Danny Welbeck scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal continued to get their season back on track with a 1-0 win at West Brom.
Following back-to-back league defeats to Swansea and Manchester United the pressure was mounting on Gunners' boss Arsene Wenger, especially with his side having their lowest points tally after 12 games in 32 years. However, there was a slightly more positive mood ahead of the trip to The Hawthorns following an impressive and confident 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in midweek.
The dominant performance against the German giants certainly lifted the mood, although fans would've been very wary of how their last league game panned out where they controlled for large spells yet ended the game with nothing to show for it.
The Gunners were boosted by the return of Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny to the starting XI, but yet again the unlucky visitors suffered further injuries. Nacho Monreal was forced off after just 23 minutes with a knee problem while his replacement, Kieran Gibbs also picked up a knock to his ankle. Substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also damaged his knee, although at the time of his post-match interview Wenger was unsure of the extent of the problems.
Bad luck has contributed to a lot of the injuries but some fans have criticised Arsenal's training regime and management of injuries as problems continue to build year on year. It is hard to pinpoint why we are one the clubs who consistently have to deal with injuries but it definitely makes Wenger's job harder. When everyone is fit we have the foundations of a great side but all it takes is a few injuries to really stretch us. It again highlights the need to add a few fresh faces and hopefully Wenger will get his chequebook out in January. Whether that actually happens remains to be seen but we must add depth soon.
Despite the injury problems the last two results have been very positive. The performance and result against Dortmund were excellent and, although the Gunners' display wasn't quite as solid at The Hawthorns, it was another well-deserved win.
Welbeck had arguably the best chance in the first half but his effort was well blocked by Ben Foster in the Baggies' goal after 23 minutes. Giroud, making his first start since suffering a broken leg in August, wasted the next chance soon after when he dispossessed Foster near the corner flag. Although it left Foster stranded and the goal open the angle proved too acute for the Frenchman and his effort didn't cause their opponents any problems.
With the sides going in goalless at half-time fans could've been forgiven for feeling anxious with the recent loss to Manchester United, mainly caused by failing to make their dominance count, fresh in the memory.
The travelling faithful breathed a huge sigh of relief when the Gunners took a well-deserved lead on the hour mark. Santi Cazorla, who was one of the stand-out performers against the Baggies, made space for himself following a decent run past the defence before crossing for Welbeck to power a header beyond Foster for his sixth goal for the club.
Arsenal remained in control of the game but, after failing to add a second, there was always a worry of their opponents getting an equaliser against the run of play. The Baggies, who have not scored a league goal for over 300 minutes, didn't create many chances but almost levelled the scores 10 minutes from time when Saido Berahino's header hit the crossbar.
The Gunners held on to record a much-needed league victory and maybe, just maybe, the last two results in all competitions will help them get their season back on track. On the whole it was a positive day for Arsenal but some supporters were still unhappy despite the result and held up a banner asking Wenger to end his reign at the club.
When asked by reporters, under-pressure Wenger was adamant in not wanting to comment on the banner but he will surely know it will take a huge improvement in league position to get the critics off his back.
I still believe he is the right man from the job but it is frustrating how we are so near yet so far off a serious title challenge. Injuries and some bad luck have played their part but we can't just hide behind that. The likes of Chelsea have been firing on all cylinders for the majority of the season but, more importantly, have been able to kill teams off better. When Chelsea played QPR earlier in the season, their London rivals looked more than capable of getting a result in a very tough battle, but Jose Mourinho's men took their chances. That really is the big difference! We have only lost three games, but have drawn five, and some of those could definitely have been prevented had we been more clinical.
We can at least take positives from the last two results and, if we can carry on that form in the coming weeks, we may yet be able to get our season back on track. We will need to step things up another gear though, especially with high-flying Southampton being our next opponents.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
No comments:
Post a Comment