We left it late but got there in the end thanks to Super Mick Bedntnaaaar and Theo Walcott. Three points all that matters.
Here’s how the players rated.
Wojciech Szczesny: 7/10 – Made a big save at the end to keep the clean sheet, but solid throughout and no moments of madness.
Bacary Sagna: 7/10 – Consistent as ever and it was from his ‘f*ck this, someone’s gotta score’ header that Bendtner got the opening goal.
Per Mertesacker: 6/10 – We love the BFG, and he was as great as ever at the back, but missed two headers which would have given him nightmares if we hadn’t managed to win the game. They might still give him nightmares.
Laurent Koscielny: 7/10 – If he was one of the X Men his name would be Mr Efficient. Keeps strikers quiet as a matter of routine. They just look around and wonder how they got in his pocket.
Nacho Monreal: 7/10 – Got forward well throughout the game. Showed the Man City performance was an aberration and it was his cross which led to Arsenal’s first goal.
Mathieu Flamini: 6/10 – Probably in the team because of injury to other midfielders rather than the threat of Cardiff. He does a good job but we looked more dangerous after he went off.
Mikel Arteta: 7/10 – Metronomic as always, making 45 of 45 successful passes in the 2nd half. By comparison, the entire Cardiff team made 57 successful passes in the same period.
Jack Wilshere: 8/10 – Arsenal’s most dangerous player on the day, created good chances for Walcott and Cazorla, hit the post, and deserved the assist at least. Always looked to drive the team forward.
Santi Cazorla: 7/10 – Looked a lot more like his old self. Still hasn’t found his shooting boots but was involved in some clever combination play throughout.
Theo Walcott: 7.5/10 – Another goal, that’s 5 in the last 5 games, and even if some of his play is frustrating at times, he’s got end product. Some very nice set-piece deliveries too.
Lukas Podolski: 5/10 – Anonymous in the first half, more involved in the second, but did little to suggest he’s the man to fill the Handsome French gap that existed today.
Subs
Nicklas Bendtner: 7/10 – It’s a real shame he knackered himself scoring the goal because he deserved to celebrate it. Nice to hear the crowd sing his name as he limped back towards the dug-out.
Tomas Rosicky: 7/10 – Added extra zip and drive to the team at a time when we were really piling on the pressure on Cardiff. He’s such a positive player.
Bonus rating
Cardiff’s keeper: bet you wish you had more time to waste after we scored, you slothy kicker/10
Feel free to debate and discuss in the comments, but please read the comment policy first and don’t get angry with each other, or me, about imaginary points.
And watch out for something new and exciting coming to our player ratings in the next few days!
Lady Luck – Fuck you / 10
I guess he is saying that due to Bendtners injury.
He is…
Jack is starting to look again just at the right time
Vermaelen: 10/10 for not touching the ball?
I was so happy to see him back making those driving runs.
You Know What… “I said It,Hoped For It and Hopefully Got It at the Right Time”…Jacky Man!!! (Not a boy anymore)
Ended 2013 as league leaders, started 2014 as league leaders!
Now on to Spuds!
COYG <3
Fuck hell, now Barca and Madrid are gonna be all over Bendtner.
Wilshere has been poor in lots of games this season. But not this one. He was truly excellent and easily MOTM. Fantastic to see him back to his best just when we really needed it.
Ditto for Cazorla.
No Cazorla was way to hesitant to shoot and a lot of his passing was sloppy.
Anybody noticed how strangely Jack strikes the ball? When he really catches it with that left boot it flies a bit as if to go too high and then it drops somehow (plateau kind). I think he hit the post somewhere (at Cardiff I think) with the same kind of blast. Watch how uniquely he shoots. Maybe trivial but subtle indeed.
He scores and then immediately injures himself.
Such is life at Arsenal.
Would’ve given Nicky an 8 atleast. Couldn’t really ask for much more from the lad. Either way, well done the Arsenal! Lets smash Sp*rs Saturday then we get about 8 days recovery time!
I do love it when Bendtner scores. I hope he recovers well and I’d love to see him in the Arsenal squad in the future if he can keep his good attitude up.
Poldi plays better in the left with a big striker in the middle. His crosses are superb, wicked lashes into the box. he plays around the penalty box a lot, one twos, smashing rebounds, shooting power, the works
I guess this proves you can’t put a fun German in a handsome french shaped hole.
That’s plain wrong
I award you my ‘Post of the day’
Ratings spot-on.
Thought Jack was sublime today, world-class at times, and clearly so much more effective and comfortable in the middle.
Nicky Bendtner on the path to redemption with a vital, vital goal that prove be critical for our title challenge.
10/10 – team’s never-say-die spirit.
Two things I learned from today
1) Podolski cannot play the cf role
2) Sagna should never, ever be allowed near a free-kick again.
What exactly did Sagna do that makes you say that? Much like most of our free-kick takers bar walcott he did not get it over the wall…..
Walcott took the 2nd free-kick and landed it over the bar. imo it should be Cazorla taking the free kicks but how and ever.
Yeah a couple of inches over the bar. After setting up a goal with one the previous game. I think we should actially remove his feet.
Arteta, Podolski and Cazorla are the only ones I’d let take ’em. Remember Arteta’s tricky free kick that led to a nice 1-0 win over City a few years back?
From memory, he scored an excellent long range shot to secure the victory over City. I guess the free kick you are thinking of, is the one against Villa, where we won pretty comfortably.
Mesut Ozil anyone? May I remind you all of his set-piece deliveries vs Stoke…
Mesut Ozil is £42M surely a £20M out of that can whip in a tasty freekick.
I’m happy with Walcott’s set pieces and the rest of the team seem to be too
Why the downvotes on this? I’ve gotta admit that I agree with both points he made, to be fair.
Bendtner was immense for every minute he was on the field. Let’s be honest though, really poor performance that would’ve been punished by a better team, no? I’m all for winning when we play badly, but we’ve been playing badly for the best part of 6 weeks, the next 4 games are crucial to build momentum going into the Liverpool and United games.
To be fair the entire core of our team has been ripped out by injury, and we were forced into playing a different system today with Podolski up top instead of having a natural target man there. Despite that, we created plenty of chances and on another day could have had 3 or 4 goals quite easily, without being particularly troubled at the back. When the subs came on the tide of the game shifted full-speed in our favour and we completely dominated, deserving a solid win in the end. We’re winning well with our best attacking players of the… Read more »
1. Podolski is very lovable, we love you poldi!!!
2. Though he is not one to play with his back facing goal thus should play on the LW where he is able to attack the goal.
3. Apart from playing on the LW he could also benefit from playing off another striker aka Giroud who will lays off those fantastic knockdowns and poldi will blast them away.
4. Don’t play with my heart Arsenal.
Thought Giroud was really poor today. Totally anonymous. Never had a shot on goal. Don’t even remember seeing him. Needs to up his game for me, and I know loads about football.
Vincent Tan?
Needed that performance from Jack. MOTM. Always going to be tough missing Ozil, Ramsey, and Giruod (most of our goals/assists from the 1st half). Jack and Santi always made it seem like a goal was coming. Then again, Per’s misses did the opposite. Walcott was really good. Got behind them numerous times but couldn’t get a decent ball (almost scored from the one decent one by Jack). Brilliant movement across the box by Theo leading to the first goal. And clinical finish for the 2nd. Great touch by Jack to play him in. As for Nik, never thought I’d say… Read more »
0/10 for new years resolution as I hit the hard stuff at about the 78th minute.
Vincent Tan’s Moustache: 10 Malaysian Ringgits/10
I’m a Malaysian. He brings such a bad reputation for us. Fuck that pig.
Don’t worry, we don’t use him as a reference point for all Malaysians. I kind of look at him as the Malaysian Heisenberg.
Jack was immense today! I was silently willing the crowd to sing “happy birthday” to him while we were applauding the lads off the pitch, but my ESP skills are sadly lacking. Anyway, have a Top of the Leage for your birthday, Jack!! COYG!
Good games form Wilshere and walcott. It’s like each member of squad is taking turns to be MoM.
People compare Bendtner to Giroud.
Whereas he is very different. Giroud is good at holding up the ball and bringing others into play.
But Nick is more of a poacher than Giroud. Remember his goals against Hull, Villa?
Sometimes we miss a player like Bendtner, who has the natural ability to be at the right place at the right time.
I’m not saying that he is better then Giroud, just that he has different qualities than Giroud.
this is true. bendtner, unlike giroud, appears to have a fully functioning right foot.
Giroud, unlike Bendtner, appears to have a fully functioning left foot.
Which is strange considering he’s rightfooted….
Is your name for real on this site?
I will always remember his best season, when he nicked late winners against well organized defensively teams and guaranteed our top four finish.
Chamakh appears to have a fully functioning right hand.
aaaaaaayyyyyy…….
Jack was excellent today. Podolski a fantastic player but lucky to get a 5. Never made himself available when he was the furthest player forward. Finding space as a genuine no. 9, in fact most aspects of CF play, are not strengths of his.
Blogs, I think BFG should get a bit more than 6. I mean he was exactly the same as Koscielny defensively but he missed two good headers. But isn’t missing a chance better than not having one? Would probably give him a 7 aswell. As for the win, well we left it late. But for all those asking questions about Giroud, today we got a reminder why Arsene sticks him upfront despite his sometimes lack of finishing. We looked far better with Bendtner(had a stormer) who is more similar to Giroud than Poldi is. For me MOTM – Nicklas Bendtner… Read more »
Yes BFG probably deserves a 7. He essentially won those two chances himself and was fighting to get to every cross.
Plus the fact that he celebrated Bendtner’s goal by kneeling on the ground, with his fist clenched in typical BFG style
Hey, I’m not BFG bashing here at all, but if a striker missed those two chances his rating would be affected, same goes.
“If a striker missed those chances..” Had no idea Per had been transformed into a striker in recent weeks. Must have missed it.
it’s kind of the same as when people criticise Theo for not doing enough defensively, only the other way round.
He is on the team to shut down the opposition mainly. However, he goes forward on free kicks to win headers and direct them on target whether that target is a teammate or the goal. If he wasn’t supposed to do that eh wouldn’t go forward. He fluffed two chances that he was expected to convert into something useful, it is his job. He is massive in defense, but he was rightly docked a point for failing to fulfill his complete job description.
To people saying that we cant play like this against bigger teams: we edged out a 2-0 win against a team parking their personal aeroplane with half of our regular starter team out: ozil, ramsey, gibbs, giroud, possibly oxlade. To win like this with a makeshift team but still criticize it, I dont really know what to say.
Intersting to see Jack Wilshere play in a role befitting of the number on his shirt. He was so combative today and still managed to oull of his trademarked surges forward despite his more advanced position. If today was a glimpse of Wilshere’s future role in the team, we can be very excited.
He’s obviously not going to play there as long as Ozil is around.
Who needs cardio when you support Arsenal?
Loved how Nicky B dribbled his way around the Cardiff defenders
Sky sports: 1/10 Kept showing the cardiff dictator and solskjaer for about 30 seconds again and again. Quite annoying because the game was tight, they did absolutely nothing and i think vincent tan is a pr*ck
Spot on with ratings. It was always going to be Mick’s day today, with his recent record on the leisure front.
Someone needed a Tan sorting, so Mick goes and smashes something in again.
He’s good like that.
So Ole Gooner Soljaer is joining Babs Lord in Tans People
TGSTEL’s goal spared blushes. In my opinion, he deserves a 9 for the ankle sprain while at it.
This fucking team will kill me before resurrecting me as a flaming rum soaked Phoenix that dances on John Terry’s grave and subsequently goes out for a pie and a beer with the missus saying I knew all along we were great you just weren’t listening when I told you we’d win it all.
If brednter keeps playing well like that then we won’t need another striker until next season. We can pretty much manage with Giroud, Walcott and bendtner scoring plus the others chipping in as and when they can.
what about the point where he got injured?
top, top jitters!!!
top, top nick
top, top table…
Pass the joint, will ya
Ratings were spot on in my opinion, and Jackie boy were by far the best this match, and my Man of the Match!
Also, I think Podolski’s taken over Arsenal’s Instagram today. I have never seen that many hashtags other than on Poldi’s Instagram.
to be fair I thought TGSTEL deserves at least an 8, we looked more dangerous immediately with him up front rather than Podolski. His goal was huge and came at a time where we were pushing hard but not having any luck. Unlucky to get injured, otherwise deserves a shot while Giroud is out.
Samurai Bendtner to the rescue with a kamikaze goal for the team.
Good to be a Gooner
Started to rate Poldi lower, but not really his fault to be playing out of position. Was an unbalanced line-up; really wish Arsene were quicker to make adjustments. Jack was a monster today, the back-four composed as always, and TGSTEL gave us a huge boost. Not just the goal, but winning balls and throwing himself around/giving Cardiff something to think about. 3 more big points to start the new year!
Agree with the ratings, but would bump Nick’s mark by a point because he won us the game in which we could have easily dropped points. Do also remember that the team with the best defense often goes on to become champions and I just hope with players coming back like Ozil, Ramsey, Giroud, Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain and others that we can maintain our fine progress. I also saw Man City’s win over Swansea and I still think they will drop points because defensively they do look vulnerable. Not necessarily today but both City and Chelsea have gotten away with alot… Read more »
No grumbles 3 points and still top of the league. Bring on the spuds!
Too right Attasmani, WTF was up with TV constantly showing Vinny Tan and Some Norwegian Bloke like they’re as important as the game going on. Can we not focus on a football match without some press-driven speculation fodder. At one point we had to watch one of them going for a leak, and even the empty seat!? Another pen denied, a parked bus smashed, 10/10 for the team’s focus. 9/10 for Bendtner, shaped the game when he came on, and his backsliding movement from near the penalty spot to the outside of Bac for the goal was the kind of… Read more »
A very deadly Kamikaze Poacher you mean…..TGSTEL is the man, he is
I must say I am quite enjoying seeing us leapfrog every cunt that has the audacity to try to overtake us. We’ve come through the first half of the season on top which should instill confidence in the side that they can repeat the trick. We need to ride with the other sides’ momentum and strike when they fuck up.
NB23 is turning into a good backup option.
That was a scrappy win, just showed our Psyche.
Time for the flids. Up the Arsenal
Yeah, those flids, they just do it, don’t they?
Sorry… I know, I make typos too. Couldn’t resist this time.
Rocky played a great cameo. He was involved in everything positive down the right after he came on.
No doubt John won’t agree! 🙂
Well that was an enjoyable experience and not fucking unpleasant at al!
As good as Gibbs has been, I don’t think there is any drop in quality when Monreal is at left back. They have two distinct styles that could conceivably be used tactically.
Monreal better than Gibbs going forward..Defensively though Gibbs is superior
Give Poldi a break, one of his bezzie mates is in a coma right now after a skiing incident…..
Classic Arsenal against the bus. 88 minutes of anguish. 8 of relief.
How come every other teams fought 19 others teams yet Arsenal had to face 1 team for the title? Parked Bus FC?
LOL City barely scrape a win against Swansea and the press say they are looking ominous. Arsenal keep (another) clean sheet, beat Cardiff by 2 goals and we are apparently struggling. Great win considering Cardiff played above themselves for large stretches on account of the (possible) new gaffer watching. 1) Bendtner – I mentioned after the last couple of games that I thought he was a reasonable replicant for Giroud in terms of a more muscular approach. He has been tidy and commited in the limited time he has been afforded to impress. Typical Arse luck I suppose and all… Read more »
1) *points at Theo* He creates, he is fast, he scores.. And moving him up allows the right wing slot to be filled by someone else like TRock.. or Ozil or Cazorla. left wing for Podolski. And from the look of it, JW10 would like to keep slot #10
With Bendtner out now that surely has to force Wenger’s hand. Poldi looks really uncomfortable there and he’s twice the player on the LW.
Thought the crowd was great 2nd half, letting the players know we were still right behind them to the end.I particularly loved when we sang Per’s chant after missing the two sitters. Class.
I love Arsenal. And we’re top. This is a wonderful combination.
Pretty much spot on, blogs. Though I think perhaps you’ve been a bit generous to Cazorla — he’s still only looking a little more like his old self. Some clever combinations, some that just didn’t work, and (probably hampered by the conditions, as were the whole midfield) by no means spot on with some of his passes. 6.5/10, can do better. But I’m being a little bit niggly here, perhaps. I was, though, disappointed by Podolski today. He had a chance to write his name on the team sheet. It’s back to the bench, I fear, though injuries elsewhere may… Read more »
“his ‘f*ck this, someone’s gotta score’ header”
Exactly! Reminded me of his goal against the spuds. Sign him up!
Jack played great. But he could be so much better – I remember at least twice when he didn’t see or pass to a clear break into the box, less than ten feet away