Arsenal 2-2 Napoli - Effin' hell, I'll take that

Now, to the bright spots. Sagna came on and looked ten years younger, out leaping and outrunning Napoli’s forwards. He delivered several dangerous crosses into the box, placed just beyond Reina’s reach but also out of reach of any forwards who were strangely absent at the far-post. Sagna’s fountain of youth was a sight to behold. Between Koscielny and him, the defence tightened up brilliantly, and their involvement in both goals is a fitting tribute to their efforts. Koscielny was, even without his goal, my man of the match. He snuffed more chances than anyone on either side, by my estimate, and he patrolled the back-line with authority and tenacity. His goal was a stunner; he charged in to head home brilliantly, earning us a draw and keeping the Emirates Cup up for grabs.

Bacary Sagna – getting younger by the day

Elsewhere, Giroud redeemed himself in the last twenty minutes with some well-taken shots from some tight angles. By the time he (or Sagna) scored in the 71st minute, he had made me almost forget his poor performance up to that point. Perhaps it was Higuain’s appearance at the start of the first half that sparked Giroud to life. Speaking of Higuain, I wanted to reach out and punch the commentators for defending his play. It seemed that each time he got the ball, he was dispossessed, and they just kept saying he was still getting in shape. Yes, it’s the preseason, but let’s be honest: Koscielny was too much for him. We’ll just leave it at that. I harbour no hard feelings against Higuain, but I was pleased to see that he didn’t score (or come close, thanks to Kos).

In the end, I think we got the result we deserved and needed. A loss would have stung too much, we didn’t play well enough, long enough for a win, and a draw leaves no one happy. We’re still alive in the Emirates Cup (as hosts, there’s more pressure on us to put on a good showing), but there was enough to remind Arsene that we need some signings. A win might have glossed over our weaknesses, but it should be quite clear now (if it wasn’t already) that we need better options up-top and some bolstering at the back. One on hand, we held our own against a Napoli squad that has been fairly aggressive in the transfer-market (enough to beat us to Higuain while also adding Reina, Albiol, Callejon, and five others to date). On the other, had we been able to deploy a trickier striker capable of unlocking a defence, we might have done better than merely holding our own. If we expect to do better than 4th place, we’ll need some help.

Here’s hoping we get a few surprise announcements on Monday after beating Galatasaray. Their 1-0 win over Porto means they have four points to our three in the Cup. Let’s win out, then, before he leaves, have a meeting with Porto’s Jackson Martinez. Perhaps some business could be done?