Arsenal booked their place in the 5th round of the FA Cup after a storming 2nd half comeback against Aston Villa at the Emirates this afternoon.
The Gunners started brightly, dominating possession, and had an early chance when Theo Walcott burst through the midfield and into the box. With Aaron Ramsey inside him and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain arriving unmarked at the back post, Walcott decided blasting a shot wide would be the best option.
Thomas Vermaelen then tested Shay Given with rocket of a free kick from distance but that was about as good as Arsenal got. Lots of possession but little directness and urgency and a lack of creativity from midfield. Any crosses, low or high, were well dealt with by the Villa defence.
So it wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling when Villa took the lead. When they took a short corner Aaron Ramsey was left two against one, Robbie Keane stood up a cross to the back post and Richard Dunne climbed above Laurent Koscielny to make it 1-0.
Arsenal responded with more crossing and an Oxlade-Chamberlain shot from distance which had Given scrambling, but when Villa broke quickly in first half injury time Darren Bent made it 2-0. He was played through, took a decent shot which Fabianski saved but from a very tight angle fizzed the rebound home.
The half-time whistle went and we left the field to a chorus of boos. We played well enough but got sucker punched twice, the old defensive failings coming back to haunt us again.
However, whatever Arsene Wenger said to his players at half-time clearly had an effect. We were faster, brighter, sharper, stronger, more direct and quite a bit more delicious.
Per Mertesacker had a header cleared off the line by Stephen Ireland, Theo Walcott was almost through, Aaron Ramsey had a shot saved from inside the box and Thomas Vermaelen shot not far wide from distance.
Eventually the pressure told when Aaron Ramsey, impressive in the 2nd half especially, was taken down in the box by Richard Dunne. The Irishman was already on a yellow card but referee Mike Jones felt the penalty kick was sufficient punishment. Robin van Persie stepped up and made it 2-1.
Just two minutes later we were level. Theo Walcott ran into the box, tried to nick it past Shay Given at the near post, it bounced up, a Villa player tried to clear it, it hit Walcott about 4 yards out and went in. 2-2. Something of a fluke but dammit we deserve some luck.
And less than 5 minutes later Arsenal won another penalty. Laurent Koscielny came forward from the back, stormed all the way into the Villa box and was taken down by Darren Bent. Up stepped Robin again and he made it 3-2.
Now, at this point I could go through the rest of the game but it doesn’t matter. There were a couple of scary moments at each end but look, you have to give credit to the team for fighting back. It’s not the first time we’ve done this to Villa, coming back from 2-0 down to win (the last time at Highbury), but two penalties and the jammiest goal you’ll ever see won us the game.
The main highlight of the rest of the last part of the match was the return of Bacary Sagna after 4 months out with injury. Welcome back, Bac!
Sometimes you need your luck to change to get going again, we had a bit of that today, and considering all that’s come before I’m happy to take it.
We’re into the 5th round of the cup, we’ve won a game, let’s enjoy it. Yes, the first half was poor but games are played over 90 minutes and at the end we’ve come out on top.
Come on you Goooooooooooners!
COME ON YOU REDSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!
Liverpool blog?
I almost thought the same thing
It wasn’t racist but it was spelt incorrectly, so it could be…
So proud of the Gunners tonight. Was devastated to be 2 nil down at half time and disheartened to hear the boos ring out at the Emirates. For the boys to come out second half after that and to play with such determination, well it was a champions performance. They deserve much credit and I hope they continue to play with such gusto. Very proud Gooner tonight.
Two magic games in the F.A Cup.
COYG!!
Simong @
17.06 | Jan 29, 2012
I remember being 2-0 down at home to Villa at half-time in the days when Wenger still knew how to manage a football team. We won 3-2, no chance of that today – it’s a disgrace how the team has been allowed to fall apart since 2004.
that simong guy is a SUPER CUNT! COYG!
Crap 1st half but what a 2nd half!!! Why can’t we play like this every game?!?!
On a side note Walcott played well. The ESPN commentator criticism was unjust.
not really thought walcott got really lucky with the goal.If it hadn’t gone in because of that poor decision of shooting instead of setting up Chambo then I would have been quite unhappy with him
But that’s because fans of a certain type – once they’ve made their minds up on a player – can’t see past the ends of their noses.
Theo – though he was wasteful in the first half – was one of our best players. Rosicky, Ox and Koscielny I thought did very well (though you could see Ox tiring in the latter quarter of the game)
Try being at the game Walcott really was poor today. Aside from his “goal” he looked disinterested and gave le coq no cover at all. Although to coqs credit he didn’t let it show.
Not sure what game you were watching as to me, at least, it looked like Walcott seemed a lot more up for it after his recent criticism and tracked back a number of times to help Coquelin.
Walcott tried hard. So that’s something. Unbeknownst to him, he got a goal also. It’s difficult to say what he does for the team. Largely ineffective but tries? Is that okay? He sure can run fast!
So could Forrest Gump and look how that turned out. Ping Pong champion (as shown with his celebration), they both just kept running…
To my right foot, First of all the great Cygan was a left footed player, calling yourself Cygan’s right foot is an insult to one of the invincible great (well I know I am pushing it calling him one of the invincible great), but I remember him coming in a game in the last five minutes and playing as a left winger. However, well done to the team in the second half. Was a pleasure to see No 3 come up and watch Sagna back, took some of the gloom off. I just hope and pray now Arteta is back… Read more »
To the left foot
You name gave the idea to my name. Also, having watched him for many years, Cygan never hopped around on one foot as he does have 2.
I’ll be glad when he puts his shoe back to muffle your voice 😉 (that is a joke by the way, don’t get riled up and trip us up again)
Fair enough, he is two footed then, the more the better.
We seem to be a having a minor Feet problem here… But some ambidextrousness from Cygan is welcome too.
I thought he gave Warnock a hard time. He wasn’t as blinkered when he had the ball, although he still could improve in that side of his game. I did notice that when our wingers go to the by-line, usually we don’t have players in decent positions. He dropped back when he need to cover and stayed up at the right moment. Pull defenders away with his runs and didn’t cock up any simple touches or passes. Granted his final ball is still below par for Arsenal’s standard. Lets face it, he was lucky with the goal, but if he… Read more »
Great to see Bac get on for the last few mins.
You can even say he came Bac at the right time…
I’ve got your coat Josh, the door is over there ===>
*Hangs head in shame*
Once Wenger got his Bac into it, Coq was pushed up and penetrated Villa’s right flanks with gusto.
what witold is saying: even Le Coq is a better winger than Walcott. 😀
Never in doubt.
Couldnot watch the match live, will watch in about two hrs with delayed action and thanku for the live blog blogs.
u must b living in india too!! damn sony pix!!
I seriously dislike SONY PIX!!!! DAMN you ESPN!!!! Why didn’t you buy the bloody rights for telecasting the FA Cup in India?
Great comback showed some fight, kos excellant again and great to see sagna back
Great comeback, excellent 16 minutes after the break. Good team performance all round. The OX looked sharp again and spraying long balls around. Great to see Bac, erm, back!
Bloody hell what did Wenger say at half-time?
‘If you lot don’t shape up I’m bringing Arshavin on’?
COYG!
Arshavin didn’t play today, I guess that means he starts on wednesday. shit.
I think this is the first time we got two deserved penalties. Great comeback. The second half display is what we were craving for a long time and I hope the next time they can play like that for 90 minutes. Glad to see Sagna and Arteta back. The manager deserved some credit too. It is not a coincidence that we show some great football at the second half.
Sorry, but I’m not impressed. Apart from the first sixteen minutes of the second half, we were pretty awful. It looked like Villa had thought that they’d won the match at half-time and didn’t bother to turn up for the second period. Lucky for us. Horrible defending and almost zero creativity up front in the first forty-five left us justly two down at the break. At least we had a go at the start of the second and got the breaks (from terrible Villa defending) that brought us back into it. At 3-2 we defended well enough to hold on,… Read more »
I only read the first sentence , You are fucking miserable . don’t spread it to others
I’d have to disagree based on the last 3 performances at least. I felt the first half was like the recent Arsenal but the second half was much more of the Arsenal that lit up pitches. We are a completely different team with our first choice and deputies coming back, just like any other team would be in our position.
A win is a win is a win is a win is a win. Take a moment to enjoy it – whats the point of being a fan otherwise?
Now that was a team talk. Yes it we got 2 penalties but the team were fighting for the ball and driving forward which got them into the box in the first place. More talks like that from Arsene instead of wrapping the players in cotton wool. 1st half they were awful, 2nd half looked like the Arsenal of old.
i could not watch the match. Was following on liveblog. Thank you arseblog.
Btw, RVP equalled Bergkamp’s record.
Which one?
This maybe a joke or a real question… Either way, it was his goals total
I’ve looked at aston villa’s results this season, its no suprise they lost. Their 2nd half form is terrible. You could call them the ‘arsenal of last season’. So kudo’s to the boys for literaly fighting off their past demons!
glad we came back and thank god for that. still I’m not feeling particularly positive about that performance. Why do we have to go down before we start performing? I mean really we should play like we did in those first 15 minutes for the whole game. and we should have scored a 4th goal. Ramsey was outstanding for 15 minutes BUT he shot really poorly when he should have finished, got lucky with the penalty because he had overrun the ball already. All in all for those 15 minutes he was good so he does have potential and if… Read more »
I mean first 15 min of the second half. just being clear
I thought the Coq and the Ox were bloody awesome today. Great prospects we got there…
Coq is incredible today. Look like a natural full back helping the back line and forward. Want to see him more on the pitch. His effort is awesome.
Szcz
Sagna…… Per…….Kos….. TV/Gibbs
………Song ……..Arteta………
…………….Rosicky/Ramsey ……………
Forehead……RVP…….Ox………..
Lets hope this team stay fit.
Personally felt the first half wasn’t as bad as some are making it out to be. I felt we were lively and apart from the goals, we’d played as good as we have all month (not that we have much to compare to).
Great result! COYG!
Agreed, Villa were lucky to be 2 nil up at half time.
I think we had around 6 shots on goal out of which 4 were on target in the 1st half
We had a lot of possesion and dominated territorially in the first half, but there was no URGENCY or CUTTING EDGE to our game–which is incredibly common in games that are 0-0 for us. It was really set up to be a dour game with few clear-cut chances until Aston Villa beat us on a corner (again) and then took advantage of our defenders not running back properly after an Arsenal free kick (again).
” Theo Walcott burst through the midfield and into the box. With Aaron Ramsey inside him ” – Sounds a bit too homoerotic.
Face hurts. The smiley muscles haven’t been used for sooooo long.
Wenger must have said something in the dressing room after that horror 1st half. the crowd were booing. whatever he said, the players started to raise their game after that and we were unstoppable, villa had no chance in the first 11 mins of the 2nd half.
if we played like this every game, we will be unstoppable.
wenger needs to be ruthless, he needs to do that when we are trailing teams
le professeur is gonna have a field day singing the ‘mental strength’ thing….
Well done boys, no negative comments when the team won, if we win every game like this we will have tropies, there is room for improvement but this will give us some confidence because our previous results was awful. We controlled the game from start, it was just the final killer pass was lacking, I’m just praying Arsene surprised us with that super quality signing that we desperately needs…Coquelin is a good player we need him in the first team Wegner…COYG
Sagna Bacary brought back LUCK Arsenal was missing, well done man!
With Arteta and Sagna back, I really hope we can turn this into good form. Despite all the other factors (fluke of a goal, 2 pens etc) can we call this a victory for Wenger? Feel credit should probably be given, since he gets blamed so easily for each bit of bad luck and lack of urgency from the players. Thoroughly enjoyed ESPN’s close up zoom on his eye, like it was trying to see inside his mind.
Well, if he’s going to get blamed for players bad performances after he sends them out, we should congratulate him when they turn it around and play well. Only seems fair
Better performance from our team! But let’s be honest even though we had a good 2nd half, we would have struggled in this game without the lucky strike(s). Big up for Rosicky who took complete control in the centre. Ups for Le Ox (of course) and Kos. Ramsey was a bit invisible. BTW: on Fox Soccer (I currently work in the US) there was Ivan Gazidis post match interview. He explicitly said that AW does not have a job for life but overall full backing for the club’s philosophy. (sustainable model, not going to “compete” with the ultra rich, mentioned… Read more »
I saw that too and he didn’t really throw out any numbers that Arsene has to spend but did say that he could always spend if he felt like he needed to – nothing different from what we’ve heard before.
And he did have a point when he said people have forgotten they’ve invested a bunch in players in the last 3 years. Plus we’ve got some great young players growing into the first team.
Whatever he said at half time maybe should be said before the game, and maybe the fans can boo at the warm up.
Just hope this gives the boys confidence for Wednesday because they won’t come up against many poorer teams than villa.
As poor as the 1st half was it was good to see some fight and spirit return in the second. Carry it on to Wednesday though and belief from the fans may return.
Somewhere over the rainbow dreams come true
Superb comeback. It’s easy to be frustrated at half time, but that’s why there are 2 halves. Therefore I don’t understand all the flak they get from some of the so called ‘fans’. At the end of the day they won, that’s all that matters. I’m thinking this game is further proof that Arshavin’s starting days are over. Once Gervinho comes back, he’ll be pegged even further back. If he could have been sold this month, would have been nice but too late for a replacement (although I read about they failed in the Podolski bid?). His time has come… Read more »
I think winning matters to an extent but if that was against a better side our lack luster first half would have been the ruining of us as a come back would have been even harder. The team need to be playing the way they did in the 2nd half from the outset of every game as we didn’t really trouble Villa in the first half. I can understand why the fans were booing at half time they were 2 soft goals to give away one from a typical still not being able to defend set pieces properly and the… Read more »
Nice to see the opposition self-destruct and credit to players for stepping up in teh 2nd half. Still concerned about our defense and ability to finish off chances!
With Aaron Ramsey inside him and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain arriving unmarked at the back post, Walcott decided blasting a shot wide would be the best option.
hehe…and then decided to blame everyone else for his uselessness as usual….
Uselessness is a little too much but yes, I don’t understand his reaction. Who else at the blame there rather than himself?
Yeah, his attitude has been a problem lately. But I think Wenger called him on it, in the 2nd half he looked a different player from the Arshavin imitator that’s been playing for us the last couple of games!
He wasn’t blaming his teammates for anything, he was asking why the ref didn’t pull the play back for the obvious foul on him before he drove into the box. He shot wide after just about regaining his balance, but not his composure, after a foul. I’m not saying the ref was wrong not to pull it back, but that’s what Theo was on about.
Was despondent at half-time, with both goals having been born out of a little bit of luck on their part and a lapse in concentration on ours, so was genuinely fearing the worst. However, after having turned it around within 16 minutes, I was ecstatic and absolutely loving it!! That was when I realised, only ‘The Arsenal’ could provide such beautiful, gut-wrenching mood swings – having gone from utterly depressed to joyfully elated within such a short time span. Yess it wasn’t an entirely convincing win, but taking the positives such as the incredible work rate of so many of… Read more »
Great comeback from the arsenal, still a lot to build on but an encouraging win all the same.
Also welcome bac sagna!
Up the arsenal!!!
There’s gonna be a Bacary blast tonight.
lucky result but the ball went in the net when it mattered. booya!!!!!
i’m swirling this win round in my mind like a fine brandy. I’m just going to fucking savour it, we deserve to.
@oleg. The ” so called fans ” booed because they has just witnessed another piss poor 1st half having payed £40 quid or more. What do you think wenger said at half time then. Well done lads keep it up your playing a blinder? No he probably told them how bad they were and they needed to improve. The fans do not have that chance so choose they only way they can. Lay off the fans that go they pay for their very expensive seats and have a right to boo at a first half like that Maybe booing may… Read more »
and to add to that – the crowd were incredibly loud in cheering the team on as soon as the 2nd half kicked off.
I think it’s understandable that they boo’d the team off though, 3 losses in a row (unprecedented for us) and 2 goals down at home to that Villa team would rile anyone up – I avoided the local bar for that v reason.
Just had plenty of drink at home instead heh.
Supporters are there to cheer the team on, Wenger is there to pressure them. If the fans don’t like the performance, then they’re quiet. There’s no need to go about discouraging the players even more.
Yes exaclty, I hate all this ‘so called fans’ stuff when people – whether in the ground on on the net – justifiably criticise the team and manager for not earning their very handsome salaries, that we pay for. There was no momentum there at all until we went behind, there is clearly no defensive strategy whatsoever, illustrated yet again today. We scraped by a very poor Villa side, the manner in which it happened was dramatic and exciting but the endemic flaws remain and were highlighted again today. No one should be gloating.
Excellent win – amazing to see the sense of urgency in the second half – felt like the Arsenal of old. That being said, can’t wait for Santos / Gibbs / Jenkinson to come back at LB, TV really shouldn’t be playing there, as a force of habit he generally runs through the middle so doesn’t offer anything on the flanks and if you look at Villa’s 2nd goal, he played Bent onside running over from the center-right. I wonder which of the three Wenger will play in the center when everyone’s back – Mert, Kos or TV. As of… Read more »
mert needs a rest, as does Kos. I’m sure we’ll rotate. although I think presently our best two central defenders are Verm and Kos
Who I want to see as a back four:
Santos – Verminator – Koscielny – Sagna
Jenkinson… I don’t like too much, and Gibbs still has some improvement to make. And Mertesacker is too unpredictable. Some games he’s shit, others he’s fantastic, Kos is a safer bet.
A bit harsh on Mert. What he does in defence is very under appreciated. He may not do crouching tackles, breath taking runs from the back, nor bullying the living crap out of attackers like Kos and Verm.
But he brings intangible qualities like calm and composure to the defence and reads the opposition attacks exceptionally well. Granted that I would like him to jump more and pass better at times. Considering he came at the end of August, I dare say his done very well for us.
@Josh
I know, maybe I exaggerated too much. He is good more often than bad, but I just find him too clumsy. I think you’re right, maybe with a bit more time he’ll look even better, it’s true that he’s getting less and less bad games as he spends more time with the team.
Mertesacker was bought as a back up choice to give us something different, so I suspect Koscielny and Vermaelen will still be our 1st choice. All depends on the opposition, injuries, tiredness, etc…
I don’t think anyone is bought as a “back-up” unless you’re over 30 (Squilaci, Silvestre) or you’re v young – least of all, Mertesacker, who’s 27, was club captain of Bremen and has 75+ caps for Germany. Whilst he’s not the fastest, he’s huge, is calm and has loads of proven experience at the big stage.
For me, Koscielny is leading the pack, after that I suppose its based on which team you play.
I kind of meant that Vermaelen and Koscielny are our first choice central defenders, with Mertesacker there to back them up and change our defence type depending on the oppostion.
I have got a good feeling about Mertesacker and he will only get better. Much like Koscielny did after last season. Player of the season at the moment i reckon
Vermaelen was in bad position against Bent, because we were caught upfield after a free kick deep in Villa’s half.
with coquelin, wilshere, frimpong, oxlade-chamberlain, Szcz, afobe, gibbs coming through the ranks we don’t really need many signings do we? would like another top class striker though
…and someone the likes of Hazard for more quality on the flanks – Walcott CAN be good, but how often do we trust he shows up?
Between Gervinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, and hopefully next year Miyaichi, I’m not sure how many games are available on the flanks going forward. And I haven’t mentioned Arshavin, who’s probably heading out this summer.
Do you really think Wenger spend 25-30 million pounds reinforcing a position he just spent 23 million pounds on in summer 2011 (Gervinho, the Ox)?
SO happy to see Bac back. Chambo was brilliant, I can’t wait to see how he plays if he and Gervinho start a game when the sodding ACN is finally over.
‘sodding ACN’? That was a rather stupid thing to say.
Great win. I’m all smiles. Ox is a gem, Coq another and Kos is our new Tony Adams. But permit me to moan even if it will make me unpopular. I still believe our first sub nearly did us in. Why pull out Rosicky when he was the engine of the team, tormenting the enemy and giving us an uncommon fluidity. Thank God we didnt concede afterwards, but I believe that after he left, the game could have gone eitherway.
Rosicky was replaced by Arteta is not a mistake. I agree with your point that Rosicky is the one who create the fluidity but at that time, we were already ahead and we were trying to keep the possession. While Rosicky gave us the attacking threat, Arteta is positional disciplined and he is the type of player that can help us holding the ball and gave Song some protection. Villa must kept pressuring us to get a goal they needed but with Arteta there, we were protected from the risk of losing the ball at the middle of the pitch.… Read more »
One could say that if Arteta weren’t in there but a tiring Rosicky the Villa would have had more to say about the outcome of the match.
That second half made me really happy
Fans in the stadium got behind the team for once; was definitely a factor
Walcott looked better than in recent games in the second half
Couldn’t for the life of me see that comeback at half time, ecstatic to have got there
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
Two unthinkable things happened today:
1. We were awarded penalties
2. Walcott scored
Feels great to win a game after 3 poor results to see that fabled “fighting spirit” that Wenger always talking about… Won’t lie thought it was game over when we went 2-0 down but I was glady proven wrong…
On a side not fantastic to see Sanga back wearing the white and red and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who laughed when he shanked that clearence!
Come on mate, the guy’s not played in a while. I, for one, am glad to see him back. Would you really rather have Coquelin or Djourou on RB?
I think he meant to type ‘side note’, not ‘side not’. Changes it a tad.
@Mooro
haha, I believe you’re right. Oops 😛
Great result,don’t really care how it came about as we have played better before and lost so am just gonna enjoy being in the hat for cup for now.Aswell as Bac back which is great news I think the return of Arteta is a major boost to the team as its now obvious how we miss his keep ball mentality and composure when we need to retain possession when defending a lead.Wasnt over joyed when we signed him if I’m being honest but he has more than won me over and proved he is a very accomplished premier league player.Rvp… Read more »
Totally agree with Voldermort. Sometimes think booing is the only way for the fans to let the players know that a performance is not acceptable. I am sure Wenger used it to help motivate them to really busy a gut in the second half. Also, is it only me that thinks Walcott is viciously trying to make the Ox look bad by ignoring him a goal scoring chance or just not passing to him at all. Must be hard for the former ‘blue eyed boy’ to be seeing the new kid getting all the attention and plaudits that he once… Read more »
Ox was box to box. What a proper lad!
OX was box to box ,flank to flank ,he’s fucking excellent
Great second half!
I hope Wenger keeps playing Rosicky and doesn’t bench him again now that Arteta’s back. Aaron needs a rest and Tommy looks like he’s getting back to his best. He offers a bit of pace and drive in central midfield that we don’t have with Ramsey, Arteta, and Song. Also, Mert was great again, like in the Utd game. If only Jack comes back soon, we could have a quality side!
Got up at 3am to watch this again (did the same last week against man u) watching the game with my eyes hanging out of my head thinking we look lively… Then a corner.. And I reached for the remote control, I just had a feeling they were going to score. Sure enough they did and I thought well fuck this, last week I was tired all day for nothing, I’ll just tape it and watch it tonight.. On the way to work the dickhead radio ruins the score for me anyways. Happy with the result looking forward to watching… Read more »
One more striker and creative goal scoring midfielder please
Bobby was in the crowd….
Good to see Theo get something we need him to get back into some sort of form, great comeback from the team, more of this please.