In the Aftermath: Arsenal v Fulham post-match
Cesc Fabregas orchestrates Van Persie's winner
On an unusually warm September night along the river Thames, Arsene Wenger’s side proved that things this season may be different in how his club does business. Amidst a full crowd of Fulham supporters and the travelling faithful, Arsenal on the foot of Robin Van Persie and the hands of Vito Mannone, worked out a 1-0 victory over a very determined home side.
In recent memories a hard fought match like this, usually saw Arsenal finish on the wrong side. Usually an opponent like Fulham who played determined ball were destined to either win or equalize late in the match. Post match discussion always revolved around, Arsenal’s “soft under-belly” or ability to play a beautiful, flowing match without a positive result. However, none of that was prevalent during yesterday’s match.
Arsenal met on the pitch a side who in recent times has been one of the few lower/mid table teams who have performed well against the big four. Last season, Fulham had wins against Arsenal and United with a draw against Liverpool. Only Chelsea, who needed a last minute winner to escape managed to win all points at Craven Cottage. For Arsenal, last season saw them only manage one point off of Roy Hodgsen’s boys.
With all that in mind, plus two excruciatingly painful loses in Manchester, Arsenal had to come out with authority win this first London Derby of the season. Form the start it looked like the side would do just that. Arsenal quickly challenged with Eduardo’s header missing wide. But it was in the 14th minute when we were truly going to get a glimpse of what the match held.
Fulham were playing well early on and with American Clint Dempsey releasing Bobby Zamora, fill in ‘keeper Vito Mannone made a brilliant hand save only to use his head to save Dempsey’s immediate rebound shot. Throughout the day Mannone would be in good position to stop an onslaught of Fulham shots. Mannone it is clear from a review of the game is gaining confidence in front of the goal. He is doing an outstanding job of marshalling the defence in front of him. His play in the air is quality and his ability to distribute the ball to help force the counter-attack is uncanny for a 21 year old. If there is one flaw in Vito’s game, its that he still looks a little awakward and overwhelmed at times. There was less of that in this game and the italian was clearly in a zone. It was clear that no matter what Fulham threw at him he had the positioning and ultimately the answer.
And that is a good thing!
Arsenal lacked the verve throughout the match. They owned possession but only slightly. They were outshot 20-16 with Fulham getting a good 8 shots on goal. The threat of set pieces only once or twice seemed to threaten Fulham as both Robin Van Persie and Fabregas seemed off in their shots into the pieces. But it was this duo that showed their class in winning the game. Fabregas intercepted a Fulham pass and was given the space he needed to send Van Persie into the box with a beautiful lob pass. Robin Van Persie had the positioning and speed on the defender. His first touch lowered the ball on his right foot and he fired a low volley into the left corner.
This blog and I as a writer have commented that Fabregas has seemed slow to regain the form he had before the recent international break. But yesterday there were at least 10 or 12 separate occasions that showed the Arsenal Captain is returning to form. Most of the match feautured passing not typical of an Arsenal side. It looked labored, forced and with out emphasis. However Fabregas, who seems to play matches a move or two ahead of his oppposition made a series of through balls that threatened to open the match up earlier. Even after the goal, Fabregas semed to be picking his game up. On Bendtner’s miss, the exchanges that led up to it were all orchestrated by the Spanish Captain.
Even as pretty as they seemed at points though, Arsenal were not their normal dominant self. Again, this is a good thing. Teams that win championships, be in the EPL, NHL, NFL, etc, win even the games they have no business winning. It is a staple of Manchester United that they have won games where they have been sorely outplayed – cough cough – like against Arsenal a month ago. Arsenal are too often criticized for not winning these types of matches. It has been basis for some pundits crying that Arsenal will never win anything unless they learn to win ugly.
After a come behind win at Standard Liege and a hard fought win at Fulham, it could safely be said that Arsenal are learning to win when wins don’t seem evitable. It is a maturation of youth when that starts to click. And for all the crying that Arsenal lack the experience to do well, it could be argued that they are applying lessons from last year and even learning on the go this year. It still does not mean that Arsenal will win the EPL. What it does mean is that Arsenal are showing improvement and yesterday went a long way to showing that this team is growing up.
Player Ratings:
Vito Mannone – 10
William Gallas – 7
Thomas Vermaelen – 7
Bacary Sagna – 7
Gael Clichy – 6
Diaby – 4.5
Fabregas – 8
Song – 7.5
Arshavin – 6.5
Robin Van Persie – 8
Nicholas Bendtner – 7
Subs:
Eboue – 5.5
Tomas Rosicky – 7
Next Match: Tuesday 29 September Champions League versus Olympiakos at the Emirates Stadium
