FORMATION
Ok now lets go through the game in more detail. Arsenal came into the game with a 4-3-3 formation that Wenger has preferred for this year's PL matches.
Mannone
Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy
Song Fabregas Diaby
Bendtner van Persie Arshavin
Now I'm a great fan of this formation- it promotes attacking football as opposed to packing the midfield more - which tends to make the game more a of a midfield scrap. The problem is with the players manning the key positions in defence and midfield in such a formation. More on that in a minute.
MATCH ANALYSIS
Arsenal started the match very slowly -Fulham seemed up for the match with their wide players and Andy Johnson making good runs and troubling the Arsenal defence. They also pressed Arsenal very fast and aggressively causing mistakes and misplaced passes. Even Fabregas and Arshavin seemed harried and could not control the game as they would have wanted to.
Fulham almost made Arsenal pay for the slow start with a double chance falling to them after 14 odd minutes. A cross in from the left of Arsenal's defence found an unmarked forward and Mannone did brilliantly to keep the header out. From the follow up Dempsey almost made it 1-0 but Mannone got up quickly from the 1st save and made himself big on the near post deflecting the well struck shot.
That seemed to spark Arsenal into life as Fabregas started to take control in the midfield. He found himself with a shooting opportunity at the edge of the Fulham box but blazed over. Also Arshavin had a great chance when he latched onto a through ball but the little Russian was unlucky with a bad bounce causing him to shoot over. Another chance fell to Fabregas who should have troubled Schawzer but the skipper was not in great shooting touch today.
During the half Gallas picked up a knock as he collided with Mannone but overall he did well to keep Fulham at bay. The Verminator (Vermaelen) too had a solid half I think. Clichy was not too good on the left letting in crosses and making silly errors. Going forward too I felt he did not link up well with Arshavin who was quiet.
More disappointing were van Persie. Robin was hardly seen doing anything positive in the first half. A free kick in a good position was an excellent opportunity for him to give Arsenal the lead but he did not even hit the target. Fabregas deliveries from free kicks and corners were extremely poor also.
SECOND HALF - Decisive
Arsenal needed to step up their game in the second half. And they did. Fabregas and van Persie combined beautifully for the first goal. A misplaced pass by the Fulham left back found it's way to Fabregas who hit a wonderful ball to van Persie who was heading to the right of goal with a Fulham defender on his back. After taking a first touch which took the ball away from the defender he took a low shot toward the far post with his chocolate leg ( right foot) beating the keeper.
van Persie scoring the decisive goal
Great goal from van the Man who had been very quiet till then (highlights below). Bendtner was doing most of the running up front and had a good shot saved. But then stepped up Vitto Mannone. As the match progressed we could see that Fulham were having no joy with through balls or dribbling through defenders. Their best bet was to gain free kicks and send in crosses especially from Arsenal's left flank.
Two brilliant saves from headers by Mannone saved Arsenal. Elsewhere Arsene Wenger had replaced Arshavin with Rosicky and the little Czech dynamo added spark to the left. He looks in excellent touch and put in some slick passes. Eboue came on later for van Persie as Arsenal pushd for the 2nd. He added some pace to the counter attacks but his finishing needs a lot to be desired. His best chance was saved well by the Fulham keeper. A burst of pace took Eboue past two Fulham defenders and to the edge of the opposition box. A neat 1-2 with Fabregas saw Eboue with a chance to shoot but Schawzer denied him.
5 minutes of added time and we could see that Fulham will continue to push for aerial balls into the box but Gallas, Verminator and Mannone did well.
SOME THOUGHTS
Questions marks over Clichy and Diaby in this game. Two of the worst players for Arsenal. Diaby was downright horrible. He seemed slow today and did nothing when he had a ball except give it straight back to
Fulham. Danny Murphy had him in his pocket all evening. To top it off he was lazy to get back to help Clichy. Clichy too was guilty of making some silly errors of judgement. 3-4 times he was caught in possession which resulted in dangerous crosses by Fulham to trouble Mannone and the central defenders. Also he seemed to have trouble with the bouncing ball at times. Crosses by Clichy were too low and easily cleared. He need to improve that area of his game. Ashley cole was a great crosser of the ball and we need Clichy to do better.
Sagna was solid defensively. He was no nonsense and never tried to overplay like Clichy does on occasions. Keep it simple was his mantra and maybe Clichy should adopt it too.
Song had a good game. I feel he is coming up very well. Couple of times he gives up silly fouls he doesn't need to. He was good in possession today with good passing and ball control.
Ok so a good away win - sorely needed after the Manchester disasters. Fulham are a tough side at home and we did well. A word on the ground - Craven Cottage. One of the last small old grounds left in the Premiership. It makes for a very pretty sight. Atmosphere was excellent too. I felt the game was played in good spirit. Just an issue with the ref Mr. Atkinson - he seemed to be giving soft free kicks to Fulham that he wasn't soing earlier in the game as the game got tight. Give them a chance on set pieces perhaps. It did look like bit of a conspiracy at times as there was minimal contact and on one occasion Fulham had the chance to play on.
Arsenal travelling fans were in good voice. They got behind the Gunners well especially after the goal. 4 yellow cards in the game all to Fulham.
Team ratings
Mannone - 9. Excllent saves and judgment. Needs to work on ball collection. Man of the match !
Gallas - 8. Solid.
Vermaelen- 6.5. Got tangled up with Clihcy a coupla times.
Sagna - 7. Solid again. Did not do well with crosses.
Diaby - 3. Shocking game for him. Bad in attack and defence.
Song - 8. Good game.
Fabregas - 6.5. Good pass for Robin's goal. But nothing special except that. Squandered a good chance as well. Free kicks and corners were disappointing as well with the ball hitting the first defender on 3-4 occasions.
Arshavin - 5.5. Just back from injury so maybe a bit rusty. Looked out of sorts but made a couple of good runs in the 2nd half. The touch was there the sharpness missing slightly.
Robin van Persie - 6. Nothing except the goal. Lacked zip and did not take free kicks and corners well too.
Bendtner - 7. Did well as a target man on the left. Held up the ball. Not good finishing as he had a decent headed chance late on.
Eboue - 7. Has improved but needs to work on his shooting.
Rosicky - 8. Looked great and can see him starting once he is fully fit.
CONCLUSION
So Arsenal move to 12 points from 6 games. They are 6 points behind Man United with a game in hand. BTW Man United lead the table after today as Chelsea lost to Wigan (of all teams) away 1-3. Wigan played well after getting a pasting from Arsenal at the Emirates. The turning point was at 1-1 when Cech got sent off and Wigan converted the penalty. Chelsea first loss of the season and shows that away from home nothing can be taken for granted.
Man United have to thanks Ryan Giggs for their win today. He replaced the wasteful and selfish Nani (i don't like him at all) and immediately set up Berbatov for the first goal. He had a hand in the second goal as well, taking the free kick that was flicked on by O'shea. So ManU 2-0 winners at Stoke. A tough match it was for them. Hope Giggsy gets his 100th Premier league goal soon - he deserves it and has been a brilliant player over the years. Ferguson deserves credit for using him well these days.
VIDEOS
The van Persie goal - http://soccerupdated.blogspot.com/2009/09/video-highlights-fulham-vs-arsenal-0-1.html
Ok so I sleep well after a good win for Arsenal. Next up the Champions league!
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