Arsenal Hold On Late for 2-1 Win Away at Everton

Three points is always a good thing, particularly away at Goodison Park. It's even better when the Gunners start looking like the Arsenal we expect: crisp passing and movement, commitment and purpose, and yes, some spot on goalkeeping. (Zonal Marking already has a post up about the game.) They're not nearly where they need to be, but after a dismal three-game skid, this was game welcome relief.

The Gunners 2-1 away victory nudges them upward into 2nd place in the table. With Chelsea getting absolutely shredded at home by Sunderland 3-0 (a really inspired game by the Black Cats, while most of the Chelsea 11 looked like they were mourning Ray Wilkins), Arsenal are only 2 points back of the league leaders.

Arsenal were much improved today with goals coming from Sagna in the first period and Fabregas early after the restart. While they failed to put the game on ice, they gutted out the full 90 and did enough to win. Lukas Fabianski, as noted, made a number of saves to preserve the win, especially late on as Everton piled pressure on the Gunners goal. And again, the keeper was strong in his management of the goal area.

Arsenal did allow Everton to concede a goal late from a corner kick. Dodgy defending, with Song not winning the ball at the far post (and a possible foul as Saha climbed/leapt over Alex) and several defenders guilty of ball-watching.

That complain aside, this is a very, very good 3 points to take and a win to build from as we move toward the London Derby at White Hart Lane next weekend.

Other Notes
From the Please, Please, Please Department, Juventus are said to be dumb enough, er astute enough to know a great striker when they see one, and are willing to take Nick Bendtner off our hands.

Please, Please, Please Department, Part II.  Speculation mounts on whether Almunia has a future with the club and whether it might be as goalkeeper glove washer.

It was nice to see FC Dallas beat down LA 3-0 (at home, even!) to advance to the MLS Cup. I've been impressed with Dallas' fast, attacking style. They'll meet a similar team in Colorado, who beat San Jose yesterday.

Maher Nails It. Crazy Right Wing Special Brand of Crazy

Bill Maher uses the Rally for Sanity to make an important point about lazy comparisons between the bat-shit crazies at the far right end of the political spectrum and the Goofball Left. They ain't the same.

If we lose our ability to call a bat shit crazy numbskull like Christine O'Donnell for what she is, then we will lose our ability to govern ourselves in a complex world (and defend ourselves from the mouse-people...)

The Incomparable Eli Wallach

I think I first saw Eli Wallach (and realized who I was watching) in a Tales from the Crypt movie in the 80s. No way, a movie that befit his talent, but as this A.O. Scott (Wallach's nephew) profile shows, Wallach loves acting such that even a turn as the icily evil villain Mr. Freeze from TV's Batman series became an opportunity for Wallach to gleefully chew scenery and share his joy with the audience. Ninety-five years old and still acting - OOMH salutes great American Eli Wallach.

Arsenal Lose Plot, Lose Match Against Shaktar

Displaying a lack of killer instinct as well as an element of let's say, insouciance, Arsenal gave up a 2-goal lead to lose 2-1 away at Shaktar Donetsk. Adding insult to injury the winning goalscorer was noone else but little Eduardo, who Wenger had judged too crocked to continue at Emirates. Arsenal were missing key starters, but that is little excuse for this outcome.

Shaktar started the game with high intensity and put the Arsenal goal under some pressure early on. However, Arsenal fought their way into the game and scored a brilliant goal on a lightning counter-attack combo from Wilshere and Walcott. Young Wilshere commandeered the ball in our defensive third, took a touch wide when he looked up to see Theo Walcott racing up the touchline against a solo defender. Wilshere hit a beautifully weighted and located pass over the defender, allowing Walcott to catch the ball in stride, dribble into the box and shoot past the Shaktar goalkeeper.

Walcott of course, has been showing vast improvements in his game and this strike was excellent. He had enough time and space to bring the ball closer, but he looked up and saw the angle for the far post and had the cockiness and calmness to shoot from distance. It was a strike reminiscent of Thierry Henry, for those who care to make the comparison.

And that was about the end of the highlights, unless you were cheering for ex-Gunner Eduardo. After taking the lead, the Gunners went into the tank. They stopped challenging, they stopped winning balls out of the air. Gael Clichy - who continues the baffling inconsistency in his game from last season - epitomized the Gunners effort when he eschewed an easy clearance upfield, allowing Srna to disposess the ball and waltz into the box before gift-wrapping a pass to Eduardo for the easiest of goals.

Coach Wenger accused his team of complacency and I say that's a fair, if restrained, assessment. Look, champions don't lose these types of games, against weaker opponents. That is a major difference between us and Chelsea.

There were two bright spots on the field for the Gunners, Jack Wilshere and Fabianski. In this match, Jack looked like a first-teamer slumming with the reserves team. He ran hard, challenged, tackled and was the lone bright spot going forward. This kid is the future of Arsenal. Fabianski had another solid effort in goal for Arsenal. He stopped a number of good Shaktar efforts and most importantly, he patrolled and protected the box like a man.

The loss leaves us tied with Shaktar on points at the top of Group H with a match coming up Nov. 23rd in Portugal against Braga. Hopefully, they'll have shed the complacency, as well as got a few of the boys back.

Oh, and Bert Van Marwijk is a wanker.

Arsenal Take The Points At Eastlands, Go to Second in the Table

Here is a phrase I never thought I'd write: Lukasz Fabianski-Man of the Match. The much-maligned young keeper had a strong, consistent and at times outstanding game for the Gunners as they won 3-0 at Eastlands against the megabucks Blues.

While the Mancs had the money, they were short a man early on, as referee Mark Clattenburg rightly ejected defender Dedryck Boyata in the 5th minute for a last-man scything of Marouane Chamakh. If you just checked the scoreline you'd think the Gunners ran away with it from there, but the 3-goal shutout is a bit misleading. Once Samir Nasri scored on a really sharp goal after playing give-and-go with Arshavin, the team receded significantly.

In fact, for long stretches of the first half I watched this from the edge of my futon, certain that Tevez was just about to bust through for a dam-burster. Arsenal grew sloppy in posession and passing through the rest of the half (with the Little Russian the most culpable of the lot) and did not look anything like you'd expect of the Gunners with a man-advantage. It wasn't as if Man City were doing a tremendous amount to complicate things; Arsenal just kept shooting themselves in the foot (or feet, if you will). And when Joe Hart made a smart save of Fabregas' PK, it looked like momentum had turned a pale shade of blue.

This match convinced me that Roberto Mancini will not survive the season. He didn't make any decisive substitutions to change the attacking potential of his side. Our defenders showed themselves to be vulnerable all match long (Djourou and Clichy being the worst of the lot). And yet, he was satisfied to run at us with Micah Richards and Gareth Barry?! I could coach that badly for a quarter of the cost (call me, Sheikh Mansour). The substitution at half was Wayne Bridge (injury to Ya Ya Toure). All that money, and Wayne Bridge is what you have on the bench?

Fortunate for us, as Bridgie's feeble toe-poke clearance provided a perfect set-up for Song's insurance goal blast. By the time, Bendtner came on to score the inevitable third goal in the late stages, Man City were done and toasted.

There was much to concern the Arsenal fan from this match. We were quite sloppy and made poor decisions for large stretches of the game. Djourou never looked like a capable defender until ol' Lazy Legs Emmanuel Adebayor came on. Wenger insists on starting Andrey Arshavin, who continues to fade in and out of games, while coughing up the ball regularly. (Rosicky has earned the chance to start a few matches, IMHO) The entire team was guilty of the over-cooking for which Arsenal has become famous for. Does Arsene not let them practice shooting in training?

We also need some practice tackling. As in some recent league games, several Arsenal players have been guilty of some let's say, Bolton-like tackles, the kind which the Boss has been critical of in the press. Fortunately, the team settled down at halftime and re-focused on Arsenal football.

But, the bottom line is that the Gunners worked hard throughout the game, stayed with their style of football and got an important 3 points on the road in a tough environment. We're getting players back (Bendtner and Walcott got some field time) and we didn't suffer any injuries. And our goalkeeper looked sharp and confident throughout the game. Fabianski started with a low diving save of a goalbound Silva strike in the first minute, and made a number of goal-denying saves throughout. And for me, Fabs is starting to look more confident and definitive on crosses and set pieces. I hope the trend continues. As things stand, I would prefer he stay in goal over Almunia.

Glazers to Buy Wayne the World

...perhaps The Scot wasn't behind all this is some Machiavellian master-stroke to force the ownership into revitalizing the franchise, but it does look as if Uncle Malc has promised young Wayne an awful lot: 300K per week, 11 new players, including Wesley Sneijder, Martin Stekelenburg, Lassana Diarra, Luis Suarez, a new pony, and the Kingdom of Narnia.

Geez, talk about spoiling your kids. Anyways, I'm very interested to see how this all plays out for the 8-15 ManUre players Wayne is implicitly and/or explicitly deeming surplus to his requirements. Plus, the ever loyal Roo, who only wants what's best for the club has ensured there is a buyout clause that could allow him to leave as early as next summer.

Scot 1 Yanks 0?

I must be getting cynical with age, but am I the only one suspicious of Fergie-Rooney collusion in forcing (both squad and salary) concessions from the Glazers? This whole episode smelled rotten from the start.

Fergie even pulled Patrice Evra in on it. Has to be. If the Frenchman doesn't refuse to train with Rooney then you know something's up. BTW, no wonder all of France was 'peesed' off at the French National Team for refusing to train in South Africa. That's so un-French. They should've rioted instead.

Now, I am getting cynical.