Showing posts with label Emirates Stadium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emirates Stadium. Show all posts
Arsenal began life after Robin van Persie with a frustrating 0-0 draw against Sunderland in their opening match of the new Premier League season at the Emirates Stadium.
Santi Cazorla had an impressive debut for the London side but another recent arrival, striker Olivier Giroud, missed a great chance to score his first goal for the club and seal the victory with 10 minutes remaining.
The stalemate was the third time in as many years that the Gunners have begun their campaign by only picking up one point, and it is also the third goalless draw in the last five Premier League games at the Emirates.
With their departed captain and top scorer preparing to make his Manchester United debut on Monday, Arsenal fans were given their first competitive glimpse of the future of their attack. New signings Lukas Podolski and Cazorla both started with their third summer acquisition, Giroud, on the bench.
The presence of those new star names on the teamsheet was cause for optimism among Arsenal fans, but that was more than offset by the absence of midfielder Alex Song from the matchday squad amid reports that a move to Barcelona is in the offing.
For their part, Sunderland gave a debut to Carlos Cuellar at right-back, while striker Louis Saha was only named on the bench having completed his move to Wearside earlier in the week.
Arsenal completely controlled the first half, enjoying 70 per cent of the possession, but it was Sunderland who had the first chance of the game after five minutes. James McClean was played into the box on the left and his shot from an angle was blocked by Wojciech Szczesny. Arsenal immediately countered, and Cazorla galloped forward before firing in a shot from 20 yards that Simon Mignolet parried with an outstretched arm.
That was the first significant action of a highly influential debut for Cazorla. The Spaniard struck a low shot just wide after both he and Podolski went to meet Gervinho's cross, crossed for Theo Walcott to head over the bar and generally provided a good link between midfield and the front three.
Abou Diaby, starting in the missing Song's stead, forced a good low save from Mignolet with an effort from range, but they ended the half with just two shots on target, the same as Sunderland.
The second half followed much the same pattern as the first, with most of the action in the Sunderland half as the visitors did their best to keep Arsenal at bay.
Cazorla volleyed wide after one of many searing runs into the box from Gervinho saw a deflected shot fall for him, before Theo Walcott hit the side-netting at the end of another promising move.
Midway through the second half Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger replaced Podolski – who had been tightly marked throughout – with Giroud. The French striker, who finished joint top-scorer in Ligue 1 last season as Montpellier won the title, did well to connect with Karl Jenkinson's cross with a side-footed volley on the turn, but he could not guide it on target.
If he could have been forgiven for that miss, then his next chance will have made the realisation of life without Van Persie all the more sobering. With 81 minutes on the clock, Giroud timed his run well to meet Cazorla's through ball, but with only Mignolet to beat he fired wide of the target.
That miss was to prove costly, as the final whistle came without any more opportunities as clear as that, and Arsenal finished the day having not won any of their last four home games.
Arsene Wenger says summer signing Gervinho has all the attributes required to be successful at Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal fans will get their first glimpse of the Ivorian frontman at the Emirates Cup this weekend following his sensational two-goal debut against FC Cologne on Saturday.
While Wenger knows his 30-minute cameo in Germany is only the start of his career in north London, he has already seen enough of the 24-year-old to know that he will be a fine addition to his strikeforce.
“I am confident he will integrate well into our collective play and he has qualities which will be needed by the group,” said Wenger on Friday. “That is his movement off the ball and his pace.
“The first impression is always very important because you get some trust from the fans and confidence for yourself. He has been successful on that front.
“It is only a half-hour but he has been very efficient. He has the qualities we like from a striker, he can score and give assists.
“Our strength is to play together as a team so to give the ball as a striker is important for us.”
Theo Walcott says Gervinho will be a “breath of fresh air” after the summer signing bagged his first two goals for the Club at the weekend.
The Ivorian striker had already opened his Arsenal account with a delicate lob by the time Walcott’s inch-perfect cross allowed him to tuck home his second after just 15 minutes against Cologne on Saturday.
Aside from his brace, the new addition looked a constant threat in Germany and Walcott is excited by what his new team-mate brings to the squad.
“Gervinho will be a breath of fresh air I think,” he said. “He looks a great talent.
“You can tell he can bring goals, he has got plenty of pace about him and he is very comfortable on the ball. I am looking forward to playing with him.
“You don’t want to put too much pressure on him but I am sure he can deal with that.”
Tottenham Hotspur pulled off an incredible comeback to win 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium and claim their first Premier League victory at Arsenal since 1993.
Arsenal led 2-0 at half-time thanks to goals from Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh, but Spurs levelled it up through a fine Gareth Bale finish and a Rafael van der Vaart penalty.
Younes Kaboul scored a late glancing header to complete an astonishing turnaround and silence the Emirates.
Tottenham came into the game without an away win against the 'Big Four' in a staggering 68 attempts. And it looked like that run would continue as the Gunners eased into a commanding position.
There was a suitably combative start. After Nasri refused to shake his former colleague William Gallas's hand in the pre-match formalities, the Arsenal man was released in the first minute, only to be dispossessed by a muscular Gallas challenge.
The pair apparently did not speak during Gallas's final season at the club, when he was relieved of the club captaincy, and the defender inadvertently caught his rival in the face with a flailing arm in the act of winning the ball.
But Tottenham's optimism soon turned into a familiar sinking feeling as Arsenal seized control of the game and the visitors went behind to an eminently avoidable goal.
Heurelho Gomes had already flapped at once cross when Cesc Fabregas sent Nasri through the middle with a fine, raking pass.
Nasri's first touch was heavy and Gomes appeared to have the situation under control as he slid out to claim the ball - but his challenge was limp, the ball squirted free and Nasri finished from an outrageous angle, rolling the ball in deftly from the left.
Arsenal grew in confidence, and exploited a Tottenham side missing a designated defensive midfielder with some slick passing.
One particularly excellent move was started and finished by Fabregas, as Arsenal worked the ball from left to right and back again, before the Arsenal skipper dragged his shot wide.
It was two on 27 minutes as the home side launched a magnificent counter-attack that culminated in Andrei Arshavin crossing low from the left and Chamakh touching the ball neatly past Gomes from eight yards.
Tottenham eventually grabbed a foothold in the game, even though Bale found his space restricted and Van der Vaart cut a frustrated, unhappy figure.
The Dutchman had a couple of long-range sighters while Luka Modric shot straight at Lukasz Fabianski, and a succession of corners came to nothing.
Jermain Defoe, returning from an ankle injury, replaced Aaron Lennon at half-time and Spurs attacked with a narrower formation as Van der Vaart cut inside from the right.
Within five minutes the move paid off as Defoe surprisingly won a header in midfield. It fell for Van der Vaart, who chested down and played in Bale, who steered a delightful finish past Fabianski into the left corner.
Arsenal continued to dominate possession, but they failed to test Gomes, and were made to pay following an inexplicable act of stupidity from Fabregas on 67 minutes.
Van der Vaart hit a free-kick towards the wall, and the Arsenal captain raised his arm to stop the ball. A blatant and unnecessary handball, and a penalty.
The Dutchman stepped up and sent the ball into the left corner as Fabianski dived the other way.
Arsene Wenger responded by replacing Chamakh with Robin van Persie, and his team soon had the ball in the net through Sebastien Squillaci, though it was rightly chalked off for offside.
Fabregas volleyed over from the edge of the box, and finally worked Gomes with a curling 20-yarder that looked destined for the right corner before the keeper tipped it athletically behind.
Laurent Koscielny was then guilty of a terrible miss, sending a free header over from six yards after a Van Persie cross.
And Kaboul made the Gunners pay, with Van der Vaart again the creator. His curling free-kick from the right was glanced on by the Frenchman, and it nestled in the left corner of the net past Fabianski's desperate dive.
