Arsenal 2 – 3 West Brom: What a Waste

After Chelsea failed against their northern cousins in the early game  yesterday we had an outstanding opportunity to close the gap at the top of the table down to one point before we play them next weekend.  That we were unable to do so at home against a fairly average West Brom team smacked of complacency and lack of maturity.

The same things we have been bemoaning for the past 5 years, returned once again to bite us.  The warning signs were there last week against Sunderland, banished briefly in midweek, and back with a vengeance yesterday.

The Team Sheet

Almunia

Sagna – Squillaci – Koscielny – Clichy

Nasri – Song – Diaby

Eboue – Chamakh – Arshavin

It looked like a strong enough lineup before kick off, the back five was unchanged from Sunderland, and Song, having served his suspension against the Totts in the week, came back in too.  Diaby returned from injury, and Nasri dropped back into midfield as expected, Eboue taking his place on the right.

Early Doors

It soon became clear that the balance of the midfield was all wrong, Diaby had one of his poorest games in recent memory, his stats show he won no tackles, and made no interceptions.  Eboue, also with no tackles or interceptions, was hardly involved on the right.  He attempted 15 passes in 56 minutes and only connected with 8 of those.  Nasri, despite coming alive in the second half, was also poor in the first half, unable to find a final ball for Chamakh or Arshavin.

The closest we would come in the first half was a cross from the right, which sailed over Chamakh to the back post, where Arshavin poked it against the woodwork.  In the scramble afterwards the defender hit it against the post again, and bundled it away for a corner.

Almunia saved smartly down to his left from Odemwingie, but made his first mistake of the game on 36 minutes when Odemwingie was put clear in the area, the striker clipped the ball past the onrushing Almunia and took the contact to win a stonewall penalty.  Almunia was only booked, when he might have been sent off, but he redeemed himself by saving the spot kick.

Half Time Oranges

We were lucky to still be on even terms at half time, but I was certain that we would come out stronger after the interval.  If Wenger did have a strong word for the players at half-time then it looked like Samir Nasri was the only one paying attention.  In the second half he was everywhere, and when the rest of his team let him down he would go on to lead a stirring come back effort in the last 15 minutes.

Odemwingie 50″ / Jara 52″

Their first was a result of good work down our right hand side, when Jerome Thomas, an ex-Arsenal academy man (and a bit of a git yesterday), skinned Sagna at the byline, and crossed for an unmarked Odemwingie to tap in.  The second, just two minutes later came from the other side, Clichy was caught out upfield by a clever backheel and Koscielny stood off Jara far too long, allowing him in to the penalty area unchallenged.  His shot should still have been a bread and butter save for Almunia though, but the Spaniard made his second mistake of the game, only able to deflect it weakly into the net at his near post.

Wenger’s reaction to this double whammy was to bring on Wilshere and Rosicky for Diaby and Eboue.  Both had been rested, you’d imagine after playing 120 minutes in midweek, but immediately the midfield balance looked better, Nasri pushed forward and Wilshere and Rosicky brought more energy to the midfield than Diaby will ever be capable of.  Vela came on for Koscielny as a last throw of the dice, and we finally looked like we could get a goal with Nasri charging forward menacingly.

Thomas 73″

Instead, our forward momentum left us even more exposed at the back, Brunt went clear on the right and Almunia looked reluctant to dive in at his feet after the first penalty, and on a yellow card.  Instead he shepherded him wide, but didn’t close down the chance of a cross.  Brunt centred and Jerome Thomas hammered home the third, with Almunia nowhere.

Nasri 76″ / Nasri 91″

From that moment onwards it was the Nasri show, as the Frenchman got his third and fourth goals of the week.  First his rasping drive hit the bar and ballooned clear, then seconds later he collected a Sagna cross in the area, shimmied past one defender, and finished with his left foot.  Looking like a man possessed he collected the ball from the net and  rushed back to the centre circle.

For 15 minutes then we had constant pressure on the West Brom goal, but only a few aerial scrambles in the six yard box to show for it, conditions made for Chamakh, but he couldn’t pop up with a crucial goal when we needed one.  Only in the 91st minute of a scheduled 95 did Nasri get his second.  Chamakh laid off for Arshavin, who passed to Nasri, onside more by luck than judgement, but again he finished calmly.

At the end of the day…

Again we raced back to the centre circle to get the game restarted, but it was much too little, far too late.  Unlike last week at Sunderland, this referee stuck fairly strictly to his allotted extra time, despite the goal we scored after 90 minutes.  The referee was not to blame though.  Wenger admitted as much in a remarkably frank post-match interview, saying we got what we deserved.  He blamed a lack of concentration, and admitted that we made “massive mistakes” in defence.

While he didn’t name names, you’d have to look at Almunia, Koscielny and both full-backs, as well as Song who looked slow to get back at times.  Looking to the positives, Nasri seemed back to his pre-season form, but really needs to play in the front three to get the best from him, not midfield.

Next up Partizan Belgrade, then Chelsea away.  Confident?