Gunners respond to rivals

Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal

Arsenal went back to the top of the table last night with a victory away to Aston Villa which avenged their infamous opening day defeat to Paul Lambert’s side. When Antonio Luna raced clear in the final minutes of that game and steered the ball past Szczesny to give his side an unassailable lead, few would have predicted that only five months later, Arsenal would be sat at the top of the Premier League table.

Arsene Wenger has done a fantastic job to turn those boos which rained down on him that fateful day, into cheers. The manager, who had previously appeared slightly demoralised and irritated, has now rediscovered his smile and vigour as the Gunners continue to impress, having so far managed to keep their noses just in front of their rivals.

Arsenal were under intense pressure last night, having had to watch all of the top teams record victories over the weekend, with Chelsea taking over top spot on Saturday, only for Manchester City to displace them on Sunday, following their win at Newcastle. Yesterday’s game was therefore yet another stern test of the Gunners title aspirations, any slip and the headlines concerning their soft underbelly would have been recycled once again.

With Aston Villa opting to play three at the back and looking to keep things extremely tight and narrow in the middle of the park, the onus was clearly on Arsenal to make the breakthrough. In fact the Gunners enjoyed almost 78% possession during the opening 30 minutes, but unfortunately had little to show for it. On a few occasions Sagna found himself in acres of space on the right flank, as Gnabry tended to drift inside, but the Frenchman’s excellent crosses into the box were headed wide of goal by Giroud on two occasions. When Nathan Baker was forced off with mild concussion on 21 minutes, Villa reverted to four at the back, which afforded Arsenal slightly more space in the final third, yet still the home side were managing to keep things relatively tight.

The major problem for the Gunners was the fact that they were tending to play in front of their hosts and not managing to get in behind them and turn the Villa defence. Although Sagna was benefiting from Gnabry’s inclination to move into the middle of the park, it was somewhat surprising that the young German was not advised to remain wide in an attempt to stretch the game and use his pace to surge past the Villa left back. Unsurprisingly, the first time Arsenal managed to run in behind the home defence, they opened the scoring. Mesut Ozil’s excellent pass into the path of Monreal, who had stolen a march on the Villa right back, enabled the Spaniard to surge towards the box before cutting the ball back to Wilshere. The Englishman took one touch before steering the ball right beyond the reach of Guzan and right into the corner of the goal.

Having dominated the game from the start, the Gunners were deservedly in front and went on to double their lead straight from the restart. Jack Wilshere this time turned provider as he seized on a mistake by Fabian Delph and clipped a perfect ball towards Giroud who had made an excellent run off Villa’s central defenders. The Frenchman showed an exquisite touch to bring the ball down before firing past Guzan to send the Gunners 2-0 up.

Those two quick fire goals completely deflated the home crowd and it felt as though the Gunners would be able to see the game out comfortably. However, they relaxed far too much and lost the intensity which had enabled them to take a two goal lead in the first place. Villa weren’t exactly laying siege to the Arsenal goal, but the Gunners appeared incapable of keeping hold of the ball in the second half. In the 76^th minute they were made to pay for their complacency, as Santi Cazorla’s poor pass was picked up by Matthew Lowton, whose cross was headed home by Christian Benteke at the back post.

Suddenly the home crowd were roused from their slumber and Villa Park turned into a cauldron of noise, as the home side lumped high balls into the box as they desperately went in search of an equaliser which had seemed so unlikely in the first half. In previous seasons, Arsenal would have inevitably succumbed and conceded the second, but so far this year there has been a collective maturity amongst the side which has stood them in good stead. Where before nerves would take over, now the team collectively grit their teeth and refuse to surrender, even under extreme pressure. The emergence of Mertesacker as a solid rock at the heart of the defence alongside Koscielny this season has helped enormously and with Flamini barking out orders just in front of them, Arsenal seem capable of weathering any storm which comes their way.

The Gunners managed to see the game out in relative comfort and now look forward to another week off before Saturday’s home game against Fulham. Last night’s match also saw the eagerly awaited return to first team action of Oxlade-Chamberlain, who now has a real opportunity to cement his place in the first team. With Walcott out injured for the rest of the season, it appears to be a straight fight between Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gnabry for that starting berth on the right flank. When the opposition attempts to make the game as tight as possible, the Gunners need the threat of pace in behind in order to open them up and this will be crucial during the weeks and months ahead as the title race hots up and the pressure increases significantly.