1-0 to the Arsenal, part 2

SUNDERLAND 0 ARSENAL 1

HAVING finally broken our away-day duck this season at Wigan just before Christmas, Emerson and I made it two wins in a row with this exciting success at Sunderland on Saturday.

This Arsenal side have been accused of lacking heart and bottle this season, but after this performance they showed they have plenty of both.

In a first half display which was as good as anything we have produced all season, the lads dug in after Karl Jenkinson’s sending off early in the second half to ensure we left with the three points that were absolutely essential.

For reasons unbeknown to most Sunderland fans, the club have decided to move the away section to the opposite end of the stadium this season, above the traditional home end. Now while the view is undoubtedly better and the atmosphere superb, it did seem strange to see the team run out towards the opposite end to warm up before kick-off.

That warm up produced some drama as Laurent Koscielny, who had been named in the original starting XI, pulled up with a recurrence of his calf injury, so Jenkinson was brought into the side with Bacary Sagna switching to centre half.

I have to say I was not convinced about him playing there as he been poor in his natural right back role this season, but he was to prove me wrong with possibly his best performance in an Arsenal shirt.

The first half saw us attacking our end and we played some sublime football in between the Black Cats 'attempts to kick us off the park. Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere were both immense in midfield, while the movement of Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud up front meant the chances kept on coming.

We should have been 3 or 4 up in opening twenty-five minutes as we tore them apart again and again. Simon Mignolet, a goalkeeper who would be a great addition to our squad, produced heroics to deny Walcott and Cazorla, while Giroud and Aaron Ramsey also came close.

But the goal we had been threatening finally arrived, ten minutes before the break. Another sweeping move saw Walcott find Cazorla on the edge of the penalty and the little Spaniard thundered a shot through the crowded box to send the away end into raptures.

It should have been 2-0 just before the break when Ramsey was denied by Mignolet from close range when he really ought to have scored, and I hoped that would not come back to haunt us in the second half.

It appeared as though it might however, when Jenkinson was shown a second yellow card by referee Anthony Taylor for bringing down Sessengnon right in front of the away end. No complaints about that as it was clearly a bookable offence, as was his earlier challenge on Jack Colback, but the poor official looked way out of his depth for much of the afternoon.

In this situation most managers would have panicked and threw on another defender at the expense of a forward, but Wenger kept calm, slotted Ramsey in at right back and dropped Cazorla a little deeper.  

Now I have been one of Ramsey biggest critics in the past but his form in recent weeks has been superb and he did a great job in another unfamiliar role. Sessegnon is a tricky customer at the best of times but the Welshman handled him very well and even managed to get forward when the opportunity presented itself.

Of course with ten men we came under a lot of pressure in the final twenty minutes, more so after Wilshere had been forced to depart after one too many cynical challenges, this time from the truly abysmal Alfred N’Diaye. Quite how this guy has managed to steal a living as a professional footballer is beyond me and I was not surprised to see him depart for the far superior Danny Graham.

We could have sealed the points ten minutes from time when Walcott struck the post in a lightening quick counter attack, but that would have killed the game and denied us the exciting finale that unfolded. Sunderland threw everything at us but we put our bodies on the line to preserve the clean-sheet and the three points.

Of course we were thankful to Wojceich Szczsney in the end for a series of outstanding stops, some of which were almost Schmechiel-like. Good to see too as the Pole has looked a little shaky in recent weeks.

One save in particular, from Steven Fletcher’s close range header, defied belief and was easily one of the best I have ever seen. Last season on this ground, a late Thierry Henry goal saw us move into the top 4, a win that proved significant in the final reckoning, and the celebrations at the end here, both on the pitch and in the away end, showed this could be just as important came May.

In a way it was the perfect away performance. Electrifying in the first half and solid in the second. Strong at both ends of the pitch. This is clearly a team still in transition but as the season has gone on they have grown together.

With the young British lads like Wilshere, Walcott, Ramsey, Jenkinson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs all tied in to long term deals, the future looks bright.

I have been saying it for a while now and have been called a dreamer, but I really believe this team can win the Premier League within two years. The addition of one of two new recruits this summer could even make it happen next season.

Optimistic? Perhaps, but if Emerson and I can see two away wins in a row this season, then anything is possible.