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After a vital win in midweek, it was time for our first Premier League away game. A large proportion of the traveling Gooners made their way to the game via the annual ‘Boat trip to Fulham’ and, despite the rain, seemed to have a magnificent time. It’s a fantastic little tradition that seems to be forming and is another reason why I believe that we have some of, if not THE best away support in league. Fulham is not renowned for its noisy, boisterous support but, as usual, our away fans drowned them out.
On the pitch, it was another comfortable win and it seems the team is starting to gel and find some confidence. You could argue that that’s what pre-season is for, but the Villa game damaged the team and it’s good to see us getting up to speed again quite quickly.
The first five minutes was a little scrappy, both teams seemed to be getting used to a very soggy surface and it wasn’t surprising to see some passes go astray. After that, we seemed to settle down and it was clear we were going to control the game. Our passing flowed well and Fulham, playing with two upfront, didn’t have the bodies or the quality to break up our game. With Podolski on the left, I think our left flank looked stronger and a little more solid defensively. I know Podolski isn’t renowned for his defensive prowess, but he’s better at tracking back than people give him credit for and certainly does a much better job of it than Santi.
Santi looked a lot more free and I think that is very obviously his best position. He’s good out on the wing, but he’s magical in the middle. I was impressed with Rosicky too, he’d been given a deeper role with Wilshere rested and he had to show discipline and curb his desire to bomb forward. It was Rosicky who gave us our first chance too; after good work by Jenkinson, Rosicky clipped the ball over the top to Walcott, who had ghosted in behind the Fulham defence. Walcott took a first time shot, but Stockdale did well to save.
We had full control of the midfield and the game and we were rewarded for it, Ramsey’s growing confidence saw him shoot from 25 yards, Giroud intercepted it and the ball fell fortunately for him to chip past the keeper. Cue a magnificent knee sliding celebration with water spraying everywhere! It was a deserved goal and we looked really comfortable.
The whole team seemed to be playing with confidence and Fulham couldn’t get tight enough. Berbatov was a passenger and we did a good job in forcing their midfield to retreat, leaving a gap between them and the forwards. While we were controlling though, there wasn’t a lot of intensity to the play, the famous handbrake seemed to be on, perhaps unsurprisingly, following a tiring away trip. To me, this is a cause for optimism, I think we’ve got gears to move up and we could be really devastating if we start attacking with the pace and style we’ve seen flashes of so far.
Fulham got back into the game around 25 minutes, partly due to them starting to press us better, partly due to our passing dropping off a bit. Ramsey lost the ball a few times and stray passes started to put us under pressure. Szczesny had made a very good double save earlier and had to make a good stop when a Kasami free kick squeezed through a dodgy wall. It wasn’t backs to the wall stuff, but we had lost our grip on the game a bit.
Our counter attack looked very dangerous though and after a few close calls, we converted one. Walcott was put through down the right and had his shot pushed away to Podolski who smashed home from the edge of the box. It was a well worked goal and Podolski should have had another before half time, but chose to play the ball across the six yard box instead of shooting.
The second half started a little bit worryingly. Fulham came out with some purpose and Szczesny had to make a good save from a Taarabt shot. There was a period of about 10-15mins where a goal for Fulham would have made things very difficult. The classic Wenger quote ‘dropped off little bit physically’ in the second half came to mind and I was certainly glad for the two goal cushion. We did well to see off the bit of pressure Fulham mustered and once things settled down we managed to seal the game.
Cazorla was sent away on the left and bamboozled the defenders before setting up Podolski to smash into the bottom corner. Podolski finished the chance well and certainly proved his worth to the team yesterday. He reminds me of Freddie Ljungberg in his character and his effect on the other players in the team. Aside from his obvious quality, he has huge value for the morale he brings to the squad.
With the game won, Wenger withdrew Rosicky and puzzlingly threw Monreal on for Giroud on 70 minutes. Podolski moved to centre forward and Monreal seemed to be given the role of left midfielder. But neither Gibbs nor Monreal seemed to know who was playing where down the left and it led to us conceding. The ball was chipped forward to Berbatov, neither Monreal or Gibbs got tight and Mertesacker couldn’t close him down before he got a shot away.
Szczesny saved well but Bent tapped in to ruin his clean sheet. It was a shame, because we didn’t look like conceding up until that moment and Szczesny deserved a clean sheet for his performance. Fulham got forward a little bit after the goal, but it was a consolation, we saw the game out with ease and Walcott could even have made it 4-1, but Stockdale saved well again. We saw Sanogo for 10 minutes, but he didn’t see the ball a lot though I expect we’ll see more of him against Fenerbahçe.
So really, it was a comfortable win, Fulham didn’t test us hugely and we did a very professional, clinical job. We will have to play better to beat Sp*rs and we can’t afford these little periods where we drop off. The NLD is a great opportunity for us to put down a marker, Sp*rs will probably have lost their best player and despite buying well, I don’t believe they’ve got any better if they’re without Bale. If we raise our level and hopefully boost our squad with some quality signings, we have the chance to win well against our rivals. I expect us to rotate a bit on Tuesday and, hopefully, this next week will be a very positive one for the club.
Teams
Fulham (4-4-2)Stockdale, Riise, Hangeland, Hughes, Riether; Sidwell (Karagounis 75′), Duff (Bent 59′), Taarabt (Kacaniklic 62′), Parker, Kasami, BerbatovSubsEtheridge, Briggs, Kacaniklic, Karagounis, Boateng, Ruiz, Bent
Arsenal (4-2-3-1)Szczesny, Jenkinson, Sagna, Koscielny, Gibbs; Ramsey, Rosicky (Wilshere 70′); Podolski (Sanogo 80′), Cazorla, Walcott; Giroud (Monreal 72′)SubsFabianski, Zelalem, Sanogo, Wilshere, Frimpong, Gnabry, Monreal
