Arsenal 3-3Norwich
As the final whistle sounded at Villa Park on Sunday, Arsenal were able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. Despite their best efforts in the hapless draw against Norwich, the Gunners had not managed to gift Tottenham or Newcastle the initiative in the race for third place. With Tottenham also drawing against Aston Villa and Newcastle losing to Manchester City, Arsenal know that a win in the last game of the season away to West Brom will secure that much coveted third place and Champions League football.
Whether or not the Gunners can actually produce a performance capable of winning at the Hawthorns is another matter. In recent games, despite professing their great desire to repay the fans who have stuck by them throughout this season’s constant ups and downs, the players have not been fully focused on the task at hand. Our forward play has been slow and lethargic while defensive mistakes have also crept into our game. Against Norwich, even though Yossi Benayoun’s wonderful strike in the first two minutes gave Arsenal an early lead, the Gunners’ performance in the first half was simply atrocious. The home defence just could not cope with the aerial threat of Grant Holt and as a result, the visitors looked dangerous each and every time they launched an attack. In fact at times the defence was in total disarray and it seemed only a matter of time before Norwich would score.
Grant Holt had already had a shot which seemed destined to hit the back of the net, well blocked by Kieran Gibbs before the inevitable happened on twelve minutes. When Johnny Howson’s low cross was turned towards goal by Wes Hoolahan, it appeared as though Arsenal had escaped once again as the shot was rather weak and straight as Szczesny. Yet with his body behind the ball the young Pole somehow managed to let the ball squirm out of his hands and across the line. The moment summed up Szczesny’s recent dip in form. On Saturday his distribution was appalling, kicking the ball straight out on several occasions as well as not showing any fight or passion whatsoever. Norwich’s second goal highlighted this lack of desire perfectly. For the umpteenth time this season the visitors broke quickly following an Arsenal corner, the ball was fed to Grant Holt, whose shot hit Gibbs and looped over Szczesny and into the back of the net. While the goal was extremely unfortunate, Szczesny didn’t move at all to try to scramble the ball away. In fact he just stood there. With the summer transfer window fast approaching, it is imperative that Wenger signs another goalkeeper, someone who can really fight for the number one shirt and push Szczesny all the way, because at the moment he knows there is nobody at the club good enough to take his place and as a result he has let his high standards slip.
As Norwich kicked off to start the second half, Arsenal had to produce a vastly improved performance to save their season. However, they started the second period in the same lethargic manner which had so marred their first half showing. In fact the visitors should have further increased their lead, as first Simeon Jackson raced through the middle of the park, easily beating Vermaelen before hitting his shot straight at Szczesny, and shortly after this Hoolahan fired just wide. Had Norwich scored with either of these opportunities, there would have been no way back for the home side. In fact these missed chances actually galvanised the Gunners and they finally began to play the football we all know they are capable of as they created chance after chance. Benayoun slid the ball through to Van Persie, whose shot was saved by Ruddy, only for the rebound to fall to Ramsey. The young Welshman, who had another poor game, laid the ball wide to Gervinho whose low cross was met with a feeble effort by Ramsey, with the goal at his mercy. Vermalen then had an effort from close range blocked, before Arsenal finally restored parity. Alex Song picked up the ball on the edge of the box, following Chamakh’s blocked shot and the Cameroon international produced yet another perfectly weighted chipped ball forward to Van Persie who volleyed the ball home.
Arsenal were now on fire as they dominated possession and streamed forward time and time again with a winning goal seeming inevitable. With ten minutes remaining, the Emirates Stadium erupted once again as the ball deflected into the path of Van Persie, for the captain to hit a powerful shot beyond Ruddy and give Arsenal the lead. It was also the Dutchman’s thirtieth goal of the season, equalling Thierry Henry’s club record. Without their talisman this season the Gunners would never be in a position to fight for third place and having taken the lead at this stage of the game it seemed the home side had strengthened their grip on securing Champions League football for next season. However once they did take the lead, the Arsenal players became extremely nervous and seemed unable to maintain possession and see the game out. With five minutes left, Song needlessly gave the ball away, a looped ball forward then saw Morison run through on goal, in acres of space, to send his shot into the far corner and send the Emirates into despair. The Gunners had to push forward once again and with the clock ticking they did create chances to win the game, but ultimately did not take them. Van Persie shot straight at Ruddy and Chamakh headed the rebound wide, before Kyle Naughton clearly pushed Van Persie over, inside the box, as the Dutchman seemed destined to score. However the referee refused to award a penalty and in fairness Norwich also had claims for a penalty earlier in the game.
As the final whistle sounded the Gunners players appeared extremely frustrated, yet they only had themselves to blame. Far too often they have not approached games in a professional and dedicated manner. In the Premier League you cannot afford to take the opposition lightly as you will be punished. Yet once again Arsenal managed to somehow keep their destiny in their own hands, with Sunday’s results going their way. A win at West Brom will seal third place for the Gunners but they must vastly improve their attitude as in recent weeks this has not been good enough. Let’s just hope for a straightforward and uneventful last day of the season. Unfortunately as this is Arsenal Football Club, I sincerely doubt it will be that simple.
