Excellent 2nd half Arsenal… but where were we on that penalty?

ARSENAL 3 HULL CITY 0
FROM GOODPLAYA AT THE EMIRATES

IN the first 40 minutes Hull had a shot wide that Almunia had covered, they hit a free-kick to the near post that he collected as he should have and Samir Nasri had a fairly tame left footed shot saved.

And there you have it.

Two players are encroaching... but neither is Stephen Hunt

Then we finally decided to get stuck in. Except us being us, that consisted not of the kind of crunching tackle we’d been crying out for, but instead it meant Samir Nasri treading on their guy’s foot.

Had it been left at that then irrespective of actual violence, Nasri would have deserved to walk down the tunnel for utter stupidity.

As it was, it seemed the Hull players were equally bored and Nick Barmby showed slight of body few of us thought he ever had to raise his hands to Nasri. A punch it wasn’t but if I and many others spotted it from further away than any of the four officials, how could they all miss it, I don’t know.

So 10 v 10 it should have been. As it was Nasri and Stephen Hunt saw yellow, the latter presumably for simply being a bit of a Stephen Hunt.

Then two minutes later when Abou Diaby burst forward he got a slight tug but also seemed to slip and we got the decision. We wouldn’t have expected it had it been in the box but over the course of a season you’re have to face a fair few wrongly awarded free-kicks and corners and such is life. You certainly didn’t see bemoaning last week’s one that led to the Liverpool goal.

RVP was not there to take it, obviously, and Nasri’s previous attempt had been like most Samir Nasri free-kicks: beautifully floated over the heads of the defenders had we been playing dwarf football.

So it was going to be Denilson. I’d be lying if I said the Emirates was frothing with anticipation.

But up he stepped and the Brazilian delivered the most perfect effort: up and over the wall, dipping back down again right into the corner of the net. Arguably, it was one of the best free-kick goals I’ve ever seen scored by an Arsenal player.

It really was and credit to the guy, not always my favourite, for digging us out a goal when we really needed one. I readily admit: at that moment there was a very clear and obvious point to Denilson.

Hull didn’t half whine over the awarding of that free-kick. I mean seriously, get over it. It happens.

The half time whistle came amid more jostling and if Hull thought by turning things ugly they were going to win the scrap, they were to be sadly mistaken.

Nasri’s initial tread may have been anything but manly, but our response to the hu-ha was and that was good to see. The guy next to me reported seeing Thomas Vermaelen steaming in as it kicked off in the tunnel, a very reassuring thought.

While I’m on the subject, I think I’m right in saying we haven’t been down to ten men once this season. Which is a bad thing if it’s because we haven’t been getting stuck in enough but a good thing if it means we haven’t been getting players dismissed for things like treading on feet or RVP’s idiotic shoulder barge at Stoke last year.

We were infinitely better in the second half, snapping in on Hull, creating chances of our own and not really giving them a sniff.

Until the most screwed up thing happened. One of their guys wildly over hit a cross that was going to absolutely nowhere. I watched as Fagan down in a crumpled heap under Silvestre and when about 30 Hull fans are Phil Brown appealed I laughed mockingly at how they could boast their ‘salt-of-the-earth’, ‘honest’ credentials and at the same time claim a penalty for something like that.

And then, to my utter disbelief, what must have been the softest penalty given against a big four side, on a four big ground to a so called small side in many a year was awarded.

Seriously, I’d have been embarrassed to have got that penalty and it was utterly dreadful refereeing. It’s one thing to give us the benefit of the doubt on a free-kick 30 yards from goal, another to award a penalty like that, particularly given the total lack of danger. Bennett should have realised it was completely in Fagan’s interests to exaggerate it. And exaggerate it he did.

Credit where credit is due to Manuel Almunia for the penalty save. Yes, he was off his line – but no more so than most keepers. If I’m being perhaps a little too critical, I’d also ask whether he couldn’t have turned it slightly further away from goal.

More worrying was the three Hull players who were there long before any of ours for the follow-up. Now, as my picture shows, two players encroached massively at the spot-kick. But Stephen Hunt was not one of them and it was his header that flew wide. Why wasn’t anyone following in? Pretty basic stuff that if we can do in 5aside, these guys should also be able to manage.

A minute later it was two thanks to a very decent double swapping of passes by Song and Diaby that gave Eduardo a chance he couldn’t miss. And Diaby added a very, very decent third, swapping passes with Arshavin and slamming home. He had an excellent second half.

All in all, the first half was nothingy and in the second we were very decent. Yes, it hinged on the penalty, but it was a penalty that never should have been given and was not remotely leading to a Hull goal (unlike say, the Burnley one in midweek) in any case.

Ultimately, the fact we took so long to get going doesn’t matter greatly in late December when the games are coming thick and we’ve loads of injuries. It’s winning that matters and we did win comfortably.

We’re nestled five points behind Chelsea, which while it doesn’t give us too much room for slips, does mean that come Christmas we are undoubtedly still in the title race and you can’t complain about that.

Playa ratings later.