Arsenal 2 Everton 1
Saha 24, Arshavin 70, Koscielny 75
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Arshavin turned round a game Arsenal were losing for 46 minutes.
This must-win game had a good atmosphere, mostly created by referee Lee Mason, who booked Jack Wilshere harshly after 5 and then allowed a controversial goal by Louis Saha.
Winger Seamas Coleman\’s pass was finding Saha well offside, then the stretching Koscielny touched it on to the striker, who executed a sharp turn and fired low past Szczesny.
Arsenal were behind at half-time and Wenger took off Rosicky and brought on Arshavin, who scored the equaliser eight minutes later.
Walcott wasn\’t sharp enough to score, Van Persie wasn\’t and Fabregas certainly wasn\’t, as he hit two good chances well wide. So it began to look as if Arsenal could play all night without scoring. When a goal is badly needed, you don\’t look to Rosicky or Clichy.Losing this game was not an option.
If Arshavin didn’t have a very low centre of gravity and world class skills, he could never have buried that chance. For a lazy, off-form winger, he\’s doing alright.
Yes, Arsenal dominated, and Everton were being outrun as well as outplayed. But a goal didn\’t look like coming because Arsenal\’s midgets seemed to be out-powered by giants like Fellaini, an efficient bruiser, Distin, an effective athlete, and Jack Rodwell, a promising England prospect who has a bit of everything. Arsenal away is a test any teenage footballer and Rodwell impressed last night.
The game had become a siege when Fabregas, playing deeper after Bendtner came on for Wilshere in 69, dinked a ball over the defence, and his pass reached the Russian off the top of Rodwell\’s head. Arshavin sweetly buried a chance that no other Arsenal player would have scored.
The siege continued and the winning goal soon arrived. Van Persie\’s inswinging corner being headed in by Koscielny at the far post. A great moment for Koscielny, Arsenal\’s best player on the night.
Earlier, Van Persie showed us two free-kicks. The first rocketed up and over the wall and Tim Howard made a good save. The next one came from a foul by Heitinga on RVP in in the D. As Mason insisted the wall move back, Van Persie, behind the ref\’s back, moved the ball back a yard, so it was outside the D, to give himself more of a chance. Cheeky? No, that\’s cheating. RVP must be flaky if he thinks the ref won’t notice that. Mason spotted it and moved the ball back inside the D and he Dutchman smashed the free-kick into the wall.
VERDICT : Collectively, Arsenal grafted and won on a night when individuals were below their best. Since Walcott’s been fit, he battles harder and wins more balls and more free-kicks. That helps Sagna, who has to keep shooting. His next shot could be deflected in, or break to a teammate. As a rule, the crowd want him to shoot when he has a chance to do so. If he keeps shooting, Sagna might score the most important goal of Arsenal\’s season. Somebody has to score, doesn\’t matter who it is. Fabregas has only three league goals.
The Premier League still has a Big Four. Not much has changed. Man City have bought their way into the Big Four – that\’s the only thing that\’s happened. Liverpool have dropped out because Rafa Benitez wasted multi-millions on bad players, which demoralised Fernando Torres, who put in a transfer request. He had a £50m release clause, as big players have in Spain.
Arsenal v Manchester United is not till April 30.
I recently wrote, flippantly, that it\’s Nani versus Nasri for the title. Now Nasri is out for three weeks with a hamstring injury and Nani is getting severely kicked in almost every game he plays.
Arsenal have won their last six in all comps but my views on the title are unchanged. My opinions are under constant review, and can change at any time, of course.
Manchester United are more organised, more experienced, more determined, and more physical than any other team in UK. Despite their shabby midfield, where they need Jack Wilshere to replace Scholes, United still know how to win. Last night, when Aston Villa pulled back to 2-1, Vidic scored within five minutes.
Gambling greengrocer John told me to back over 2.5 goals in every Premier League game last night.Tony said the same in an email. Being a mug, I didn’t have a bet.
Sunderland 2 Chelsea 4
Man Utd 3 Aston Villa 1
Arsenal 2 Everton 1
West Brom 2 Wigan 2
Saw Jamil at the gym yesterday and asked him a question.
“Did Mubarak take £35 billion out of the country?â€
“Far more than that. He\’ll be gone by Friday – maybe tonight.â€