Rash Mertesacker costs Gunners dear

Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea

Arsenal continued their recent abysmal form against Chelsea with yet another defeat to the Blues on Sunday as the Gunners extended their run of league games without a win to three.

As with the game at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season, this was a game that was largely decided by one moment of madness resulting in Arsenal being reduced to ten men inside the first half.

On this occasion only 18 minutes had been played when Diego Costa was played through on goal. Per Mertesacker had been outfoxed and caught out of position and when that happens, the German’s severe lack of pace means he is then completely out of game. With Costa still outside the box but soon due to be bearing down on goal, Mertesacker made the rash decision to attempt an all or nothing last ditch tackle. Had he taken the ball cleanly the German would have saved his side and received rapturous applause from the Emirates crowd. However not even his long legs could rescue the situation and although he made minimal contact with Costa, the Brazilian threw himself to the floor, gladly taking the free kick. Having awarded the foul Mark Clattenberg had very little option other than to the send Mertesacker off and so the game virtually ended with 70 minutes left to play.

The German’s decision to risk it all so early on in the game was a horrendous show of naivety from a player of such vast experience. Costa still had to take the ball into the area and then beat Cech and there was no guarantee that he would be able to do so. Maybe he would have missed the target or maybe Cech would have saved the effort, we will never know. But even if Costa had scored, Arsenal would have had 70 minutes to get themselves back into the game. Had this happened with 5 or 10 minutes left to play, Mertesacker’s actions would have been understandable, but with so long left to play, he let his side down badly. Gabriel’s red card at Stamford Bridge allowed Mertesacker back into the starting line up at a time when it had appeared the Brazilian defender was going to cement his place in the starting line up. Since that game Mertesacker has been preferred to Gabriel and Arsenal fans can now only hope that the roles will now be reversed for the rest of the season and Gabriel alongside Koscielny will now be the preferred defensive partnership. Playing with Mertesacker is just suicidal and an accident waiting to happen.

Having seen his side reduced to ten men Wenger had to make a substitution to bring Gabriel onto the pitch and restore Arsenal’s defensive unit to its full compliment. Everyone inside the Emirates expected Walcott or Campbell to be sacrificed, but to everyone’s surprise and audible gasps around the stadium, Wenger took off Giroud instead. The manager’s reasoning was that if the game remained at 0-0 Chelsea would gamble more and be susceptible to the counter attack and therefore the speed of Walcott was what was most needed. Unfortunately Chelsea scored only 5 minutes later and therefore Wenger’s gamble didn’t pay off. The away side could now sit deep, negating the threat of Walcott running in behind them and as a result the manager himself abandoned the plan for the second half with Ozil positioned as the central Arsenal attacker and Walcott back out on the flank.

The decision to take off Giroud really was baffling no matter how the manager tried to explain it afterwards. With Mertesacker sent off and now Giroud off too, Arsenal had no aerial threat from set pieces and Chelsea could easily clear the delivery. When down to ten men set pieces become vital as a goal from open play is unlikely and therefore Wenger essentially reduced the Gunners attacking threat further. The lack of a focal point up front also had this effect as with Chelsea sat deep Arsenal were in desperate need of a central striker to hold up the ball, but in Theo Walcott, the Gunners only had a weak link and ended up with only one shot on target throughout the entire game.

It was a frustrating match for Arsenal as half chances in which the ball bounced around the box just would not fall for them and the one clear chance they did have, right at the end of the first half fell to Mathieu Flamini, whose kung-fu kick attempt flew over the bar when a low firm header would have probably seen the ball nestle into the back of the net.

Although this was a bitterly disappointing result, in a few days’ time when the hurt has subsided, Arsenal can look back on this game and take some positives out of it. Despite being down to ten men, the Gunners didn’t let their heads drop and continued to fight right until the end. In fact it was Chelsea who were holding on throughout the second half as Arsenal showed great spirit and togetherness. With Alexis Sanchez coming back into first team action and showing the skill, hunger and tenacity that has so endeared him to the Arsenal faithful, Wenger’s men shouldn’t feel too disheartened. However the Gunners are not exactly in the middle of a great run of form at the moment and must now put this behind them and get back on track as quickly as possible. Three points off the top of the table is not an insurmountable deficit by any stretch of the imagination but if they do not improve their form soon, Arsenal will quickly find themselves cut adrift from the title fight.