Evening,
Instead of typing up a preview this morning I decided to catch up on some sleep and instead type up a match report after the game. Luckily for you, its going to be another positive post. When I woke up today, there wasn't the usual nervous feeling in my gut. I was very confident. It wasn't the overly type confidence where your certain your team has won before the game has even kicked off but that feeling where your really optimistic over something and I had it.
Wigan came to the Emirates with more or less a full strenght squad bar Alcarez which meant the Caldwell brothers would partner each other at the heart of the defence. In midfield you had the threat of N'Zogbia who is a bit like Arshavin in the sense that you don't ever know what your going to get. Up front Rodallega was the lone striker and he is more than capable of causing any team problems. We were going to have to be on our toes for this one. It was always going to be a test of our character because Wigan are a side who are often underestimated. We've been complacent in far too many games this season, we couldn't afford to do it here. A win the least expected.
The usual gang returned to the fold for us. This is our strongest possible side bar Vermaelen in my opinion. When he comes back we'll take some beating. We're very hard to break down as it is but there's always room for improvement. Anyway back to the game and we began brightly as we always seem to do and Al Habsi was forced into action early on as Samir Nasri drew a smart save from him. Minutes after the keeper made an unbelievable save to deny Van Persie from close range. Nobody could believe we weren't a goal up already. The chances just kept on coming as Wigan fought with desperation. This time Walcott dazzled down the wing before showing brilliant vision to pull the ball back to Fabregas in space but his shot was blocked by Caldwell. The fact that we hadn't scored yet was a mystery but we didn't have to wait much longer. Just over twenty minutes in, Song set Van Persie through on goal with a delightful pass and the Dutchman finished with applause. 1-0 Arsenal and it was about damn time.
The barage of attempts on the Wigan goal continued. First Al Habsi was forced into action again by Fabregas before the Spaniard was denied an easy finish by Maynor Figueroa. Theo Walcott was the next player to waste a chance as he was put through one on one with the keeper but went for the unselfish option and squared for Fabregas who was tackled by Diame before the ball fell back to Theo whos shot was blocked by Caldwell. Samir Nasri had a shot from twenty yards out tipped over before Al Habsi denied Cesc yet again. At half-time there was feeling of sheer frustration. We should have been out of sight. Even if we were 3-0 up, we still would have felt unjustified. The worry now was that we'd lose our momentum and offer Wigan a way back into the game. We've been guilty of doing it before. We needed to make sure it wasn't going to happen today.
Ahead of the second half Wigan made two changes. Franco Di Santo and James McArthur replacing Diame and Stam. They weren't the kind of changes that made you shivver in your boots but it gave the away side fresh legs and they obviously had a plan. And so it did breath fresh air into the visitors perforamnce as they showed more of an urge to get forward. They still didn't look like they were going to score but we needed to be on our toes all the same.
Frustration began to grow around the Emirates as there was a hint that the players had taken their foot off the gas but thankfully they responded with immediate effect. Fabregas picked out Van Persie with a brilliant 30 yard pass who got the better of Caldwell before volleying past Al Habsi who had been brilliant all day. It was a huge relief as we looked to be getting a bit sloppy. It was now a case of remaining disciplined and seeing out the game which we had done very well in recent weeks.
Twenty minutes from time Van Persie was presented with the opportunity of getting his hat-trick from the penalty spot. Gary Caldwell had pulled Fabregas down in the box to deny him a chance of scoring so he recived his marching orders. Up stepped Van the man who was usually ever so clinical in front of goal but somehow blazed this one over the bar. Not long after his curling shot struck the post and it just didn't look like he was going to notch up his first hat-trick for Arsenal.
Did I speak too soon? You bet I did. Walcott held the ball up well in the box before teeing up Van Persie who fired home from a tight angle. His first of many hat-tricks for the club I hope and this was one he thoroughly deserved. He worked so hard to get back to his best after a long frustrating spell out of the game. It just makes you smile when you see him out there again and playing as well as he is at the moment.
That was that. We'd done our part. Unfortunately a hapless Birmingham side were crushed 5-0 at Old Trafford so we didn't make up any ground on them but Spurs could only manage a point at St James Park and City were beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa so its not been a pretty good weekend so far. Chelsea travel to Bolton on Monday night in what promises to be a very tough game for them.
Enough about our title rivals, here are the player ratings after today's game:
Szezesny: 6 - Had nothing to do which I don't mind.
Sagna: 7 - Typical whole-hearted performance.
Djourou: 7 - Solid as always.
Koscielny: 7 - Comfortable evening.
Clichy: 7 - Back to his best.
Song: 8 - Getting better every week.
Wilshere: 7 - Another dominant midfield display from the youngster.
Fabregas: 8 - Influential in every move. Brilliant as always.
Nasri: 7 - Always a threat.
Walcott: 7 - Got into some very good positions and his end product is improving.
Van Persie: 9 - My man of the match without a doubt despite penalty miss. His first hat-trick and no more than he deserves.
Subs:
Denilson: 6 - Did his job.
Chamakh: 6 - No time to impress.
Arshavin: 5 - Struggling for confidence.
Its great to see we've put that little hoodoo we had at the Emirates to bed and we can now go all out for silverware. I think we could do with a centre-back but we'll have to wait and see what the boss thinks. He's giving nothing away but I'll tell you if I hear anything.
Now onto the latest news on Eden Hazard's future. Our interest in the Beligan international is well documented and from what I've heard we have made some progression in our bid to bring him North London this summer. Many of you will already know that we have first refusal on the player and I now understand Arsene Wenger has already held talks with him. And yes it was with the permission of Lille. Those talks must have been very positive because the young man has his heart set on a move to the Emirates apparently. However, there is a twist. Lille value Hazard very highly and want something in the region of £30m while we're only willing to pay £14m. Our valuation is a long way off what they value him at so this is a big concern from our point of view. The worst case scenario now is that someone like Manchester City come in, offer well over £30m aswell as a high enough salary to turn Hazard's head. Let's hope not. I'm remaining optimistic about the chances of seeing him in an Arsenal shirt next summer.
That's it from me for now folks. I shall be back when I can gather enough information to write a blog on.
Till next time, take care.
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