Gervinho leads Gunners to victory

Arsenal 4-1 Reading

Arsenal were completely dominant on Saturday as they strolled to a crucial three points against relegation threatened Reading. The Gunners exuded confidence throughout, with the visitors simply unable to live with the home side’s superior passing ability.

Somewhat surprisingly, the star of the show was the much maligned Gervinho. When the Ivory Coast international’s name was read out before kickoff, boos were heard from certain sections of the Emirates crowd, but by fulltime, Gervinho had turned those boos into cheers with an excellent display. The main frustration with the former Lille front man is that all too often he promises so much but delivers so little. Time and time again he gets the crowd up off their seats as he surges forward utilising his electric pace and sumptuous skill to surge past the opposition defence and into the box. Unfortunately having got himself into such a promising position Gervinho often seems to panic and ultimately makes the wrong decision. His passing in the final third leaves much to be desired and during his time in North London, he has also missed several gilt edged opportunities.

Despite starting the season in fine form, scoring at will and at times selected to lead the line by Wenger, Gervinho’s form rapidly dipped and he appeared to suffer from a severe crisis in confidence as the crowd increasingly got on his back. On his return from international duty at the African Cup of Nations in January, it seemed that even Wenger had lost faith in Gervinho, with the Ivorian’s name omitted from the starting line up in the preceding weeks. Yet his substitute appearance in the away leg of the Champions League tie against Bayern Munich appears to have reignited Gervinho’s season. One piece of skill in particular, in which his clever turn on the edge of the box enabled him to escape the clutches of the Bayern defence and burst through on goal, showcased the great skill he possesses and the immense talent which is ready to be unleashed.

Since this game against Bayern, Gervinho has gone from strength to strength. In the following match away to Swansea, the Ivorian came off the bench and found the back of the net when one on one with Michel Vorm, with a cool, calm and controlled finish which exuded supreme confidence. Wenger duly rewarded the Ivorian with a place in the starting line up on Saturday and was not disappointed as Gervinho was a constant threat on the right hand side of the Arsenal attack causing Reading numerous problems.  He was particularly impressive as he showcased a striker’s innate awareness to score the opening goal of the game as well as excellent vision to set up two more.  

Arsenal took the lead with only eleven minutes played as Cazorla picked the ball up on the edge of the penalty area and drove it across goal. Gervinho, in the middle of the goal, timed his run to perfection, showing great anticipation to meet Carola’s low ball and fire home into an empty net. Having scored the opening goal, the Ivorian could have doubled his tally when glancing Sagna’s cross just wide of goal and then shortly afterwards Gervinho embarked on a fantastic solo run from inside his own half, brining the Emirates crowd to its feet, but unfortunately as he bore down on goal, Gervinho could only steer his shot wide.

The Gunners could and should have been further ahead during a first half of total domination in which they created numerous goal scoring opportunities, but a combination of poor finishing and last ditch Reading tackles combined to deny the home side.

Nevertheless, Wenger’s side continued to pour forward right from the start of the second half and were duly rewarded in the 48^th minute. With Gervinho in possession and Reading defending in numbers, Cazorla intelligently took two steps back to create some space for himself. Gervinho recognised this and instantly released the ball into the Spaniard’s path. Without a moment’s hesitation, Cazorla simply passed the ball around the Reading defender and into the bottom corner of the net for his twelfth goal of the season. It was a truly exceptional finish from Arsenal’s signing of the season. Cazorla ran the show on Saturday, pulling the strings in midfield to switch the point of the Arsenal attack time and time again. Reading had afforded the Spaniard time and space, and he took full advantage.

The visitors now had to push forward, which also left them susceptible to the counter attack. In the sixty sixth minute Reading almost caught the Gunners out with a quick short corner. The ball was cleared out of the area and Sagna cut out a Reading pass before releasing Gervinho with an excellent forward ball. Gervinho surged forward once more, forcing the Reading defence further and further back. In previous games, the Ivorian may have panicked and made the wrong decision, but on this occasion, he was calmness personified as he held onto the ball, waiting for Giroud to join him in the attack. Just at the right time, Gervinho laid the ball square to the Frenchman, the pass was weighted perfectly, enabling Giroud to take the shot on first time, giving the Reading defence no time to block it. Giroud’s effort gave former Arsenal goalkeeper Stuart Taylor, in the opposition goal, absolutely no chance, as it was hit low and hard, to give the Gunners a much deserved three goal lead.

Yet having scored the third, the home side seemed to relax and were duly punished, barely a minute later. Sagna allowed Jobi McAnuff to cut inside and cross the ball far too easily, while at the back post, Monreal completely lost his man, enabling Robson-Kanu to head the ball home and reduce the deficit. However despite the goal, Arsenal were never in danger of succumbing to an unlikely Reading comeback and made sure of the three points in the 77^th minute thanks to a Mikel Arteta penalty, following a foul on Oxlade-Chamberlain in the box.

Arsene Wenger could be extremely satisfied with his side’s performance on Saturday. His team completely controlled the game from start to finish and secured another three points in the race for a top four finish. It is crucial for Arsenal to maintain the pressure on both Chelsea and Tottenham as the season reaches its conclusion. Chelsea in particular have an incredibly busy fixture list as they attempt to win the Europa League and FA Cup, as well as maintaining their league form, while Tottenham are also still in the Europa League and face several tough fixtures in the Premiership. This is a race which could well go down to the very last game once again and the Gunners must make sure they are in the right position to take full advantage of any slip ups from their rivals. In a surprising twist, the much improved performances of Gervinho could well prove vital in the run-in.