The curtain has now gone down on Arsenal's season after Olivier Giroud's hat-trick helped move them above Spurs into second with a 4-0 win over relegated Aston Villa.
The French striker has received a lot of criticism this season for some very frustrating performances but his goals took his tally to 24, which is his best scoring campaign for the Gunners.
Captain Mikel Arteta almost got a fairytale ending in his final appearance for the club but his late effort is likely to go down as an own goal by Villa goalkeeper Mark Bunn.
Arsenal went into the game knowing they had to win and hope Tottenham lost at Newcastle if they were to overtake their rivals in second. The Gunners did just that as their win, coupled by Spurs' 5-1 defeat, saw them record their highest league finish since moving to the Emirates. Is that good enough though? In some ways second isn't too bad considering how things were looking a month or two ago, but there is also a feeling of frustration. Having been in the title race up until the last few months, and then seeing the same old story of it fading away from us, I am not so sure. We beat Leicester twice and took four points off Manchester City yet still finished 10 points from the top. We should've done far better and we need to spend money in the summer if we are to go one better next season, but more about that in next week's blog.
Arsenal opened the scoring after just five minutes when Giroud headed in Nacho Monreal's cross. Although the Gunners continued to control the first half they were unable to add to their lead until the latter stages of the game.
Villa had a half chance to draw level through Jordan Ayew after eight minutes but, fortunately for the hosts, Laurent Koscielny was able to clear the danger.
Alexis Sanchez looked lively in attack and the Chilean saw his shot blocked before curling another just off target. Sanchez then nearly set up a goal as his cross set up Jack Wilshere, but the midfielder's effort went just wide.
At the other end Scott Sinclair's effort ended up near the back post and there could have been serious danger for the hosts if any Villa players were able to take advantage, but Monreal was able to clear the danger.
With us winning and Spurs trailing 2-0 at half-time things were looking good, but I knew it wasn't over yet and we really needed to get a second goal to end any hopes of a Villa fightback.
We weren't testing Bunn enough and the efforts that were coming our way we wasted as Hector Bellerin, Mohamed Elneny and Sanchez all sent their shots over the bar.
Two goals in as many minutes then put the result beyond doubt. Sanchez and Mesut Ozil combined before the latter cut the ball back for Giroud to score his second 12 minutes from time. It was a nice touch by the Arsenal players who went over to celebrate with Tomas Rosicky, who is set to leave this summer after 10 years at the club.
Giroud completed his hat-trick just two minutes later after latching onto a fine through pass from Bellerin before sliding the ball beyond Bunn.
With two minutes remaining Arteta came on for his last competitive match in an Arsenal shirt and he very nearly scored soon after. The midfielder's shot hit the bar before bouncing back off Bunn and creeping over the line. As much as it would have been great to see him sign off with a goal it doesn't look as though he'll be able to claim it.
The own goal sealed a comprehensive victory for the Gunners and with Spurs crumbling at Newcastle there was at least the consolation of finishing above our rivals and qualifying for the Champions League once again, but I want more than just this!
OPPOSITION VIEW
Aston Villa fan Cole Demetriades admitted he was "delighted the season is over" as his side bowed out of the Premier League and he is hoping his side will cope better with life in the Championship.
"I'm happy we will never have to play Arsenal again or see Olivier Giroud again," said Demetriades. "And I'm happy Arsenal finished above Spurs, being a good north London boy myself.
"I am happy that next year we will be in a division where we can actually compete. 64 points behind Leicester tells you we don't belong in the division.
"Last year at the FA Cup Final we lost 4-0 and in the first game of the new season we only played one player against Bournemouth who had started the final. Next year I hope will be very similar as the Villa team today won't be seen again and good riddance to the bad rubbish.
"We still pick the same sh*t players who have let us down all season so why would we expect a different result. Our bench looked better than our first team.
"I didn't see the game but I can promise you right now that at least two of Arsenal's goals will have come from individual errors. If I watch Match of the Day and see something different then I'll grow a pair of breasts and call myself Cindy."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Finishing as runners-up in some ways isn't that bad, but having another failed title bid and making some of the same mistakes as we have in the last few seasons is very frustrating, even if Spurs' capitulation did at least give us something to smile about.
We more than deserved our victory over Villa but I think, without being too disrespectful to them, the calibre of our opponents wasn't particularly high. In truth, we should have put the game out of sight much earlier than we did and against another side we may have got punished. We need to be a lot more clinical in attack and not leave it so late to get goals.
Giroud scored four goals in the final two league games this season and it is a shame he couldn't have done this a lot more in other games as we are left thinking about more what ifs.
Let's just hope we can go one better next season and claim the big prize of the Premier League title. Let's wait and see what happens!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
No comments:
Post a Comment