Alexandre Lacazette continued his record of scoring in every home league game since joining Arsenal as his double secured a 2-0 win over West Brom.
It maybe could have been a different story had West Brom not been denied what looked like a clear penalty in the early stages, but the decisions just about evened themselves out as the Gunners' also saw their first-half appeal turned away.
Lacazette scored his first goal of the game after 20 minutes before putting the result beyond doubt after the hour mark. Admittedly it wasn't the perfect performance from Arsenal, but three points and a third clean sheet in a row in the league is definitely a positive. The result sees Arsenal maintain their unbeaten home record this season and move up to 7th, while the Gunners are now just one point outside of the top four.
We still look far off the pace compared to the likes of the two Manchester clubs, but at least this is a step in the right direction. With Brighton and Watford next up in the league I still feel we should be targeting maximum points from these games.
Although for me this game was about Arsenal getting three points, a big mention must go to West Brom midfielder Gareth Barry who became the Premier League's record appearance holder with game number 633.
The first real chance of the game fell to Alexis Sanchez, who now has 100 Premier League starts, and the Chilean's free-kick sailed just wide of a post.
There was a big talking point after seven minutes with West Brom feeling they should have been awarded a penalty and to be honest I can understand why they felt aggrieved. Jay Rodriguez appeared to be fouled in the box by Shkodran Mustafi, but managed to stay on his feet before seeing his shot tipped onto a post by Petr Cech. Jake Livermore fired wide from the rebound when it looked easier to have scored, but all the talk was on the Mustafi foul. Had Rodriguez not stayed on his feet it is likely a penalty would have been given. Although I can understand the Baggies' frustrations, we were denied a penalty later in the first half so I feel things evened themselves out.
Former Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs wasted a chance against his former club as his powerful half-volley went just wide of a post. That miss and the dismissed penalty appeal proved costly for the visitors as Arsenal opened the scoring. Sanchez saw his free-kick superbly tipped onto the crossbar by West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster, but Lacazette was on hand to head home the rebound. That goal meant Lacazette is the first Arsenal player to score in his first three home matches since 1988....and he does look like a decent signing!
Arsenal could have added a second shortly after the half hour mark, but Foster denied Aaron Ramsey as the Welshman was trying to pick out Lacazette.
It was then the Gunners' turn to be denied a penalty as Grzegorz Krychowiak pulled down Sanchez in the box. It was a clear shirt pull, but nothing was given. In a way it was perhaps correct nothing was given as at least it cancelled out the decision West Brom were unhappy about from earlier in the game.
A combination of heroic defending and poor finishing prevented West Brom from levelling the scores before the break. Krychowiak's cross was met by the head of an unmarked Rodriguez and his effort beat Cech, only for Nacho Monreal to somehow clear the ball off the line with a superb clearance.
Rodriguez failed to make contact to Hal Robson Kanu's flick on and the former Southampton man also sent two further efforts wide, including one right on the stroke of half-time. Gibbs' corner was headed clear by Mustafi, but West Brom kept the attack alive and Barry forced a save from Cech before Rodriguez poked the ball wide.
Gibbs made a key contribution at the other end to thwart his former employers within five minutes of the restart. Mohamed Elneny slid a pass across to Sanchez in the box, but Gibbs managed to get in the way to block the Chilean's effort over the bar for a corner.
1-0 always failed like a dangerous scoreline regardless of the fact we were controlling large spells of the game, so it was much to my relief when we doubled our lead after 67 minutes. Allan Nyom clumsily barged into Ramsey in the box and a penalty was rightly given - not as clear-cut as West Brom's in the first half, but correct all the same! Lacazette stepped up and fired a powerful spot-kick into the bottom-right corner to score Arsenal's 100th penalty in the Premier League.
Lacazette missed the opportunity to have sealed a hat-trick soon after when he sliced over with Foster seemingly helpless. Granit Xhaka's long-range effort sailed wide before Sanchez saw his effort comfortably saved by Foster.
Although it would have been very harsh Craig Dawson could maybe count himself lucky to go unpunished went he fouled Sanchez 10 minutes from time. It was a bad foul, but he had already been booked earlier in the game and a dismissal would have been harsh.
Hector Bellerin saw his strike deflected behind for a corner and, although it was good to see Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud come on in the closing stages, we had coped well without them before then.
Foster prevented the score from getting worse in the final minute of normal time when the England goalkeeper reacted well to block Ramsey's shot with his legs.
Luck went our way at times, but I still feel we were worthy winners against the Baggies.
OPPOSITION VIEW
West Brom fan Lauren Armstrong was unsurprisingly disappointed by the penalty decision that went against her side, but she admitted poor finishing also let the Baggies down.
"I think Arsenal played well, but I don't think that they looked as dangerous as previous seasons," said Armstrong. "The penalty decision was a game changer and I think that Albion deserved more out of the game, not a win, but easily a point.
"The referee definitely helped out with the Arsenal victory but Albion didn't help themselves with their finishing.
"It was a great transfer window for us, we got in some great players (thanks for Gibbs). We started the season well, but have started to dip in form. But, after the City cup game and the Arsenal game today I think we will be able to push on this season and finish mid-table, as always."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
There will undoubtedly be differing opinions on Arsenal's performance, but all that ultimately matters is that we got the job done and got three points, against a side who have been a banana skin for some previous games.
Focus can now switch to the Europa League and our trip to Belarus to face BATE Borisov. This is the kind of side I fully expect us to beat at home, but away is a whole different story. I'd still be hoping we can win, but is has the potential to be a tricky tie so we must make sure we don't underestimate our opponents.
If I'm honest I don't feel the same motivation for Europa League games, but we still need to make sure we take the competition very seriously.
Then after our Europa league tie it is back to league action and to the Emirates for the visit of Brighton, so let's hope we can finish the week with two more wins.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
No comments:
Post a Comment