Kevin Whitcher
Injuries to Monreal, Cazorla and Walcott meant that three players were retained from the side that defeated Reading last Tuesday in the League Cup. There was an argument to keep Gibbs and Iwobi in the team on form anyway, whilst Elneny continued in central midfield.
After some initial sparring, the visitors began to demonstrate their superiority as Sunderland played deep, although not quite as entrenched as Middlesbrough last weekend, allowing Arsenal more space to move the ball around in the final third. Ozil had a good chance but shot meekly at the keeper, but it was not too long before the opening goal arrived. A period of possession culminated in a good burst by the Ox to create space for an excellent cross into the centre that Sanchez got his head to, the Sunderland defence resembling statues.
Throughout the game, the combinations between the full backs and wide attackers on both flanks worked well, Bellerin and the Ox on one side, with Gibbs and Iwobi on the other. Good use of width led to a host of chances and dangerous balls across the face of the goal. We hadn’t seen enough of it against Boro, so it was pleasing to see. Ozil had a second chance to score before the interval but, one on one with the keeper, failed to clear him with a dinked chip, his body not quite in the right position. Time to sit and study the Youtube clip of the finger wagging Robert Pires beating Peter Schmeichel.
Alex Iwobi also needs to work on his finishing, two half decent chances flying over the bar from just outside the area. Still, not apparent cause of alarm against a Sunderland side already looking doomed to spend next season in the Championship.
More profligacy after the interval as the Ox rushed a very decent opportunity when clean through, followed by the denial of what looked like an obvious penalty for a pull on Sanchez.
Worse was to follow as Whatmore took advantage of some spin on a long ball to get clear of Mustafi, taking the ball round Cech and being bundled over by the keeper’s momentum. At least, with last summer’s rule change, it only meant a yellow card for the Arsenal shotstopper. There was no stopping Defoe’s penalty though as the striker sent him the wrong way. Game on.
Wenger brought on Giroud for Iwobi. Last weekend, it was obvious to everybody that, as an option to break down a resilient defence, Giroud was a huge absence not being on the bench. Thankfully, my suspicion that there had been a fallout with the manager and that the toe injury might be a smokescreen proved wrong and the HFB made a huge impact, scoring two goals with his first two touches as the Gunners put away three in less than seven minutes. The first was a great volley after a very decent cross from Kieran Gibbs (a side of this game that has often let him down in the past), the second a fantastic glancing header that looped over the keeper from an Ozil corner. Alexis completed the rout by finishing cleverly from close in after Gibbs had hit the post and Ramsey’s follow-up (the Welshman on for the Ox) blocked.
You could see the home side collapse completely after Giroud’s second goal. It will take a lot to turn around their season, given the dearth of quality players. David Moyes is either going to remain long term with the acceptance they are going down and be given the chance to rebuild or the club will get shot before the end of November and get someone in that they hope can motivate the players to start winning the points that will lead to survival. My money is on the latter, although I don’t think a new face will be successful in turning the current side around.
As for Arsenal, they remain in the title hunt. Certainly every side in the hunt for the title is dropping unexpected points, and in this respect, the season has echoes of last time – although with no Leicester-style surprise package in the mix (unless Everton remain credible contenders as the season develops). What has become apparent is that there are very few gimme fixtures. Sunderland might be one, but Burnley’s draw at Manchester United means that no short odds accumulator can be placed with complete confidence any more. And that, of course, is one of the reasons that the Premier League is a bigger sell abroad that La Liga. More surprises.
With Sunderland’s equalizer, there was a danger that this game could become one, but quality told and in truth it would have been a travesty were the visitors denied the three points given the balance of play and number of chances. So job done, and a confidence boosting result ahead of the huge derby game next weekend. One wonders whether or not the manager will rest players in midweek against Ludogorets, although as Tottenham are also playing, and a day later, I suspect we will not see more than one or two changes in Bulgaria.
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