Arsene Wenger made the all important substitutions, Rosicky replacing Flamini and Bendtner replacing the ineffective Podolski. I think the debate can be put to bed now, Podolski doesn’t work as a striker for us, he doesn’t fit our system. He drops deep too often, roams from his position and the side looked a little lost playing without a target man. Podolski is an exceptional player, but for us, he needs to play on the left where he’s been very effective already this season.

With the introduction of Rosicky, there was a lot more forward impetus. Wilshere moved back to be Arteta’s midfield partner, which suited us better. Flamini gets forward but lacks technical quality in the final third. Arteta held his position just forward of the haflway line and distributed the ball when the it was forced back while Wilshere got forward and tried to work openings. Rosicky had a really positive impact and he started causing the Cardiff defence problems. Bendtner was also having a positive impact, closing down the goalkeeper, forcing him to hit it long and uncontrolled, meaning we got possession back quickly. He also showed some good touches and passes in and around the box and got into some good positions in the box, on one occasion coming agonisingly close to heading us in front.

But it looked like we were going to fall short, despite our dominance. We just couldn’t unlock their stubborn defence. That was until the 88th minute, when finally the pressure told. Cazorla slipped a lovely pass to Walcott, who gave the ball to Monreal on the left. The Spaniard whipped in a ball to the back post, where Sagna battled to head the ball towards goal only for Marshall to push the ball out, but only into the path of Bendtner who slammed home. Unfortunately for the Dane, he trapped his ankle under the keeper as he scored and had to be taken off as the crowd celebrated the late breakthrough.

The unlikely hero was replaced by Thomas Vermaelen as the fourth official signaled 5 minutes of added time, which had been conveniently saved up by Marshall’s time wasting tactics. No matter though, as it simply gave us time to double our lead. A long ball went forward, which was headed by a Cardiff defender straight to Thomas Rosicky. He found Jack Wilshere, who turned a brilliant ball round the corner for Theo Walcott to run onto and chip over the keeper, securing the points. The relief was palpable around the stadium.

Only five minutes ago it had seemed we were about to drop points in a game we were expected to win comfortably. But we found a way in the end and took a vital three points. It’ll surely be a big confidence boost for the squad and will instill a belief that we really can make a run at this league title. With City and Chelsea in top form as well, we can’t afford to slip up, every game is a must win. But we’ve done brilliantly over this very tough period, with injuries and a huge volume of fixtures, we’ve found a way to stay top. Now we can look forward to a nice easy FA Cup tie at home to Sp*rs...

Stats of the game

Arsenal had 68% possession and 28 shots against Cardiff but only 6 were on target.

Teams

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker ■, Monrela, Arteta, Flamini (Rosicky 70’), Cazorla, Wilshere, Walcott, Podolski (Bendtner 70’ (Vermaelen 90’))
Subs
Fabianski, Jenkinson, Vermaelen, Bendtner, Rosicky, Gnabry, Ryo

Cardiff (4-5-1)
Marshall ■, McNaughton, Caulker, Turner ■, John, Medel (Gunnarsson 61’), Kim, Mutch (Cowie 67’), Noone, Whittingham, Campbell (Maynard 80’)
Subs
Hudson, Cornelius, Smith, Gunnarsson, Cowie, Maynard, Lewis

Player Ratings

Szczesny - 6/10 - Had one thing to do really, did it well
Sagna - 8/10 - Won headers all day, including one to set up the goal
Koscielny - 7/10 - Helped drive the team forward at times, little to do in defence
Mertesacker - 6/10 - Solid at the back, but missed two golden opportunities
Monreal - 7/10 - Brilliant going forward, his crossing is brilliant
Flamini - 6/10 - Another example of the Arteta-Flamini axis looking a bit awkward
Arteta - 7/10 - Another accomplished performance from the midfield metronome
Cazorla - 7/10 - A constant threat, looking really good at the moment
Wilshere - 8/10 - A really good performance, the lynchpin of the Arsenal attack
Walcott - 6/10 - A patchy performance, at times infuriating, but netted yet again
Podolski - 4/10 - Completely ineffective in the central role
Subs
Rosicky - 7/10 - Gave us much needed impetus and opened up their defence
Bendtner - 7/10 - Zero to Hero, looked hungry and won us the game
Vermaelen - N/A

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