Arsenal closed the gap on Chelsea in fourth with a last-gasp, come from behind win at the Stadium of Light today.
Arsene Wenger started the same team that played against Blackburn but the games could not have been more different. This is an exact summary of the entire first half: Arsenal had the ball, Sunderland got all their men behind the ball. Sunderland would come forward a bit, do nothing much, then get all their men behind the ball again. They obviously had bought a new bus and wanted to park it where everyone could see it.
The second half continued in much the same vein, until Sunderland sparked the game into life with a spell of pressure. When a corner was cleared just outside our box, Wojciech Szczesny had to go full stretch to stop the ball going into the bottom corner, and he did it again a few minutes later when a Craig Gardener effort was headed towards the other corner. They were big saves from a keeper who has had a few hairy moments in recent weeks.
Typically though, Arsenal fell behind, although the goal was hardly a demonstration of our defensive flaws. Per Mertesacker looked to be in control when he seemed to get studs caught in the horrendous pitch and went down injured. James McClean took the ball on and from a difficult angle fired home an impressive strike across Szczesny and into the far corner.
Mertesacker was unable to continue and stretchered off, replaced by Aaron Ramsey. And it was the Welshman who equalised just two minutes later. Mikel Arteta’s initial shot was blocked, it fell to Ramsey on the edge of the Sunderland box, he lashed in a low shot which hit both posts before going in.
Arsenal threw on Arshavin for Walcott, having already replaced Oxlade-Chamberlain with Thierry Henry, and it was the under fire Russian who made the injury time winner. With the ball at his feet out left he faced two Sunderland defenders, but managed to find space to cross for Thierry Henry to poke home from inside the 6 yard box.
It was Henry’s 229th goal for the club on his last ever Premier League appearance. Whoever’s writing the scripts is doing a fine job.
There was no time for Sunderland to get back into it, although there was time for Henry to make the talky-talky gesture at a bleating O’Neill on the sidelines, heh.
Arsenal came back from behind to win away from home, that’s actual mental strength Arsene. And dammit, it was good to see.
LEGEND!!!
What a great Birthday present today’s result is.. Thanks fellows for showing inspiring mental strength and Titi a special thank you so much. #legend. What a player and what a man… Arshavin all I can say is well played Stuart Little… well played!!!!
happy birthday mate!
Total legend!!!!
RVP you are a failure.
If you give me a thumbs down
you have lost your sense of humour.
He is actually saving the goals for Milan
Well it got a reaction.
Now if I said Walcott was a failure?
wait for it………..DARY!!!
I think that arsene’s brilliant substitutions today have been totally overlooked, arshavin on (assist), henry on (goal), ramsey on (goal).
Supersubs.
Arsene you genius. All the three subs did it. Bring on milan
What an ending! That should do wonders for Arshavin’s confidance!! I was begging for Wenger to replace Walcott with him right after Ramsey’s goal.
And for Henry – what an incredible swansong!!!
Christ, i had a hernia when thierry scored.
Massive Three Points.
Also, Arshavin haters can instantly f**k off!
Well hang on. I’m obviously delighted with his contribution at the end of the game but it hardly makes up for months on end of lazy, disinterested performances.
That said I hope he comes into some form because it would only do us good.
Come on Arsenal!
Agree with Tom to be honest, but TH12-wow! What a guy! Starts his term winning against Leeds and ends it winning against Sunderland!
Legend! Total Legend even when he ‘Cameo’s it!
Titi is still around for Milan isn’t he? I hope so as I’m going out there on Wednesday 🙂
What a feral cunt that McClean is. Glad that didn’t cost us the game..
Well in Rambo, and well in Wenger for making all the right subs.
Theo returned to type – do what you need to do to get motivated son, we need you for more than 2 games a season!!
There’s a morsel of truth in the saying “One swallow does not a summer make.”
I’d seriously love for the guy to come good again, but the jury is still out on this one.
One swallow doesn’t make a Summer but perhaps
he should replace Walcott for a couple of games and
give his ego a rest
Even David Bentley can put in a decent cross now and then. Even so, I am delighted that Arshavin was able to contribute.
2nd come-back in 2wks? Guess that ‘mental strength’ thingy isn’t a myth after all:) Plus a rare sighting of that creature called ‘inspired substitution’ from Arsene, with all 3 subs contributing to the 2 goals!
Yeah, COYG!
The return of the Supersubs!
My firstborn son is being called Thierry and it’s not even open to debate.
Followed by Dennis or Denise… Make it happen.
Ashamed of myself: I stopped watching the stream I had after the Sunderland goal out of rage at our bad fortune. NEVER AGAIN. 4th we come and what a guy Thierry Henry.
I did the same. Guilty as charged. But I kept on coming back to it every other minute or so….
screw u guys, i stayed on bitching till the very end…fckin pitch..made the game feel like its on slow mo.
Damm…subs were good. Must confess I was pissed seein TH12 coming on when we needed a goal …
What an impact of benchin theo…almost instant.
Good week ..too bad sp$% & newcastle&manure&chelski&liv cant all lose at the same time.
You’re looking at this all wrong–clearly you shouldn’t have been watching from the start!
(I kiyd, I kiyd.)
We closed the gap on Chelsea so much that we actually took 4th place off them on goals scored! I like to think that means Thierry’s goal last week to make it 7 was as important as his other two!
3 great subs by Wenger….. you don’t know what you are doing?
well done arsenal. stand up and be counted. =-D
All hail the King and….Arshavin.
And rambo too
not suprised there, wonders what benching a player can do
Exactly the way I see it: Ramsey has had two goals in the past 15+ games. But guess what? Both were when he came up from the bench. Arshavin didnt put a foot wrong…but I still think his ingenuity can only be truely appreciated when he plays in the hole.
Massive win. Massive 3 points. And what a satisfaction to beat those busparking cunts !!
Hey Milan, hey Milan
Guess who’s comming into town
Yeah that’s right it’s Arsenal
And you know what – You’re going down !!
PS: To Red Bulls
Hey fellas whe have a Morocan and South Korean chap and we’ve been told that they can kick a ball or two… So can you please take them in exchange for our legend ? Thanks.. 🙂
what a comeback??????????was desperate to see the winner from arsenal and i knew they could score if they had brought some ferocious player in….and guess what..wenger read my mind and he replaced theo and bought arshavin….hats off to the team and congrats on their win…..and thierry we will miss you……..gunner 4ever!!!!!!!
King Henry.
The man who scores like he never left The Arsenal.
ANY ARSENAL FAN, FAIRWEATHER OR DIEHARD MUST BE FEELING THE SAME AS ME RIGHT NOW.
I AM IN A PERMANENT STATE OF ORGASM.
Did you orgasm over your Caps Lock key?
Yes! It’s unstuck now, but it was sticky before.
Great win, terrible pitch! We scored 2 goals, showed the much maligned ‘mental strength’ even with RVP not having his best game. Was fantastic to see Chelsea lose and for once we’ve managed to take advantage with our nearest rivals losing. 2 good results of course don’t make a season but after Blackburn this is another top performance and even bigger result. I also thought the referee did quite well, it was refreshing to see us being given freekicks so often for those cynical fouls. And to top it all off what a fine farewell present from The King!!! Onwards… Read more »
The pitch looked like it had been attacked with a tractor. BBC interviewed O’Neill after the game and he moaned about the ‘heavy pitch.’ How can you criticize your own fucking pitch! O’Neill, you are a cunt!
It wasn’t like his team were playing football anyway. If there’s anyone the pitch affected it was def Arsenal
The heavy pitch helped them get the goal when it took out per met****er the BFG. And what the fuck is wrong with these commentators, do they all have to go through the sp*rs scripts on how to hate the Arsenal? Had to tripple my drinking rate just to shut out their trash.
Mind you had we dropped points and Arsene had blamed the pitch (a valid enough comment for this game at least) the hacks would have been on his back as though he was the instigator of a terrible apocalypse….but O’Neill blames his own pitch and it’s no big deal. Serves them right for serving that up for a premier league game, even Wigan’s rugby pitch has looked better. Anyway, big win and let’s hope the pitch is in a better state for the cup game next week. One can hope..
Thierry Henry!!! Thierry Henry!!! Thierry Henry!!!…. ONE AND ONLY!!! They say form is temporary, but CLASS IS PERMANENT!!!
DON’T GO THIERRY!
Just buy him back Arsene, even if he’s half as good as he was, he’s still twice as good as most of whats out there. 2 year contract right now! He’d probably do it for fuck all anyway.
Love you forever Thierry,
Hugs, kisses & mouthwanks,
The Good-Bloke.
A moment of magic by Arshavin. 😀
Now to Milan for some CL action.
Pure ecstacy after the Henry goal. Three ‘inspired substitutions’ though I was actually hoping AA would come in for Arshavin.
Great win marred by BFG’s unfortunate injury
Get well soon boss…
*AA would come in for Walcott that іş…
Thierry Henry -What a Legend. There has never been a better player to wear the red and white.
Respect Sire.
You can’t ever write a script like that. That was God.
best premier league player EVER
We won a game without Van Persie scoring – how odd is that?
(Maybe someone might want have a go at that originally rhetorical question)
And as I type; it is 2-0 against Newcastle. Fourth is ours and we are keeping it.
ERMH (cough)…It has happened before.
Looked it up myself: The last BPL game that Arsenal won without RVP scoring was on September 10, 2011 when we beat Swansea. Arshavin scored in a 1-0 win. It was the ONLY game we had won in the league this season without Robin on the scoresheet.
*EPL
BPL, sponsors, sponsors, evil bankers, thank you thank you.
I think I am bipolar. From depressed and angry to ecstatic in 15 minutes.
First off. Sam you really are total knob mate. That said great result against a really tough Sunderland team, not many will go there under oniel and get a result.
Hope aa can take confidence from his cameo as he has always had the talent it was the will that seemed lacking.
And results in our favour for a change.
Massive 3 points. But on another note how shit was Sunderlands pitch it looked atrocious for a premier league pitch i’ve seen better pitches in the Npower league 1 does the Fa/Premier League not have some kind of guidelines for pitch conditions they seem to have guidelines for everything else.
Thierry Henry can still play in the CL match right? If so, by his recent trend, he will score to complete his farewell and goals record to 230th.. I’m so happy.
FAIRYTALE.
What a man, what a legend… I don’t think words can really describe his greatness
Hopefully it’s nothing serious for the BFG… get well soon!!
Ok I cried. First Henry scored in his last appearance in Premier league and then Arshavin gave a beautiful cross out of nothing when I was consoling myself a draw is not that bad. There are irrelevant things in football like stupid handshakes and racism, and then there are moments produced by Legends who restore my faith in premier league and football in general. Arshavin: Booed by own crowd. Worked with his head down and delivered the goods. Yes, he wasn’t good this season overall but to attribute a loss completely to him is stupid. Henry: Made fun of by… Read more »
It Took 3 SUBS to win the game for Arsenal!!
Ramsey, Henry and Arshavin the provider of TH’s goal!
Come on what about ramsey he was the 1 that got the game going and he equilised if he hadnt of scored it would proberbly have been 1-1 and we wouldnt be in front of chelsea
Yes some insightful comments there. If we hadn’t scored one of our 2 goals in our 2-1 win we would probably have drawn the game 1-1…… and only gotten 1 point, you know, as opposed to getting 3 points.
I think he was more talking about the fact Ramsey seems to get constantly slated and changed the game for us, but yeah, crappy sarcasm why not
huh?
Was contemplating how I was gonna vent on here after another loss. What a turn around! I understand that those subs were inspired and everything, but on any other day, I’d have taken off Walcott for arshavin 30 mins previously. I could see from the first 10 mins that Walcott was gonna do absolutely nothing all day long with a parked bus in front of him and Sideline grasshopper man knew that. That was a game though where arshavin’s presence in the squad paid dividends. We simply don’t have enough creativity in the middle of the park right now. Let’s… Read more »
I agree that Arshavin should have replaced Walcott earlier. I don’t mean this as disrespect to Walcott or the Ox but the pitch was not suited to their style. It’s hard to get a good run with the ball when it won’t roll in a straight line. Worst BPL pitch I’ve seen in a long time.
Shit pitch. How is this allowed? We conceded to the pitch, not to Sunderland.
All hail d king
And ramsey
Hope mertesacker isn’t that bad but I think we might have our strongest defence by default on Wednesday. Mert has struggled at times but couldn’t really see wenger dropping him.
Bow to the King! Fairy tale ending for Henry!
Bow to ramsey aswell COME ON!!!
Henry is a legend, Ramsey is yet to prove his worth Lizzie.
Yes but give him some credit he scored his first goal since october
Nigella is cooking food, I’ve no idea what it is. All I know is I’d like to introduce her mouth to the jewfro at the base of my penis. Roar.
Why don’t we keep our hero and just tell the Yanks to fuck off?
It’s not a bad idea. Maybe we could be polite about it. You know, here’s a shit Moroccan striker, a shit Korean striker 6 mil and a proper fuck off. They may take it.
We could throw in Squilaci and Almunia too.
Nah. I don’t even think those two could get into the ny first team. It mite ruin the deal.
I scream out my own name during sex because I’m a narcissist. Plus I never quite get to the “what’s your name” stage. Roar.
Fuck yeah. Spread that cross on your toast Arshavin haters.
Watching Sex & the City now. Think it’s about 4 prostitutes. First time I’ve watched 4 whores without paying to be honest. Roar.
Dissapointed I’ve been overlooked for the Wales job. I fucked Imogen Thomas & the fat bird from Gavin & Stacey. What has Coleman done? Roar.
Watched Iron Lady today. I expected a woman in an erotic metal suit, what did I get? Margaret fucking Thatcher. Motherfucking roar.
Gunnersaurusvex- fuck off with your unfunny comments and take your misogyny with you.
The legend still has it but a shame he has to go now.
If Van Perise gets injured we are totally screwed!
Well done to the king and his troops. I’d take Titi over a few we have in our squad right now…..even if he was as old as Socrates. Now the off topic stuff…..Why on earth would we announce to the world exactly how much we have to spend? We will only be held to ransome for extortionate fees a la Bent. Only reason Carroll was bought for 35m is the fact that the world knew Torres was off for 50m. The only potential that thug has is to be turned upside down and used as a sewer mop. Apologies for… Read more »
It won’t matter really as Wenger prefers to walk away rather than paying over the odds.
Fucking spineless toon cunts, 4-0 down at half time. Pardew is a fucking prize tit, always has been, always will be.
Congratulations, flavour of the month, wheeler dealer Redknapp the poison chalice is yours.
like it was ever pardews?????
i love the way alan ‘ruled himself out’. what a fucking asshole.
guess that means I have to rule muyself out too – and all the other ,millions of people who had nop chance anyway.
what a pretentious fucking cunt rag.
What has this got to do with anything?
Off topic etc…
He might be a prick, but the fact that his team beat Spurs on ‘that’ day makes me ignore his cuntness a little bit.
I love you, Thierry Henry!
Hmmm… Another plus- Seems Ryo didnt do too bad though the Coyles coiled and fans booed the subsitution as he came on… Ungrateful twats!
and on the 7th day He said: Let there be light.
and went back to america.
7-1 thrashing, 2-1 rescued victory from the pits and off to Milan with a full head of steam. Ramsey’s goal could’ve put us in the front for the top four. Chelsea looked dismal. AVB may have earned his pink slip today. Newcastle have shown themselves today and Liverpool, well, they’re complete shit. King Kenny can’t even control their own players. CL spot is ours to win or lose. Take care of our end and we qualify, which means RVP stays. Now, if only the NY Red Bulls will allow The King to stay so he can have an even more… Read more »
Hes done it again, hes done it agaaaain, Thierry Henry, hes done it again!!
God knows I love that man! We should get him on loan every January if we can’t get him back permanently, what a fucking legend!
Sunderland ground staff (aka twats) better sort that pitch out before the FA cup tie, cus that cup is ours this year! COYG!!