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Sunderland 1 – 2 Arsenal: Thierry’s Fabulous Fond Farewell

517 comments February 13th, 2012

SUNDERLAND 1 – 2 ARSENAL

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

When I last filed an entry on this blog, Arsenal had just beaten at home by Manchester United, to the audible irritation of a mutinous crowd.  It got worse.  In the next game, an FA Cup Fourth Round tie at home to Aston Villa, Arsenal found themselves two nil down at half-time, and staring down the barrel of a fourth defeat in five games.  Since then, there has been a remarkable upturn in our fortunes.  An upturn which, I should add, has coincided with my enforced absence.  Perhaps I should stay away.

First off, Arsenal fought back to beat Aston Villa 3-2, scoring a trio of second half goals inside eight minutes.  Then a 0-0 draw at Bolton was followed up with a stunning 7-1 victory over Blackburn – a game memorable for the first Premier League goals from the emerging Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and a stoppage time strike from Thierry Henry on what could be his final Emirates appearance.

It was not, however, to be the last contribution of Henry’s loan stint.  On Saturday, in the final Premier League appearance of his farewell tour, the man who writes scripts with a swish of his right boot rather than a pen emerged from the bench.  There was just half an hour to play in our game against in form Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.  After Aaron Ramsey had clawed back an equaliser to James McClean’s opener, Henry’s expertly volleyed home a stoppage time winner to hand Arsenal a vital three points.  229 Arsenal goals and, with a game against AC Milan to come, still counting.

It was a massive result on a day which saw Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle all succumb to defeat.  As things stand we’re currently in fourth place, which is invaluable considering that we are about to enter a period of fixtures that will almost certainly define our season.  We return to Sunderland in the FA Cup and face Milan in Europe, whilst our next three league games see us come up against Tottenham, Liverpool, and Newcastle.

It looks like we’ll have to do without Per Mertesacker for that period, after the big German was stretchered off in the North East.  He’s actually been a very consistent figure in the Arsenal side – of the outfield players, only Laurent Koscielny, Theo Walcott, and Robin van Persie have started more games this season.  The one saving grace is that his injury comes at a time when we are able to welcome back Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs on the flanks, giving Arsene a rare opportunity to pair Vermaelen and Koscielny in the middle.

Another player we’ll soon be welcoming back in to the fold is Gervinho, who is expected to return to London on Tuesday.  His African Cup of Nations campaign ended in unceremonious fashion as he missed the crucial penalty in the shoot-out which saw underdogs Zambia take the title.  The players lack of confidence in front of goal was underlined by the fact that, despite being an attacker, he was Ivory Coast’s ninth penalty taker, even refusing to take the eighth and sending defender Kolo Toure up instead.  If you haven’t seen the penalty, it’s about as bad as you imagine it to be.  Gervinho has undoubted qualities, but for a man whose tax return reads ‘footballer’, he is surprisingly bad at the actual ‘kicking the ball’ bit.  Nevertheless, one has to feel sorry for any player who is the victim of a shootout, and let’s hope it doesn’t knock his confidence too much for the remaining period of the season.

It’s nice to be back and blogging again.  It’s also nice to be able to write positive things.  There’s nothing like a few decent results to ease any tension among the fanbase.

An exciting trip to Milan looms large, and Thierry will soon be back in the San Siro.  Would you bet against one final magical moment?