Not Exactly David and Goliath: Arsenal vs West Brom Albion

Gone are the days when a trip to WBA was considered a vacation. A young team of promise, WBA epitomizes the strong “middle of the table” EPL brags about. On paper, Arsenal were dramatically weakened by the spree of injuries to Walcott, Wilshire (who should be back in reckoning in the starting line-up soon), and the long-term injury to the talented yet ever-injured Diaby. For all us Gunners fans, a trip to the Hawthorns left that inkling of teeth clattering nervousness; and for good reason.

Steve Clark made some puzzling changes from the West Ham game with Lukaku on the bench and Jerome in the starting lineup. Arsenal stuck to team that won against Reading, though I expect the Norwich game to feature Walcott and Wilshire, but possibly on the bench.

The first chance of the game came for WBA with a Yacob header cleared off from the goal line by the eventual MOM Rosicky. After a couple of semi useful runs by WBA, Gervinho took over and with Rosicky and Cazorla ran the West Brom defense right into their box. It took 20 minutes for Gervinho to dance around a couple of defenders and crack the ball, which Rosicky darted into the goal. The only possible save for that would have been an accidental one. Though Arsenal had greater control of the game, WBA were more than a handful in the midfield. The Hawthorns challenged every possession and made moving forward seem tougher than the gunners like. The 42^nd minute saw Ramsey shoot himself in the foot with a near impossible miss made possible. Some slick work by Cazorla and Giroud saw Ramsey in an extremely favorable position with only the keeper to beat but alas, as most stories including him end, the ball went wide. The evident despair and pain wasn’t enough to abate the missed open goal. However, Ramsey did make some amends when he threaded the ball through to Rosicky who made a play which epitomizes why I love football. Here’s the commentary from Goal.com:

It was nice to see Arsenal not letting up and continue moving into the final third. Even after Lukaku was brought on in the 56^th minute, WBA were far from creating any proper chances. Gervinho was especially effective in this as he was making long runs thereby pulling as many as four players at time and leaving gaps all over the field for other players to take advantage off. I really hope Wenger sees the missed opportunities for through balls. West Brom’s efforts going forward were mostly wasteful with Shane Long and Lukaku hitting a wall marshaled ably by Koscielny. The defensive backs were strong and had no slip ups. And like every entertaining story, Morrison and Long figured the weak spot in the Arsenal defense. Initially by intercepting a suicidal back-pass by Mertesacker to Koscielny and then by using the long ball against Mertesacker. Long pushed Per’s tolerance enough to make him commit a more than acceptable red card foul, leading to Morrison sinking the spot kick through a diving Fabianksi’s legs.

From then on WBA played brilliantly, pushing the ball forward, creating chances, bringing the 10 players back for defense and justifying the initial nervousness the Gooner felt. Vermaelen’s entrance into the attack brought some solidarity to the back four, but the Hawthorns were relentless. Tons of missed half chances, poorl headers and some gritty defending from Arsenal saw them see off the final barrage of attacks from West Brom. All in all, an entertaining game, missed chances and a shift in the top four of the premier league. Not a bad day at all. The only complaint was with the referees as some unjust and soft yellows were shelled out.

At the end of the weekend, Arsenal moved back to fifth, with a game in hand over the Spurs. West Brom have lost two in a row with their last victory coming four games back and sit comfortably on 9^th spot. Arsenal still need a stronger finisher and a Robben-esque figure who can create clear chances within the box. West Brom really needs someone to score more goals. Even Southampton has scored more goals than them.

Arsenal next faces Norwich City at Home, which will be viewed at as a chance for retribution for the away loss and West Ham travel to the dreaded Etihad stadium where their face Man City who were just buoyed by their big win over Man United.

Can’t wait for next week!