Kings of 2013

Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal

 

 

Arsenal maintained their lead at the top of the Premier League with a hard fought victory away to Newcastle which saw the Gunners end 2013 in impressive fashion. In fact this calendar year has seen Arsene Wenger’s side take more points than any other team in the league. Anyone who doubts Arsenal’s title credentials need only look at that that statistic to be proved wrong.

The Gunners may not have performed at their very best yesterday, but showcased the grit and determination required of all title winners, to seal victory in difficult conditions.

Alan Pardew set his team up with the intent to frustrate the away team, keeping things extremely tight in the middle of the park. Yet Arsenal began the game extremely well and dominated possession during the first twelve minutes, with Newcastle struggling to get out of their own half. The Gunners forward play also showed promising signs during these early stages, with swift combinations amongst attacking midfielders Cazorla and Wilshere threatening to create openings before being thwarted by last ditch tackles.

Unfortunately, as the first half wore on, Arsenal struggled to build on this momentum and in fact Newcastle began to grow more and more into the game. As a result, the Gunners could not get in behind the home side’s defence and were reduced to taking pot shots from outside the area, which resulted in mainly routine saves for Tim Krul in the home goal. In such instances, Walcott becomes extremely important from an Arsenal point of view as he is the only player who can provide the Gunners with natural width. Yesterday for example, with the midfield becoming extremely congested, Walcott should have taken it upon himself to stop drifting into the middle of the park and remain on the wing. This would have resulted in the Newcastle midfield becoming stretched as they attempted to cover Walcott and therefore would have created space for the rest of Arsenal’s attacking midfield. Unfortunately however, Walcott tended to drift inside far too early and therefore made it all the more easier for Newcastle to deny the Gunners space. With the game turning into a very tactical affair, as both midfield departments stayed tight and largely cancelled each other out, the first half petered out until the last few seconds.

Following a misunderstanding between Koscielny and Wilshere, as the Frenchman played the ball forward to his English colleague, who was not expecting to receive such a pass, Newcastle pounced and Moussa Sissoko forced Szczesny into a fine save. From the resulting corner, Arsenal fell asleep, allowing Debuchy to steal in at the far post and send his header crashing back off the crossbar. It was the last action of the first half and the Gunners were somewhat fortunate to be heading into the dressing rooms all square.

The second period began as the first had ended, with both teams largely cancelling each other out, although as the game wore on, Arsenal began to slowly but surely regain control of proceedings and got their just rewards in the 65^th minute. Check Tiote, who miraculously survived the entire game without receiving a booking, committed his umpteenth foul of the game by bringing down Cazorla. Up stepped Theo Walcott to send a perfect clipped delivery into the box, right on the head of the hard working Giroud, who had escaped his marker, to glance home and end his recent goal drought.

Arsenal were now in control and should have doubled their lead moments later. Wilshere slipped an excellent through ball to Walcott, but the Englishman had to stretch for the ball which allowed krul to come off his line. The Englishman tried to prod the ball past the goalkeeper but this was saved and from the rebound, Walcott chipped Krul but was denied by the crossbar. The chance was still alive, as the ball fell straight to Giroud, but the Frenchman somehow managed to skew his effort horribly wide.

Arsenal were then dealt a blow when Kieran Gibbs was forced off. With Nacho Monreal having stayed at home due to illness, the Gunners only option was to deploy Flamini at left back and bring on Arteta in the holding midfield role. The major problem here was the loss of the French general’s influence in the middle of the park. Up until that point, Flamini had been magnificent in marshalling the midfield and defence, keeping things extremely tight and denying Newcastle any space in between both departments in which to play.

From the moment they went behind, Pardew’s team resorted to long ball tactics. The English manager brought on Shola Ameobi to add further height and strength up front in the hope of exploiting a traditional weakness for the Gunners. But Pardew had clearly not done his homework properly. An Arsenal side three or four seasons ago would have succumbed to such Neanderthal tactics, but this is a different Gunners side, with a completely different mentality. This is a team that is more than willing to engage in the aerial battles and Per Mertesacker was absolutely outstanding in the final 25minutes, heading out ball after ball and marshalling the back line extremely well. Wenger also brought on Carl Jenkinson at right back, as the French manager resorted to a back five in order to see the game out. The Gunners did just that, with consummate ease.

Going into the festive fixtures many would have been more than happy had Arsenal emerged still within touching distance of the top sides. The fact that they go into the New Year’s day game at home to Cardiff still leading the pack, is extremely admirable. The way they dug in yesterday and were more than happy to mix it with Newcastle when the game became a tight and physical affair proves that this is a team which has the necessary spirit to go all the way. Two extremely tough away games which have tested Arsenal’s title credentials have been expertly negotiated and six points gained, now the Gunners must keep up the good work going into 2014.