Arsenal 2 Montpellier 0 – Nerve-soothing!

Arsenal 2 (Wilshere 49, Podolski 63) – Montpellier 0

Man of the Match – Olivier Giroud (Arsenal)

Nerves were soothed last night, though I am suffering a bit of headache at the moment, thanks to staying awake all the way till 3:30 AM to watch Champions League action.

Pre-match, emphasis was quite clearly on collecting 3 points, against a Montpellier side, reeling with injuries, ill-discipline and poor form. And, 3 points we did collect in the end.

There were no surprises in the Arsenal line-up, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain coming in for the injured Theo Walcott. There was also place on the bench for the returning duo of Kieran Gibbs and Gervinho, who almost a year back, had massively contributed to this blog.

Montpellier, on the other hand, having sold their top scorer from last season, to us, also had to contend with the absence of their top scorer this season, Soulyamane Camara. In came young French striker, Gaetan Charbonnier, who was purchased in the close season, from the French second division, a la Olivier Giroud.

The French champions started with 5 defenders, with Mathieu Deplagne taking his place in the centre of defence, and highly sought after captain Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa starting in the centre of midfield.

The first half was a case of both sides looking to get some sort of foothold in the game. Montpellier’s young side looked enterprising and chirpy, while Arsenal kept losing possession, and heaping unnecessary pressure on themselves. Luckily, Montpellier lacked any sort of creativity to trouble Arsenal’s back line.

Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta were guilty of giving away the ball several times. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looked a bit of a shadow of himself from last season, as the bulky winger failed to get the better of left-back Henri Bedimo. Bacary Sagna looked industrious throughout.

The southern French side looked closest to scoring first, as Vermaelen failed to deal with the pace and trickery of Remy Cabella, and Szczesny looked unsure when dealing with a cross from the left.

Arsenal almost took the lead, when an inch perfect cross from Thomas Vermaelen on the left, was nearly headed in by Laurent Koscielny. Instead, it struck the bar. Seconds later, Per Mertesacker showed Bergkamp-like skills, to manouver past a couple of defenders, but his long legs came in the way.

Szczesny had to come off his line to deny Anthony Mounier an attempt at goal, while Lukas Podolski came close with two chances, both wide however. Olivier Giroud too snapped at a shot.

Arsenal came out in the second half with more directness. A Vermaelen cross was headed on to the path of Jack Wilshere, and the English midfielder, poked the ball past Geoffrey Jourdren. It was his first goal since November 27, 2010 when he scored against Aston Villa at Villa Park in the league in a 4-2 win, and his first in the Champions League, since he scored against Shakhthar Donetsk, in a 5-1 win in October 2010.

Montpellier toiled but a lack of creativity meant that the game failed to open up in the second half. Their loud bunch of supporters were louder than the home support, but Arsenal struck again, with their former hero Olivier Giroud involved heavily again.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ran in from the right, and his pass met Podolski, who played a quick one-two with Giroud, who displayed exceptional technique in perfectly setting up Podolski on the volley. The German’s shot off his left foot, was an absolute cannon, and unstoppable.

There was very little left in the game after that, as Montpellier resigned to losing, and were happy to restrict their hosts to two goals, while Arsenal created few opportunities there after, with Cazorla and Giroud coming close.

Plenty of positives. None bigger than keeping a clean sheet. Defensively, Cabella looked dangerous as he gave Vermaelen something to think about. Koscielny looked like a beast at times. I feel he is best suited to start along side Mertesacker, purely because of his pace and tenacity to defend and cover.

Midfield was sloppy in the first half, and against a better opposition, we would have been punished. Giroud looks to fit seamlessly in the new direct style of play, gathering two more assists. Impressively, he now has 7 goals and 7 assists in 18 games, which is not a bad return at all. Lukas Podolski, like he always does drifted inwards, to create more opportunities at goal. The presence of a real defender, like Vermaelen or a Gibbs, helps him free up, instead of the added burden of defending when he was playing ahead of Santos.

Defensively, there need to be some improvements though. Montpellier had enough time and space to exploit, but failed to do so, and like I said, we would get slaughtered against a stronger opposition. Chamberlain seems to be having a second tough season, and the pace seems to have gone a bit. So, clearly work required.

All in all, you couldn’t ask more than a win against tricky opposition. We can look forward to the final group game with lesser tension. For now, Aston Villa at Villa Park, late evening on Saturday.

Jai Arsenal 🙂

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Montpellier Preview + Lineups, Confidence, confidence and confidence!

It’s a Champions League night again. Which can mean only one thing. Swollen red eyes. Mind devoid of sleep. Some ‘late night to early morning snacks’ and of course Arsenal.

Saturday’s derby win was emphatic, and probably a reminder to the team how good they actually are. Yes, it was only f*cking Sp*rs, and they were down to 10 men, but if history is anything to go by, it should act as a catalyst for good things to come.

Arsenal were ruthless, decisive and direct, looking to make use of every gap that the opposition provided, and it is this same bullish mentality we need to carry forward, in what is a must-win game against French champions Montpellier.

For once, the players didn’t look jaded, or clueless. Far too often, we have seen Arsenal’s players this season going for the same ball, ramming into each other. There has been a look of fatigue, mental as well as physical, post that Interlull after the West Ham game. But, the players now look in confident and determined mood to kick start their campaign.

Theo Walcott – 

I think the better team won,They did have some good patches but in the grand scheme of things I think we deserved to win.We were very ruthless going forward and had five different goalscorers, which hasn’t happened for a while.It’s funny that it’s the same scoreline as last year – who would have thought that?it has been up and down [this season]. I am starting to get back into the team, and we have people like Santi Cazorla who has shone in his first season in England, Olivier Giroud is starting to show what he can do, Lukas Podolski is getting goals which is very useful and we have Jack [Wilshere] back.I think the confidence has always been there. But this was a massive win for us.

Bacary Sagna

It’s very important. We want to stick to the top. From now on, we just need to keep focused, look forward and win game by game.It was amazing to play. It’s always a great pleasure to play [in] a derby, especially when you win. It’s just great. We managed to score many goals.

Santi Cazorla

A few of the players have said that I should go back and do the journey again, because it’s obviously helped my form!It was a long journey and a hard one, but I was able to rest and I feel good now.Jack has a quality that everyone knows about, and he is a crucial player for us,Every day, he gets better and playing with him gets easier every day, as he improves his level and finds his fitness again.We have to be patient but he will keep on improving. I am starting to understand Jack a little bit more but that is the same with all of my team-mates. We are getting better with every game.Everyone had been explaining to me that we had to win,that it was a derby, that there is so much rivalry.The main thing is that the fans were able to enjoy themselves and that, by the end of the game, they could be quite comfortable.It’s beautiful the way they have been with me ever since I arrived. It means a lot. It makes me really happy that the fans show me so much affection. It’s lovely to hear.

Wojciech Szczesny

We couldn’t get a better time to play that game [against Spurs],Obviously, all Premier League games are as important as the next one but I think the fans enjoy it just that little bit more [against Tottenham] – when we won you could see how much they were buzzing after the game.At the final whistle there were still 60,000 people there – the only fans who left were the Tottenham fans. It was fantastic.We are buzzing today, we can’t wait for the next game. We’re confident.We’ve had a couple of poor results recently, but we’re back on track and we’re confident that we can get the three points and qualify for the knockout stages, which is the least you can ask from us.We want to make sure we do the job properly and qualify.

Yeah, yeah, we kind of get it. All is well and good with the team. Arteta and Giroud are having their mythical talks draped in red velvet, while Wilshere and Cazorla attempt a slightly midgety version of the same.

However, emphasis tonight should be maintaining the same level of intensity throughout. Tonight’s game becomes even more crucial, considering that Olympiakos and Arsenal are seperated by just a point. If Olympiakos can muster a draw in Germany, and Arsenal fail to win, it could go right down to the wire.

Olympiakos isn’t the easiest of places to go, if you need a result, if past games there are anything to go by. Of course, we sent our reserve teams there, one of them even containing a Hollywood star.

Arsenal were boosted by the return of Messrs Szczesny to goal, and I think that is a major upgrade from Vito Mannone. No disrespect to Mannone. He is a great option to have as a third choice goalkeeper, but in games gone by, he just never instilled enough confidence in the defence.

There was a lack of communication, and it was becoming far too easy to predict, and teams took advantage of it over and over again. Per Mertesacker expressed his delight at having Szczesny back in the squad.

Arsene Wenger, meanwhile was quick to praise the contributions of the German himself, as well as Olivier Giroud, who seems to be finding his old form of late. Despite all the criticism hurled at Mertesacker last season, he has been our best centre-back this season, which goes to show the German’s willingness to work hard. He is one of the first names on the team sheet.

Olivier Giroud endured a frustrated start, and was written off by the stupid media as Chamakh 2.0, but he has shown glimpses of his quality, and what he can bring to the table. His presence in the opposition box, his ability to lure defenders into his charm has been his forte this season.

And, he is coming into a good nick, at about the right time of the season. The French striker spoke about how dangerous Montpellier can be, despite having nothing to play for, while his former coach Rene Girard told his side to be wary of Giroud.

Right, team news then. Theo Walcott is ruled out with a shoulder injury he picked up against Sp*rs. Apart from that, there are returns for Kieran Gibbs and Gervinho. Andre Santos has been ruled out. Benjamin Stambouli (virus), injured forward John Utaka, full-back Garry Bocaly and suspended striker Souleymane Camara are all out for Montpellier.

Here is how the teams have lined up.

Montpellier look to have lined up more defensively, though it can be attributed to the lack of personnel at the moment. 5 defenders, including Mathieu Delpagne have been named. Hunch is he could start in defensive midfield.

The French champions caused Arsenal enough problems last time around, with their clever and quick passing play. Younes Belhanda and Remy Cabella look two fine prospects for the future. Montpellier’s top scorer Camara is out, which means young Gaetan Charbonnier will have to lead the line.

Arsenal should really put this game to bed early on. Montpellier are known to slowly claim their way into the game, something they did in France, in the earlier group game. They had several chances, but a combination of Mannone, some last ditch clearances and the post helped us keep the 3 points.

Enjoy the game wherever you are!

Jai Arsenal 🙂

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Go ahead you lazy bum, that’s all I ask of you!