It’s a good job Arsene Wenger has a strict policy on alcohol because Robin Van Persie seems to be forced to receive free champagne bottles after every game he plays. Both goals were scored by the mercurial Dutch striker in the 2-1 victory over Norwich and his second goal was one of his finest finishes in an Arsenal shirt with a beautiful chip.
Robin recently scored his one hundredth goal for the club and long may it continue with performances like today. It seems like contract talks will take place in the summer and all gooners will be praying he will put pen to paper and continue to rule the Premier League.
Confident Theo
Today, once again proved that Theo Walcott is a player that plays best away from home. Alongside Robin he was the outstanding performer for us today. He was full of confidence running with the ball and giving the Norwich full back Tierney all sorts of problems with his pace and dribbling.
Finally we are starting to see his true potential. It’s easy to forget that Theo is a still a very young man as he’s been at the club for a few years now but his consistency for club and country is finally showing.
The departure of Nasri means Theo is starting more games this year on the right hand side and is clearly repaying Wenger’s faith in him. His hard work was deservedly rewarded after 25 minutes with an assist for Robin’s equaliser after countless chances for the Arsenal.
This game surely will break records for the most goal line clearances in the first half of a match as Chris Martin of Norwich seemed to spend the first half on Norwich’s goal line clearing Arsenal chances away.
Questions will be asked of Per Mertesacker for Norwich’s opener as he was shrugged off too easily by Steve Morrison to score the opener. However, his defensive partner Thomas Vermaelan was once again fantastic and with him in the side our defensive line always looks a lot more solid. Special praise must also be given to Laurent Koscielny filling in at right back who had a great game and looked natural in that position.
Wins Keep On Coming
The poor start to the season seems to be slipping out of Arsenal fan’s memories as this win makes it five out of five in the league. Those who were foolishly calling for Arsene Wenger’s head seem to be increasingly quiet currently as the team continues to prove the critics wrong.
There is a comforting balance in the team now and a solid spine which has been missing in recent times. The trio of Song, Ramsey and Arteta in midfield is working ever so well with Vermaelan holding the back four together and Van Persie cannot stop scoring. A special thank you will be in order for the Dutch national team resting him sensibly in midweek so he was fresh for today. It says a lot that it took until the 77th minute until Arsene made the first substitution bringing on Benayoun for Gervinho.
Arguably, this was one of Arsenal’s best attacking displays of the season but due to some wasteful finishing, particularly from one Gervinho, the score suggested the match was harder than it should have been. Gervinho has to go down as a good buy from Wenger as he has slotted well into the team but bad misses against Spurs, Chelsea and today’s game will be remembered by fans and will have to be put right in the coming weeks in order for his game to improve.
Bright Future
The last twenty minutes proved that this is an Arsenal team that is firmly together in the cause and will not be beaten easily. They showed class and spirit to hold on to a great result whereas in recent times Arsenal teams may have let this lead slip against a Norwich team that has impressed in the league this year. With this sort of form the top four seems very likely. Long may it continue.
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