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A flat West Brom attack, and referee Mike Jones helped Arsenal to a 2 – 0 win, and at least temporarily to 6th place, within 2 points of West Brom. Mikel Arteta was the only man on the scoresheet, with two penalties, in a game in which Szczesny only had one save to make. A third loss in a row for West Brom means that Steve Clarke’s men are now in danger of suffering a mid season slump, and will need to do much better in case they need to stay in the top quarter of the Premier League.
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Contrary to the news, Bacary Sagna did start for the troubled London side after passing a late fitness test. Oxlade Chamberlain also started the match in place of the injured Walcott, just as he had in the midweek loss to Olympiakos, and there was no Podolski in the starting eleven either, having failed to recover from his knock. It was Gervinho, his replacement, who had the first real chance of the match in the opening minutes, as Myhill failed to gather the ball after a corner-play. The referee did not indicate a foul on the West Brom ‘keeper, and the ball eventually looped up in front of Gervinho, who mistimed his volley to watch the ball slowly wobble wide for a goal kick. West Brom did suffer from that play though, since Liam Ridgewell went down off the ball with a strain and had to be replaced by Goran Popov.
West Brom have been impressive this season, but have tailed off in the past couple of weeks, and the concern showed, as Myhill was given a talking-to by the referee for time wasting as early as in the 13th minute. Arsenal had the better of the opening period, with a couple of good chances going amiss for Cazorla, even though the visitors managed to string together a few passes every now and then. West Brom had their first close effort a couple of minutes past twenty, as Sagna’s block on Mulumbu’s shot fell kindly for Chris Brunt, who curled his shot just high and wide of Szczesny’s goal. Soon after, it was Arsenal’s main man, Cazorla, who earned them a penalty after Steven Reid was adjudged to have brought him down, in spite of replays showing little or no contact on the Spaniard. Arteta stepped up, and sent it straight down the middle to make it 1 – 0 to the Gunners, and lifted the tense atmosphere at the Emirates.
Arsenal nearly doubled their lead when Gervinho slipped in unnoticed behind the West Brom defence, and rolled a ball across the crowded box which was somehow deflected wide of goal by Wilshere, who had got the move going when he got away from Mulumbu. West Brom had strong penalty claims waved away in the 40th minute when the ball hit Per Mertesacker‘s hand, but the referee decided that it was due to Olsson’s unfair pressure on the German defender. There was action at the other end as well, when Myhill was called into action to deny a Gervinho effort from creeping into the net. It was Arsenal who had the better of the efforts, and Oxlade Chamberlain made an athletic attempt off their 5th corner, which failed to find the back of the net, allowing West Brom to go into the break with just a single goal deficit, although it should have been none.
Steve Clarke must have made a good speech at half time, for West Brom came out with much more fire in their belly, and McAuley sent a header wide of goal from a Brunt free kick. Things were heating up on the pitch, and Giroud and Olsson got a yellow card each for an unnecessary argument, after Chamberlain had hit the cross bar when he was found unmarked at a tight angle. Gervinho missed a golden chance to double his team’s lead, when he completely missed a lucky deflection off Popov just a few feet from goal. West Brom were left fuming though when Arsenal were awarded yet another penalty that was also sent down the middle by Arteta to double Arsenal’s lead. Chamberlain appeared to foul Popov, and everyone stopped for a split second, while the referee failed to blow the whistle, allowing Chamberlain to make a run into the box where he was hacked down by a visibly disgruntled Chris Brunt.
The goal did spur the Baggies into action, and particularly Myhill, who received sarcastic applause from the crowd every time he hurried to take a goal kick. It was Arsenal who continued to have the better chances though, and after Giroud failed to manufacture an attempt from a couple of good chances, Myhill was forced into action to stop a Chamberlain cross from reaching the Frenchman. The introduction of Rosenberg to the flat West Brom attack did not change much, though the Swedish striker did force Szczesny into his first save of the match in the 86th minute. In the last minute of regulation time, Podolski had a Torres moment, when he was given time to pull the ball to his left foot in the West Brom box, but managed to scoop it over goal from just a few yards out. It was the last real piece of action for the match as Mike Jones brought an end to the game, having had an immense say in the 2 – 0 result.
Result: Arsenal (Mikel Arteta (P) 26′, (P) 64′) 2 – 0 West Bromwich Albion
