Arsenal 2 (Bendtner 27, Fabregas pen 90+3) – Sunderland 0
Match Report | Highlights
Manuel Almunia – One game without him and we realise he may not be that bad after all. Put in a solid showing between the sticks today, and although Sunderland didn’t offer much he still deserved his clean sheet. Made a great low save in the second period and marshalled his area. 7
Emmanuel Eboue – Extremely effective at right back and looking increasingly impressive with every appearance. Offered energy and penetration that Bacary Sagna has lacked in recent weeks, and was solid defensively as well. His assist for Bendtner’s goal was a piece of brilliance and I hope to see more of him int he coming weeks. 8
Thomas Vermaelen – Was a little sloppy at times and still looks like he’s carrying that ankle injury. He was mostly solid though and didn’t really look troubled by anything Sunderland mustered. Went close with a driven free-kick in the second half that was well kept out. 7
Mikael Silvestre – You can tell he hasn’t played for a while, as he was even more sluggish than usual. Like Vermaelen he wasn’t troubled by anything that Sunderland offered, apart from a couple of iffy moments in the second half that we can probably put down to a lack of match practice. 6.5
Gael Clichy – Continued his recent trend of failing to get very far forward despite his abundance of pace, although today his defending was up to scratch. He held his position at left back most of the time and was rarely caught out, and I cannot remember any Sunderland players getting in behind him. 6.5
Cesc Fabregas - Was effective in midfield today despite the fact that it wasn’t his best game. It was still a solid showing, and although he was lacking a bit of spark and originality at times, his passing was always accurate and he wasn’t afraid of getting involved. Won and converted a penalty as well, so he gets recognition for that. 7
Alex Song – Industrious if not subdued in midfield. Was always on hand to clean up any mess in the midfield and shielded the backline well, however he didn’t really get a chance to showcase his talent as Sunderland rarely threatented the defence. 7
Aaron Ramsey – I thought it was an excellent, mature performance from the youngster today. I’m starting to prefer him to Denilson and he’s a much smarter player than Diaby. He read the game well and his passing was on point. Made a beautiful disguised ball to Bendtner that was unfortunately misread. 7.5
Theo Walcott – It was an improvement, even if his final ball is still atrocious. His pace terrorised the Sundlerland defence and he ran them ragged for the entire time he was on the pitch, however he continually failed to provide a decent cross. Missed when clean through early in the match, aslo. 5
Nicklas Bendtner – Good performance from the big Dane and you can see that he’s slowly building up match fitness. Scored an easy goal but he got himself in a great position, and that will do no harm to his confidence. Provided a focal point for our attacks and held the ball up well. 7
Samir Nasri – Caused havoc for Alan Hutton on the left flank. His passing pas accurate and his final balls were dangerous, unlike those of Walcott. He didn’t beat his man that often or take too many shots, but his movement off the ball and ingenuity made him difficult to handle. 7.5
SUBSTITUTES
Rosicky – 6
Sagna, Denilson – N/A.
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Fab & Bendtner are overrated, I’ll gave em both 6 for misses a lot of pass and shot. If it was RVP we would end up 5-0 with RVP hattrick. Theo on the other hand played superb, causing hardwork for the opponent defensive to guard him. I’ll gave Theo an 8 for his perfromance.
Almunia did a good job but our defense was in shambles.
Sunderland played through with ease and if our midfield hadn’t done a stunning job then we would have kept a clean sheet
they were beaten in their offside sides trap three times by Jones and Bent who were one on one with the keeper three times.
I don’t mind if the defense want to attack but they have to learn to keep their shape and until then we will concede cheap goals.
If we can learn the organizational skills like Birmingham have then their will be very few teams that will have even a chance team against us.
You think Fabregas is overrated then you’re not right in the head
Bendtner is not overrated he’s underrated.
He’s suppose to hold the ball and bring other player into the game and he did that perfectly
He wins headers and we haven’t had that for a while
there’s a saying that works perfectly here : Beggars can’t be choosers.
A good analysis. I agree Eboue was fantastic, Theo is improving, thats what will help us make opposition defence nervous, Fabregas showed leader xtics but we could see Slvester lacked pace. Am more concerned that we lost too many chances for delays in shooting-the same for Porto game. Ramsey will come in hardy in coming matches if given more opportunity. For Bendtner, I think his presence has helped us, i hope he can improve on his shooting so that more re not over the bar! With yellow cards and injuries piling, I think such rotation will help our our cover up players.
i think eboue should be preferred to sagna from now on he is a much better option,sagna has been really poor for me recently,eboue looks really comfortable in there.walcott is gradually gettin better he needs games.with pace like that he will cause defenders all sorts of problems.cant understand why cambell never started thought he had a decent game midweek.silvestre is a liability and was caught out on a couple of occasions yesterday.it will be interesting to see how many injuries we pick up after the game as this team seams to be made of chocolate!
Give Theo a break. We’ve all seen he’s been off the pace since coming back but 5?? I thought there were good signs yesterday – the fear he’s been playing with (something Eduardo also suffers from… understandably) is gradually going and he’s taking responsibility again. His touch will come in time. I’d mark him at least at 7. Eboue is a revelation since the ACN and competition will be good for Sagna. Shame he’s not left footed.
Good to see Ramsey in there – hope he gets a run now. No one can say Denilson hasn’t had a chance! And Bendtner will give us physical presence we’ve been missing (at last) . He’s not a 25 goal a season player but he does give opposition something different to think about.
Looking better – now if they can all just stay fit for a week we might get somewhere…
some of you are PATHETIC….now almunia is good…when theo is having a bad time..he should be offloaded…fuck off and go support the lane…
gunner till i die
I, too, think that Theo had a much more improved game than the past few. The touches are coming back, and I can only see him improving. Also, I much rather have Diaby than Rambo/Denilson combined. Our dimension and pace are much better that way in the midfield.
I think Sagna should not be replaced by Eboue. If Eboue is consistent, then he is preferred in forward rather than replacing Sagna who is solid.
Pretty harsh on Walcott. He gave us a extra dimension, and chased back when eboue went forward.
jhessart is stupid for thinking that Fabregas is overrated!! where has he been for the last 6 months?
Fabregas is the glue holding the team together and i hope he stays for as long as possible.
5 for Walcott is very harsh. He was atleast 6.5
Seems comfort win to Gunners but still a tough game
Are you going to post anything new up?