Team News
Rotation was expected from Arsene Wenger today given the busy schedule. Tomas Rosicky and Yossi Benayoun got much deserved starts, in place of the rested Aaron Ramsey, and Theo Walcott who was struck down with illness earlier on in the day. Johan Djourou defied all laws of science to start the game at right back, with Thomas Vermaelen on the left. Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker started again in the middle.
Everywhere else, it was as you’d expect. Alex Song returned from suspension, and youngsters Francis Coquelin, Ignasi Miquel and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were on the bench. Captain Robin van Persie starts the game just two goals shy of Alan Shearer’s calendar year record of 36 league goals.
1st Half
Despite a relatively slow start, we didn’t have to wait long before the first goal. The impressive Yossi Benayoun led an Arsenal counter attack, and slid the ball through to Gervinho. One on one with the keeper, the Ivorian showed great composure, and finished clinically to put Arsenal 1-0 up. It was a welcomed relief, as Gervinho has wasted more than one similar opportunity so far this season, prompting some serious questions being posed about his finishing ability. He needed to prove he could score from those positions. And he did. 1-0 to The Arsenal, inside ten minutes.
The next 20 mins followed a similar sort of pattern. Arsenal keeping possession well, coping with Wolves attacking play, and creating our best chances through counter attacks. Vermaelen and Arteta both saw shots blocked inside the Wolves area, and Benayoun lost his footing after being released into a promising position down the left by Alex Song.
It was a disappointing day for Robin van Persie, but he had chances to add to his impressive scoring form. The first came in the 15th minute, after Gervinho broke down the right, and slipped the ball through to RVP. He took the shot earlier than needed on his weaker right foot, and it rolled past the far post. On the half hour mark, he had another. Linking up with Rosicky, van Persie showed strength to get through the Wolves defence, forcing a good near post save from the brilliant Wayne Hennessey.
Wolves weren’t just here to make up the numbers though. Their chances were limited in the first half, but Matt Jarvis got into a couple of decent positions down the left hand side, although the Arsenal defence looked in control during these early attacks.
Until the 38th minute, that was.
An avoidable Wolves corner fell to Stephen Hunt on the edge of the area, who’s deflected shot fell to Steven Fletcher, who diverted his header into the far corner of the net. Nothing Wojciech Szezesny could do to keep it out on his 50th appearance for the club, and totally against the run of play. But Wolves had their goal, and went into the break with their tails up.
HT analysis: 38 minutes of control and assurance. But once Arsenal conceded, the passes seemed to drift, and the control seemed to disappear. Alex Song not quite inflicting his usual stamp of authority on the game, and RVP yet to really get into it. Disappointment over the manner in which the goal was conceded. Patience the key message at the interval, and an increase in tempo.
2nd Half
The first real shout in the second half happened when Arsenal thought they should have had a penalty. A Koscielny cross did appear to strike a Wolves defender on the arm, but the referee decided against it. Protests from Vermaelen led to the first Arsenal caution of the match. Ironically, the Belgian was then adjudged to have handled the ball himself only a few minutes later. It was far less blatant than the penalty appeal, but being in the middle of the park made it a far easier decision for the utterly useless Stuart Attwell to give.
Arsenal’s first change was made just after the hour mark. The impressive Benayoun sacrificed for the misfiring Andrei Arshavin. Benayoun was arguably Arsenal’s best player at the time, and replacing him with a player so lacking in confidence was greeted with murmurs of despair from those within the Emirates.
Arshavin’s introduction did provide an increase in tempo though, and the chances to win the game started to emerge. In the 64th minute, Gervinho surged forward, and was fouled by Carl Henry just outside the area. Van Persie struck it well, forcing an excellent save from Hennessey.
A couple of moments later, the ball fell to Rosicky on the left hand side. His cross was met by Mertesacker, whose header forced another great save from the keeper, before another van Persie strike was deflected over for a corner. The increased tempo was obvious, as was the urgency and desire from the players and fans alike.
Shortly after this, Song fouled Fletcher to earn himself a yellow card, and from the resulting free kick, Vermaelen and Johnson tangled once the ball had gone out of play. Tempers clearly starting to flare, and frustration beginning to show amongst some players in red. That horrible feeling of “this being another one of those days”, just like Fulham a few weeks ago was creeping into my mind. It was a welcome relief to see Boxing Day birthday boy Aaron Ramsey come on for an off colour Song on the 70 minute mark.
Ramsey was involved in an Arsenal chance immediately. A one-two with Arshavin then fell to Rosicky, who fired wide from just outside the area. It’s coming, isn’t it? Please, someone tell me it’s going to happen…
The Wolves pack was then reduced to ten, as Nenad Milijas was sent off for a hard tackle on Arteta. Very harsh, but not uncharacteristic of Attwell, who quite simply, is a walking disaster of a referee. But the decision was made, and it was to our advantage. 15 minutes left, and an extra man. We’ve got to now see this through, surely.
Chances were now coming almost every minute for Arsenal. Ramsey again provided some magic to put through van Persie, but a poor first touch lost him some momentum, and eventually his shot was deflected wide.
A quiet Arshavin then had his chance to score. An attempted one-two with RVP wasn’t quite completed, but some dicking around by the Wolves defence meant Arshavin had a chance to shoot from 20 yards. It was a decent strike, missing the top corner by a fraction. It’s just not going to go in, is it?
With 9 mins to go, we won another free kick in a dangerous position. Djourou was fouled by Hunt in a similar position to where RVP scored his second against Sunderland earlier in the season. Although this time, it was kept out by a good low save by Hennessey to his right. Van Persie had another chance a minute later, trying to beat the keeper at his near post from the left hand side of the box, this time kept out by the keepers flailing legs. Somehow, it’s still 1-1 with five minutes of normal time to go.
Wenger’s desire to get the three points was then emphasised with a very attacking substitution, bringing off right back Djourou, and throwing on Marouane Chamakh. If ever he had a chance to prove his worth, this was it.
4 minutes to go, and it’s a training session of attack v defence. Koscielny was the latest player to surge forward looking for a winner, forcing a corner after a cross from the left. From the resulting corner, RVP was left on the deck after Chamakh thought he’d win the love of Arsenal fans by attempting to knock the head off our beloved captain, instead of connecting with the ball. Both players fine. Still time to find a winner.
The next chance fell to Vermaelen. Arshavin’s through ball fell to the big Belgian about 5 yards out, who’s right footed strike forced another excellent save from Hennessey.
6 minutes of added time, and I’m almost ready to get out the rum.
Arsenal won a free kick on the right hand side of the box in the 94th minute. Arteta swung it in, but again clearered by Wolves. Van Persie then attempted to cross the ball in too, but Wolves defended it again amply.
And that was it. Full time, Arsenal 1 Wolves 1.
Reaction
Arsene Wenger:
"It is very frustrating. You won't play many draws like that in a season but sometimes it can happen. We still lack a bit of maturity. The way I have seen the game today it will be one draw out of 50 but it was that one today. What happened in the game can happen."
Mick McCarthy:
"I'm extremely proud. I think everyone has seen a real fighting performance from us today. We have had to defend and we did that for 20 minutes with 10 men. Wayne Hennessey was fantastic. I think he is one of the best goalkeepers in the league and he proved that today."
Analysis
Another one of those games, and definitely two points lost. But sometimes you come up against a goalkeeper who just won’t concede when you want him to. And today, Wayne Hennessey had probably the best game of his career. It wasn’t helped that referee Stuart Attwell had probably the worst game of his career. But I guess this is to be commonly expected by any ref these days.
If you want to look at it positively, we haven’t lost any ground to our nearest league rivals, Chelsea and Liverpool. We’ll be just as frustrated as they were yesterday after their games. We didn’t play badly, either. Chances were there to be taken.
And in a weird way, the red card might have actually been better for Wolves. Before it, they were still looking to attack and get forward. After it, it was all nine-outfield players behind the ball, proving very hard to break down. I believe “Parking the Bus” is the modern term for it.
The effort was there, but not quite the performance level expected from some of our key players. RVP was non-existent most the match. When he did get chances, his touch often let him down. Song wasn’t as solid in the middle, and Gervinho didn’t quite have the impact in the second half that he did in the first. We also missed the pace and ability of Theo Walcott. Which is why I was surprised that The Ox wasn’t thrown on instead of Chamakh near the end. We had nothing to lose, after all.
Yossi Benayoun was a real bright spark until he got subbed, and Aaron Ramsey was outstanding once he came on too. Arshavin had more of an impact than in previous weeks, and our tempo definitely increased after he was introduced.
All in all, after a good set of results for us yesterday, it’s nothing but disappointment that we aren’t now sitting in fourth place. There’s a long way to go though, and I believe Wenger will rally the troops into getting it right against QPR.
I refused to believe that today was a “must win” fixture, merely a very important one to win. It’s tougher to maintain that mentality as we approach QPR on Saturday.
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