Arsenal 1 -1 Manchester City - Marauding Mathieu provides much-needed redemption

An ultimately satisfying and fair result as the players showed great determination, and that mental strength Arsène is so fond of, to come from behind and take what could be a valuable point in our battle to ensure we are playing Champions League football next season.

• The first half performance was a little disappointing.  Whilst we were far more solid defensively than in recent games, yet another individual error against a big side lead to a goal. Podolski first dillied then dallied before being robbed of the ball and throwing himself on the floor to try and win a free-kick. Dzeko's shot came off the post and back to an untracked David Silva for a tap-in. It was so frustrating and irritatingly familiar. The better the opposition the more likely we are to be punished and we are making far too many individual errors at the moment.

• The penalty shout was the only time we really threatened in the first half. A good ball from Santi fed Rosicky who pushed the ball past Zabaleta and went to ground. Whilst there was some contact Rosicky probably initiated it and the fullback was clearly trying not to bring him down so Mike Dean got a difficult decision correct. Rosicky was perhaps a little lucky to escape a second yellow card for a mistimed sliding tackle.

• A lazy narrative started at 1-0 that City were cruising towards an inevitable victory and I think some Arsenal fans may have feared another capitulation but the response from the players was truly excellent. They fought back to take a point with great determination and the the discipline to not allow themselves to be caught out on the break and actually looked the more likely side to win the game.

• Lukas Podolski - what an enigma! Another good assist today following a goal and assist against Swansea but his defensive "contribution" was so poor. As mentioned, he conceded the ball in the build-up to the City goal and beyond that he rarely offered any protection to Gibbs and conceded needless free kicks. He was lucky not to concede a penalty against Swansea for needlessly barging a player in our box (as he did against Liverpool in the cup.)  I don't think liability is too strong a word but when he is on the pitch, there is always a good chance that he can create something in the final third. Surely the most high risk player in the squad.

• Santi Cazorla played extremely well in the second half. His guile, flair and creativity is needed more than ever without Özil, Ramsey and Walcott and he will need to be on top form if our push for the FA Cup and a Champions League spot are to be successful.

• Matthieu Flamini personified Arsenal's redemption this week with his own individual turnaround. He was the unfortunate man to concede the costly late own goal on Tuesday night but showed great desire and a cool finish from a difficult chance to get his team back on level pegging on Saturday. Perhaps there is an advantage to not being considered an attacking threat; you can surprise the opposition defence. I had a little chuckle at Gary Neville's description of Matthieu as a marauding midfielder as he continued to push forward after his goal and created real problems for City - clearly he was desperate to drive his side on to the win.

• Olivier Giroud held the ball up much better than he had been doing lately and gave the ball away very rarely. It was a more impressive performance that in recent games but he still doesn't look much of a goal threat against the top teams. One occasion that really stood out was his complete lack of awareness to try and get on the end of an excellent Sagna cross. He must gamble more by making aggressive runs towards goal when we get the ball out to the wings and give the wide players something to work with.

• Much has (understandably) been said and written about Arsenal's atrocious form in the big games away from home this season but we can take some encouragement at least from not losing to the big teams at home with wins over Liverpool in the cup and league and draws against City and Chelsea at home. It's difficult to gage the gap in quality between ourselves and the sides above us as the league table and our early season form combined with the injury troubles we've had suggest that perhaps we aren't really too far off but of course our head-to-head record suggests otherwise.

Man of the Match: Matthieu Flamini - It could easily have gone to Santi Cazorla whose second half performance was extremely impressive but I just felt Mathieu's individual bouncebackability after the midweek own goal was enough to get him over the line.

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.

Chelsea 6 - 0 Arsenal - What a load of boll-ox

The scene was set for Arsène Wenger to take a glorious victory on his 1000th game in charge at Arsenal. He took his side, still in the title race, to Stamford Bridge to face José Mourinho's Chelsea; he has never recorded a win over the Portuguese and following Mourinho's disrespectful "specialist in failure" comment, now more than ever, he had a point to prove. A few days before the game Arséne was given a golden cannon to commemorate his staggering milestone but yesterday his players served him up a golden pile of shite.

Rather than breaking Chelsea's record of going years under Mourinho without a home defeat or getting his first win over his rival, Arsène watched his side fall to their equal worst defeat under his reign (along with that 8-2 loss at Old Trafford). The fact that it was Chelsea's biggest win under Mourinho was a damning indictment of just how bad Arsenal were.

"It was a nightmare and I take full responsibility for it." - Arséne Wenger

While the buck ultimately stops with the manager, I think the blame should be shared pretty equally between him and the players. I'll pre-empt my blame-flinging by saying that chewing over what went wrong isn't entirely productive and that the most important thing post-game is for the players and manager to put things right on Tuesday... but they were so dreadful that frankly they deserve an absolute slating. It's so easy with hindsight to say the manager should have played so and so instead of whoever but I was very surprised not to see Matthieu Flamini in the starting line-up.  I have seen Oxlade-Chamberlain impress in central midfield, notably against AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Crystal Palace but it is a far riskier selection than the experienced and more reliable, Flamini; a player who offers so much more defensively and is so much steadier in possession. Matthieu was not started in our hammering at Anfield either and I just feel that this was a lesson Arsène has failed to learn.

Whilst the manager is willing to take full responsibility and he no doubt got it wrong yesterday, the players should be equally willing to take the blame. The level of capitulation, the lack of focus and guts were shameful. The list of individual errors by the Arsenal players if written in size 12 font would stretch to the moon and back 4 times over. Early on, a ridiculously careless and uncharacteristic pass from Laurent Koscielny nearly resulted in a Samuel Eto'o goal. Olivier Giroud then had a chance to put Arsenal in the lead after a well-weighted Rosicky through ball but he failed to beat Cech. Moments later Eto'o scored a brilliant finish on his left foot highlighting the difference in their finishing ability. The chance came from a pathetic individual error from Oxlade-Chamberlain and sadly, he was just getting started.  The second goal saw Santi caught in possession and within seven minutes the game was over. It was painfully similar to our start at Anfield; we set up the same way, committed a litany of ridiculous errors and were punished by a more dynamic, clinical and organised team.

Whilst it was unacceptable to lose the game inside 7 minutes, what was even more disappointing was the way the team capitulated from then on. The third goal came from a penalty conceded by Oxlade-Chamberlain; with the ball travelling wide of the post for a goal kick, Alex deliberately handled the ball. It was the single stupidest moment by any Arsenal player in Wenger's 1000 games in charge. After initially not awarding the penalty, the referee consulted with his official and gave it, sending off the wrong player, Kieran Gibbs, despite protestations from Arsenal players and a clear admission of guilt from Oxlade-Chamberlain. It was embarrassing all round. Whilst some made an argument that a red card should not have been awarded as the ball was travelling wide, Oxlade-Chamberlain did try to stop a goal with his hand so I feel a red card was the right decision (were it given to the correct player.) Hazard scored the penalty and Oxlade-Chamberlain had an absolute shocker until being hauled off at half-time. As an aside, the referee and his assistants also seemed shaken by their mistake and managed to get several very simple decisions completely wrong.

Chelsea's fifth goal was also extremely embarrassing as it constituted of two more extremely poor individual errors; first Tomas Rosicky's sloppy pass on the edge of our box gifted possession to Chelsea and then Szczesny failed to make a simple save from a tame long-range effort from Oscar. I was cross with our keeper after the Spurs game where a very poor error nearly handed Tottenham an equaliser. While you don't want your goalkeeper to dwell on his errors too much, his attitude and on-pitch selfie suggest he's got some serious growing up to do and I would suggest he is far from the world-class goalkeeper he thinks he is.

In conclusion, we were shambolic; Arsène set his team up wrong against a manager who almost always seems to get it right; the players were dire and we don't seem to be learning from our mistakes in the big games (particularly away from home.) The title looked unlikely but it is now definitely beyond our capabilities. Whilst injuries to key players have of course hindered us, that is no excuse for such a low level of performance. The manager has developed some wonderful teams and players in his time at the club and this is partly down to how much faith he places in his players - he sticks by them through rough patches of form and rarely castigates them but on his 1000th game in charge those players that he has so much faith in, let him down badly when they should have been breaking their backs to win that game.

Man of the Match: n/a.

Tottenham 0 - 1 Arsenal - Rosicky Rocket keeps Spurs in our shadows

A defensive performance more gritty than an HBO drama, with particularly heroic performances from the BFG and Koscielny was enough to secure all three points following Rosicky's 2nd minute thunderbastard.

It was our least convincing victory over Spurs this season but completed a clean sweep of three wins which will hurt for Spurs fans who've sat through 270 minutes against Arsenal without a single Spurs goal. They will be looking at Chadli for not changing that but I guess if you have players as bad as Chadli in your team, it serves you right. It was actually our first win in the league at White Hart Lane since 2007; far too long to go without a win there but it's great to put that one to bed.

Rosicky's early goal was a thing of beauty; as sweet a hit as you'll see and it continued his habit of scoring against Spurs - his third goal against them in the last two seasons - what a very good habit to pick up. The lovely, floppy-haired hero had this to say:

“It’s one of the best…against Tottenham for sure. I’m delighted by a goal like that. Most importantly, we won the game.” - Tomas Rosicky. Source: SkySports

We really should have gone two up but first the referee's assistant wrongly flagged Podolski offside when he and Giroud had a 2 on 1 against Lloris and then Oxlade-Chamberlain wasted an excellent chance on the break with a dink gone wrong. At this point Tim Sherwood suddenly realised how ridiculous his gillet looked and threw it on the floor. Perhaps he realised that it was most likely his last North London derby and he shouldn't make himself look like a bit of a boob. Something he remembered until a late handbaggy incident with a puzzled/unmoved Bacary Sagna.

In fairness to Tim Sherwood I think he did learn his lesson from the last North London derby and set his team up much better; not allowing them to get overrun in midfield. Spurs lacked incisiveness though and for all their possession and hard work they failed to create any good chances with the highly-rated Christian Eriksen anonymous. The vast majority of their shots were hopeful and Szczesny had no difficult saves to make. He did however drop two clangers in the second half in quick succession, the second of which, but for an excellent block from Koscielny, would have cost him his clean sheet. He was all smiles and selfies after the game but those lapses in concentration must stop.

The BFG. Is he really only 6'6''? He played
like he is at least 8 feet tall... at least

We weren't particularly adventurous in the second half and made some defensive substitutions as we looked to hang on to our lead rather than extend it. Mike Dean and his assistant somehow failed to see some Vertonghen grappling in the box and Podolski lashed a shot into the side-netting. Our best chance of the second half fell to Per Mertesacker whose spinning shot was excellently saved by Hugo Lloris. It was a shame as Per's performance meant he would have deserved that moment. The team worked extremely hard and whilst being unimpressive going forward were strong in the challenge. Santi Cazorla for example completed 4 tackles and 8 turnovers - an unexpected bonus.

The big positive from the game was the performance of the centre-back partnership. They were under quite a bit of pressure at times, particularly from Emmanuel Adebayor who was obviously desperate to make a difference but they stood tall (bloody tall in Per Mertesacker's case). Koscielny made a crucial block from Chadli, passed the ball extremely well, made 3 tackles and 15 clearances. Per made 3 blocks and 20 clearances, including a staggering 17 with his head and he also won 7/8 of his aerial duels. It's a partnership that has grown into something rather special.

"They were exceptional for the whole game... Today you needed to be top because Adebayor was sharp and up for it, like he always is against us. He had a great game and overall we needed a good defensive performance and that of course goes through our two centre backs." - Arsène Wenger on Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker. Source: Arsenal.com

Elsewhere, just one word on Manchester United: lol.


Men of the match: Per Mertesacker & Laurent Koscielny. Near perfect.

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.

Stoke 1 - 0 Arsenal: Bad blood and bad football

More stamps than a Philatelist Convention at the Britannia Stadium

With the possible exception of defeats at the hands of Spurs or Manchester United, a loss against Stoke is about as painful as it gets for me.  There was plenty of bad blood and just as much bad football yesterday as an uninspired Arsenal team fell limply in battle against an "up for it" Stoke.

I don't want to bore on about refereeing decisions as our performance was poor and we didn't deserve a win so I'll quickly air my grievances and then get onto the football. Charlie "I would never intend to injure a fellow professional" Adam attempted to injure Giroud with an extremely nasty late stamp. The man has so much previous, that at any other club he would be considered a disgrace.  Giroud was actually penalised in the first half for being on the receiving end of a very nasty challenge from Whelan. Olivier took a right kicking and although his response was perhaps a bit flouncy, the Stoke fans absolutely slated him, presumably because in their warped minds, being on the receiving end of horror-challenges from Stoke players makes you deserving of abuse.

As for the penalty, Koscielny has an unfortunate knack of conceding them and he was perhaps a little reckless in jumping in with his hands up but it seems harsh that a game's result is decided by an accidental handball.

But enough of the excuses; we were well below par and didn't deserve to win the game.  At this stage of the season and given the extremely difficult run of fixtures that await us it felt like a monumental blow.  Arsène admitted as much after the game:

"It is not slightly worrying, it's a big worry for us to lose a game like that.  It is a massive setback of course" - Arsène Wenger

That's not to say that this was an easy game by any stretch of the imagination, as Chelsea and United also suffered defeats at the Britannia Stadium this season, but with such a tight four-horse title-race, the time for setbacks has to be gone. We simply must be brilliant and take almost all remaining points to stand a chance of winning the league and sadly it just looks a little unlikely now, with some bookmakers even stretching our title odds to 20/1.

The biggest surprise the team sheet threw up was the exclusion of Özil for Lukas Podolski.  Lukas would have been desperate to show he can play a big part for the remainder of the season but unfortunately it didn't happen for him yesterday (or any of our midfielders or attackers for that matter).  The one player that did make a real difference was Oxlade-Chamberlain; twice his bursts of pace down the right and low crosses created good chances but unfortunately Giroud's (admittedly tricky) effort was tame and then Sanogo's late effort was high and ugly.

Arsène also pipped for Wilshere and Arteta in the middle with the combative Flamini perhaps surprisingly (given the nature of the opposition) left on the bench. Jack was excellent last week against Sunderland but struggled to impose himself on this game and looked decidedly disappointed upon being replaced late on by Yaya Sanogo.

It's of course much easier to say who should or shouldn't have played with hindsight and I must say I wasn't unhappy with the teamsheet when I first saw it but perhaps Flamini and Arteta would have performed slightly better (although perhaps not) and Oxlade-Chamberlain's performance will probably earn him a start against Everton. I would also be surprised not to see Özil restored to the team for the hugely important FA Cup Quarter Final. He has been rested for a couple of games and I am sure will be desperate to prove his quality following some fairly strong criticism from some quarters.

So it was a bitterly disappointing result which left us very bitter and very disappointed as it came at a time when we couldn't really afford to lose and we lost to my least favourite team and to one of my three least favourite managers. The others being José "classless press masturbatory aid" Mourinho and Tony "anti-football and nobody's masturbatory aid" Pulis, seeing as you asked.  Mark Hughes has become the first manager to defeat Arsenal with four different teams.  But ho-hum, a win in the FA Cup next week would be a huge boost so lets focus on that. Plus, at least our manager didn't headbutt anyone...


Man of the Match: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - Slim pickings for this one but despite not having a long time to make an impact, the Ox did just that.

Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool - When is a crisis not a crisis?

When is a crisis not a crisis? Perhaps when you're just a point off the league leaders, have conceded just 2 goals in your last 13 home games, are still in the FA Cup and Champions League and 15 points better off than this time last season.  Perhaps those members of the press and opposition fans who are so keen to draw a line under Arsenal's season need to get their tipp-ex out.

Just 8 days after a moral-damaging humping at Anfield, a focused and rotated Arsenal side did just enough to progress to the FA Cup Quarter Finals.  Arsène shuffled his pack with half an eye on Bayern's visit and it could quite conceivably have gone wrong - if we had lost both games, then no doubt the manager would have really come under fire but he made some big decisions and gladly it paid off.  The most notable change was a first start for Yaya Sanogo in place of Olivier Giroud and ahead of Nicklas Bendtner. But Fabianski, Monreal, Jenkinson, Flamini, the Ox and Podolski all joined him in the starting XI.

Sanogo looked to me like he really relished the occassion and certainly got stuck in, giving Skrtel and Agger a very difficult physical battle which they didn't look like they expected or enjoyed. Although he looked a little raw and had a couple of awkward moments he did extremely well overall and made an important contribution with a chest-down and volley which lead to our opening goal. While I don't expect him to get a lot of match time before the end of the season it was an encouraging performance that showed that the player could prove to be a shrewd signing over the next few seasons.

Another player who stood out in a major way was our cup goalkeeper, playing one of his last games for the club before his summer move. Fabianski made some excellent saves, particularly when rushing out to meet Sturridge and blocking from Suarez with his foot in the second half.

Flamini the warrior decides to win a header
and rip his opponent's head off while he's at it

Flamini returned to the team after getting himself banned for four games and he was impressive alongside Mikel Arteta. I was not sure earlier in the season whether that partnership offered enough going forward but they provided much-needed protection and reliability in front of the back four and their record together makes surprisingly good reading. We've now played half of our 26 league games this season with those two starting and in those games, the side have conceded 8 fewer goals, scored 4 more, managed more shots and crosses, conceded fewer shots and taken 4 more points - undeniably encouraging stats.  However, Arteta will be banned for the Bayern game which is a shame.

The Ox grabbed a lot of plaudits for his match-winning display; scoring the first with a cool finish following Sanogo's blocked shot and his excellent assist for the second - a goal that I really enjoyed. Alex slipped the ball to Özil and charged down the right flank before Mesut found him with a delicious and perfectly-weighted through ball. The Ox cut inside, looked up and pulled the ball back perfectly to Podolski who had taken up the perfect position and finished cooly. It was quick and incisive play which really showed off what those three players are all about. With Rosicky rested for the game, there is a good chance Arsène planned to start him on Wednesday but I wonder if the Ox has played his way into the team.  I think with no Walcott available, his pace is all the more important to us.

There has been a lot of talk about Olivier Giroud lately; he apologised to his wife, manager, team-mates and the fans for some glamour model romping in the early hours before the Palace match. I'm not going to castigate Giroud for his lapse in morals or judgement, but I do hope whilst he is soul-searching he also finds his shooting boots.

At the full-time whistle there was a sense of delight and pride among the players and fans at having overcome a difficult opposition and a significant mental hurdle. It could of course had been very different; had Fabianski not have been so impressive or if Sturridge and Liverpool were as clinical as they were the previous weekend we could easily have gone behind.  And even with a two-goal lead, we nearly let Liverpool back in with a first a needless foul in the box from Podolski to concede a penalty and then a needless foul in the box from the Ox, for which no penalty was given. Liverpool understandably felt aggrieved and it turned out to be the little bit of luck that we needed to see us over the line.  Had that penalty been given and had we gone on to draw or lose the game, I'd imagine the knives would have been out and morale would have taken another significant below but thankfully we saw the game out and picked up a fortuitous but vital win. With Chelsea, United, Liverpool and Spurs all out of the competition, the FA Cup remains our best chance of silverware.

Man of the Match: Lukasz Fabianski

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 0 - 0 Chelsea: Snorey Bore Draw - thoughts on the game and on Mourinho

Well that didn't live up to expectations.  José 'Grinch' Mourinho ruined Christmas for millions of football purists who tuned in to watch what they hoped would be a great game. Had Mike 'Scrooge' Dean had given a penalty for a clear foul on Walcott or red cards for reckless challenges from Mikel or Ramires then it may have been different but as it was viewers were treated to a dour scoreless draw - the equivalent of expecting a Super Car for Christmas but receiving a pink bicycle with no handlebars... or wheels... Thanks José and Mike Dean, thanks a lot.

There is not a lot to discuss given the dullness of the game but I will touch on some comments from the "Special C**t One":

“You know, they like to cry. That’s tradition. 

“Today it was important not to lose. But it wouldn’t have been a big surprise if we had won. Arsenal showed a lot of frustration. But we weren’t aggressive, sharp enough to score a goal.” 

In reference to Boring Boring José chants - “I agree. I played against them 10 times and I never lost. Funny, funny Jose? 10 times they don’t win once.”

Classless and smug words from a classless and smug man.  It would be terrific to have got one over on him but sadly it wasn't to be. There would be no better way to shut him up than for us to win the league.  In order to do so though, I think Olivier Giroud is going to need to find his shooting boots. He's missed some good chances in some key games and they could have been decisive.

Christmas isn't looking quite as merry as perhaps it could have been we are sitting 2nd in the table behind a Suarez-inspired Liverpool on goal difference alone and if you had offered me that at the beginning of the season I would have bitten your arm off (Suarez-inspired pun). Anyway, have a fantastic Christmas one and all.

Man of the Match: Per Mertesacker

Arsenal 1 - 1 Everton Player Ratings

Man of the Match Laurent Koscielny

Arsenal 2 - 0 Hull City Match Report: Kittens swept aside

Another comfortable victory and another clean-sheet with a number of players rested - a good day at the office all round.

Arsène rotated more than a rotisserie chicken, making five changes to the side that beat Cardiff with Jenkinson, Monreal, Flamini, Rosicky and Bendtner all starting. Any concerns that the changes made would cause us to lose fluency lasted less than two minutes as once again Arsenal came flying out of the blocks.

A superb ball from Aaron Ramsey found Carl Jenkinson near the touch line; his whipped cross was excellent and Bendtner headed powerfully down into the bottom corner. The goal obviously meant a lot to him and it immediately vindicated Arsène's selection choices. It also gave the crowd no time to get on Bendtner's back; a large section of Arsenal fans feel the need to sigh, tut, tell the person next to them "I told you he was shit" or just yell abuse every single time he has a bad touch, misplaces a pass or misses a shot. Some of the people near me were talking as if it was a miracle that he had scored, as if he was a blind one-legged 98 year-old footballer. Tedious.

We thoroughly dominated the first 25 minutes, playing some great football with Cazorla, Ramsey and Özil in particular enjoying lots of possession in the final third. Hull seemed focused on damage limitation and managed to withhold the onslaught until half time. As the half time whistle blew, there was a sense that, given our domination, we had let the Tigers off a little easily.

I'd imagine Hull's gameplan for the second half was something like "let's just stay in this, keep it tight and maybe we can sneak an equaliser but for the sake of fuck lads lets not concede a goal at the beginning if the half again..."  Then they conceded again at the beginning of the half. A quite beautiful Ronaldinhoesque no-look pass by Ramsey slipped in a grateful Mesut Özil who finished neatly and confidently at the near post.

The rest of the match made comfortable viewing. The greedy side of me would have loved another goal or two but our performance was once again extremely impressive and we've built up a level of consistency which will no doubt delight the manager.  He can also be pleased with yet another clean sheet and the players that came into the side, particularly Monreal who I thought was excellent.  We have a difficult run of fixtures coming up and rotating effectively is a tricky but essential challenge for Arsène. So far though, he's got it just right.

As the fans filtered out of the stadium, the news of Everton's late winner against United was greeted with a large cheer. Since we lost the battle between good and evil a few weeks ago, we have bounced back with three straight league wins and United have slipped up 3 times leaving them 12 points behind us. I'd be amazed if they came back to mount a title challenge, if I were a United fan (shudder) I would be worried about finishing outside the top 4. But happily I'm not, I'm a Gooner and I'm loving the football my team are playing and I think we are serious challengers this year.

Man of the Match: Aaron Ramsey

Cardiff City 0 - 3 Arsenal Match Report

Aaron Ramsey ensured he remained talk of the town on his return to Cardiff with another exceptional performance and two more excellent goals.  Both goals were greeted with applause from the home fans and the second even with chants of "there's only one Aarom Ramsey."  Following Aaron's non-celebration it was a lovely display of class and respect from the home fans who were clearly proud of the player they helped develop. And what a player! 

The game nearly got off to the perfect start as Wilshere almost followed up his superb mid-week curler with another - this time his effort hit the woodwork but it was another encouraging moment from an in-form player, growing in confidence.

Arsenal could have gone behind after a clash of heads between Bacary Sagna and Per Mertesacker left the big German needing treatment on the sidelines. While he was off the pitch, Cardiff sensibly played the ball out wide and whipped in a cross which Frazier Campbell headed narrowly wide.

Olivier Giroud could have given Arsenal the lead early on but spurned the opportunity, thinking he was offside. A long ball was flicked on by Özil with Giroud well offside however the linesman did not spot the flick so play continued with Giroud through on goal. Giroud stopped and by the time he realised play had continued, a defender was back to block his shot.  The morale of the story there is play to the whistle, kids! Olivier claimed that the linesman raised his flag quickly before changing his mind, in which case I have some sympathy for the striker but it was an extremely embarrassing moment for him. All that said, he should have been offside so a goal would not have been a fair one and it didn't affect the outcome of the game.

Arsenal did manage to take the lead through Aaron Ramsey.  His first goal was a well-guided powerful header from an excellent Özil cross.  Aaron's celebration contrasted quite notably to his shushing of Stoke and Swansea fans.  I've been impressed with the way he has carried himself in the last few seasons; the way he didn't publicly criticise Shawcross or react angrily to the Stoke fans' incomprehensible booing and now for the respect he shows towards Cardiff.  I wouldn't be surprised at all if he finished his career there à la Craig Bellamy.

We were for the most part in control of the game but were reliant on another excellent save from the on-form Szczesny who dived low to his right to keep out another Frazier Campbell header and earn another clean sheet - his fifth in the last six games.  It was another disciplined defensive performance and I was impressed by the team's energy levels and pressing given their midweek exploits against Marseille.

We had some good options on the bench on Saturday and two of the substitutes made a real difference. First Flamini broke forward and latched onto an excellent through ball from Mesut Özil; his second superb assist of the game. Flamini did his best to break the back of the net and made the points safe.

Ramsey's second came on the break in injury-time to add further gloss to the scoreline. With Cardiff pushing forward they left themselves open at the back and vulnerable to the pace of another substitute, Theo Walcott, who I'm guessing is not someone it would be fun to defend against after running around for 90 minutes.  He broke clear before cutting back to the man of the moment who took a touch before hammering home into the top corner.

Cardiff are not an easy team to beat so convincingly. Just ask either of the two Manchester teams who both dropped points against them.  Fortunately the standards are a little higher at Arsenal...

Sunday brought further joy as Spurs drew with United, leaving them 9 and 10 points behind us respectively and Liverpool lost to Hull (our opponents on Wednesday.)

At the moment Chelsea and City look like our most likely challengers for the league, both of whom we face in December.  But a third of the way through the season we can be delighted with how things are going.  Next up is a very winnable game at Hull on Wednesday.  Keep it up lads!

Man of the Match: Aaron Ramsey

Arsenal 2 - 0 Marseille Match Report: Wilshere shines in comfortable victory

Another victory, another clean sheet and another assured performance, however Dortmund's victory over Napoli means that despite having racked up 12 points in 5 games, qualification into the last 16 isn't yet guaranteed.  Poor old Marseille further enhanced their status as group whipping boys and the difference in class was clear.

There were signs against Southampton that Jack Wilshere was getting back to his best with a very strong performance and almost an exceptional goal.  Last night deployed out on the right, he wasted no time when after just half a minute of the match, he cut in side and curled a beauty into the top corner. It was a sensational goal and a sensational start to the match.  Jack has received some criticism lately, particularly from supporters of the national side but it takes someone of very little patience or a very short memory to write off a player off such obvious potential and quality. He took his goal tally for the season to four last night - a very encouraging figure which I am sure he can build on. His goals were well timed last night as Ramsey came close a couple of times but along with Özil was denied by some good saves.

It should have been 2-0 before half time after Ramsey flicked the ball over his man before being taken out on the edge of the box (probably just outside). The referee pointed to the spot but when Özil stepped up, his penalty was soft and comfortably saved. It was a mixed bag from our record signing last night; he missed a penalty and had some sloppy moments but he also showed a few moments of quality and created 5 chances, including the assist for Wilshere's second goal of the game.  After a lovely slide-rule pass from Ramsey, Özil played a neat ball with the outside if his foot across the area to the well-positioned Wilshere, who finished confidently with the inside of his left boot.

"I liked his first goal. Before, he rushed a little bit. He's starting to think 'what Ramsey can do, I can do as well'. He's calm in front of goal and especially the first goal shows that." - Arsène Wenger on Jack Wilshere

The team's performance was one of dominance; it was a comfortable game as we bossed possession (67.3%) and it was very disciplined too - we only conceded 5 fouls and picked up no yellow cards, even with Flamini starting. It was perhaps a sign of how strong a team we are at the moment that there was a feeling of having let Marseille off a bit lightly - perhaps we could have been a little more urgent and clinical but ultimately is was another encouraging performance.  We also showed a little strength in depth by bringing in Rosicky, Flamini and Monreal and Walcott made his second substitute appearance of the week.  The game shouldn't have been too physically demanding and the team should be fighting fit for their tricky but ultimately winnable trip to Cardiff on Saturday.

So what does this mean for our hopes of going through? In short, presuming Dortmund beat Marseille in France, Arsenal will need to avoid defeat by three goals in Napoli. It would be surprising and upsetting if we managed to lose by three goals against a team we beat with such style and brilliance at the Emirates stadium.

Man of the match: Jack Wilshere

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 1 - 0 Arsenal Match Report

Matches can be won and lost on such narrow margins.  In Dortmund last week we so easily could have gone behind as Szszesny helplessly watched two first half efforts drift narrowly wide of his post and we went on to win the game. Yesterday van Persie's header could so easily have not bounced off his shoulder and looped over Kieran Gibbs and under the crossbar but unfortunately it did and it proved decisive.

The defensive performance against Dortmund was widely praised, and rightfully so, and at the heart of that was the immense Per Mertesacker. Unfortunately he had to sit out the game at Old Trafford with a bug alongside another outstanding mid-week performer, Tomas Rosicky. Rosicky may have dropped to the bench anyway to accommodate Mathieu Flamini but Mertesacker's absence was a worry. Thomas Vermaelen's performance on a ground where he dropped a clanger last year was encouraging and there is no doubting his attitude and commitment.

Question marks were raised over whether we would have defended the corner better with Per but Giroud had been nodding plenty of those away lately.  I don't want to focus too much on debating the strengths and weaknesses of zonal marking because frankly it bores me but I haven't seen enough evidence to worry that we are particularly vulnerable from set pieces this season.

Our midfield performance in the first half was disappointing; we were sloppy in possession and failed to find any rhythm or fluency which Arsène worryingly blamed on nerves. We dominated possession after the break but struggled to create any clear-cut chances. Cazorla, Özil and Ramsey were all unable to find anything good enough to break United's resolute defence and Bacary Sagna's excellent crosses looked our most likely avenue but first Giroud and later Bendtner didn't do enough to get on the end of them.

It was a bad day at the office for Olivier Giroud who completed just 25 of 41 passes. With our current injury troubles, Wenger's attacking options from the bench were limited; he brought on Wilshere, who looked good, Gnabry, who was bright and Bendtner, who unsurprisingly didn't turn the game on its head.  Hopefully after the international break we can get some key attacking players back to fitness and if we find ourselves in a similar position, Arsène will have some better options at his disposal.

van Persie's celebration made difficult and infuriating viewing but at least now he has dropped the ridiculous pretence that he holds any respect or gratitude for the club where he made his name.  We can only hope that come the end of the season we are the ones celebrating like lunatics while he looks on, filled with regret and bitterness.

The result brings United some hope that they can challenge for the title; had they lost I think they would have been, rightly or wrongly, ruled out of the race. We missed an opportunity to really kick them while they were down and keep a nice big, juicy 5 point lead at the top if the table with our first win at Old Trafford in five years.  It was of course bitterly disappointing but fortunately Spurs, City and Chelsea all slipped up and we go into the international break two points clear.

I didn't see anything to change my opinion that Arsenal are strong enough to win the league and I am confident we will put this result behind us with three wins in our next three league games against Southampton, Cardiff and Hull. Then let's make damn sure get some sweet revenge in the return game in February.

Man of the Match: Bacary Sagna

Borussia Dortmund 0-1 Arsenal Match Report

In terms of results, last night's game was certainly one of Arsenal's greatest European nights. Dortmund have become one of the most formidable and highly regarded teams in Europe. Their home form is spectacular, better than any other team in Europe's top leagues... unfortunately for them though they came up against a ruthless Gunners side whose away form is equally impressive.

Before the game, a huge amount of respect was exchanged between the two bosses with Klopp even referring to our manager as Sir Arsène Wenger. Dortmund showed their class by putting their former star, Tomas Rosicky's shirt from the first game in their museum. As the teams emerged into the stadium to the yellow wall of 80,000 fans it was easy to see why Klopp described his club as "worth falling in love with."

That respect continued into the first half with the Arsenal players, seemingly having learnt their lesson from the first game, careful not to commit too many men forward and leave themselves open. Dortmund's pressing was relentless and impressive - it's hard to recall many matches where our midfielders have had so much trouble imposing themselves on the game and Arteta in particular looked frustrated. At half time, we hadn't managed a single shot and sneaking a win seemed unlikely. Keeping a clean sheet also seemed like a very tall order after narrow misses by Subotic and Mkhitaryan.  Before the game, Klopp had spoke of the serenity of Arsenal but I for one felt very far from serene in that first half.

If we were hoping that the balance of play would change in the second half, the first ten minutes suggested it wouldn't. Such was the speed and intensity of Dortmund's pressure, it felt as though they had a couple of extra players.

Miraculously, shortly after the hour mark, something rather wonderful happened - after some good work from Rosicky, Mesut Özil lofted a cross to Olivier Giroud who expertly nodded the ball into the path of Aaron Ramsey whose brave header gave us the only goal of the game and a vital three points.  He had been working tirelessly alongside Arteta to help shield the back four, finding almost no opportunities to get forward but obviously got bored of not scoring for an hour or so and decided to rectify that.  This quite brilliant GIF shows the reaction of the Dortmund fans.

It was a very lonely night for Olivier Giroud but he worked hard throughout and his superb assist for Ramsey was a great example of what he brings to the team.  I read a stat after the weekend that Robin van Persie had created just five chances in nine games whereas Giroud had created seventeen in ten games.  Since then, Robin van F*ckyouIneverlovedyouanyway missed a penalty and Giroud provided an assist for a match winner in Dortmund.  While it would be a stretch to say Giroud is as talented, he certainly brings an awful lot to the team and is far superior to that traitorous Douche in many ways.

Robert Lewandowski is of course an excellent player - full of clever movement, hard work and clinical in front of goal, but my goodness what a helmet that man is! Very lucky to be playing after an elbow on Koscielny in London, he slid through the back of Aaron Ramsey in the first half, spent the 2nd half trying to get our lego-haired skipper sent off and after a great Rosicky challenge indulged in some play-acting that Ashley Young would have been ashamed about... I joke, I joke - Ashley Young has no shame.  It's seems a pity though that Lewandowski will almost definitely follow Mario Götze's footsteps to Bayern in the summer.

Despite his obvious talents, Lewandowski and his team-mates were unable to break down a very disciplined and organised Arsenal back line.  Koscielny was terrific and Per Mertesacker alongside him was my man of the match - he was absolutely immense, as he has been for quite some time.  He has been so underrated for so long - it always amazes me when people express their doubts about him - he just oozes class through the way he reads the game, his positioning and decision-making, the way that he doesn't just win defensive headers but works out long in advance who to head the ball to.   The team defensive performance was all the more impressive given that Dortmund has scored in 60 of 61 of their last home games.  We finished last season by grinding out narrow wins and conceding very few goals.  We drew on those performances last night and it is so encouraging to have kept clean sheets in big games this season against the likes of Sp*rs, Liverpool, Napoli and now Dortmund.

"Sometimes it was like they were defending with four legs." - Jurgen Klopp

I'm not sure that last night was quite a symphony of beautiful football but it was certainly a great result - one that will no doubt have raised some eyebrows across Europe and it puts us in with an excellent chance of qualification from an extremely difficult group.  After the game, Arsène praised his side's focus and maturity which contrasted nicely from our naivety in the last Dortrmund game.  A friend texted last night to say he thought it was our most impressive result in years.  My reply was "until Sunday..."


Man of the Match: Per Mertesacker

A Manchester United supporting friend of my mine will kindly and bravely be previewing Sunday's big game with me.  I hope you will give it a read and be gentle with him!

Arsenal 2 - 0 Liverpool Match Report: Football in Formula 1 speed

Well that will do nicely!  After a couple of home defeats in other competitions, the visit of Liverpool promised to be an important clash for both teams. At kick-off, following Chelsea's defeat, Arsenal and Liverpool were first and second in the league respectively and there was a lot of discussion on whether either team can stay in the hunt for the title.  The result and performance thankfully suggested it looks far more likely for Arsenal and the five point lead at the top of the table certainly gives us hope.

With a late injury to Jack Wilshere the team rather picked itself.  There were some concerns given the injury to Mathieu Flamini that we would struggle to contain the on-form partnership of Suarez and Sturridge but Mikel Arteta produced his finest display of the season in front of a solid back four to help keep an invaluable and impressive clean-sheet.  Given our outstanding offensive play and the two superb goals it would be easy to ignore Mikel's performance but a glance of the stats shows you just how impressive he was.  He completed a fantastic 100 passes, 29 more that the second highest (Özil) including a vital ball to Sagna in the build up to the first goal, he had 13 ball recoveries (equal most with Skrtel) and he won more tackles than anyone else on the pitch (7).  The only negative I can remember was letting Henderson run unchallenged into the box, although perhaps that was a deliberate ploy given how shambolic Henderson is.

He wasn't the only Spanish midfielder putting in his best performance since returning from injury though, no Sir.  Santi was superb and got a much deserved and beautifully taken goal in the 19th minute.  A well-weighted ball down the right flank found Sagna who pulled his cross back behind the near-post run of Olivier Giroud to the big target man Santi Cazorla, who played a clever headed one-two with the post before showing his class with a beautiful volley past Simon Mignolet.  It sounds silly and I know its a cliché but the first goal was always going to be vital and from then on our superior quality in the middle of the park paid dividends.  As Nick predicted in his excellent preview a few days ago, Arsenal's midfield were too good for Gerrard, Lucas and Henderson and I thought this was where the game was won.

A lot has been made of this Suarez and Sturridge partnership but yesterday Koscielny did a very good job of handling Suarez, excluding one moment where Suarez turned him and left him for dead.  Thankfully Sturridge was extremely poor - his most notable contributions being missing a free-header and taking an absurd dive in the first half, which annoyingly went unpunished by the referee.  The Arsenal fans sang: "Are you Suarez in disguise?"  They also gave the bitey, diving, racist, former transfer-target some more grief with chants of "You should've signed for a big club." 

Liverpool brought Coutinho on for Cissokho at half-time but he was returning from injury and did not look sharp at all.  We looked open at the beginning of the second half and our defensive performance, although encouraging, wasn't as convincing as the clean sheet suggested.  The game was taken out of Liverpool's reach by a quite superb strike from the best Welsh footballer plying his trade in England or Spain at the moment, Aaron Ramsey - he controlled a short-ball from Özil, looked up to find he had time and space 20 yards from goal and struck the sweetest of dipping half-volleys.  There isn't much left to be said about Ramsey this season - his transformation has been extraordinary and we are lucky to have him, and for that matter, a manager who was able to bring the best out of him.

It would take too long to single out all of the players who deserved praise today but I will say what a joy the team performance was to watch. I enjoyed Özil's statement that we played at "Formula 1 speed" and certainly there was no handbrake is sight.  Now let's hope the team continues to spoil us by keeping it up in two big games against Dortmund and Manchester United in the next week

Man of the Match: Mikel Arteta