Arsenal: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Rosicky, Cazorla, Ozil, Bendtner
Subs: Fabianski, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere, Walcott, Giroud
—
Arsenal stayed top of the league with a well deserved 2-0 win over Hull City at the Emirates tonight. There were a number of changes from the team which beat Cardiff. Both full backs were replaced as Nacho Monreal and Carl Jenkinson came in, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky were recalled in midfield in place of Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta, while the big surprise of the night was Nicklas Bendtner getting a start up front in place of Olivier Giroud.
It was a move which surprised many but the big Dane proved Arsene Wenger right by opening the scoring inside two minutes. Arsenal worked it down the right hand side, Carl Jenkinson fired a great cross in and Bendtner met it with a thumping header from the edge of the 6 yard box. 1-0, and what a return to the side.
Arsenal took control of the game from that point, probing around the Hull box relentlessly. Flamini, Ramsey and Rosicky all saw shots blocked and from a corner a Per Mertesacker header was cleared off the line. All this inside the first ten minutes.
Bendtner almost had a second in the 15th minute. Mesut Ozil took a shot from the edge of the box, the keeper stopped it at his near post but couldn’t quite hold it. The Dane came in on the run, took it away from him, but his touch was just too heavy and it ran out for a goal kick.
Arsenal’s number 23 then set up Santi Cazorla on the edge of the Hull area but his placed shot was always going wide, while Aaron Ramsey smashed a left footed shot over from a half cleared free kick. The Welshman then forced McGregor into a save with a turn and shot from the edge of the box.
Arsenal’s top scorer fancied a goal because moments later McGregor had to make a fantastic save to stop Ramsey doubling the lead. He picked the ball up about 25 yards from goal, hit it beautifully and it swerved towards then away from the keeper, but he got down well to push it around the post.
At the other end there were some warning signs for Arsenal to stay switched on when Tom Huddlestone fired a low ball right across the Arsenal six-yard box, and there was further danger when Chester headed wide from a Tigers corner.
Mesut Ozil had a chance late in the half to extend the Gunners lead. As Arsenal broke, Santi Cazorla played Bendtner down the right channel, he stood up a good cross but Ozil just couldn’t get over the ball and headed it wide. It meant that despite the home domination, they took just a one goal lead into the half-time break.
The second began much like the first for Arsenal … with an early goal. A good Arsenal move down the left hand side saw Monreal, Ramsey and Ozil involved. The German played it to Ramsey who cut open the Hull defence with a beautiful reverse pass which Ozil ran on to and finished at the near post. 2-0.
There were further early chances when Cazorla fired over after being set up by Ramsey, the Welshman himself saw a shot blocked at the near post and from the resulting corner Nicklas Bendtner’s header was headed off the line by Robbie Brady.
Cazorla then saw a left footed effort pushed away by McGregor, and then almost set up Bendtner with a tempting low cross from the right hand side which the Hull defence dealt with very well. A Laurent Koscielny mistake then set up a chance for Livermore but his shot from inside the box was straight at Szczesny, and Kriss Boyd headed wide after a good cross from the right by Sagbo.
Arsene Wenger then brought on Wilshere and Walcott for Bendtner and Rosicky as Hull began to find a little bit more possession in the game. Arsenal seemed content to let them have it, secure in their defensive ability, and only a last ditch tackle on Ozil from substitute Rosenior stopped another Arsenal goal.
Mikel Arteta replaced Aaron Ramsey for the last 10 minutes, and Wojciech Szczesny was lucky to get away with a very poor clearance which Monreal had to scurry back to take care of. With not long in the game to go and nothing to lose the visitors decided to go for it, pressing Arsenal high up the pitch. They had a lot of the ball but did little with it.
In the end Arsenal’s solidity saw the game out. Another accomplished performance, two good goals, three lovely points and we stay top of the league.
I’ve got couple of questions:
Basking, anyone?
Is Ramsey a human?
St Tottinghams day in February?
Bonus: You gonna get the sack in the morning, AVB
where others have struggled, we have thrived! COYG!!!!
Moyes finally got to see Everton win at old Trafford…
i am sorry, but no one can say we did not give man united the chance to catch up with us. I MEAN allowing them to win on their ground just to get that bit close to us…
RVP’s diminishing Horse placenta didnt make an appearance tonight.
Moyes has been trying to get Everton above United for over 11 years, and now he has finally succeeded.
the little boy inside of RVP must be really happy now hahahah
RVP has put him up for adoption.
It’s that nobody wants the grey haired skunk.
haha the dutch cunt
Good one! Shouldn’t have listened to that poor ol’ inner kid :•)
That little kid is dialling the child help line right now.
Here is the record for the last 5 days of play for the “supposed” BIG 5″
Arsenal > WWWLW
Chelsea > WWWDL
Man City > WWWLW
Liverpool > WLDWL
M-United > LMFAO
PMSL
Damn, I must have jinxed sp*rs result, they only just managed to beat bottom 3 club, feckers…
Well, they managed to get their goal difference up to a respectable -2 now, so it’s a pretty good evening for them!
Surely Barcelona and/ or Real Madrid are preparing a bid for TGSTEL 🙂
lets hope PSG gives us Cavani and takes Bendtner!
C’mon Calvani + £10 mil, be realistic
No way are we taking a cheap knock-off of Cavani
That ramsey assist. ok
Nice thing is you wouldn’t have blinked whichever way around the second goal was.
Ramsey was today’s Özil, and Özil was today’s Ramsey.
It’s all probabilistic, they are nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Read this, it’s a good one……poznaninmypants.com/2013/12/03/schrodingers-midfielder/
There’s one spud thumbdowner on the loose. i suspect it may also be a manc given todays result.
2 nil to the Arsenal..
The first 11 minutes reminded me of the old invincibles…
Hull couldn’t even get near the ball. It was like we controlled possession flawlessly, passed the ball so ruthlessly.
Awesome stuff.
It was almost as enjoyable as the first 15 minutes of the Napoli game…almost!
Sorry to say it after the Wenger/MOTD article but 3 words..grit and determination.
After the MOTD pundits stuff this weeks, wonder if any part of the team tonight was Wenger giving them the finger — the last excuse most of them have is:
‘What would happen if they lose Giroud’.
— We use The Last Samurai, or don’t bother with a striker, and still win.
He did well too. Some nice touches and if he’d had a little more match practice he’d have scored more I reckon. Nice to know he can be a viable option in matches like these.
Another clean sheet for Hansen to conveniently dismiss/ignore.
And NOTD’s response of course is to put us on 6th, so they only get 45 seconds to analyze the game.
Interesting to see if Lineker has another dig tonight, he seems to be enjoying winding the others up about their Arsenal doom and gloom predictions.
You see idiots at MOTD, Lineker asking if Arsenal CAN win the title, and stupid pundits are playing fecking wise men saying CHELSEA WILL WIN it. Just like Arsenal hasn’t got a 1% change of winning it, categorically, CHELSEA WILL WIN.
At least Robbie Fowler reckons we can win the league.
I’ve always liked that man. He has integrity.
I’d like to see Monreal play a game where he actually has to defend. Great going forward.
He did defend tonight, and in the best way, but just not letting them have the ball
I’ve noticed that he positions himself excellently to deal with long cross-field balls. Cuts them out every time.
Sometimes i think what it must be like to be a spud. God it must smart to be so shite and see your closest rivals be so good.
i jinxed it guys my bad….
Credit where its due. Well done Bendtner.
here’s an incredible stat: Bendtner has scored more than Ronaldo and Messi together in December!!
He came in, did his job very well, and let Giroud get some well-earned rest. Top stuff from ol’ Mick.
I was also so impressed that the rotated players who came in fitted in so seamlessly, and we probably could have scored a handful more. And they say we don’t have depth. Pfff.
Great win! Resting players and still come out strongly, as we did. COYG!
“..And Man utd are back in the title race..”
LOL at the commentator who said that in the game against us.
xD
hahaha united suck it you cunts
12 points seperate league leaders Arsenal from United. let that sink in then remember RVP is a thundercunt, let that sink in too.
My compliments on your usage of the superb word ‘thundercunt’. That is going into my lexicon.
Can’t believe that piece of lard Nicky Bendtner scored! Great ball by Jenko tho
yh i knw m8
Though*
Ohhh yeaahh! Supa dupa fresh, supa dupa fly. Nice one boys, Made it look easy. Cheers Bendtner for an early leg up and Ramsey/Ozil for that Gunner class. On to the next one, we hit em’ with a wrecking ball that would make Miley Cyrus proud. I love this team!
MOTM: Koscielny. What a game for the lad. Won absolutely everything. A million interceptions. And probably 90+% tackle winning percentage. Top of the tier stuff
Finally worked out how our CB partnership works tonight. Rather than the left sided and right sided one we have the tactical one and the scurry around and bite ankles one.
At one point Koscielny came all the way across to the right of the 18 yard box to close down one of the Hull attackers, while Per moved across so he could cover ant possible pass/move.
The bonus is that while the attacker is wondering how to get past those 2, the scary sleeveless one slips in and nicks the ball.
That was pretty impressive to see. Loved it. Kos used his speed, Per his German-ness. Team. Work.
Moyes has finally seen Everton beat United….
I hear RVP pulled a neck strain trying to see where Arsenal were located. can anyone confirm this?
Can confirm, am looking down on him
out of my way, Man! I’m having a long satisfying wee…
I’m surprised to say this, but I am actually quite impressed with Bendtner today. The fine cross from Jenko did half the work for his goal, but he had another chance, and played quite well considering he’s a twat on a regular basis. I don’t think I’d even have to say anything about Cazorla, Ramsey or Özil today, as they played brilliantly. Szczuperman showed another great “sacrifice” too in my opinion, sliding into dangerous areas to keep the sheets clean.
Delightful match, and I hope for another good one in 4 days. COYG!
I forgot to mention Koscielny. Brilliant, brilliant play by the lad! That being said, I don’t think I’ve got anything negative to say about anyone this match. Even Jenko and Bendtner impressed even though everyone doubted them pre-match.
united 12 points away from arsenal, also 12 points away from relegation…
mid table team anyone?
COYG!
When one of ur worst players can come into the first team and score, that’s called squad depth. Oh, still top of the league !
park scored?
He did say one of……
That the TGSTEL is one of our worst players says a lot.
Up the arse!! Lmao at man utd. Chelsea and spuds u jammy bastards. Complete dominatikn tonight, wish we were more ruthless but u cant have it all
Clean sheet was nice, although these guys were begging to be spanked to ‘sex up’ our goal difference. But hey, I’m not complaining, we rotated and we won.
too bad for manure…and looks like AVB got a lifeline. I say keep the guy in 😀
When we are sitting pretty at top of the table, second on goals scored and second best on goals conceded and you’re on about goal difference, you know the team is doing something right 😉
Actually, we have the lowest number of goals conceded (10) in the league; we’re second best on goal difference, but now third best on goals scored below Man City and just below Liverpool. Yeah, I know…
Top of the league. Too bad Tottenham and Chelsea are winning their stupid games.
2-nil to the Arsenal! Again.
Just so great to be able to make 5 changes and dominate the opposition without ever really getting out of 3rd gear. Great win.
I wonder how humiliating it must be for Walcott to see Bendtner get picked ahead of him. Can’t be doing any good for his confidence can it?
I know Bendtner is more similar to Giroud and that’s likely why he was chosen but still. I’m really hoping for Walcott to get a goal or two pretty soon. At least before the end of December.
Walcott would’ve never scored the type of Goal that Bendtner scored; and ffs he’s just coming off a long layoff and lastly there’s no way Walcott is going to play the lone targetman at home against Hull
Walcott was ill at the weekend and again this week, which is why he didn’t start.
Ah, my apologies. I stand humbly corrected.
Who says we don’t have strength in depth? Five changes from the Cardiff game and we didn’t miss a bit. The Arsenal machine keeps rolling. This team is quality. Am I the only one delighted that TGSTEL scored, he has always been good in the air.
Someone pointed out the strength of the bench before the game, but if you add that Sagna, Podolski, Gnabry and the OX were not even in the squad tonight, there will be some interesting choices ahead soon.
I read that as “always been good with the hair”. Good reason to be delighted for him.
That Ramsey’s pass!!! ! Bendtner I saw what you did there!!!
Yet another clean sheet. It just gets better and better COYG.
Bendtner did a reasonable impersonation of a like-for-like backup for Giroud.
I think Bendtner is a slightly worse like-for-like backup. As a player he has a lot of quality, and if he wasn’t at the club right now he’d be the type of player’d want to sign as a backup for Giroud. Well, at least if he wasn’t so f*cking stupid. Still think he could do a decent job for us…
*quite a lot instead of slightly
Pretty efficient performance from us. And specially Koscielny who had the entire Hull City strike force in his back pocket. Its 3AM here and I’ve got work in 4 hours.Bloody hell. I love this team!
I knew Bendtner would play but not so sure that he will also score, any how am loving this Arsenal more.
Bring on our next prey…
COYG!
I’m laid up in hospital after getting me appendix out and I nearly burst me fucking stiches laughing at the mancs, another good result and clean sheet, hopefully I can still get over for the match weekend 🙂
TGSTEL!!! He scores when he wants. By the way, did anyone see the Liverpool game? Tell me once again how that bitey Uruguayian won’t be an asset to Arsenal.
Because he is a bitey racist?
More seriously, he’s scored a lot at home against weaker sides (10 out of 13)
6 of his goals have come against the current bottom 3.
He’s played 4 games against 4 of the current top 10 (Everton, Newcastle, us and interestingly Hull). He’s scored once in those 4 games.
Flat track bully? — I certainly wouldn’t want to buy a striker who vanishes when playing Kos and Per, as he’s just not good enough.
at the North End, someone started a chant: ‘Bendtner, he swims when he wants…’
You sure? Where was Suarez against Hull over the weekend?
I’d prefer Aguero more than Suarez, not that we have a chance of signing him.
More clean sheets than an Imodium addict’s bog.
what a team! that’s how many clean sheets? 6 out of last 7 in the league? only one goal conceded in 7. only villa put more than a goal against us, and both were pens. COYG!
now for wet dreams of signing suarez in the summer when liverpool fail to qualify for the champions league….
Don’t forget the genius at the core of this team…… Arsene Wenger!!
Tonight was the first time in a while where I’ve heard the whole* crowd singing to him, a good feeling.
*OK not everyone, but you know what I mean
Nice one Döuble Döuble Döuble
Another win,another clean sheet,another good team performance,Ozil scoring,Ramsey assisting(Switched roles tonight)….those are what u’ve come to expect of this season Arsenal…now need to focus on the Everton game as the race is getting hotter…..and Monreal or Gibbs?…the competition is gonna be interesting
The best thing for this Arsenal side is to have their title credentials doubted by the so-called experts. Takes the pressure right off. Long may it continue.
oh my arsenal
an enemy keeps thumbing down all the posts.. he must be a having a bad time 🙂
Bendtner for President! No. Wait.. Junior Vice President
2-0 is the new 1-0!
We’re consistent.
Think we are due a big win soon though. Those shots kept raining in.
Bendtner put in a good shift today. So Arsenal don’t have a chance at winning the league because of its shitty defense, lack of world class keeper, lack of DMs, lack of depth and lack of striker back up.
No doubt MOTD will discount the quality of Hull conveniently forgetting what transpired on the weekend just.
This season is so sweet. Not only are we winning, we now have the privilege to point at RVP and laugh to our hearts content. I honestly do not have that much against United, as a club. Hostilities have kind of died down over the years and they aren’t exactly throwing cash around like no tomorrow. What I can’t stand are the players that not only walked out of us, but couldn’t keep their trap shut. You know those guys who think that after they jumped ship to a big club, they can say anything they want, thinking Arsenal will… Read more »
Re hostilities between us and Man Utd: iteresting how commentators have said the last few years Ferguson and Wenger got on a bit better because we were no longer both competing for the title. Good to see that’s continuing under Moyes, then.
Is it coincidental that NB52 now 23 TGSTEL was in the news for breaking into the gym for a work out at some wee hours of the day?
Looks like Santi’s coming back to form.. Looked much better than in previous games.. Oh man, I am waiting for Özorla to truly come good 🙂