Match Review: Arsenal 3 West Ham 1 - Premier League 15.04.14

The first of five must win games in the race for fourth place came against West Ham and Arsenal delivered. Despite a scare in the first half, a fatigued Arsenal team battled through to claim a vital win with Everton losing to Crystal Palace. We’re now back in charge of our own destiny and favourites to finish in the top four yet again. But yet again, it’s not going to be easy at all.

Arsenal have been decimated by injuries and the crisis reached its peak on Tuesday. We had no fit left-backs, Flamini suspended, Wilshere injured and Ramsey and Chamberlain exhausted from the weekend. This meant, Vermaelen was forced into starting at left back and Kallstrom made his full debut for the club. Luckily for us, Rosicky and Koscielny had recovered to start, otherwise we’d have been in serious trouble.

There was biting chill around the Emirates and it reflected in the way the team started. It took us 15 minutes to muster a chance of any note, with Podolski’s cross flashing just out of the reach of Giroud. 15 minutes later, Giroud had a fantastic chance to put us ahead. Put clean through, he couldn’t get the ball out of his feet and ended up meekly chipping it towards goal, although Adrian did have to scramble to save it. The frustration was growing and then was compounded in the 40th minute.

Nocerino made use of our weak left hand side to sprint through and work Szczesny, but the rebound popped up and allowed Matt Jarvis to nod into an empty net. The home crowd fell silent, as they contemplated the possibility of what would be an almost certainly fatal defeat. Yet again, Arsenal needed a response after falling behind and thankfully, they did indeed respond.

With just minutes remaining in the first half, Stuart Downing made his only meaningful contribution of the game, attempting to clear the ball, but finding Santi Cazorla. The Spaniard threaded a lovely ball into Lukas Podolski, who in turn fired the ball into the far corner of the net. Muted celebrations from the team, as all knew it was only the first step towards the victory we needed, a draw would simply not be enough.

You got the sense that the goal gave Arsenal the momentum and the belief, whereas West Ham were deflated by conceding so soon after taking the lead. Arsenal needed to take advantage of a West Ham side displaying little attacking intent and they did, with a bit of unexpected magic…

Less than ten minutes into the second half, West Ham cleared a corner all the way out to Vermaelen, near the centre circle. The defender launched the ball back towards the penalty area and somehow it was weighted perfectly to find Giroud at the back post. Having had a nightmare game in terms of his first chance, there was a degree of shock when the striker cushioned the ball down expertly and smashed the ball through Adrian’s legs with his weaker foot. It was an absolutely exquisite goal from a player who you wouldn’t think had that level of finesse within him. It almost makes you angry when you think about all the times he’s got his feet tangled up and fluffed a chance, but he came up trumps when we needed it.

There weren't the usual nerves around the stadium after the goal. You could tell West Ham weren’t a huge threat and were one dimensional in their approach; lump it forward, see what happens. Nevertheless, Arsenal have an uncanny ability to concede to even the weakest opposition and a third was definitely needed. Just think back to what happened against Swansea. To the relief of the Emirates crowd, there was to be no repeat of that particular collapse.

Aaron Ramsey was brought on for Rosicky and instantly looked to make an impact in our midfield. But it was Podolski who started and finished the move to score our third goal. The German played the ball into Cazorla, who chipped the ball to Giroud on the left hand side. Giroud then picked out Ramsey in the middle and the Welshman nodded the ball into the path of Podolski, who finished in typically unsubtle fashion. It secured a much needed win for a team that has been hit with a huge amount of injuries and a lot of mental blows recently.

Four games left and four wins will give us the top four place we deserve and hopefully give us the confidence and momentum to end our trophy drought. With players like Özil and Wilshere closing in on a return to the team, you’d hope that we will only get stronger from here and look to finish the season on some sort of high. To be honest, most of us would have taken an FA Cup win and fourth place when the season began, it’s just the context of what the season could have held that makes things disappointing. There are endless arguments to be made as to why things have collapsed to this state of affairs, but for now, we must get behind the players and hope that the team can achieve the best outcome that’s possible for this season now.

Teams

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Arteta, Kallstrom (Y), Podolski, Cazorla (Jenkinson 88’), Rosicky (Y) (Ramsey 72’), Giroud
Subs
Fabianski, Jenkinson, Bellerin, Akpom, Ramsey, Chamberlain, Sanogo

West Ham (4-5-1)
Adrian, Demel, Reid, Tomkins, Armero, Noble, Diame, Noccerino, Downing (J.Cole 78’), Jarvis (Vaz Te 78’), Carroll (C.Cole 84’)
Subs
McCartney, Vaz Te, Taylor, C.Cole, J.Cole, Johnson, Jaaskelainen

Player Ratings

Szczesny - 6/10 - Not really called upon at all, would be harsh to blame him for the goal
Sagna - 7/10 - A big effort from him to play the full ninety following the weekend
Mertesacker - 7/10 - Another solid performance from our BFG
Koscielny - 6/10 - Did look a little rusty to begin with but shook it off
Vermaelen - 7/10 - A really good performance out of position
Arteta - 8/10 - Love this guy, really helps to have such a cultured, experienced player
Kallstrom - 7/10 - Brilliant performance considering his lack of game time and PL experience
Podolski - 8/10 - Scored with his only two shots from open play and played 90 mins!
Cazorla - 8/10 - Finally found some form and produced a sterling performance
Rosicky - 7/10 - A typically workman-like Rosicky performance
Giroud - 7/10 - Gets a lot of stick, but he is a very capable striker and proved it
Subs
Ramsey - 7/10 - What a relief it is to have him back, brings so much to the team
Jenkinson - N/A

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