Arsenal 2 - 2 Swansea - Gunners Swan-diving towards 5th place?

Well that was a roller-coaster of emotion... a roller-coaster that you get on, start building up some speed and then the person next to you is sick on you... all over you. But then the sick flies off you in the wind and you start to think "actually this is going to be ok" until right near the end of the ride when the roller-coaster implausibly and without sense crashes and you're horribly maimed... and then Paul Scholes starts kicking you. I've never been very good at metaphors.

We dominated possession early on and just as we were starting to build up some confidence we were hit by Swansea's first meaningful foray into our half. An excellent but unchallenged cross from deep by the Swansea left-back Neil Taylor was met high and powerfully by Wilfred Bony who rose above Thomas Vermaelen. It was the last thing we needed and potentially a damaging blow to our confidence.

The score stayed level until half-time as the players struggled to make any inroads through the Swansea back-line. Mertesacker headed into the side-netting, Oxlade-Chamerblain fired well wide after making some space for himself and Cazorla had a decent effort saved but we didn't really look like scoring.  We did work the ball out to the overlapping full-backs a few times but no players were making decent runs into the box and really giving them anything to aim at.

Wenger saw the need to make a change early in the second half and brought on Lukas Podolski for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Podolski offered very little defensively but was decisive going forwards. In the 73rd minute he equalised from close-range after Gibbs beat his man brilliantly and pulled the ball back to him. And just a minute later he delivered a sensational low cross into the pass of Olivier Giroud to fire Arsenal into the lead.

The End

What happened at the end of the game was farcical; freakishly bad fortune really. Mertesacker challenged Leon Britton in the area only for the ball to bounce off the on-rushing Szczesney's leg and then off Flamini into the open net. It was as cruel as it was ridiculous. Had it not have happened we would be savouring three crucial, hard-earned points but in the end we are left swallowing sadness and regret.

"The result is very disappointing but the spirit we put in and the effort we put in was great and we have to take it on the chin." - Arsène Wenger

It's a hard one to take on the chin to be fair. Arsène bemoaned the way we tried to shut up shop rather than keep attacking but I don't really agree; I just felt we needed to shut up shop more effectively and not concede a hideously unlucky goal.

Paul Scholes had some choice words for Arsenal following the match and while on the one hand it felt like being kicked while you're down, on the other I think he raised some fair points. He labelled this a typical week for Arsenal and there was a sense of familiarity after our thumping at Stamford Bridge and that very Arsenal-esque own goal last night.  He also said that Jack Wilshere has not developed since he was 17 because of a lack of role-models however I do think this is a little unfair as he has had serious injuries and Arsène Wenger's record of nurturing young players is still very good, taking Theo and Ramsey as recent examples.

As well as highlighting Arsenal's lack of physical strength and leaders he also criticised the discipline of Arsenal's midfield and I think this is where he speaks with real authority and reason:

"It's like they go out with no discipline. It's almost as if it's 'OK, you four, five midfielders, you go out there, do what you want, try to score us a goal, play some nice one-twos, a bit of tippy-tappy football, don't bother running back... Sometimes, as a midfield player, when you're up against it you just have to say 'look, come in beside me for five, ten minutes', try and stop the flow of attacks... And these [players at Arsenal], they go 2-0 down and they just carry on what they're doing. 'I'll have a wander up front, try a one-two, lose the ball'. Nobody bothers sprinting back. You wonder why they're in the position they're in?" - Paul Scholes on Sky Sports

That's pretty tough to argue with and is a damning indictment of how the manager sets up his team and coaches them.

Kim Kallstrom came on and did fine; played one good long ball. Given our injuries, Oxlade-Chamberlian's unreliability in a deeper position and Arteta's fatigue, he maybe needed but I doubt he can significantly improve us.  The title was of course gone on the weekend and now the only relevant section of the league table is below:

Those next two games are hugely important and we will not have any key players back for them so we will need to regroup and improve quickly or "our Champions League spot" will be there for the taking...


Man of the Match: Kieran Gibbs - This is not to say he was flawless. He needs to be more disciplined defensively. I remember Tony Adams complaining that Arsenal's fullbacks play like wingers and he has a good point but it certainly worked out well for us when Kieran made an excellent assist for Lukas Podolski.

Arsenal 4 - 1 Everton - Mesut Magic and Mikel's Massive Cojones

It would be hard to overstate the importance of this game; at 12.35 I took my seat and turned to my Dad and said we "have to win this game." Now the "must-win game" has become a bit of a cliché; used whenever a team who has a point to prove, but in this-case with the league looking increasingly unlikely and the Champions League even more so, there was a real sense of make-or-break at the Emirates on Saturday; the players needed to stand up and be counted and boy, didn't they do just that?

For me, the key moment came halfway through the second half; with the scores level, Oxlade-Chamberlain showed quick feet to skip past Barry in the box and was tripped. Mark Clattenburg pointed to the spot and Arteta stood up to take the penalty that could knock his old club out of the competition. He buried it in the bottom left hand corner only for the referee to book Giroud for encroaching on the area and make Mikel retake the penalty. The pressure must have been immense and I immediately started fearing the worse but Arteta showed superb level-headedness and absolutely enormous cojones to slam the ball into the top-right corner of the net. The sense of elation and relief was immense and thankfully he didn't bother with any of that muted celebration nonsense.

Mesut Özil had come under fire in a big way for Arsenal recently and even for Germany last week but he was a joy to watch on Saturday, working hard defensively, scoring a superb opener (winning me a tenner in the process) and then laying a brilliant fourth on a plate for Olivier Giroud.  He wasn't the only player to excel; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was dynamic, driven and effective. He did make a couple of sloppy errors but busted a gut to achieve immediate redemption on both occasions. Santi Cazorla completed a trio of excellent attacking midfield performances, surprisingly strong in the tackle and extremely incisive with his passing. When all three of these guys are in the starting line-up and playing like that, you wouldn't give the opposition defence much hope.  I think Arsène must be very tempted to play the three of them again on Tuesday.

Özil opened the scoring at the end of our first meaningful attack, with a very cool finish across the goalkeeper after excellent work and a perfectly-weighted ball into Mesut's path. The crowd roared as his name was announced, a rather different reception to that of the German fans on Wednesday night.  There is no doubt that he is a man with a point to prove and his reaction on Saturday after being taken out of the firing line by Arsène for a couple of weeks was very positive indeed.

Everton hit back a little against the run of play with a quick and incisive break. Had Flamini not had been booked he may have tried to tackle Barkley and perhaps Per and Bacary Sagna were a little slow to be caught behind Mirallas and Lukaku but Barkley did do extremely well.

Fortunately, the Arsenal players kept their heads and went on to produce an excellent second half performance. I  would say, with the possible exception of the first half of our home game against Napoli, that it was the best half of football we've played this season... so far.  Two big contributors to our strong finish were Olivier Giroud (who scored two goals) and Tomas Rosicky (who was involved in both of those goals and didn't give the ball away once); both of whom came off the bench to great effect. Our third goal arrived after Rosicky played a well-weighted ball to the overlapping Sagna, who took his time and expertly picked out the near-post run of Olivier Giroud for our decisive third goal.  The sun was out, the Arsenal fan's were singing "We're going to Wemberley" and the sense of joy was immense.

This delicious cake still needed icing though and it was duly provided with an excellent counter-attacking move; Santi Cazorla tackled McGeady, then two first-touch passes from Rosicky and Özil left Giroud with a tap-in. It was one to add to Arsenal's list of superb team goals and the pace and incisiveness of the move was reminiscent of previous great Thierry Henry and Robert Pires inspired teams.

A 4-1 scoreline was arguably a little flattering but there is no debating the fact that it was an extremely impressive performance, especially when you consider what a strong side Everton are and how well they played on their last visit.  One minor complaint is that we didn't create much from 13 corners. Yaya Sanogo didn't manage to make the same impact he did in the last round of the FA Cup but we looked stronger after Giroud's introduction. I expect Olivier to start against Bayern after 4 goals in his last 3 games.

After the full-time whistle, the fans stayed behind to applaud the players, who wandered round the pitch returning the gesture. Per Mertesacker, in particular, felt the warmth of the crowd following signing his new contact, with his BFG song ringing out loudly.

There was more good news to come on Sunday. Initially most Arsenal fans were unhappy to draw Manchester City or Wigan. However, surprisingly, two hours later Wigan had defeated the oily Citizens 2-1 with a heroic performance. It means that Arsenal are now favourites to win the FA Cup and Samir Nasri was really unhappy, which makes me very happy.

This gives us a huge chance to win our first trophy in 9 years, to get that monkey off our back and get some success under our belts. No pressure lads, but this is huge, now go out there and make it happen; get that trophy our season deserves.


Man of the Match: Mesut Özil - It looks as though the rest has done Mesut the world of good. He was excellent on Saturday - full of running, great passing and one superb finish - issuing a reminder to Arsenal fans of how lucky we are to have a player of his ability in our team and making those in the press who are so desperate to write him off look a little foolish.

An honourable mention for runner-up Mikel "massive cojones" Arteta for his penalties and 92% pass completion rate.

Monthly Awards: February

A fairly brutal February saw us slip up in the league, suffer our heaviest defeat of the season and lose the 1st leg of the Champions League tie against Bayern giving us a mountain to climb to stay in the competition... a really big Everest-style mountain. The big positive was an FA Cup win over Liverpool putting us through to the quarter finals of the competition, which certainly seems our best chance of silverware this season.

Form:

Player of the Month: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Although no players excelled in February, the Ox's return from injury was very welcome indeed. A brace at home to Palace on one of his few games at centre-midfield was impressive and highlighted his dynamism, showing why Arsène believes his future could be as a box-to-box midfielder. He then excelled when deployed on the right against Liverpool in the cup, first scoring after a blocked Yaya Sanogo volley and then creating a superb assist for Lukas Podolski. This was such an encouraging goal because the Ox showed his pace to get in behind the defence, something we've been lacking without Theo in the side, and giving Özil a chance to show off his ability to play a perfect through ball.

Top Goalscorer: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (3 goals).

Goal of the Month: Tomas Rosicky vs Sunderland. When it works it's oh so very nice... Intricate, one-touch passing triangles and a cheeky dinked finish from the wonderful Tomas Rosicky. What's not to love?

Best Result: Arsenal 2 - 1 Liverpool.  Some much needed redemption after a hammering at Anfield. Our defending was far more focused and resolute and our second goal was superb.  We rode are luck as Webb failed to award Liverpool a nailed-on penalty and we were also indebted to our cup goalkeeper, Lukas Fabianski, but ultimately we scraped through to the next round and it was a great relief. An honourable mention to the 4-1 win over Sunderland; we played some lovely stuff but Sunderland did not show up at all.

Worst Result: Liverpool 5 - 1 Arsenal. Our normally solid defence conceded four in the first 20 minutes. We were sloppy, slow and lacked focus; whereas Liverpool were clinical, lightning quick and got in behind us with unnerving ease... and Daniel Sturridge did that insufferable dance. Let's move on...

Quote of the Month:

"I am very pleased for Rosicky because today Bergkamp got a statue and I think Rosicky took the Bergkamp role well. Certainly Dennis will have been pleased to have seen him play" - Arsène Wenger after the Sunderland Match.

Talking points:

Mesut Özil received some pretty fierce and often overboard criticism from many quarters; fans and pundits alike seemed to be queuing up to tear pieces off of him. He was poor against Liverpool, twice making poor errors in the build-up to Liverpool goals and despite starting well against Bayern, he took a very soft penalty which was easily saved.  Arsène dropped/rested him against Sunderland and I am sure he will be looking to bounce back and show his tremendous quality in March.

Olivier Giroud apologised on twitter to his wife, family and friends, manager, team-mates (who didn't seem too bothered) and the Arsenal fans. Not for missing a sitter against United but for glamour-model romping.  That day, he was rested/dopped in favour of Yaya Sanogo for the Liverpool cup game. It was a gamble that by and large paid off but it was still surprising to see Sanogo retaining his place for the Champions League tie. It suggests that Arsène was not impressed by either or both of Giroud's extra-cuccricular activities or recent form. Hopefully it was a wake-up call to the big forward, who performed well on his return to the side against Sunderland, bagging an early brace.

Arsenal's chances of silverware took a real hit with two slip-ups in the league while our rivals seem to be improving and a 2-0 home loss to Bayern. Given Szczesny's red card and the quality of the opposition, the result was no surprise but conceding a second late-on was a killer blow to our hopes of progressing. The one shining light is of course the FA Cup. Everton in the Quarter Finals is of course a tough draw but the fac that we are playing at home should give us real hope. With Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and United out, Everton and Manchester City are our biggest threats.

A Statue of Dennis Bergkamp was unveiled prior to the Sunderland victory and, comical placement of the pole aside, it is a fitting tribute to one of the greatest players to have graced the planet, let alone Arsenal Football Club.

Beautiful edit by @UKILFC

Arsenal 0 - 0 Manchester United

A frustrating evening all round as two teams who needed a win but couldn't afford to lose played out an an uneventful goalless draw that did neither team much good.

As frustrating as it was, positives can be taken and of course it could have been worse. In the second minute Mikel Arteta (otherwise pretty solid) was criminally caught in possession 30 yards from goal by Robin van Persie but thankfully Arsenal's no.1 fan's shot was tame and comfortably saved.

Arsenal were the more adventurous of the two sides but neither team wanted to commit too many men forward after embarrassing weekend results. It was a little worrying how much we were struggling to create chances. Mesut Özil has been coming in for some stick lately but he looked classy last night and was desperately trying to make something happen. I think he would really thrive if the players around him were driving into the box with pace. I'm sure that with Theo or Ramsey in the team he would be creating good chances for them to finish but with Giroud ahead of him he has to be much cleverer to create good opportunities.

Shortly after van Persie's miss, Olivier Giroud missed the chance of the game; a free header, six yards out in the middle of the goal. He failed to make decent contact, the ball travelling well wide off his shoulder. It was an embarrassing and costly miss in a game of few chances. I've sung Giroud's praises in the past for what he brings to the team - how he holds up the ball and how midfielders driving forward can play off him - but at the moment he brings little more than atrocious finishing, sluggishness and disappointed looks. What's more he looks tired. There is no use bemoaning our lack of a January centre-forward signing now, but I think we need to try someone else there in the coming games, be it Podolski or Bendtner. No player should be picked regardless of form and currently what he is producing just isn't even close to good enough.

Fortunately for us, the player Olivier was brought in to replace wasn't fairing much better. After van Persie's early miss he also shanked a right-footed shot well wide and had a second half header quite brilliantly saved by Szczesney.

The main positive from the game was of course our clean sheet; our 11th in our last 12 home games.  We did look the better side, taking more shots, winning the vast majority of aerial duels, having more possession and passing better than our opponents but those stats rather hide the fact that we just didn't look too dangerous.  Cazorla and Özil looked the most likely to make something happen and De Gea made a couple of good stops from Santi. As I've previously mentioned, we don't really look like getting in behind teams so that leaves shooting from range (not a tactic to rely on), getting the ball out wide and crossing it in (which Vidic dealt with well, albeit a bit grabbily and foulily) or trying to work our way through the middle tippily and tappily (which is bloody brilliant when it works but oh so difficult to pull off).  Last night we did a bit of each but none quite came off. The closest we came was the aforementioned Giroud miss and Koscielny's header which was stopped on the line by Valencia.

We are of course still in a good position, 2nd in the table with games against Sunderland, Stoke and Swansea next up in the league. The time for missed opportunities must now be behind us or not only will we fall away from Chelsea and City, but we could be caught by Liverpool or (whisper it) a Spurs side managed by Tim Sherwood...

 Man of the Match: Wojciech Szczęsny

Arsenal 2 - 0 Southampton Match Report: A tale of two Poles between the poles

After what seemed to be the longest international break in living memory, it was great to be back watching 'proper' football and even better as Arsenal were back to winning ways.  We faced a Southampton side that have improved vastly upon the team that we hammered 6-1 at the Emirates last season; so much so that they sat 3rd in the table at the start of the weekend.

Before Saturday's game, Southampton had conceded just 5 league goals, giving them the meanest defense in the league, making it all the more suprising that the game hinged on a rather calamitous error from Artur Boruc - with Olivier Giroud closing him down, he first dillied and then dallied before Giroud tackled him and played the ball into the open net.  Being the heartless sort, I laughed pretty hard but I don't think the same can be said for Boruc's team mates or manager. Boruc also let in a howler against Stoke goalkeeper, Asimir Begovic and he certainly has a lot of making up to do.  Garth Crook's reaction was perhaps a little harsh: "He should be fined two weeks' wages for that." If I was fined two weeks' wages every time I made a blunder I would be without a roof over my head pretty soon... although I imagine its a bit different for professional footballers.

Our Polish goalie on the other hand put in another commanding performance, dominating his area and making some good saves and picking up his 3rd clean sheet in four games for us - a statistic I take great encouragement from.  It is also worth noting that Mathieu Flamini's protection wasn't needed for those games.  Our back four all played extremely well and are showing the kind of organisation and reliability that comes from having a settled and focused defence.  Another encouraging statistic was that we won an extremely impressive 28/32 aerial duels.

Although our first goal came from a howler, it could easily have come from a moment of brilliance. First Jack Wilshere's exquisite chip with his right foot came back off the post and then Aaron Ramsey channeled his inner Kanu to back heel against the same post after some sensational build up play.  Jack was played through the middle in the number 10 role which Özil normally occupies and I thought he played very well - he had a tough physical battle with the unit that is Victor Wanyama but his class shone through.

The game was pretty even and Southampton look a very handy team but I think the Arsenal side of 2013 has a new found resilience and I have much more faith in the team to see their way through difficult situations.  Of course, situations are much less difficult when the opposition gifts you two goals, as they did yesterday.  The second goal came from a penalty after Jose Fonte needlessly tugged Per Mertesacker's shirt after an Arsenal corner.  Per's reaction was priceless.

"Overall we could not take our chances today but we took advantage of their mistakes" - Arsène Wenger

With Arteta and Özil both having been subbed off, the responsibility fell to Olivier Giroud to take the penalty - he cooly dispatched it for his tenth goal of the season.  I've spoken at length on this blog about Olivier Giroud's contribution to the team this season and I'm delighted for him.  Another positive came in the form of the returning Theo Walcott.  We have coped admirably without our wide men; Podolski, Walcott and the Ox but it is fantastic to have one of them back.  It may take him a while to get back to full fitness and form but I can't wait to see his runs in behind being rewarded regularly with Özil's through balls.

We only have until Tuesday to wait for our next game, where hopefully we will dispatch Marseille and seal qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League. Until then, let's just enjoy being four points clear at the top of the table.

Man of the Match: Artur Boruc Olivier Giroud

Manchester United - Arsenal Match Preview

"Bad luck old chap."

Oh what a difference a season makes! This time last year United were nine points clear of us and I was swallowing sadness as my former hero was scoring traitorous goal after traitorous goal for them.  Olivier Giroud was still struggling to find his feet and Arsenal fans knew that despite some good additions to the squad in the form of Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski, we weren't title-challengers.  United had beaten us on their turf in a game where we were completely dominated and our captain was even kind enough to gift van Persie the opening goal.

Fast forward a year and the fortunes of both clubs have changed dramatically... United are the team being mocked from all sides, the all-conquering Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down and was replaced by Moyes, whose summer transfer activity and slow start certainly hasn't endeared him to the Old Trafford faithful.  Arsenal on the other hand sit proudly on top of the table after their best start to the season in many years and their most eye-catching transfer of all time.

A few words on Robin van Persie then... even now, more than a year after his transfer, I struggle to mention him without spouting out a string of the crudest expletives that I can muster.  I adored the man, I loved watching him in an Arsenal shirt and his departure hurt me more than that of any former player.  Call me bitter but I want to see the man fail; I want to see pain and regret in his eyes as often as possible and there is no better opportunity than this Sunday to show what a terrible decision he made.  Although he was firing on all cylinders this time last year and Olivier Giroud still looked a bit lost, a glance at their figures this season suggests that we have found a more than adequate replacement:

These figures take into account League and Champions League Football and as you can see the two strikers are tied on goals but you can also see Giroud has been superior to van Persie in almost every other department, although to be fair van Persie is playing in a much weaker team (snigger).  While he may not have van Persie's eye for the spectacular, that ability to create something out of nothing; Giroud creates so many more chances and brings a lot more to the team.  I would hazard a guess that the Arsenal midfielders prefer playing with Giroud.

One area that we certainly should have the better of United on Sunday is the midfield, where United look far from convincing and Arsenal have an embarrassment of riches.  No one man typifies Arsenal's turnaround more than Aaron Ramsey and it so easily could have been very different if he had joined United instead of Arsenal.  Fortunately for us, Arsène Wenger convinced young Aaron that he was the man to develop him into a world-class midfielder.  What the two of them have achieved together is remarkable - Arsène has shown an outstanding ability to nurture talent through his career but Ramsey could prove to be his greatest success story - to mentor him following his horror injury at the hands of the Orcs, to see past his poor form last season and to extend his contract and to guide him to where he is now is just remarkable.

United's attack is of course very strong.  Whereas Ferguson would often deploy a five-man midfield against us with largely successful results I expect Moyes to play both Rooney and van Persie on Sunday. It's an intimidating strike force but we can be very much encouraged by impressive clean sheets against Napoli, Tottenham, Liverpool and Dortmund.  

As Carl gleefully pointed out in his excellent preview, our recent record at Old Trafford makes grim reading. We may be brought crashing down to earth by that traitorous Dutch helmet and co. but we are more than good enough to really kick them while they are down and complete a fantastic week's work with a most satisfying victory.  While we can never underestimate United, I can't remember the last time I felt so optimistic before a game against them.  I would love it... I would just love it...

Prediction:
Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal


If you missed it, do please give Carl's preview (from a United fan's perspective) of the game a look.  It really is an excellent read.

Crystal Palace 0 - 2 Arsenal Match report: Return of Chamakh

Well that wasn't the stress-free walk in the park I had envisioned.  I was hoping for a comfortable win full of beautiful, free-flowing football and dozens of Arsenal goals against a very weak Palace side but it wasn't to be as we rather ground out a 2-0 win.  The sending off of Arteta in the 65th minute when we were one goal up made for an uncomfortable finish but we did take all three points in a game where we really couldn't afford to drop any.

Palace look a Championship side and unfortunately it felt like I was watching a Championship game.  This wasn't helped by the pitch -  it's a wonder the players could even see each other over that long, dry grass, let alone play the ball across it with any zip resulting in countless under-hit passes, in the first half especially.

The first half was more or less devoid of incident and entertainment.  We dominated proceeding early on without creating clear-cut chances but suffered a blow inside the first ten minutes as Mathieu Flamini was subbed of for Serge Gnabry after injuring his groin.  Hopefully it is not too serious as he has been instrumental in our team's success so far this season and was notably not involved in either of our defeats.

Gnabry's performance was a mixed bag - he was sloppy at times but looked very dangerous at others.  He looks raw - he is obviously extremely talented and he has a very good chance of making the grade at Arsenal.  Hopefully, he will make another positive impact on Tuesday night in the Carling Cup.  Serge created the break-through after the interval by winning a penalty after beating his man in the box and being brought down by a rash challenge.  Arteta's penalty was excellent, stuck powerfully into the side of the net.

Arsène said after the game that if Arteta's ban wasn't just ruling him out of a Carling Cup game he would have appealed the decision, however I can't say I have any complaints.  Once Chamakh had knocked the ball towards goal and there was a coming together I fully expected the captain to see red as he was the last man.  Unfortunately I don't think there is a rule that allows refs to take into account whether the player running through on goal is a shambolic footballer whose finishing is almost as bad as his hair so I think Arteta (whose hair looks even better when compared to Chamakh's) had to go.

From then on, it was squeeky-bum time.  Giroud looked increasingly isolated and a little fatigued and Palace came very close to scoring.  In fact, if it wasn't for two super-saves from our in-form goalie, Wojciech Szczesny, we could have been looking at a very embarrassing and morale-damaging draw or even loss.  The first was tipped onto the bar and over and the second was exceptional as he got a very strong hand onto a powerful Jedinak volley from the resulting corner.

As time was running out for Palace, they understandably threw more players forward in search of an equaliser which left them pretty open at the back.  We managed to punish the home team in the 87th minute when our counter-attack found Ramsey in the box.  He cut back and produced an excellent chipped cross for Giroud to nod home.  Olivier looked delighted after what was a tough afternoon for him and I'm sure he enjoyed his goal after missing two headed chances (both from excellent Sagna crosses) earlier in the game.  The goal demonstrated how fit Ramsey is - he just keeps going to the final whistle and even then you get the impression there is more in the tank.  It also demonstrated how clinical he has become and how much his decision making has improved.

All in all, it was the result we wanted but maybe not the performance we had expected.  We were indebted to our goalie and should be hopeful going into some very tricky and important games over the next two weeks.

Man of the Match: Wojciech Szczesny

Olivier Giroud vs Marouane Chamakh Infographic

As we will be playing against our old friend, Marouanne Chamakh on Saturday I thought it would be interesting to do a statistical comparison between him and Olivier Giroud and you may be suprised to learn that Marouanne Chamakh has scored with an incredible 100% of his shots this season.  Unfortunately for Marouanne and Palace, he has only taken one shot in his first 8 games...

On a serious note though, Olivier Giroud has been outstanding.  This time last year he had just one goal and one assist but he has grown into an extremely important player for us.  This summer we were of course chasing Suarez and Higuain but Giroud appeared unphased and has proven himself more than capable of leading the line for the club.  His link up play has been terrific, never more so than for his part in Jack Wilshere's extaordinary goal against Norwich.  He has forged a terrific understanding with him team mates and could be instrumental in our push for silverwear.

Arsenal 1 - 2 Borussia Dortmund Match Report

Our first guest contributor on The Gun Show is my good friend Louis. I had to sit this one out after failing to get out of working last night and managed to arrive in the pub just in time for the final whistle - In the parlance of our times, #FML. Over to you Louis: 

Hello Gooners! This is my first report for the Gun Show… sadly not a happy one.

Last night wasn’t great. I went into this game being pretty smug as we sit top of the Premier League and honestly thought we have the skill and pace to beat Borussia Dortmund - I was wrong.

There was real buzz and sense of optimism around N5 as all the fans converged in local pubs and towards the stadium hopeful of a great night of European football between two of Europe's most exciting teams. The first thing I noticed was the terrific noise coming from the away stand. Dortmund fans were jumping and singing loudly - I also noticed that every song they sang was basically a rip off of English football chants from the 90’s. Just saying.

We started pretty shakily - we looked nervous and Jurgen Klopp looked like a tramp in a suit (I’m not bitter). He was serving the second of a two match touchline ban, sat up in the rafters eating prawn sandwiches. The midfield was missing a key figure, Mathieu Flamini, who was ruled out with concussion after going tête-à-tête with Tettey on the weekend. He’s proven to be a key signing for us this year.

16 minutes in, our strong defence, doing their job correctly scuffle for the ball and Ramsey made a classic mistake of over-playing on the edge of his own box. He was tackled and Dortmund pounced to take the lead. A moment of overconfidence from the best Welsh footballer on the planet.

A few minutes later Giroud made an exceptional run down the right wing, barging off a strong challenge from one defender and striding forward only to be completely taken out by Mats Hummels right on the edge of the box. Wilshere then landed awkwardly in the Dortmund box and stayed down for a good 5 minutes… why Wenger kept him on is beyond me.

As the half wore on we began to see some real fight from our boys - we were attacking hard and 40 minutes into the game we got our reward as Sagna (who wasn’t having a great game thus far) crossed a superb ball into the danger zone. Our big French striker Olivier Giroud frightened the Dortmund goalkeeper, the ball bounced high and Giroud struck a close range volley into an empty goal. There was fist pumping at the Clock end as the Emirates erupted in celebration, shutting those noisy Dortmund fans up in the process.

We started the second half looking stronger. With the perk of Dortmund manager Klopp, being unable to address his team in the dressing room in the half-time break, this game was ours to win.

There was a moment of controversy as Lewandowski elbowed Koscileny fully in the face conceding a free kick, the referee ran over shaking his head but only issues a yellow card. Maybe this referee needs to consult his rule book , as a deliberate elbow to the face is a sending off offence.

Nearing 70 minutes, Santi struck an unbelievable ball that beats the keeper but sadly caught the corner of the crossbar. We started to hound Dortmund relentlessly and looked the more likely to find a winner but when you have everyone forward, it leaves big gaping holes at the back and Dortmund are as good as any team on the counter attack.

Kevin Grosskreutz's cross found Lewandowski, with Sagna miles behind play for a perfect sidefoot finish that Wojciech Szczęsny could never stop. With just eight minutes left, Dortmund held up the ball at every opportunity and a frustrated Mesut Ozil picked up his first yellow card as a Gunner.

Not what poor old Arsène expected on his birthday, but as he said "We put ourselves on the back foot with the first goal and were naive for the second... We can only look at ourselves as not being mature enough in those situations. If you can't win the game, don't lose it."

It’s not all doom and gloom for us Gooners though as we go into our next match against Crystal Palace, which should be a walk in the park. I’m not worried about the Champions League, as we remain joint top of our group, albeit with some very tough away games at Dortmund and in Naples to come. Lessons were hopefully, learnt.

Man of the Match: Tomas Rosicky

Arsenal 2 - 0 Napoli Match Report: Arsène has his cake AND eats it

On the 17th anniversary of Arsène Wenger taking the reins at Arsenal, his side came out convincing winners against an on-form Napoli who were supposed to provide our toughest challenge yet.

After the Swansea victory, Arsène declared that result "better than any cake." Now let's take a moment to appreciate the magnitude of that statement... Imagine you could have any cake in the world, maybe a multi-layered vanilla and honeycomb cheesecake or a racing-car shaped sponge cake with cream cheese icing that is the size of an actual racing car... Arsène would rather have a win over Swansea; just imagine how happy he must be now!

Napoli started the season well with five wins and a draw in the league and an impressive win over Dortmund but they obviously haven't come up against a team of our calibre as they were thoroughly outplayed last night. Alan Smith busted out one of my favourite football clichés (when applied this way round) with his declaration that it was "men against boys."

Our first half performance was one of complete dominance - as well as we've played in recent memory. The passing and movement were far too quick and precise for Rafa Benitez' team to deal with and it didn't take long for the first goal to come. Some top drawer hold-up play from Olivier Giroud allowed Aaron Ramsey to run clear down the right. He was quick and composed and picked the right ball when he pulled back to Mesut Özil on the edge of the box. The first-time finish was sensational - guided powerfully into the top corner with the inside of his magical left boot. It was his first goal for the club and it will be hard to better.

A shell-shocked Napoli were struggling to get a firm foothold in the game when they failed to clear by the right touch line.  The ball quickly came to Mesut Özil who skipped into the box and played a perfectly-weighted ball with the outside of his foot into the path of the excellent Olivier Giroud who slammed home for the 2nd and final goal of the game.

The second half was less explosive but very professional and organised as we cruised top down and music blaring to the final whistle. Napoli never seriously threatened and were reduced to shooting from outside the box. I probably needed us to reduce the intensity after watching the finale of Breaking Bad and the first half of the match in succession.

We were the first team to keep a clean sheet against Napoli this season and although they were without joint top-scorer and former Arsenal target Gonzalo Higuain, this reflects very well on our team's defensive performance. The back four were solid and Flamini didn't give the talented, silly-haired Hamsik a look in.

There were too many positives to list so I won't try - I'll just finish by wishing Arsène a very happy Anniversary and hoping that he gets a very tasty and well-deserved cake after that big, juicy Champions League win.

Man of the Match: Mesut Özil