Cannonballs: Brilliance and Resilience
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Both were on display at Villa Park on Saturday. Arsenal came away 2-1 victors in their Premier League match with Aston Villa and the Gunners were absolutely brilliant in the first half and then very resilient in the second. Coming off an away loss to Sevilla in the Champions League I was quite nervous about this tricky fixture. Aston Villa are a decent side so with a full capacity Villa Park I knew Arsenal would face some stiff competition.
The Gunners played some of their best football in the first half. Quick, crisp and accurate passes kept the Villans on the back foot much of the time. However, it was Villa who broke through first with a goal from Craig Gardner. Gardner received the ball from a deflected John Carew cross. The deflection coming off of the head of William Gallas fell perfectly to an on rushing Gardner, One-Nil to the Villa. After that goal though Arsenal seemed to find their method. The Gunners then put the Villa defense under extreme pressure. Eventually Mathieu Flamini, who had coincindentally lost the ball in the midfield to Carew which then led to the Villa goal, thundered home a goal with a powerful strike from his left boot. Flamini's goal was one of those goals that make me stand up and shout and then leave me wondering if I had actually seen what I just think I had seen. Almost immediately Arsenal had Villa under the kosh once more. This time it was Alexander Hleb finding Flamini but a strong block from defender Olof Mellberg kept the score level. Eventually though Arsenal did take the lead. Hleb won the ball away from Gareth Barry and then quickly found Bacary Sagna who slotted in a perfect cross which was headed home by Emmanuel Adebayor. The break came, a brilliant half of football from Arsenal, with a one goal lead but I had this strange feeling that we had not seen the best of Villa yet.
The second half started and the roles reversed. This half it was Aston Villa's turn to take the play to Arsenal. I have to give a tip of my hat to Villa manager Martin O'Neill for committing his players to the attack. While it made life difficult for Arsenal it was gripping stuff to watch. Villa's Carew was certainly a handful for the Arsenal defense and in the 56th minute he turned and surprised the Arsenal backline thereby giving a great chance for Martin Laursen. Laursen's shot came off the post letting Arsenal off the hook. The only sticking point I had in the whole second half was the clumsy challenge put in by Carew on Alexander Hleb. The tackle left the Belarussian with a nasty looking gash on his achilles and Hleb was forced to miss the rest of the game. The best move by Arsenal in the second half was when the manager brought on Gilberto with 16 minutes left. His substitution seemed to settle the game down. Although Villa continued to press it wasn't to be for them as the game ended and it was another Arsenal win thanks in large part to a very resilient bit of defending in the second half.
So after a bit of a disappointment in Spain it was nice to see the Gunners regain their form. This midweek sees the Gunners play Newcastle United in a fixture which had to be rearranged due to Arsenal's European committments earlier in the season. At this point in time it looks doubtful for Alexander Hleb since getting that gash. Robin van Persie is still out and Cesc Fabregas remains in question as well.
One final note, the draw for the third round of the FA Cup was held and Arsenal have drawn Championship side Burnley away. Burnley currently sit 9th in the table. The tie will be played on either Saturday January 5 or Sunday January 6.
