Welcome readers,
Having seen the team sheet ahead of yesterday's game I suddenly felt nervous. The type of feeling where you feel aches in your stomach. Wigan, as I mentioned in the preview, are an unpredictable side, always have been, always will it appears. Last season at home they were anialated by United 5-0 before beating Chelsea 3-1. This inconsistant form they have worried me going into the game and my uneasy conscience wasn't helped by the fact our captain was suspended, Nasri and Walcott were left on the bench while Van Persie and Song weren't even in the squad. Still, we possessed more than enough quality to win the game.
We didn't start well. Koscielny gave away possession cheaply deep inside our own half before Watson crossed for Rodallega whom Koscielny should have been marking and he somehow missed when it seemed easier to score. The Latics came at us again. Bendtner this time guilty of being sloppy on the ball as he gifted it to the lively N'Zogbia who forced Fabianski into a fine save.
Our first opening came when Arshavin was picked out by Rosicky but the little Russian fired his shot well over the bar. Just as we looked to be getting a foothold in the game Wigan pounced upon a loose ball and hit us on the break. N'Zogbia was the one orchestrating another attack as he ran at Koscielny. The French winger cut inside before falling over Koscielny's trailing leg. There was no intent from the defender, N'Zogbia was looking for one thing only as he came inside and the referee did the typical thing and bought it. Penalty to Wigan. Ben Watson stepped up and converted. We were a goal down and despite the dubvious decision to give them a penalty, we couldn't hide from the fact that we didn't start. I hoped this would give the players a kick up the arse.
It looked to have done just that. We seemed to get the passing game flowing after that and we began to close Wigan down a lot quicker. What annoys me is that it always takes something like a goal or flurry of chances from weaker opposition to get us going. It shouldn't and we need to sort that out. Anyways Tomas Rosicky nearly scored his first goal in a million years as he drilled in a shot from just outside the box which Al Habsi parried but Bendtner failed to capitalise on. Things got a whole lot worse soon after as Abou Diaby limped off and was replaced my Wilshere. The Frenchman just can't nail down a place in the team because of all these niggles he picks up.
Six minutes before the break Arshavin scored an absolute cracking goal. He had been rubbish up until then but he justified the reason why Wenger still seems intent on picking him. Chamakh played in Bendtner with a lovely lofted pass, the Dane's shot was well saved by the keeper who seemed to get the ball away to a safe distance too until the Russian fired home with an exquisite scissors kick. 1-1 was a scoreline I was willing take going into half-time but Arshavin and Bendtner had other ideas. Andrey scrapped for possession just the Wigan half before playing the ball into big Nick who barged through two defenders before netting with a fine finish. We led going into the break, something you could not have possibly seen ten minutes before hand.
The objective at half-time was to go out and kill the game as soon as possible. Chamakh came close to doing just that as he leapt highest from Rosicky's corner but headed inches wide. We were in full control of the game at this stage. I was particulary impressed at how we kept the ball in midfield but you just felt we lacked the cutting edge going forward at times. Twenty minutes from time we should have wrapped up the points as clever passing resulted in Wilshere playing Arshavin in with a delightful ball but this time Al Habsi was on hand to deny the goalscorer.
We were very nearly made to pay shortly afterwards. Another Wigan counter attack left us stretched as N'Zogbia was set clean through on goal only to be denied by a fine save from Fabianski. N'Zogba or "Insomnia" as Joe Kinnear once referred to him as was later sent off for a stupid headbutt on Wilshere for no apparent reason other than the fact he was losing. Despite the man advantage, disaster struck ten minutes from time. An inswinging corner was headed back across goal by Rodallega and Squillaci nodded the ball into his own net. Infairness to Seb there wasn't much he could do, he threw his head in there hoping for the best but Caldwell would have headed in anyway even if he didn't throw himself at it.
The drama wasn't finished there. Walcott and Nasri were soon introduced. The latter had a free-kick beaten away by James McArthur's hand inside the box. I think everyone in the stadium saw it apart from the referee but what's new eh? We can sit here all day and blame him, his assistant and Platini or whatever tool is over that mickey mouse organistaion at the moment. The fact is we dropped two valuable points that we can't get back. It leaves us going into Saturday's game at Birmingham basically needing a win to keep the heat on United.
Anyway here are the player ratings:
Fabianski: 7 - Reliable and made a very good save.
Sagna: 8 - Gave everything, role model to the young players it must be said. My man of the match.
Squillaci: 6 - Not his best performance but received unncecessary stick for it.
Koscielny: 6 - Made some very good tackles but looked dodgy at times. Need to see more of the Kos we saw against Chelsea.
Eboue: 6 - Not in his natural position but did okay.
Denilson: 7 - Fine performance. Broke up play and kept play flowing.
Diaby: 5 - Withdrawn early on with another injury.
Rosicky: 7 - Worked hard and was at the heart of every move.
Arshavin: 7 - Very average performance but showed why he's still rated highly by some with a spectacular goal and yet another assist.
Bendtner: 6 - Worked hard and got his goal but overall he was quiet.
Chamakh: 6 - Worked very hard for the team but didn't see much of the ball.
Subs:
Wilshere: 7 - Came on for Diaby early on and put in another brilliant performance. So mature for his age.
Nasri: 5 - No time to make an impact.
Walcott: 5 - Likewise.
Its a shame to go from beating Chelsea to dropping two points at Wigan but that's football. You have your highs and your lows. Its all part of being a fan, the main thing is that we stay behind the lads all the way to the end. Our next two games are huge. Trying to get six points will be very difficult but very achievable at the same time. I'm back tomorrow with a more detailed preview of the Brum game.
Till then.
No comments:
Post a Comment