Match Review: Cardiff City 0-3 Arsenal

The Arsenal juggernaut keeps on rolling. Yet another away win, with this week’s unfortunates being Cardiff City. The Welsh team have already beaten Manchester City at home and took a point off Manchester United last week, as well as triumphing in the Welsh derby a few weeks ago. Their home form has been very solid and has set them up quite well for the season, but they were unable to prevent us taking a seven point lead at the top of the table (before Sunday’s games).

Arsenal came flying out of the blocks, and it was Jack Wilshere who was nearly an early goalscorer again. After passing the ball along the back line for a while, the Arsenal midfield flipped into attacking gear in an instant and culminated in Aaron Ramsey setting up Wilshere to crash a curling effort onto the bar from outside the area. Nearly another perfect start and another indication that Jack Wilshere is finding his best form and looking to add goals to his game.

A few minutes later Cardiff gave notice that they weren’t going to rollover as Theophile-Catherine’s cross was headed just wide by Frazier Campbell. Then came one of the most bizarre moments of the season. Aaron Ramsey played a ball forward from the halfway line, looking for Özil or Giroud. Özil moved to flick it on for Giroud and the ball came through to the forward in an obviously offside position.

Everyone stopped expecting the flag and the whistle, but neither came. Giroud stood in a confused fashion with just the keeper to beat and when he finally realised he was being allowed to play on, it was too late and his shot was blocked. The confusion seemed to stem from whether or not Özil touched the ball. When Ramsey played the ball, Giroud was well onside, but when Özil went to flick the ball on, he was well offside.

The officials seemed to think Özil hadn’t touched the ball and therefore Giroud was allowed to play on. The Frenchman really should have played to the whistle and scored instead of looking around like a lemon, whether he was offside or not. It’s not his decision whether play should be stopped and the incident made him look like a prize plum. From what I saw on the replays, it looked to me like Özil got a touch and that it was offside, but we still should have found ourselves 1-0 up.

Fortunately we didn’t have to wait all that long for our opening goal and it was only going to be one man. Özil picked up the ball on the left hand side and put in a quite stunning cross, which was met by Aaron Ramsey around the penalty spot and he guided a magnificent header into the top corner. All aspects of the goal were beautiful; the assist from Özil was world class, Giroud made a run to drag the centre back out of position and leave space for Ramsey and the Welshman finished the move in superlative fashion.

A deserved goal too as Arsenal dominated the first half completely and the only disappointment was that we didn’t go in two goals up, with Ramsey and Giroud both having chances to double the advantage.

The second half saw more Arsenal dominance early on. The Gunners looked confident and at ease on the ball and Cardiff were struggling to contain us. Giroud came very close to scoring when Ramsey danced through the Cardiff back line and pulled the ball back, but Giroud’s shot was cleared off the line.

It seemed that we were set for another 45 minutes of Arsenal attack against Cardiff defence, but a Cardiff attack changed the dynamic. A cross from the left was headed up into the air and Frazier Campbell dominated Kieran Gibbs to head what looked a certain goal.

Fortunately we have arguably the form keeper in the league at the moment and Szczesny produced a stunning reaction save to preserve the lead though. The chance fired up the crowd though and the momentum changed very quickly as Cardiff sensed their chance to get back into the game. We’d managed to suffocate the Welsh side with our pressing in the first half, but now Cardiff found themselves able to pin us deeper and flatter in our own half.

For ten or fifteen minutes, Cardiff were a very real threat and it took some characteristically solid work from our back four to keep us ahead. As the half wore on though, we began to calm things down and Flamini was sent on for Cazorla in an attempt to sure up the midfield. However, the combative Frenchman found himself doubling our advantage instead.

On 85 minutes a Cardiff attack broke down and Arsenal came streaming forward, with the ball coming to Özil on the right hand side. The German playmaker strode forward and played a frankly ridiculous ball inside the full back but just beyond the reach of the centre back and Flamini was on hand to tonk it in from just inside the area.

The Frenchman finished brilliantly, but the goal was all about Özil’s jaw dropping assist. The weight and the curve on the ball was absolute perfection and it was played with complete nonchalance, almost with a shrug of the shoulders. Özil now leads the league in assists, having amassed six already. He didn’t even play the first three games. He’s lifted the club not only by being the big name signing, but also by putting in some brilliant performances, despite what some people would like you to believe.

Cardiff kept coming forward, looking to try and create a nervous finish, but they only succeeded in leaving themselves open for another clinical counter. When the attack broke down, Theo Walcott, on for Wilshere, was set streaking away with Cardiff’s defence stretched and out of position. Walcott seemed to think about taking a shot himself, but made the right decision in laying off to Ramsey for his second goal.

The Welshman neglected to celebrate again and the Cardiff fans gave the returning midfielder a standing ovation. Ramsey responded by doing the ‘Ayatollah’, a class moment all round.

The games keep coming and the Gunners keep winning. Since we lost to Sp*rs in March we’ve put together a truly formidable run of form and as the weeks go by the belief seems to be building and people seem to be starting to entertaining the idea that we could win the title. While I think we can win it, whether we will isn’t really worth worrying about until we get a fair way into the season. There are many months to go, many matches to come and a lot of challenges to overcome, but if things carry on like this we’ll breeze through it. We deserve our position, let’s enjoy it.

Stat of the game

Mesut Özil had 100% pass completion in the first half (via Opta)

Teams

Cardiff (4-2-3-1)Marshall, Théophile-Catherine, Taylor (Cornelius 87′), Medel, Caulker, Turner, Cowie, Mutch, Campbell (Odemwingie 65′), Kim (Noone 75′), WhittinghamSubsHudson, Cornelius, Odemwingie, Noone, Gunnarsson, Lewis, Bellamy

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs ?, Arteta ?, Ramsey ?, Wilshere (Monreal 81′), Özil (Walcott 91′), Cazorla (Flamini 77′), GiroudSubsVermaelen, Rosicky, Walcott, Monreal, Flamini, Fabianski, Gnabry

Player Ratings

Szczesny – 8/10 – In commanding form, very important to us at the momentSagna – 7/10 – A fairly quiet game for the FrenchmanMertesacker – 8/10 – Commanding and unbeatable at the momentKoscielny – 8/10 – Ditto, the partnership the two have is formidableGibbs – 6/10 – Had his poorest game for a while, nearly caused us to concedeArteta – 8/10 – At his unflappable, metronomic bestRamsey – 9/10 – I could try and find words, but what’s the point anymore?Wilshere – 8/10 – Another very good game for a player who’s returning to formÖzil – 8/10 – Such a beautiful player, another superb game from himCazorla – 7/10 – Struggling a bit, but will no doubt rediscover his best formGiroud – 7/10 – Does some things so well, but can be so frustrating at other timesSubsFlamini – 7/10 – Brilliant to see him score and such passion in his celebrationMonreal – N/AWalcott – N/A – Good to see him get an assist though