Villa 1 – 2 Arsenal: “We were brilliant and resilient”
Add comment December 2nd, 2007
The quote in the headline from Arsene is typically concise. Not only does he encapsulate our entire performance – he does it chronologically too.
In the first half we were nothing less than brilliant. Every player, from one to eleven, was superb. But number 13 was particularly outstanding: a pass completion rate of 98% showing that Aleksandr Hleb truly is a master of our short-passing game. Alongside him, Tomas Rosicky was pulling the strings, with Emmanuel Adebayor providing a focal point for our attacking play.
And yet, just 14 minutes in, we fell behind. Mathieu Flamini gave the ball away in midfield, and John Carew’s cross deflected off Kolo Toure and William Gallas before finding Craig Gardner, who calmly tucked the ball past Manuel Almunia. Villa Park was rocking.
Flamini seemed to make himself personally responsible for dragging Arsenal level, and it was so surprise when he made it 1-1 just nine minutes later.
A neat touch by Adebayor allowed Eboue to get to the byline. His cross was just behind Tomas Rosicky, but the Czech was able to touch it back to Flamini, who lashed it in with his left-foot from the edge of the area.
On a day when we were without Cesc Fabregas, Flamini really stepped up to the plate. With Lassana Diarra alongside him, he was free to break forward more often, and looked dangerous on more than one occasion. His goal yesterday was reminiscent of Roy Keane’s capacity to appear at the edge of the box at crucial times despite playing in what was primarily a holding role. If we’re to survive three away games in a week unbeaten, Flamini will need to be at the heart of it.
Our pass-and-move game was now overwhelming Villa, and it was no surprise when we went ahead after 36 minutes. Another smooth move saw Eboue backheel to Hleb who prodded it wise to Bacary Sagna. The full-backs cross hung high in the box, but Emmanuel Adebayor towered above to centre-backs to power a header past Scott Carson.
The second half was entirely different. Not only did we lose Hleb to a vicious tackle from John Carew, but Villa raised their tempo to a create a tide of pressure. Last season perhaps, we would’ve crumbled, but not this year. Whilst some have criticised our second-half showing, what I saw was an intelligent and dogged performance in the face of a high-octane Villa display. Yes, Carew went unchallenged on some high balls, but in my opinion that was entirely deliberate. Recognising his height advantage, the centre-backs chose again to compete for the second ball, with successful results – how often did you notice Gabriel Agbonlahor reaching a Carew flick? Didn’t think so.
With an excellent three points in the bag, attention turns to Wednesday’s game at Newcastle. If ever motivation was required, defeat could get Fat Sam the sack.
It’s just too perfect…
