ARSENAL 3 ASTON VILLA 0
FROM GOODPLAYA AT THE EMIRATES
FIRST things first and a happy festive season to all Goodplaya readers. Hull over a week ago – the last time we spoke – feels a very long time ago.
Ever since the Villa fans serenaded Eduardo with references to Heather Mills a week after breaking his leg, I’ve had a special place for them. A special place where I’ve wanted to beat them properly for quite a while.
Yesterday, it happened thanks to an inspired Arsenal performance. Make no mistake, Villa were very, very tough opposition and as a football match this was as good a one as we’ve seen at the Emirates all season.
The easy explanation is that the introduction of captain Cesc Fabregas after 57 minutes changed the game. A huge impact he certainly had, but I think that’s a little disingenuous to the 11 who had started the match.
The first 45 had been very competitive and fairly tight, albeit with Eduardo himself missing a glorious opening very early on after great work from Abou Diaby, who had a second consecutive excellent game.
Whereas Match of the Day chose to focus on Villa frustrating us, I think most Gooners in the ground were delighted that unlike last season’s 2-0 home reverse, we were matching them physically and their openings were few.
Down in front of us Alex Song ran across to slide in and make the kind of challenge that we as football fans (simple creatures that we are) love. His name was sung longer and harder than possibly any other moment all season.
There were other promising signs. Vermaelen looked up for Agbonlahor and alongside Song, Denilson was full of confidence and Abou Diaby was having one of his ‘today, I’m keeping the ball’ games. In attack we weren’t quite clicking, with Eduardo hesitant for that early chance, Nasri OK but no better and Arshavin struggling to put a foot right.
But there was enough to suggest we’d be able to up the tempo after the break, something the statistics show we’ve been very decent at this season.
And so we did. Right from the restart when Diaby turned delightfully. The pressure was building, there was one cleared off the line and then the captain entered, to replace Denilson. It was actually a great moment because for the first time in a very long time it felt as though we had real competition for places in midfield.
None of Song, Diaby or Denilson deserved to be withdrawn, but with a player such as Cesc on the pitch, one had to go. That’s the sweet smell of competition. Shame about his injury and Song heading off, but for one day it was good.
Cesc’s introduction merely upped the anti and within ten minutes we led. My seat right down in the bottom corner doesn’t always afford the clearest of views but yesterday, it could hardly be faulted. I’ve got a brilliant side on freeze frame in my mind of Friedel leaping in mid air but the ball already bulging the net.
And then we got the captain, who looked as if he’d had one of those mornings where he’d shampooed his hair and then realised he was out of conditioner, run right over to us in a state of high excitement. As were we. Great stuff.
Villa then pushed forward a bit more, but created absolutely sod all and before you knew it, it was two. Traore’s very decent sand-wedged through ball after a flagging Milner gave it away, a cool headed Theo and an onrushing captain fantastic. We enjoyed that one too.
Was it worth the ensuing possible injury? Only time will tell. But make no mistake, this was an important win.
There followed a carbon copy of Agbonlahor’s clincher at the Emirates last season, except this time after being initially out-muscled Gallas recovered superbly and Almunia was sharp to turn the loose ball away. Small, but important, differences.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve little time for the Villa fans and was particularly baffled by their rendition of “We shall not be moved” five minutes into the game. If by that they meant they had no plans to screw up fourth place quite as spectacularly as they did last season, then I suppose fair enough, but I couldn’t help thinking they’d missed the point of it really. Surely it should be sung after 85 minutes of a performance in which you’ve confirmed yourselves as potential champions/cup winners/relegation escapees?
Then on 90 minutes they sang it again. At this point I was most confused because when you’re 2-0 down in injury time, you have quite clearly been moved. While they were still singing it, Diaby waltzed through and guided home number three, as if really to emphasise the point.
While I’m on one, I swear I also heard “2-0 and you still don’t sing” from the other end. It’s a song that I think sometimes has some resonance when you see supporters sat on their hands at the end of a comfortable victory. There are times when it certainly happens at the Emirates.
The only thing is that for the song to work, it requires the home support not to be singing. The clue is in the lyrics. And we were singing. So that was equally odd.
But anyway, great performance and in a sense I think it was our season’s best because while victories at Everton and Liverpool and against Spurs were perhaps more spectacular, I think for a long while Villa were playing a lot better than any of those three did.
Also a nice way to sign off the decade at home. And in a funny sense it felt a little bit like our last game of the last decade – a 2-0 win against high flying Leeds, ten years ago today. Anyone else notice that?
Ratings
Almunia 7
Did well on the whole. Loads of shouting and any errors he did make were really fairly minor in the scheme of things. Alert for the late Agbonlahor chance.
Sagna 7.5
Between Young, Milner and Downing (who looked a little turd if I'm honest), there wasn't a lot of joy to be had out of Sagna.
Vermaelen 7.5
Impressive in the air. You fancy us so much more against the big guys now.
Gallas 7.5
The crucial thing on the late chance was that he got there in the end, unlike a year ago.
Traoré 7
Yes, Villa had a bit of joy down his side early on, but then Villa are pretty good on the wings. Stuck at it well, looked comfortable on the ball and apart from one misguided attempt to control in his own area, didn't make many mistakes. Nice ball for the second.
Denilson 7.5
Pretty good game really. Plenty of energy and tenacity and moved the ball better than he sometimes does. Was right to sub him, but did well nonetheless.
Song 7.5
Loved that early tackle. Booked for diving, which was unlike him but overall very strong and showed he could mix it with a physical side like Villa.
Diaby 8.5
It's bizarre. Within five minutes you knew he was in all likelihood going to have a good game. Really imposed himself, drove the team, tackled and just generally looked so hard to play against. Please not another false dawn.
Nasri 6.5
OK, nothing terrible, but not a lot better than that. Any criticism should rightly be tempered by acknowledging his aborted start to the campaign, but still he should be trying to make himself a little more pivotal. That said, a few more goals and he could be a Freddie type.
Eduardo 6.5
I didn't think he was as bad as some have suggested. Did the hard part on the early chance and seemed to be seeing a fair bit of it before the break. Just needs to get his instinct back.
Arshavin 6.5
Barely kicked it for 45 minutes and while the introduction of Cesc undoubtedly helped him (as one blogger will no doubt note!), he was already getting going before then I think. One lovely moment where he collected from Song, stuck his bum out and then swivelled.
Cesc 9
Joyous to watch in this kind of form. Clearly cares massively about the club and his responsibility as captain. Carry this on and he'll be Footballer of the Year.
Walcott 7
Perfect scenario for him with Villa tiring and beginning to commit. Played it perfectly for Cesc's second.
Ramsey 6
Not on for long but did manage to mess up the ole!
Very pleased to read a blog post that recognised that captain Cesc was not the only player on the pitch.
I think we would still have won it without him and certainly the tempo was picking up already before he came on. However, somebody had to deliver the coup de tat and he did it with aplomb.
I thought Nasri was excellent, but perhaps when he becomes more “pivotal” and scores more goals he will get more credit.
This really was a fantastic game – personally I’m just going to enjoy it for a while.
I agree with most of your ratings player other than I would probably give Song a bit higher. He really has developed into one of the first names on the team sheet. When I think back to the same game last season when Villa completely outplayed us and deserved to win, yesterday was the complete opposite. We jumped on them from the beginning and I dont remember being overly concerned at any time. To win 3-0 with effectively Arshavin, Eduardo and Nasri being carried as passengers should demonstrate how good te result was against the so callled best defence up until yesterday.Diaby was unplayable yesterday, and that’s 2 clean sheets in a row !We have had alot of bad luck with injuries but yet at the half way point we are still within touching distance of the top, we cannot ask for more. We have proper competition for all places (including blooding some youngsters), So lets take it one game at a time
On the injuries front don’t forget gallas and vermaelen have been ever present.
Great assessment as usual. Very impressed with Diaby all game yesterday, it looks like he knows there is a place up for grabs if he wants it.
While Nasri didn’t have a great game, I did notice that his crossing is actually superb – a couple of times he whipped it fantastic efforts on the turn, the sort that Bendtner might love when he returns.
Still think our biggest danger is a central defensive injury. Could unravel everything.
I think Sagna and Traore were excellent good yesterday. Sagna’s attacking was superb, especially in the first half. And while Traore didn’t attack as much, it’s important to remember that he was up against Young who is quicker and more likely to be used as the outlet than Downing. So in that sense Traore was very disciplined, and what an excellent long pass for the 2nd goal. Really enjoyed that game. Let’s keep up the great form!
I think Sagna and Traore were excellent yesterday. Sagna’s attacking was superb, especially in the first half. And while Traore didn’t attack as much, it’s important to remember that he was up against Young who is quicker and more likely to be used as the outlet than Downing. So in that sense Traore was very disciplined, and what an excellent long pass for the 2nd goal. Really enjoyed that game. Let’s keep up the great form!
Erichero, I think you mean Coup de Grace. That means mercy blow. Coup d’Etat is a coup, usually of a government. Not really a word used in this context.
Pretty good game. Just goes to show that an early substitution when the going is tough helps you win games. Not too sure though because we don’t have that type of quality sitting on the bench all the time.
Yeah good post- GREAT RESULT -Took a lot of effort though- Villa are a good side. Wednesday will be difficult. Arsenal need another midfielder as well – MATUIDI ANYONE?
I hear you Haho … perhaps he stole the points or took over governance of the game?
Did anyone notice Wenger suggesting that Denilson has a back problem again? That could mean we lose Song/Fab/Denilson all in one go!
That would probably mean Diaby/Ramsey/Nasri in midfield, with Arsh/Edu/Walcott up front. It shows that we have some depth if we can still field a good team despite losing 3 main midfielders.
Am I the only one who would love to see how nasri would do in one of the three midfield places? I mean he used to play more centrally and deeper while in france
completely agree with you on the match report
a lot of people including MOTD completely failed to appreciate just how much better the Arsenal performance had been before we took the lead or introduced Cesc
Villa were looking second best well before we went ahead,
it was disingenuous of people to pretend that Villa were as good as us until the free kick, we created the better chances, bossed the midfield and played all the good football
this was in stark contrast to previous years when Villa have been a match for us, they clearly were second best yesterday
Make no mistake that game was heading for a nil-nil until the Cesc show
Another impressive thing about our defensive performance was that we hardly gave away any cheap free kicks in the crucial part of the pitch or corners. Both Gallas and Vermalean attacked the ball, so their strikers hardly got a touch. I would’ve given MOTM to either Gallas or Vermalean. And when they needed a bit help.. Song and Denilson were there.
Who will play Song’s role if Denilson is out? Nasri? I think, I would be more confident with him performing the role, cos he can defend and knows how to keep the ball. Also he attracts a lot of players when he has the ball, for example, Diaby’s goal yesterday – the space was created in the middle because Nasri attracted 3 Villa’s player….
Great report, playa, thanks so much for highlighting the fact that it wasn’t ONLY about Cesc! Song and Diaby were immense, even Almunia had a good game.
The media seem to be really milking the Cesc-injured-while-saving-he-game-singlehandedly story.
And I have to rant about the media for another reason this weekend: what the hell is this hysterical media gushing over Rooney and Utd’s defeat of HULL as if it was an achievement equal to beating the 4th place team? We beat Hull last week and got no media attention for it at all, despite 3 great goals. You’d think Utd and Rooney beat the European champions, ffs! Skysports profiled Rooney and Cesc as the two men of the weekend — they talked about Rooney as if he’d slayed a dragon. Well sorry there’s NO comparison between what Rooney did v. Hull and what Cesc did v. Villa.
Skysports did provide some interesting statistical comparisons between the 2 players.
Cesc v. Villa – played 27 mins, scored 2 goals, 0 assists, 3 key passes and 92% pass completion.
Rooney v. Hull played 90 mins, scored 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 key passes and 64% pass completion.
In the PL this season, Cesc has played 16 games, scored 9 goals and made 12 assists.
Rooney played 18 games, scored 13 goals and made 2 assists.
I am glad Diabys’ contribution is being recognised, If he can find consistency he will be one hell of a force, rather like Song has become. All the fickle doubters are now begining to eat their words and its so good to see the pair of them emerge as genuine first teamers when many said they were ‘not fit to wear the shirt’.
Agree with goodplaya and other commentators on our defensive solidity. Gallas and Vermaelen were excellent. In the last few games against Villa, we’ve struggled with Young and Agbonlahor in particular. Yesterday, we didn’t (Sagna and Traore also deserve plaudits). Villa were always going to win the odd header, but what I loved was when they did win the ball in the air, they were not free headers and they really didn’t create anything from flick-ons. Watching Wolves v Man City now and totally convinced that selling Toure was the right move. Toure was just bullied off the ball by Kevin Doyle (lightweight striker) – can’t see Vermaelen letting that happen. Love Toure in his hey-day, but that day is gone.
I love the write up and you are right to share credit around. The midfield was fantastic and the defense very tight. I thought Sagna lacked a bit (a lot) going forward and never looked much of a threat which was my only criticism of him. And I’m wondering what else Cesc could do to get a 10. I thought he played the most perfect 28 minutes I’ve ever seen. The last few times we’ve seen him (Burnley first half, Villa second half) he has seemed determined to take the game by the scruff of the neck and will the team to victory. Physically he seems to have taken a step up and perhaps that is giving him the confidence to take opponents on directly and beat them. Anyhow, it’s fantastic to watch our Captain Fabtastic.
I think a lot of credit must also go to the manager for doing such a wonderful job in the middle of a hostile environment, including key challenges that threaten not to give you time to groom players but yield results immediately. arsenal are gradually becoming a team to envy the brand of football as well as the results that are beginning to show. Hope we can keep it going to the end of the season, and keep our players for long.
I’m glad you are finally seeing the value of all the players, but I think people suggesting Nasri had a poor game are way off the mark. Firstly he is not long back from a broken leg and had no pre-season, so he is still playing catch up. But what he is really good at, is ball retention. When he starts running with the ball he attracts opposition players and they struggle to get the ball off him. This creates space for other players. This is what he contributes to the team. As well as his willingness to defend from the front.
Nice one about villa fans. Didn’t realize they were morons of the highest order.