Priceless Three Points

A very early good morning to you all,
Well what a fantastic weekend it was wouldn't you agree? Looking ahead to it I felt Chelsea would be the ones waking up Monday morning smiling. United and ourselves had very tricky trips to Villa Park and Goodison while they hosted Sunderland in a game you would really have expected them to win. We wouldn't have been more wrong though. The Mancs kicked things off and were lucky to escape with a draw having been 2-0 down. I was disappointed Villa allowed them to claw their way back into the game but it was still 2 points dropped so it wasn't all that bad. I know City drew and you may be wondering why I never take note of their results but to be honest I don't see them as a threat. Why would we? Bar the Chelsea game they have showed no major signs of beeing title contenders and with the way their playing recently and with Mancini on cocaine or something they will do well to make the top four. That was about as interesting as it got Saturday although Liverpool were shown up for the laughing stock they really are once again, quite funny indeed although at this stage you do feel pity for them and yes I know their fans can be pricks but still. (Giggles)

Anyway I woke up Sunday morning with a terrible hangover and with no clock to be seen I was beginning to worry I'd missed the match but thankfully I soon found out it was only 12pm. I'd a good feeling about today, I didn't have that usual nervous feeling because we have been very good on the road recently. You'd nearly be more worried about the home games nowadays.

The line-up was expected, the big talking point was news that Nicklas Bendtner had been left out of the squad. People were immediately suggesting that he'd been punished for his midweek remarks about not playing as much as he'd like but Wenger soon revealed he had a medical issue. He didn't say what was wrong with him but said he could also be out of Denmark's friendly. It still puzzles me that he didn't say what type of injury, fingers crossed its not the one that was ongoing throughout the summer and beginning of the season.

Anyway back to the action. The game began rather sluggishly with both sides strugglin to keep possesion, it was just a matter of winning the ball and play the game at our tempo which we soon did. We had an early opening as Nasri sprung down the right wing before seeing his eventual shot blocked by Distin. From there Everton broke, Coleman out-ran Fabregas before chipping the ball into the onrushing Cahill who flashed his header over the bar, should have done better and we'd been let off the hook.

It was a decent start from both sides but we looked the better on the ball and were always looking the more likely to carve open an opportunity. It nearly came when Chamakh's lay off was back-heeled by Nasri to the oncoming Wilshere whos shot was blocked. It was a beautiful move which if finished would have been a contender for goal of the season in my opinion.

Our fans were doing all the singing, Goodison Park reminded me of the Emirates which is saying something. We continued to probe forward looking for an opening and it came when Nasri had a left footed shot well saved by Howard but he could only parry it to Arshavin who pulled it back for Sagna, he took a touch and blasted it into the roof of the net. It was quiete a finish for a man that has only scored one competitive goal for us since joining. Our next objective was to hold the lead to half-time and we did so, not without difficulty though as Saha headed against the clueless Fabianski from a corner, we were let off the hook but keepers get that sort of luck when their on form, a year ago it would have bounced off his head and in.

At half-time we brought on Denilson for Wilshere. The boy had been suffering from fatigue I hear and Arsene wanted to rest him because don't forget he's on international duty Wednesday night so it wasn't worth the risk of him picking up an injury to be honest. Everton made a change themselves, Jack Rodwell replacing the red card bound Heitinga.

It was that man Denilson who was involed in the goal shortly after the restart. He broke up the play in midfield, ran forward before laying it off to Cesc who megged the defender to Chamakh who returned the pass before the Spaniard finished well to give us a deserved second goal. We were well on our way to a big win but there was work to be done yet as United will tell you.

Immediately after we nearly gave the home side a lifeline as Squillaci brought down Saha and was also last man back. Thankfully Webb saw that Clichy was covering him and only produced a yellow much to the home fans disgust and our releif. From the resulting free-kick Fabianski collected easily from Baines. Shortly after Cesc was shown a yellow for supposedly fouling Distin. He attempted to block down his clearance and ended up getting stamped on, not sure how thats a yellow Mr. Webb? Cesc was hurt too but thankfully came back on.

We should have wrapped the game up when Nasri danced past Jagielka but his shot was well saved my Howard. Moments later Chamakh fired over from an open goal. "Taxi for Chamakh" as they said on fanzone. Not his finest moment, thats for sure.

As the game wore on Moyes decided to throw on two more strikers in Beckford and Yakubu. The defence had their hands full now. The Toffees piled on the pressure and it took a string of wonderful saves from Fabianski to keep them out. They eventually found a breakthrough when Saha knocked down a cross for Cahill to finish strangely with his foot! I was well and truly on the verge of shiting my pants now. We have a history of letting leads slip late and if it happened yesterday I could guarantee I'd be buying a new television this week. The four minutes of added time didn't help my blood pressure but we hung in there for the 3 points. 3 priceless points. I punched the air in delight for a good 10 minutes.

I mentioned in my preview that if we could play our game and if everyone put in 100% then we would beat them and thats exactly what happened. We've seen these performances before though and then been embarrassed at home by lesser teams so now we will find out if the players are honestly up for it. We definately have what it takes, its just a matter of producing the goods on a weekly basis.

My player ratings are as follows:
Fabianski: 9 - Incredible again, man of the match again, critics proved wrong again. What can I say? Love the man.
Sagna: 8 - Best performance in an Arsenal shirt for a long time, got forward well, defended well and scored a rare goal. Delighted for him.
Squillaci: 8 - Solid as a rock, he's experience is priceless, amazed at how quickly he has adapted to the Premier League.
Djourou: 8 - Just as good as his partner, this man is getting better with each game he plays and we've won 84% of the games he has started. Impressive stat.
Clichy: 7 - Still has a few jittery moments here and there but overall had a good day.
Song: 8 - Commanding & cool performance.
Wilshere: 6 - Taken off at half-time with fatigue, no fault there.
Fabregas: 8 - Finding his way back to his best again, got on the scoresheet too.
Nasri: 8 - Brilliant, this boy has so much talent it gives me goosebumps.
Arshavin: 7 - Nobody can fault his effort today and he assisted Sagna's goal, not a bad day in the office.
Chamakh: 7 - Got involved in all team moves and was good overall but missed an absolute sitter.
Subs:
Denilson: 7 - Came in for Jack and did his job very well, always seems to impress away from home.
Rosicky: 7 - Did exactly what was needed, I really admire his work-rate.
Eboue: 6 - Had no time to do anything.

Later on I decided to watch the Chelsea game. I was probably going to turn it off when they scored but they really struggled to create anything. Sunderland were giving them a real game and ripping their defence apart so I said to myself we could have ourselves a game here. When the Mackems squandered several chances I was just waiting for Chelsea to go down the other end, score and see out the remainder of the game in typical fashion. Then the ball fell to Nedum Onuoha, he ran at the defence, rounded several players before putting the ball past Cech. It was quite a sensational goal and Terry looked on in the stand on the verge of puking hehe.

In the second half the Black Cats didn't sit back and soon enough Gyan found himself one on one with Cecj and he finished as cool as ice. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes. Sunderland were dominating the champions in there own backyard. The Blues never looked like getting back into the game, Sunderland just passed the time and late on a hilarious blunder from Cashley allowed Welbeck to tap in and complete a humiliating route. 3-0, yes you read correctly 3-0!

Sorry for the detailed report on a game not involving Arsenal but its not everyday Chelsea are raped on their own turf and the boos at the end were like music to my ears. The good news is they've got Birmingham away next week who will be reasonably confident having gone to Eastlands and earned a 0-0 draw. We've got the North London Derby which I am absolutely buzzing for already.

Right well I think its time to shut my chap for a bit. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend, I certainly did! Till next time Gooners!