Flamini's Heroics Lit Up A Tame Derby

Match Review: Sp*rs 1 Arsenal 2 - Capital One Cup 23.09.15

Wednesday night brought a much needed return to winning ways after two sickening defeats. The debacle at Chelsea had left a very bitter taste in the mouth and although the FA have gone some way to putting right some of the injustices, we’re never going to get back the lost points from the Bridge. We needed a response and a rotated Arsenal side delivered it in the best way possible: stuffing the Sp*rs on their own turf.

Wenger named an almost entirely different line up from the weekend, with Ramsey the only survivor. It was very similar to the team that lost to Zagreb, with Chambers, Campbell and Ramsey the only differences. Tottenham had also rotated, making eight changes and it made for a fairly even, if slightly uninspiring opening.

The game lacked the usual blood and thunder derby atmosphere, which was probably down to the competition and the second string feel about both teams. Chances were at a premium and the game didn’t really find any spark until the 26th minute when the most unlikely goalscorer popped up.

Matthieu Flamini has had a difficult last six months or so and has fallen way down the pecking order, thanks to the emergence of Coquelin. Despite supposedly being a ‘holding’ midfielder though, he has a strange knack of scoring goals out of the blue, including a very important equaliser against Man City and a well taken strike at Cardiff. So opening the scoring on Wednesday was important for him as well as the team, proving he may still be a useful player to us after all. He followed in Chamberlain’s long range strike with almost striker-like instincts and when Vorm obligingly pushed it into his path, his finish was cool and accurate. As much as his quality has been questioned in recent times, you can’t question his passion and commitment on the field and you have to give him credit, it was a well taken goal.

Sp*rs reacted well to going behind and had a period of good possession and came close on a few occasions. Harry Kane and Danny Rose both caused nervous moments in the Arsenal defence and Debuchy in particular struggled. He had a horror game in Zagreb and he continues to look very short of form. With struggles like this, Bellerin will be first choice for a long time and Debuchy’s Arsenal career may be short lived.

Sp*rs continued pushing after halftime and to be honest they deserved the equaliser when it came. It was a real shame for Chambers, who’d had a good night, but the makeshift back four showed its naivety as the young centre back wound up poking Chablis’ cross beyond Ospina. With little threat in the box and Ospina ready to collect the ball it was an intervention Chambers didn’t need to make. Maybe Ospina didn’t give him a call and maybe Debuchy should have got tighter to Chadli, but really it’s one of those things that happens sometimes. Sticking out the boot to block the cross is instinctive and you can’t really blame Chambers for it.

Kane came very close to giving them the lead, but Gibbs was on hand to head his acrobatic effort off the line. We were looking a bit shaky and I think Wenger introduced Alexis to give Tottenham more to worry about from our attack and perhaps make them play a bit more conservatively. The game did balance up after the Kane chance and Giroud nearly gave us the lead following a beautiful through ball from Ramsey, but Vorm came out well to smother. It felt like a ‘next goal wins’ type of match and cometh the moment, cometh…the Flam…. sorry…

The goal came from a bungled clearance by Fazio, looping the ball the high into the air cutting out an Alexis through ball. From deep, he appeared, charging forward forward at first but then slowing, watching the ball fall and then hammering it on the volley, perfectly placed into the corner. Matthieu Flamini, with a wonder strike to sink Sp*rs late on at the Lane, it’s the dream we all joked about, but never thought would happen. Out of nowhere, Flamini caught fire and what better night for him to do than against the Spuds. For the next few weeks at least, the man is a hero.

As nice as it is to stick one up the noisy neighbours though, it is only the Capital One Cup and we have to immediately refocus. City lost at the weekend, which took the sting out of our defeat slightly, but I imagine they’ll be itching to set things straight this weekend. We have a very tough trip to Leicester ahead of us and dropping any more points at the moment isn’t an option. It may be early days, but last year it was a slow start that cost us and if we are to prove ourselves worth of a title challenge, we have to keep pace in these early stages.

Teams

Sp*rs (4-2-3-1)
Vorm, Trippier, Fazio, Wimmer, Rose, Dier (N'Jie 85’), Carroll, Townsend (Son Heung-min 67’), Eriksen, Chadli (Alli - 75' (Y)), Kane
Subs
Lloris, Walker, Vertonghen, Son Heung-min, N’Jie, Alli, Winks

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Ospina, Debuchy (Y), Chambers, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Flamini (Y), Arteta (Y), Campbell (Alexis 67’), Ramsey, Chamberlain (Walcott 89’), Giroud
Subs
Macey, Monreal, Bellerin, Iwobi, Alexis, Walcott, Özil

Player Ratings

Ospina - 7/10 - Didn’t actually have to do much, but made a couple of very good saves
Debuchy - 5/10 - Continues to struggle positionally and put pressure on his teammates
Chambers - 7/10 - Despite the OG he was solid and looks assured in the middle
Mertesacker - 7/10 - Great to have him back, looked very good
Gibbs - 7/10 - Much better than previous showings, should boost his confidence
Arteta - 7/10 - Did very well to last 90 mins, still nowhere near done for us
Flamini - 9/10 - The Juggernaut, single handedly blowing the Spuds away
Chamberlain - 7/10 - Encouraging, needs to find an end product though
Ramsey - 7/10 - Interesting to see him at 10, played some nice passes in behind too
Campbell - 6/10 - Never seems to seize his chance, missed a good chance early on
Giroud - 6/10 - Frustrating for him, we didn’t make enough of his advantage over Wimmer
Subs
Alexis - 7/10 - Made Sp*rs sit back a bit and had a tenuous involvement in the winner
Walcott - N/A

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