The Arsenal were back in action at the Emirates, after a disappointing/frustrating home draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers on the 27th of December.
Before kick off most of the talk on the terraces was about the return of Thierry Henry (subject to insurance). Whether it’s a good bit of business only time will tell, I just hope he has an effect on our strikers/forwards in training because the finishing at present is woeful.
Wenger made three changes to the starting line up bringing back Ramsey, Theo and for his first start since November 26th, Andrei Arshavin.
The Game
The first half was a very frustrating affair (I was having flashbacks to the Wolves game). Arsenal were controlling the play, but it was QPR who had the first shot on target after eleven minutes.
After that Song and Arteta controlled the midfield, pulled all the strings and it was all Arsenal. Van Persie had 3 opportunities, one of which I would have put my house on him scoring. Theo had a couple of half chances and his pace did pose a problem from our former left back Armand Traore.
The second half kicked off in a similar vain to the first half with Arsenal controlling the play. Vermaelen went off after the 55th minute, which I can only presume with an injury and was replaced with the ever impressive Coquelin. A couple of minute later Theo showed why he has been put out on the wing instead of through the middle when he missed the chance of the game.
Finally the goal came from a QPR mistake in defence. In all fairness they kept trying to play their way out of trouble and sooner or later they were going to be caught out. Arshavin played in Van Persie and he did the rest, placing the ball in the bottom corner to replace the watching Thierry Henry as the all time top goal scorer in a calendar year.
Final Thoughts
Today was the day certain players were given the opportunity to show what they can do. Apart from the assist, Arshavin didn’t offer much, but I have seen him have worse performances. He just gives me the vibe that he wants to leave next month and I believe the majority of the fans would gladly drop him off at the airport. Theo cannot keep missing the chances he has if he ever wants to play through the middle. Hopefully now Henry is back, he will be able to work with Theo in training and show him how it’s really done.
The defence was not really troubled today bar a couple of runs from Shaun Wright-Phillips, so I was shocked to hear that Koscielny was given Man of the Match. I would have given it to either Alex Song or Arteta who completely run the show today. They were creating all the attacks and were the first two back , breaking up play and getting us on the front foot again.
It was another solid if unspectacular performance from the boys. But at the end of the day who cares, it’s another 3 points on the board.
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