Sunderland 1 – 1 Arsenal: All Is Not Lost

The Team Sheet

Almunia

Sagna – Squillaci – Koscielny – Clichy

Cesc – Song – Wilshere

Nasri – Chamakh – Arshavin

Against all odds we lined up at kick off with the same 11 who started against Braga on Wednesday.  Whether it was fatigue, the notorious European hangover, or the stifling tactics of Sunderland, it quickly began to look like the wrong decision.   We were over run by the home side, who played at a tempo, at least in the first half, that we were unable to match.

Early Doors

We started sluggishly, as Sunderland put pressure on everything we did, Bruce clearly had is team pumped up for this match, and their lack of a fixture in midweek meant they looked a lot fresher than us.  Their tactics were hard, but admirably fair for the most part, they simply pressed the ball and waited for our mistakes, of which there were far too many.

That said we did create early chances, Song burst forward dangerously but Arshavin was wasteful when set up by Chamakh.   The little Russian would continue to frustrate throughout, and on future away days to places like Sunderland, he has to be considered a luxury player.

Fabregas (12″)

On 12 minutes though an absolute freak of a goal put us in to a barely deserved lead.  Cesc was chasing down a pass back to Anton Ferdinand, midway inside his own half, when Ferdinand delayed his clearance long enough for Cesc to get a block in.  The resultant deflection ballooned 40 yards off Cesc’s boot, over the keeper Simon Mignolet’s head and into the net for 1 – 0.

Sunderland reacted well, throwing more players forward, pinning us back for most of the rest of the half, so it seemed that the ball barely left our penalty area.  Fabregas was taken off with a hamstring problem that he picked up shortly after the goal.  Rosicky came on, but we struggled to get anything going during this period of the game, and were just happy to hang on to our slender lead.

The back four coped well though, particularly Squillaci and Koscielny who dealt with everything coming in to the box.  Almunia despite the pressure was hardly tested.  Koscielny was calm, winning headers making interceptions, and passing out defence with assurance.  He is such a classy defender, I’m glad he has found a home at Arsenal.  Squillaci beside him was much the same, made a mistake or two but always recovered them himself without cost to the team.

Wilshere in midfield was causing problems though, the close attention he received whenever he had possession made it hard for him to do anything.  Every extra touch he took on the ball made him more likely to lose it, and in the end he looked too ponderous.  I was surprised that he started and would have preferred to see Rosicky lining up.  Three games in 8 days looked too much for young Jack, and he should have been rested, particularly for such a tough test as Sunderland away.

Half Time Oranges

Wenger must have had to words for the team at half time, because we came out with a lot more purpose in the second half.  Nasri carved out a chance for Arshavin, who scooped over from 5 yards, and then Song teed up the Russian from further out, but this one was sliced wide.

Minutes later the task of holding on to this narrow lead got even harder when Alex Song was sent off for a second bookable offence.  He was nutmegged I think, and blocked off the runner quite cynically.  That said I thought it was the baying crowd who really persuaded Phil Dowd to bring out the cards.

Denilson came on to be the shield in front of defence, Arshavin gave way, and despite being a man down, we actually continued to be in the game,  It looked as if Sunderland were tiring, when Elmohamady brought Nasri down in the penalty area, Dowd rightly pointed to the spot.  This was the clear-cut chance we needed to close the game out then.  With Fabregas and Arshavin off the field, it fell to Rosicky to take it.  He stepped up, and powered a shot hard and straight, but as it sailed the wrong side of the crossbar you could see Sunderland gilding their loins again for another onslaught.

Bent (95″)

It went deep into injury time before Sunderland’s chance finally arrived.  A corner, awarded in the 94th of 94 minutes was crossed, half cleared and sent back in, the ref looked at his watch, Clichy with the chance to clear hammered the loose ball in to Koscielny, and the rebound fell to a grateful Darren Bent to smash in from close range.

At the end of the day…

An unlikely victory, turned in a cruel few seconds into a draw, which felt like a crushing defeat.  The result means that all our good defensive work will be undermined, and taken instead as evidence that we can’t defend a lead under pressure.  It is more grist to the mill of everyone who knocks our club, and what can we do to counter it?  Nothing, except point to 94 minutes of good defending, and chances where we should have put the game beyond doubt.

Clichy has come in for lots of criticism, and his decision making under pressure like he was at the end there is certainly questionable at the moment, but I felt, as with the whole back four, he had a good game, under difficult circumstances.  We are lucky to have Gibbs as an exciting young back up, who may well not have conceded that goal, but would he have been better than Clichy for the 94 minutes up to the goal?  I’m not yet convinced.

Finally, to put the result in to perspective, the Stadium of Light is a real fortress for Sunderland, we lost there last season, Manchester City have already gone there and lost this season.  Many more title contenders will go there and struggle, so all is not lost. Yet.