Arsenal 7-3 Newcastle
Arsenal were yesterday once again
involved in a mad cap game which saw them take the lead three times,
subsequently relinquish their advantage on each occasion, before scoring four
goals in the last seventeen minutes to seal a remarkable 7-3 victory.
Theo Walcott started the match as
the lone man up front for the third successive game and the young Englishman
did not disappoint, as he bagged himself a hat trick and an assist to take his
tally to four goals in three games since being switched to his favoured
attacking role. As Walcott’s third strike hit the back of the net last night, the
response from the home crowd was to immediately demand: “Wenger sign him up!” With
Walcott enjoying his most productive season in an Arsenal shirt and displaying
a clinical eye for goal, it has now become imperative for the future success of
this to club, to persuade Walcott that his future lies with the Gunners. It is
a fantastic turn around for a man whose capacity to perform at the highest
level was still being questioned only last summer. Had Arsenal decided to cut
their losses at that stage and sold him, not many Gunners fans would have been
up in arms. Less than six months later and not only has Walcott proven those
who doubted his ability to play on his own upfront, wrong, he has also become a pivotal figure for this side. His searing
pace is simply devastating when deployed through the middle of the park, while
his finishing at times is reminiscent of the great Thierry Henry and he seems
to now have the confidence to attack the opposition’s defence with real
purpose. Much now rests on his contract
situation. Should Walcott decide to leave for pastures new, Arsenal will simply
be derided once more for being merely a selling club. However if the board are
able to convince him to sign a new contract with the club, this would arrest
the recent trend which has seen the Gunners lose their top players year after
year and provide both the team and the fans with a much needed lift and new
positive outlook.
Walcott took only 20 minutes to
get his name on the score sheet yesterday. Having been released by a fantastic
pass from Lukas Podolski, Walcott, who had timed his run perfectly to beat the
high Newcastle defensive line, raced through on goal. Santi Cazorla was in the
box to support the Englishman and although Walcott did have a look across as he
bore down on goal, he decided not to lay the ball square, but to open up his
body and guide the ball with pin-point precision, ala Henry, past Tim Krul and
into the bottom corner of the net. It was a truly clinical and exceptional
finish.
The Arsenal faithful were
expecting the home side to push on and build on their lead, but as so often
happens with Wenger’s side, once they had taken the advantage, they
inexplicably began to sit back. For a side who are not the exactly renowned for
their ability to soak up pressure, this is a dangerous tactic. With Demba Ba
and Papiss Cisse up front, Newcastle were always going to be a threat and in fact
should have taken the lead earlier in the match, when Ba was allowed a free
header from a corner but failed to hit the target. Despite the concession of
the first goal, as Arsenal sat back, Newcastle began to grow into the game and
could have restored parity with a Check Tiote’s long range strike which
Szczesny had to beat away. Nevertheless, the inevitable equaliser arrived in
the 43rd minute, through Ba’s deflected free kick which wrong footed
Szczesny. The visitors could even have ended the first half in front, had Ba
not headed over once again from yet another free header.
At the start of the second half, the
Gunners appeared hungrier and keen to make amends for the first half sloppiness
which had seen them relinquish the lead. Within five minutes of the restart,
Arsenal were in front again. A Newcastle throw-in was headed to Cazorla by
Podolski and the Spaniard duly fed Oxlade-Chamberlain to fire low and hard into
the bottom corner for his first league goal of the season. But Newcastle were
not deterred and within nine minutes were back on level terms once more thanks
to a succession of defence errors from the home side. Sagna appeared extremely
sluggish in attempting to cover Gabriel Obertan’s run on the edge of the box
and the former Manchester United man was far too easily allowed time and space
to cross the ball. To compound matters further, the cross found Marveaux
inexplicably all alone, at the back post, with the goal at his mercy and the
Frenchman simply couldn’t miss.
Yet the visitors were only on
level terms for six minutes as Arsenal retook the lead thanks to marvellous work
from the exceptional Jack Wilshere. The young Englishman jinked his way to the by-line
and as his angle to cross the ball became more and more acute, Wilshere dinked
a wonderful ball towards the far post for Walcott. However the back pedalling
Coloccini got there first, only to head the ball straight to Podolski for a
simple tap in. Yet having taken the lead for the third time in the game,
Arsenal still had not learnt their lesson and gifted the visitors with another
equaliser in the 69th minute.
Marveaux was allowed to turn just
outside the box and produced a wonderful ball to find Ba, who lost Kieran Gibbs
at the post, to prod home and make the score 3-3. It was disappointing to see
the Gunners once again lose the lead as a result of atrocious defending with
Gibbs inexplicably having looked at Ba before switching off and allowing the
Senegalese international to get in front of him.
However the English right back
would soon make amends. Four minutes after Newcastle had restored parity for
the third time, Arsenal took the lead once more. Gibbs raced forward down the
right flank and cut the ball back to Podolski, who somehow missed the ball as
he attempted to steer his shot towards goal. Fortunately Walcott picked up
possession and was allowed to turn and arrow his shot into the top corner. As
the Emirates stadium erupted once more, the home fans could only hope their
side would this time keep hold of their lead. In the 84th minute,
the Gunners finally made the game safe. Walcott’s perfect cross was met by
Giroud’s diving header which squirmed through the legs of Krul to make the
score 5-3. But the Frenchman was not finished there and doubled his tally three
minutes later, picking up a loose ball on the edge of the box, following
Walcott’s forward run, before firing a shot which beat Krul at his near post.
Despite coming on from the bench, Giroud could have also grabbed a hat trick of
his own, as he met Ramsey’s low cross into the box, late on, only to see his
effort come back off the bar.
One man who would not be denied a
hat trick was Theo Walcott. Having already greatly influenced the game, Arsenal’s
new striker danced his way into the box. Newcastle’s defenders just could not
live with him and even though Walcott was felled for what was a clear penalty,
he showed great desire and hunger to get up straight away and dink the ball
over Krul to seal a wonderful performance with an exquisite finish.
Although the score line would
suggest that this was a comfortable evening’s work for the Gunners, the home
side’s defensive errors meant they were never really in control of the game
until the last few minutes when Newcastle tired and Arsenal took advantage of
the fact they had enjoyed a rest over Boxing Day thanks to their postponed
match against West Ham. Walcott’s performance up front, as well as Giroud’s
hunger are the major positives as the Gunners now appear to have a real
attacking threat once more. If only they could iron out those defensive lapses!
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