Fresh from a disappointing but not dismal mid-week draw to Marseille, Arsenal reinstated their captain and vice-captain to the starting line-up as Szczesny, Jenkinson, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Andre Santos, Song, Ramsey, Arteta, Walcott, Van Persie (C) and Gervinho kicked off for the Gunners – Per Mertesacker was benched, having played every minute of every league and European game since he joined the club. The Baggies, who won here last year, were missing star-man Peter Odemwingie through injury and so played Foster, Jones, Olsson, McAuley, Reid, Thomas, Dorrans, Morrison, Brunt (C), Gera and Cox with both teams wearing ‘poppy kits’ and paying their respects to the upcoming armistice day through a well-observed minute’s silence before the match.
The game was pretty open to start with and West Bromwich Albion looked to be adopting the usual counter-attacking tactics so many Premier League teams use by squeezing the midfield leaving, Cox as the lone striker and by holding a deep flat back four. Jenkinson fired in two crosses within the first five minutes which both went begging and all the Baggies had to show for in terms of attack were through balls which were ultimately offside; Arsenal looked to have real impetus in the early throes of the match with patient build up play including skills from Andre Santos and Arteta as well as aggressive but clean defending right up to the halfway line. The first half-chance came as Morrison felled Gervinho 35 yards out and the Arsenal captain stepped aside to allow Arteta and Santos to deliberate over the freekick, with the Brazilian putting it well over in the 8th minute. There was a large stoppage five minutes later when the boot of an airborne Thomas Vermaelen nicked the face of Jonas Olsson, who went off for treatment with a large, bloody gash across his face.
West Brom were content to sit in their own half as the big Swede returned to the fray, making it hard for us to build any momentum – however, after 15 minutes the Gunners were yet to create a tangible chance and the visitors were leaving it up to us to attack and to demonstrate our superiority, the home side had 73% possession after 20 minutes without a particularly notable shot on target. That said, football is a cruel game and one incisive through ball from Aaron Ramsey to Theo Walcott carved the visiting defence open – the Englishman bounced a shot off of Ben Foster and Van Persie didn’t even check his run as he tapped it to an all-but open net from close: a deserved 1-0 in the 23rd minute to break a quiet start to the match. Ex-Gunner Jerome Thomas looked to attack down the left wing but good work from Koscielny and Jenkinson made sure the Baggies had no penetration whatsoever and his fullback was hesitant to help him knowing he might lose track of the mercurial Walcott behind him.
Jerome Thomas finally had a chance after half an hour when Song slipped over, allowing Morrison to cross in to the area and Koscielny missed the volleyed clearance – Thomas picked up possession in the area and cut back inside before the ex-Lorient man bundled him over and cleared with appeals for a penalty waved away by referee Michael Oliver. Arsenal then attacked quickly with an Alex Song whipped delivery into the box from deep in midfield: Van Persie volleyed it back across the area from right to left and Thomas Vermaelen, making his first start in the league since Liverpool at home, smashed it into the back of the net after it flicked involuntarily off of Gervinho, making it 2-0 and cementing the home side’s lead. The Belgian literally appeared from nowhere to score as he finished in the 39th minute from within the box despite playing at the back! Half time approached with Arsenal giving away a few stupid fouls but the visitors offered very, very little – Roy Hodgson’s men had a task on their hands to turn around the deficit.
credit to the Daily Mail
The second half began without any changes and the pace was as relaxed as in the first half due to absolutely no pressure on the ball from West Brom, who actually had the first chance of the second 45 – Santos dozed off and let Cox in behind him, who played it back to Dorrans only for the Scot to scuff it wide. Usual service resumed soon after when Gervinho was denied by an Olsson block and then Thomas Vermaelen glanced his free header inches wide from Van Persie’s resulting corner. Dorrans missed the target again with a long range effort minutes later, and the Baggies were beginning to have more and more sustained possession in the match; Somen Tchoyi got stripped and came on for the passenger Gera in the 63rd minute. West Brom were gifted an opportunity when Santos’ defensive header when straight to Brunt in the box, but the Northern Irishman could not pick out his team-mate Tchoyi who was free at the back post. After 66 minutes West Brom were finally getting into the game and Arsenal needed to sure up their defence.
Alex Song had the chance to score only his second goal of the year when Gervinho picked him out on the edge of the box but the Cameroon midfielder hooked his shot straight at Foster to keep the score at 2-0 to the Gunners – an equally unlikely goalscorer in Laurent Koscielny came charging through the midfield and nearly latched on to a through ball from his captain around the 70 minute mark. The visitors substituted Cox for Mulumbu just after Van Persie had skewed a shot over with his right, with Rosicky and Benayoun coming on for Gervinho and Ramsey – the latter being arguably Arsenal’s best performer. Mikel Arteta’s first goal at the Emirates came in the 74th minute when Van Persie laid it off to Rosicky, who then returned it to an advanced RVP, who teed it up for Arteta on the edge of the box for the Basque midfield general to slot it home: 3-0, sublime, far too easy. Theo Walcott received a standing ovation for a decent performance that faded after half time once again when Andrey Arshavin replaced him four minutes later. The visitors also made their final change in bringing on Thorne for Dorrans.
Temporary highlights:
Van Persie goal Vermaelen goal Arteta goal
The visitors notched up their first shots on target in the closing few minutes with efforts from Morrison and Reid testing Szczesny as Arsenal sat back and waited for the final whistle: although they got away with it this time and full time came, it’s a really bad habit to get into because as Nigel Winterburn said, “The game may be won, but as a defender the last thing you need to do is concede a goal.” 3 points, +3 goals and a second clean sheet on the bounce is a handsome reward which we took from this match but the scoreline is deceptive – West Brom were as bad as any team we’ve EVER played today, Shrewsbury threatened more than they did. This was not a quintessential back-to-front Arsenal performance, the type of which we are really yet to see in the league this season, and large swathes of the game were pretty dull – but with 9 wins in 11, who’s complaining.
