Man of the Match: FC Thun v. Arsenal

Arsenal travelled to Switzerland to face FC Thun on Tuesday, as one of the teams already through to the next round of the Champions League. We only needed one more point to qualify as winners of Group B so this game still had some importance. We went one better than a draw beating the Swiss side 1-0 thanks to a Robért Píres converted penalty on 88 minutes. The win was our 5th out of 5 matches, which set a new club record, but to be honest luck had a role to play in an uninspiring performance from the lads. Arsène Wenger rang out the changes to the side that beat Wigan on Saturday; the manager took out 5 of the players that featured on the weekend including Kolo Touré, Gilberto and Jens Lehmann.

Here is how the team performed:

Defence Almunia did not really have much to do between the sticks but did make some good saves when called upon. Senderos made his return to the team in the place of Touré and put the heat on the two first choice defenders with a great performance. Campbell had another average match but did make some good interceptions. Eboue who was put into the team in place of Lauren had a very good match, he looked good going forward and looked enthusiastic. Left back is not the position for Cygan and we all know it, he was again below par and was missing in defence.

Midfield Ljungberg did not do much throughout the match and like some of the other lads did not seem interested. Flamini worked hard along with 17-year-old Song, they both up Thun attacks and looked fairly solid in the centre of the park. It was a shame to see Song being taken off due to injury; I hop its nothing serious. Reyes worked hard and still no goal, which is what he needs to raise his confidence level.

Up Front van Persie, was again deadly in attack for us. He went offside on quite a few occasions but did work hard and made many long runs toward the goal. He won the match-winning penalty and was brought down when the red card was awarded. Thierry did not really seem interested to be quite honest and I do not think there was a need for him to travel.

Overall It was not a very good performance from the travelling gunners but to win when you are not playing at your best is the sign of a good team that have LUCK on their side. 5 out of 5 is amazing and something we all would have not imagined at the beginning of the season. Next up Blackburn Rovers at home on Saturday.

The Official Arsenal-Mania Man of the Match for this game is Robin van Persie who has proved to be a very good partner for Thierry upfront. Robin won the award with 54% of the votes; he was followed by Emmanuel Eboue who had 34% and Phil Senderos who had 8%.

Quotes from the MOTM voters:

Viper van Persie for me. He looked like the most dangerous player when he was on the ball and he should have scored in the game.

James Eboue for me. He made a couple of poor passes, but looking at each and every performance, who did not?

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