Date: 27th September 2014 at 8:32pm
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Super Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain earned a point for Arsenal in a nervy north London derby. A dominant performance from Arsenal but the lads could only muster a point today. Arsenal enjoyed the lion share of possession as well as dominating nearly every stats column, but a plucky Spurs were lucky to escape with a point.

The atmosphere was electric at a sold out Emirates, and the sides lined up like this:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Chambers, Arteta, Wilshere, Ramsey, Ozil, Chamberlain, Welbeck
Spuds: Lloris, Rose, Vertonghen, Kaboul, Naughton, Mason, Capoue, Chadli, Eriksen, Lamela, Adebayor

Review-1st half

The opening period, although cagey, was largely uneventful in terms of goal scoring opportunities. Arsenal enjoyed the lion share of the possession and could have taken the lead after just five minutes but Ramsey’s saw his tame effort smothered by Lloris. Danny Welbeck did well to track back and win possession back in midfield, poking the ball to Wilshere who sprung Ramsey to his right. The Welshman could have done better with his shot though.

Five minutes later, Wilshere could have had a shot a goal, but his shot was blocked by a wall of Spurs after Ozil’s free kick from the right fell kindly for him. Welbeck also had an effort blocked in the 14th, after some silky skill saw him through on goal. He controlled the ball on his chest around half field before flicking it over and around an onrushing Vertonghen but couldn’t get his shot past Kaboul after driving into the area.

It was all Arsenal at the moment and Welbeck found found himself on the end of Chamberlains’s cross in the 21st, but his low drive never really troubled Lloris. Spurs could have had a sniff on goal two minutes later when Adebayor climbed to meet Lamela’s cross but he couldn’t get any power on his header and Szczesny registered an easy save. Just moments later, Arsenal were down the other end and almost received a gift when Chamberlain’s cross was deflected by Vertonghen and almost crept into Lloris’s net.

The match exploded into life after the quarter hour mark. Lovely interplay from Arsenal saw Ramsey and Welbeck combine to set up Wilshere whose low rasping drive was straight at Lloris. The action was broken by some worrying moments for Arsenal however. Mikel Arteta played the ball out of play after a Gibbs was sent crashing by a challenge from Lamela, but surprisingly the Spaniard himself pulled up with what appears to be a calf injury. Flamini replaced him in the 28th. Moments later, Tottenham had a chance to counter when Chadli broke down the left before picking out Mason. Fortunately for our lads, Mason hesitated and his chipped cross was easy pickings for Szczesny.

Our lads found themselves under pressure shortly after that but defended well enough to keep out Spurs best moment in attack. In the 37th, Adebayor was just a studs length away from receiving a return pass from Lamela, and after some pin balling in the box, Arsenal just about dealt with the pressure. A corner kick three minutes later squirmed through for Vertonghen and Mertesacker did just enough to deal with the pressure despite heading the ball towards his own goal.

End to end stuff three minutes after that as Chamberlain benefited from clever link up play between Ozil and Ramsey. The ball made its way to Chamberlain who did well to get his shot off and force Lloris into a save down to his left. Just moments later, Tottenham marched down the other end through Chadli who got on the end of a through ball but dragged his effort wide.

Another injury scare for Arsenal after that when Ramsey came up with a hamstring and had to be replaced by Cazorla on the stroke of half time. Adebayor’s snapshot on the spin brought out a smart save from Szczesny in stoppage time and the half ended nil nil.

Review-2nd half

The second half got off to a blistering start, and Cazorla’s low drive in the 47th was only just stabbed away by Kabould. The ensuing corner fell to Gibbs after Eriksen mishandled a ball but Gibbs skied his cross well over. Two minutes later, Ozil was through on goal after a sublime layoff from Wilshere but his low shot was saved by Lloris. Arsenal were asking all the questions, and Gibbs nearly picked out Welbeck with his cross but a full stretched Kaboul got a toe to it.

That would the tale of the remainder of the match as well unfortunately as wave after wave of Arsenal pressure was just about kept out by the fighting spuds. Frustratingly, the match ended 1-1.

How did the boys do?

Szczesny 7, Gibbs 7, Mertesacker 7, Koscielny 8, Chambers 8, Arteta 7, Wilshere 8, Ramsey 7, Ozil 7, Chamberlain 8, Welbeck 7, Sanchez 7, Cazorla 7, Flamini 5

Gunflash moment: Chamberlain goal

Great composure from Alex as he side footed past Lloris

Top Gunner: Jack Wilshere

Played exceptionally well this match and is starting to come back into his own after his long injury layoffs. I hope his injury isn’t too bad as well as he is back to being integral for the side.

 

2 responses to “Match Review: Arsenal vs Tottenham”

  1. JOHN ADAM says:

    We could have beaten Arsenal if we had tightened our defence more after being one goal up. We made some good counter attacks during the first half but we wasted several scoring opportunities. We still tend to lose the ball too easily and this is why we conceded a goal which could have easily been avoided. We lost a chance to pick three points but a draw against a good team like Arsenal is not a bad result.

  2. ibrahim fofanah says:

    everything about Wenger is wrong. Bad team selection ; transfer policy; same tactics. We will be lucky to end up 4thy