Momentum Mounts as Arsenal Beats Cardiff 3-0

Aaron made an excellent return against his former club

 

 

Arsenal pulled seven points clear at the top of the table after decisively beating a well organized Cardiff City 3-0 in south Wales on Saturday. 

 

This game marked the start of a blistering run of games going into the new year.  And we need all the cushion we can get before going up against a very in-form Everton, a dangerous Chelsea, and the goal-scoring machine that is Aguero Manchester City.

 

As I thought, this game was not an end to end goals scoring extravaganza.  Cardiff clogged the midfield, slowed down our passing, and looked to counter on the break.  I held my breath every set piece, and we were fortunate when Campbell headed a cross wide unimpeded.

 

Confusion then ensued in the 14th minute when Giroud received a great loft that was helped on by Ozil and stopped playing without a whistle sounding.  Wenger stated in his press conference that Ollie told him he saw the linesman raise his flag (and replays show he was offside taking into account Ozil's flick), but if he had played until the whistle sounded, we might have had a goal there.  The passing though, was spot-on.

 

We did finally get on the scoreboard when Ramsey got his head on the end of a lovely Ozil loft into the box.  He did not celebrate scoring against his former club, but the Cardiff fans gave him their respect and applause.  Cardiff - home of scary, passionate, and classy supporters.

 

I have to say, I love it when a defender scores.  And watching Flamini put his foot through a perfectly weighted pass from Ozil (that's two assists) was more fun, I confess, than Rambo's brace.  Plus, he got to properly celebrate.  That goal, however, did not come until 86th minute and it was Sir Szczesny who kept us in the game with confident decisions on set-pieces and one terrific reflex save.  He now has five clean sheets out of the last six games.  Terrific stuff.

 

The one last note that I have is that when it came time to sub, we had excellent choices on the bench.  Super Sub Theo made an instant impact coming on against tired legs and assisted Aaron with his second goal.  That's the rub for Theo right now.  He's great from the bench, but will he earn his starting position back again?  Wenger talked about rotation in the next couple of weeks.  I figure Theo can take his chances then.

 

All in all, a most satisfactory performance. Sunday's games will show us just how much of a cushion we will have come our midweek match against Hull.  Until then, I leave with a bit of footy magic courtesy of @Arsenlist and Mikel Arteta.  Have a good one Gooners.