Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere, Ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla, Giroud
Subs: Fabianski, Vermaelen, Monreal, Rosicky, Flamini, Walcott, Gnabry
—
Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 win over Cardiff City today.
Arsene Wenger made three changes from the midweek team which beat Marseille. Mikel Arteta returned to midfield, Kieran Gibbs came back in for Nacho Monreal, and Santi Cazorla took the place of Tomas Rosicky in the attacking trio.
Having scored after 30 seconds against Marseille in midweek, Jack Wilshere almost did it again. Arsenal came forward with Ramsey and Giroud combining, Wilshere picked it up deep, and from the edge of the D cracked a shot which cannoned back off the underside of the bar.
There was a scare over Per Mertesacker a few moments later when the German clashed heads with Bacary Sagna, and while he was off the pitch the home side created a decent chance which was headed wide by Frazier Campbell.
In the 15th minute Olivier Giroud found himself with the ball at his feet behind the Cardiff defence, but the Frenchman stopped thinking he was offside. There was no flag however, and his pause allowed the defender to get back and prevent the shot on goal. Replays showed Ozil did flick it on to him and he was in an offside position but PLAY THE WHISTLE!
But we were ahead in the 29th minute. Arsenal probed for space in the Cardiff half, the ball came to Mesut Ozil who fired in a cross from the left of the area. Aaron Ramsey met it with a thumping header into the top corner to make it 1-0. The Welshman didn’t celebrate the goal and got a round of applause from the Cardiff fans.
Kieran Gibbs picked up a 33rd minute yellow and Cardiff caused some danger in the Arsenal area from the subsequent free kick, but couldn’t find a decisive touch.
Ramsey almost had a second as the half drew to a close. He was set up by Giroud in the area, he cut inside the defender, looked for space but Cardiff closed him down quickly and forced the shot wide and high.
Arsenal picked up where they left off in the second half and nearly got a second goal. A good passing move saw Ramsey get between two defenders and to the goal line. He pulled it back for Giroud but his side-footed effort was cleared off the line by a handily placed defender.
Cardiff were almost level a couple of moments later. They crossed from our right hand side, it deflected up into the air, Frazier Campbell got above Gibbs and headed it down towards the bottom corner, but Szczesny got down quickly and kept it out with a big hand.
The big Pole had to be alert to stop a Theophile-Catherine effort a few minutes later as the home side put some pressure on the Gunners. Olivier Giroud saw a right footed effort saved by Marshall but the game was being played in midfield with neither side dominating or creating clear cut chances.
Jack Wilshere created a half-chance, playing Cazorla into the box, but the ball got caught under the Spaniard’s feet and his shot was straight at the keeper. The former Malaga man was then replaced by Mathieu Flamini as the game headed for its final stages.
The Gunners had Szczesny to thank again as he came out well to smother at the feet of Mutch right on the edge of the Arsenal area, and his positioning was important again as he stopped a Whittingham shot.
Nacho Monreal then came on to replace Jack Wilshere as Arsene Wenger looked to see the game out. Aaron Ramsey tried to make it safe, shooting wide from 35 yards inside the last 10 minutes, before Szczesny was forced into action again making a save from a Cardiff set-piece.
But Arsenal secured the points in the 87th minute when Mathieu Flamini got the second. Ramsey spread it from the left hand side, into Ozil on the right hand side of the the box. The German played it behind the defenders, finding the onrushing Flamini who smashed it home from close range.
Walcott came on for Ozil in the 90th minute, and was involved in the third goal. Arsenal broke upfield, Walcott played it into the path of Ramsey in the area, he took a touch and fired it into the top of the net to make it 3-0.
So, it’s another win, another clean sheet, and another three delicious points makes for a good Gooner weekend.
Despite lee masons best impressions of a cunt we showed awesome character today and punished them when the time was right.
What a season Ramsey is having, fuckin ecstatic for the boy. Ohhhhh to be a goooooner
Ramsey is undoubtedly the best player in the Epl this season…
Szczęsny is the best player in the league actually.
His save from the point-blank header reminds me of the footage of the save Gordon Banks made from Pele in the 1970 world Cup in Brazil.
Just to save anyone the bother, here is the Banks save !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngE9RCAdWaE
I agree with you, but I absolutely hate when someone writes the “EPL”. It’s either BPL as Barclays Premier League or PL as Premier League ( everyone knows which league is in question ).
I prefer EPL, It has more soul to it, BPL is commercial-sounding.
BPL sounds like a dodgy oil company
…or, considering this is an Arsenal blog, just call it the league.
@benvnc It actually is. Bharat petroleum Ltd. Governement owned and dodgy.
as a gooner who’s born and bred in cardiff, i find it slightly (but only slightly) frustrating that people call it the EPL. Call it whatever you like n everything, but remember there’s a little country called Wales. I think we have a player from there who’s quite good. Great result today! top of the league!
In general, outside of the UK it’s referred to as the EPL. And whatever anyone prefers to refer too it as: we are fucking top of it!
As long as we don’t let the 2 from Scotland in, I don’t mind the Welsh clubs as they won’t be staying indefinitely.
For a long time I thought it was for British PL after Swansea got promoted.
But I agree with the person who said league is good enough around here
Hilarious how on the pre-game show for the Marseille match all they could say was that Ramsey isn’t doing anything different other than that he is extremely lucky. Apparently it’s all luck. Who hires these people? It doesn’t take an expert to notice Ramsey has really stepped up his game. Fantastic player!
Like my old man used to say “funny thing but the more I practice, the luckier I get”
I think that was gary player..
Ozil
Lee mason was so shit.
Arteta will go relatively unnoticed but he was so so good today. The less about Santi today the better, but he might lose his place next week if theo is back.
Aaron you beautiful welsh boy. And ozil is back to being the king of the assist. Go on then boys this title is yours.
Good stuff from szcz as well.
I find it absolutely amazing that a player of Santi’s calibre can actually lose his place in this team.
We do have a pretty good squad now! Hopefully when Podolski is back he can play in front too to ease the burden off Giroud. Maybe his game is different but rather him than ol’ Nicky B.
😀
Mesut Fucking Ozil – He is already leading the assist charts.
Sing his name!
Just before he put that ball through for Flamini, the commentator was slagging him off for having a poor game.
Even Stewart Robson had to correct him and point out he’d already provided the assist for Ramsey.
I noticed that too. I don’t know fuck all about football but I quietly and very confidently can see that Özil is wicked. He has an abundance of class, even when he’s relatively quiet he has a bearing on the game. He is the final ingredient that helps put us through to the top of the table IMO. Dopey ex-players commentating only see a player’s quality if they score from inside their own half. Loving the Özil.
Please Arsenal give Sagna a new contract. A long one.
Ozil is incredible. anyone who doesn’t see it isn’t actually watching the game.
Stewart Robson has been very,very quiet recently. After the shit he was spewing all summer this is a good thing.
Used to be a Ramsey critic. On some level i think i was right. I feel with the new cash we have we could have spent £100 m on a single player. And that player is fucking RAMSEY!!!
He’s turned it into a one team league
Why the thumbs down for this post? Is it because of the name?
This team gets more amazing by the day! Well played boys…
Can’t find words to describe the team I love.. but I guess I would comment anyway.
Arsene get Turner.
Sarcasm lads….get it.
We controlled the game like I was playing it on FIFA (I’m immense). Never once was I really worried, from back to front we have a great side, and the bench today was very impressive!
Not going to ask for 2-4 signings in January, one striker as cover is all we need.
Seven points, next two games are both at home… Come on
Ramsey had a great game but Szsc is the MOTM. Kept a clean sheet when it looked like it was gonna be 1-0.
3-0 to the Arsenal!!!
Three goals three points and ANOTHER CLEAN SHEET!
I am feeling a little giddy. I think I’l go and lie down.
Chezzer is in fucking unreal form.
Gianluigi Szczęsny!
Wojciech Buffon
This is getting serious boys and girls.
Gianjiech Szczeffon….
Ramsey= Pure class, what else can be said. Szez… Superb. Back 4-sublime. Ran out of adjectives to describe the current state of Arsenal FC
Ramsey as opposed to RvPoo … the difference between a gentleman and a twat. Well done, Aaron, that was pure class.
What an impressive punter Rambo is…..a class act in every sense of the word.
Special mention for Lolo Koscielny today, thought he was absolutely brilliant also!
Sunglasses ON! Cigars OUT!
Szczesny kept us in it, motm for me. Ramsey…pffft never in doubt when he went further up. Great weekend even greater result.
nobody talks abourt the clean sheets ..we just conceded one in last seven games ..kos was fucking amazing ..maybe tomas over santi for next few games ..ozil class..arteta showing off skills ..great win
People talk about clean sheet when Arsenal are the ones who aren’t getting them.. You should take note that whenever Arsenal do something of importance, it’s not as meaningful as when another club does so.
I agree…never understood why the talking heads seem to have it in for the Gunners…I mean look at us: Ozing class everywhere (pun intended), on and off the pitch (well if we leave Bendtner out)…and now we even turn out for our games wearing Lanvin suits! maybe they instinctively sense that Arsenal, Club, Coach, Players and Fans, are a cut above the usual PL rubbish that passes for football…and maybe they have the sneaky suspiscion that AW knows a thing or two they don’t…I was at this restaurant once where the entire 1st team + the reserves were having dinner… Read more »
This is true but with zonal marking we concede off every free kick or corner, remember.
Indeed, was funny to hear Robson talking about how weak our defence were despite the numbers pointing at them actually being pretty good…not entirely sure why he distrusts cold, hard facts so much but there you go.
Because he’s a fucking moron.
Of course, that’s why we are (again!) not top 4 material, unfortunately.
our best selection is still the one that played napoli
Ramsey played ever so well.
He is quite good at playing football isn’t he.
quite so. yes
Indeed.
Indubitably
Rather
That Ozil chap appears to be most proficient too!
He’s decent.
Welsh Dragon eats Bluebirds for dinner.
And dragons.
with whipped pitbull for dessert.
I’m not going to comment the starting 11, because I’m out of words. But just want to point out: There are quick players, there are very fast players, there are extremly fast players and then there’s Theo Walcott. Have you seen his run for the 3rd goal. Absolutely fantastic! Welcome back Feo!
COYG
what about ramsey? 92nd minute picks up the ball deep in our own half runs it all the way into their half, passes it to walcott and get’s on the receiving end, a bad pass mind you, nice control, smashes it top corner?! plus leads the team in tackles again. how is it possible? superhuman
He must have an engine like er… a TRACTION ENGINE!
We are top of the league!
Err…perched there for quite some time now, even you might have noticed.
Cardiff are a great side. Good to see a hard working team that can play some decent football.
Loved Arteta’s play today, obviously Rambinho, and two sweet Mesmertrons from Ö11!
I think we had it a bit easy. Cardiff only really pressed a few times today, towards the end of the first half and for a brief spell after Turner robbed Giroud on the line. They put in a much bigger shift against Man U last time out.
That said, it was still a tremendous away result.
Well, they probably understood that AFC was far too superior to manure and there was no point running ragged trying to close us down in the first 45 minutes.
I think you’re right, teams are starting to fear us, which is totally fucking awesome.
I think we also approached the game differently, there was markedly less pressing from the front. Almost as if we knew their passing out of the back isn’t a big threat and were trying to prevent the keeper from lumping it forward.
Is that you, fatgooner?
3 points in the bag, well done boys !On a different note, the auto-complete in the live blog is quite amusing.. the yellow Cardiff thing had me wondering.
well that definitely isn’thomas vermaelen
Ha yeah that one too ! Even more confusing. With blogs, you get food for thought between actions.
heh, it goes a bit wonky if you finish a sentence with a letter that autocompletes.
All part of the fun!
What a team!
Are we still being written off in terms of winning the title?!
You suspect that Wednesday will bring another three points too.
I think we will stay being written off for another 3-4 months by cunters. Up to the point when mathematically other teams can’t catch us, which will be in April 🙂
And then all we will hear will be “Oh, but the league isn’t what it used to be.”
Plus, we would have won by 30 points by just a sheer luck.
Let them keep saying it until one day they go, ooops them fucking Gooners have won the league!
Of course we are being written off, but some of the usual suspects would still be saying we are not contenders if we were 10 points clear with 3 games to go.
Loved the response to the Flamster’s goal, the Ramsey ones were poignant and the crowd was great, but seeing your DM driving into the box to score, just sums up our squad right now.
Was he this good for Milan i wonder?!
He was. Probably their best player for the last few months of last season. I think his spell in Milan was underrated by a lot of journalists over here, he’s very highly regarded in Italy.
Would Milan even let him cross the halfway line?
It pays to keep your sleeves on you see 🙂
And of course, must credit El Chezzo. Saving matches and winning matches for Arsenal. Like Mr. Blogs wrote earlier this week The in form premier league keeper!
We couldn’t… Could we?
We will I reckon! I said that before the season started (and before we’d bought Ozil) and friends laughed at me mercilessly for it.
Really pleased with Szcz today, world class save from him when the score was 0-1. It is so important to have a reliable man in goal.
Ozil’s assists were both absolutely delicious! Good to see Walcott being unselfish by passing to Ramsey for the 3rd goal! Expected him to go for goal himself…
I love Giroud, but I’m starting to wonder if he’s a bit tired. We really need a striker to take some of the workload of his (wonderful ‘n delicious) shoulders.
I would love to see Giroud given a rest but it is so hard to do. The system that Arsenal is using has been so successful (obviously) and Giroud is the one player who can’t be swapped out without having to tinker with the whole formation. (Unless he was to trust Bendtner; perish the thought)
If Arsene feels that Giroud needs a rest, then I don’t see a better time than against Hull in midweek.
Actually the entire team were playing a bit sluggishly today, I thought. That would be the result of the midweek game. Still had enough class for a great win, but I think the boys may be getting a little weary. Having said that, we had a few moments where the lads put a burst of speed in when needed. Considering some of the results that Cardiff have been getting at home I think we can consider ourselves entirely satisfied with today’s result. Great win, and for the rest of December it will be all the teams playing every three days,… Read more »
Who let the lone Spud in here? Every comment gets a single thumb down? I suggest Search & Destroy Protocol A1-Ex245/d be initiated at once.
Possibly our most composed performance of the season so far. Scez was outstanding. Fantastic result and overall team display.
Ahhh love it.
Flamini’s goal…it has to be walloped into the net isn’t it?
I flinched a little
Rolling up his sleeves did the trick! Should do that more often!
Gotta love szczesny’s cool
Must say sczc is a man transformed this last season (starting with the run we went on last year for our ‘trophy’) lol
And Cardiff are pretty Stokey now that I’ve actually watched them play.. Adding them to my shit list.
Their fans are proper class tho, different to the denizens of mordor at the potteries.
Admittedly they fell to the ground a bit but I think comparing them with that bunch of Orc shitkickers is a bit strong….
Aye, their play was physical and tough but actually fair. A few shoves went unnoticed by the ref but that’s not a shock, is it?
Ref was trying hard to get the game on even keel. But we already learnt our lesson in the Villa game.
They are much nicer since they all had to sit down for games. They were horrors when they were at Ninian Park. When I was living in Cardiff I spent many a Saturday afternoon stood on the Bob Bank watching them in Division 2 and 3, including one fine afternoon when I had to hide both my nationality and Goonerness, while Arsenal disposed of them in the League Cup. One smile at the wrong time, or a word spoken out loud, and I’d have joined the effigy wrapped in an England flag that they were burning just 10 yards away… Read more »
Ozil sauntering off the pitch must be the most languid yet elegant this league has ever witnessed
unreal. his touches, his control, his passes… best player in the league?
2nd only to Rambo on current form!
Without doubt the most majestic.
Bacary Sagna, please sign with us for the rest of your footballing life.
Rosicky as well actually, we need those 2 “veterans” for the next couple of years, even if only just being around the training ground and teaching new recruits the Arsenal way we have refounded in the last 12 months
lee mason’s daughter is fan of giroud!!that’s why he was such an bias towards him! #prick
getting out my cold beer and popcorn while i watch MOTD and watch that fucker Alan Hansen describe just how good our boys are
Danny Murphy and Les Ferdinand. Hansen and Shearer seem to be mysteriously absent when Arsenal have a good performance and result.
I’ve noticed that too. Why is that? IS it because they choose to absent themselves, or do the producers make the decision to keep Hansen, in particular, off MoTD when Arsenal play on Saturdays now? He actually managed to pay us a few generous compliments after the Norwich match, but you could see it hurt…
Give us Bayern any day. We can easily beat this club full of overrated players. 8:1 after both legs.
Calm yourself
Cardiff City lost the game because they played 15mins with one man down…they replaced Bo-Kyung Kim with No one
Also, their right back played the whole match with a stiff one in his pants knowing that Theo was on the bench
Noone = No one…. absolutely pissing my pants, considering I had to go check the match stats to get the reference!
How can someone thumb that down…some people are just dead inside…
Great win again, that’s how it’s done in Cardiff to all mancs, Ramsey legend, flamini stick to the long sleeves,still top of the league 🙂
Ramsey has scored more goals from open play than the entire team of Tottenham… what a player!
That said, Szczesny is playing on a different level this season. What a difference it makes to the whole team to have a competent and commanding keeper.
Szczesny. A bad hand at Scrabble, but a fantastic goalkeeper!
The scariest thing about our team , is that some of our top top players havent even hit top form yet.
We are winning games when we aint playing at our best and i feel sorry for any team that plays us when santi , ozil , wilshere really hit top form . Our defence at the moment is solid at the moment i feel we can challenge for the prem and champions league . COYG!!!!!
I think is time they hit top form especially for the city, and chelsea game we need everybody in form and I want to see that arrogant murinho face when we trash him 3-0.
i think wilshere is already starting to hit top form. in the last three games he had 2 incredible shots saved by the post and 2 incredible goals. not losing the ball anymore, making great passes, good defensive work… ozil is already our best player imho bar maybe ramsey (and he will get better!), it’s only santi who needs to find his top level at the moment.
People keep taking about Ozil’s form dropping and, to be fair, I think there may be something to it. But if anything, I think it just shows how much of class player he is if he can have an “okay” game and still deliver two beautiful assists. It reminds me a bit of when RVP used to do nothing in games except score the game winning goal.
When Ozil finally hits his peak form I think it’s going to be scary, I’m hoping it comes during the CL knock-out stages.
People forget that ozil is 3 months in the BPL and that the BPL is totally different from Laliga and needs time to settle and learn the movement of all players in Aresnal team, and for this 3 months with new surroundings and playing in a new league he is brilliant, king of assists and vital for our play, enough said, haters will hate and ozil is and will be world class and he showed that again today!
Dont you ever mention Van Cunty’s name again!
Also, some people seem to have thought he would come in and stand head and shoulders above the rest of the team (OK maybe not Per 🙂 ). In our current midfield I just don’t think that is possible for anyone. It struck me today that he is getting into the swing of giving a complete game, pressing, tracking back, doing the ugly stuff, while still getting up to speed in the PL* — while as people have said, putting in two very nice assists. *How many other leagues in the world do you go to a side possibly fighting… Read more »
Ozil, also, is hilarious. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Glorious assist. Nothing. Nothing. Lose the ball. Nothing. Glorious assist. Subbed.
Obviously nothing in terms of goals or assists between his two assists, but he’s very important to the way we play, the way we move the ball across the field and suffocate our opponents by sheer ball possession is only possible through players that have the level of technical ability as Özil, Arteta, Cazorla etc..
so true. people think ozil shoudl be all over the ball, dominating in the way a cesc fabregas does for example. but he does so much so quickly. he gets the ball and there are three defenders on him and he doesn’t just not lose it, he threads an incredible pass onto one of our players favoured foot. he is unbelievable. he just plays so quick i think commentators (and our own players to a certian extent) aren’t used to it
People, in general, miss the things that matter; the players that actually create the space for others to exploit. Ozil does that very well, it’s the quick, sharp passes and touches that get things moving that we need…when he combines that with a Mesmertron or two, it shows how he is worth 42m.
i read somewhere he had 96% pass completion rate in the first half. 96%
that sounds arshavinesque
Watch the game again… Especially for the following sequence of play: Arsenal regains possesion (usually via Arteta) Özil has moved into space, drawing at least one Cardiff player with him. Shimmies past and finds another Arsenal player further up the pitch with a sublime pass. Count the times Özil does this, then tell me he did “nothing” apart from the assists…
Danny Murphy’s analysis on MoTD of the Arsenal fluidity against Cardiff highlighted a few things that the match commentators missed. Like the way Özil hung back to cover on occasion when Sagna was committed forward. And the one-touch passing that Özil so frequently took part in till someone was free to penetrate further forward. When he’s not providing spectacular assists, he’s still playing a pivotal role in the midfield, and his positionl sense is as good as anyone’s. It’s also true that he makes runs to draw defenders and free space for others. But I don’t mind if he’s underestimated… Read more »
The Welsh Jesus stops by the manger for a kick-about and bags two. What a player.
This team justs gets better, have confidence in all the team now, especially szezesny in goal, rotate against hull and I’m over for Everton game so can’t wait
Arteta should have got a red for running into elbows. Dirty player !!
P.s its time to get theo back into ur fantasy team.
I know, but he doesn’T fit. I already have Mert, Giroud and Ramsey. And I can’t really replace Ramsey?
And thats how you beat Cardiff City boys. What a team we have on our hands now. Szczesny has come up with match winning saves after match winning saves. One of our midfielders dont click? Not a problem. Up steps another. And we finally saw one of Mesut’s trademark through balls! Cmon you Gunners!!! Top of the League and still nowhere near contenders!
Rambo, Ozil, Szcezsny go down the list again. Every single player offered something today.
Great energy, great attitude, commitment and ofcourse the class when needed.
I LOVE this squad.
COYG!!!
nc
Utter class from Rambo.
He did the ‘Ayatollah’ celebration and I’ve got a lot of time for that. he hasn’t forgotten his roots. Classy behaviour from the Cardiff fans too.
Szczesny MOTM!
This has to be the best Arsenal side since the invincibles. I’m so happy for Arsene that things seem to be turning around. A true Arsenal legend getting back to what he does best.
The 07-08 side was pretty magnificent. This side seems to have a bit more steel though, and a rock-solid core. If we don’t get horribly unlucky with injuries we’ll be right in there with a chance for the title.
In 07/08 we had Willam Gallas at the centre of our defence. Now we have Per Mertesacker. Enough said.
Cardiff’s sub in the 75th minute was a bit strange….they took Kim off but brought No-one on.
Before I get my coat can I just say….Top Of The League!!!!
GENERAL FLAMINI!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope Santi gets his mojo back, he hasn’t been smiling for a while now, if you’ve noticed, c’mon Santi 🙂