Gunners dumped out of League Cup

Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea

 

 

Arsenal were knocked out of the Capital One Cup last night, in a match which once again led the media to doubt the Gunners title credentials.

Back on the winning trail

Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal

Arsenal bounced back from defeat against Borussia Dortmund with a hard fought victory against a determined Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Although on paper this may have appeared to be a relatively easy game for the Gunners, in truth it was a game in which Arsenal had everything to lose. Arsene Wenger’s side were expected to just turn up and steam roller their way past a team struggling at the foot of the table. As a result, there was great pressure on the Gunners, while Palace, with an impending new manager to impress and no expectation of a win, could relax somewhat.

Victory followed by disappointment

Arsenal 4-1 Norwich

Arsenal 1-2 Dortmund

Arsenal continued their recent fine run of form in the Premier League on Saturday with an accomplished 4-1 victory against Norwich, before suffering the disappointment of defeat in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund.

Winning streak ends

West Brom 1-1 Arsenal

 

 

 

Arsenal's winning run came to an end yesterday as they left the Hawthorns with a hard fought point in a game in which the Gunners failed to reach the heights of that great midweek performance against Napoli.

Steve Clarke’s side were extremely wary of being caught on the counter attack and as a result were happy to sit back in numbers, in an attempt to restrict the space between the defence and the midfield and therefore nullify the threat of Mesut Ozil. It was a tactic which forced the German international to drop deeper and deeper, as the first half wore on, in an attempt to get on the ball and influence the game. However from such deep positions, Ozil struggled to assert his usual authority on proceedings and the Gunners struggled to create goal scoring opportunities. With West Brom sitting back so deep, the space available for Arsenal to attack was naturally in the wide areas, but with Wenger deploying Ramsey and Wilshere out wide, the Gunners did not have any width to their play as both tend to drift inside into an already congested central area. The manager has often decided to deploy one natural winger and one central midfielder in these positions, which has worked so far this season, but yesterday with two central midfielders, the game was crying out for Serge Gnabry, who did so well away to Swansea, to enter the fray, yet Wenger stubbornly refused to accede to this viewpoint and stuck to his guns.

Phenomenal display destroys Napoli

Arsenal 2-0 Napoli

 

 

 

The Gunners produced a truly scintillating performance against Napoli last night which not only brought excited smiles to the faces of the Arsenal faithful and raised aspirations that this side could finally end the long trophy draught at the Emirates; but also laid down a marker throughout Europe. This club is back, right at the level where it belongs.

Gunners down Swans

Swansea 1-2 Arsenal

 

 

 

Arsenal secured a fifth straight league win on Saturday, with a hard fought victory away to a determined Swansea City.

The two sides played out a drab first half as both teams sized each other up and were very cautious in their attacking intentions. The main reason for this was that both sides are most dangerous when hitting their opposition on the counter attack. Therefore with this threat in mind, neither team wanted to commit men forward in case they were then caught up field.