After a disappointing but hard-fought loss away at City on Sunday, Arsenal compensated for the suspended Song and injured Djourou by playing Szczesny; Coquelin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen; Frimpong, Arteta; Walcott, Ramsey, Gervinho; van Persie (C); which saw a surprising defensive reshuffle where Ignasi Miquel was dropped in favour of defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin at right back – this was maybe because of the Frenchman’s desire for first-team football as well as the competition between him and Frimpong for this, and the friction only including Frimpong may have caused. Woefully out of form Villa started Guzan; Hutton, Dunne, Cuellar, Warnock; Petrov, Clark, Ireland; Albrighton, Agbonlahor, N’Zogbia; with injury problems of their own, meaning Given and Bent were among those unable to play.

The usually highly consistent Thomas Vermaelen was skinned by N’Zogbia in the 5th minute and the Frenchman played his cross into Laurent Koscielny to earn a corner – this was taken quickly and whipped in for Abonglahor, whose header was expertly saved by the reflex action of Wojciech Szczesny and showed that the home wise were still up for a challenge. Unfortunately, Arsenal seemed to have not learned from this and Abonglahor beat Coquelin this time to cross for Steven Ireland, who had the ball stolen off of his foot by Szczesny. In fact, N’Zogbia then beat the Frenchman to cross for a third great opportunity within ten minutes but Abonglahor steered it wide; Arsenal’s lack of fullbacks was very much evident early doors and we were definitely suffering.

credit to Mirror Football

From absolutely nothing, experienced work from Mikel Arteta won a throw in, which was taken quickly by the Spaniard, saw a superb turn from Theo Walcott to beat Kieran Clarke who tugged him back as he ran along the byline, prompting the referee to award a soft penalty against the run of play. And who else but Robin van Persie stepped up to smash in into the top right hand corner: 0-1 in the 17th minute and a professional start from the Gunners. The end to end action continued as Guzan rushed out of his area to block a Walcott effort, Koscielny cleared from Ireland’s cross and Villa looked just as dangerous as they had done before conceding, with a golden opportunity coming from a 30 yard freekick (awarded unjustly against Mertesacker) which Petrov wasted as it went for a corner. Vermaelen and Coquelin especially were thus far really, really struggling.

Coquelin actually became the first played to receive a yellow card in the 28th minute when he really clattered in N’Zogbia from behind, with the ex-Wigan player being their best performer in the first fourty-five. Tactically, our shape in the middle of the park was very poor as Mikel Arteta looked isolated while Emmanuel Frimpong was missing in action and Ramsey was too far forward, almost playing just behind the striker, but Villa failed to profit as Kieran Clarke was booked for a late and needless challenge on Arteta. Nevertheless, the emphasis was fully with the Gunners by the end of the first half as Villa were looking jaded before the break but were still attacking, causing Per Mertesacker to pick up a booking for felling N’Zogbia in the 45th minute. Bannan replaced Ireland before the break as the latter had picked up an injury but couldn’t convert a free-kick before the whistle.

Frimpong was ineffectual in the tackle and Mikel Arteta hit 88% of his passes (credit to the Guardian)

It was definitely a more composed start to the second half and the game was as even as the first, 62% percent possession for Arsenal flattering to deceive. Unfortunately for us, Villa levelled in the 54th minute as a long goal kick from Guzan was flicked on by Petrov and strangely headed across to Mertesacker by Vermaelen – Marc Albrighton stole in before the German to tap it forward and roll it under Szczesny for the 20,000th Premier League goal: 1-1, probably a fair score but a sloppy goal to concede between two experienced defenders. Arsenal tried to hit back however, with good play from Walcott and Mertesacker to test Guzan but the fundamental problems with our fullbacks persisted as Gervinho was doing Vermaelen’s defensive work out wide as the Belgian tucked in deep. Under heavy Villa pressure, Manny Frimpong was replaced by Tomas Rosicky in the 66th minute to give a bit of thrust in midfield and in truth, the youngster had been poor.

Unlike in previous weeks, the substitution had made a change for Arsenal as Rosicky gave us another outlet to create the play and continue it, and we threatened from a succession of corners without converting despite the joy Albrighton and N’Zogbia were still having on the flanks. A lack of quality in the final third to beat a man or pick out a visionary pass came back to haunt Arsenal in the next ten minutes as we enjoyed a glut of the ball without  being able to really build on it – until it seemed, when we won our second penalty of the game when van Persie turned Dunne to power into the box before Warnock knocked him flying, only for the Arsenal captain to be booked for diving in the 78th minute. Our final two changes were hardly surprising and not the ones Arsenal fans wanted, as Arshavin and Benayoun replaced Gervinho and Ramsey two minutes later, leaving Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain still unable to make his impression on a tight game.

Tracking back... Gervinho attempted and made more tackles in 81 minutes than Walcott did in 94 (credit to the Guardian)

Arsenal were now peppering the Villa defence (comprised of all eleven men) but an admittedly heroic display from Richard Dunne to marshall his side was denying Arsenal with headers, tackles, and last ditch blocks. However, a corner whipped in to the box was misjudged by Abonglahor in the air and Benayoun, who had injected a lot of energy into the game in the short time he’d been on, nodded in low to make it 1-2 and put the Arsenal ahead for the second time with just three minutes of normal time left to play. Villa reacted by replacing goalscorer Albrighton with striker Delfouneso in the 88th minute and the home side continued to threaten along the wings, with Koscielny clearing a few late balls in. When van Persie and Hutton had handbags in the second last minute of the game, and the Scottish right back was booked, it looked as if the game was all but closed before Hutton steamed in late on Vermaelen seconds later to see a second yellow and red just before the final whistle.

All in all, this was a massive three points to pick up away from home, especially considering the strength of our team missing fullbacks and our best midfielder this season, the equally influential and solid Alex Song. There were some poor performances today but what is more inspiring than anything else is the fact that two out of three substitutions made a notable impact, which is a difference from the usual ineffectual Arshavin/Rosicky/Chamakh inclusions which are just going through the motions. However, Arshavin was once again very poor when coming on but since it seems he’ll be replacing Gervinho (who is off to the Cup of Nations during January) maybe there’s a case for the Russian to start at home against Wolves and QPR to build some form.

Match Ratings: Szczesny 5.5, Coquelin 4, Mertesacker 5, Koscielny 6, Vermaelen 5, Arteta 6.5, Frimpong 4 (Rosicky 5.5), Walcott 5.5, Ramsey 4 (Benayoun 6), Gervinho 5.5 (Arshavin 4), van Persie 6