Chance To Close The Gap

Today's game against Sunderland is a huge turning point in Arsenal's Premier League season. Win today and Arsene Wenger's men crawl to within 1 measly point of league leaders Man United. Steve Bruce's Sunderland are all that stand in the way...

I haven't posted for a while because I've still been mourning from the events that occurred last weekend. I don't begrudge Birmingham the win, I think they deserved it to be honest, but I am still so annoyed at how we threw that game away. The game could have gone either way at 1-1 and I think if we went into extra time we would have emerged victorious. But to lose like that makes me sick, especially when its a cup final. The 5-0 win over Leyton Orient on Wednesday cheered me up a bit, setting up a tasty battle against United at Old Trafford. I think if we have our guys healthy, we can beat them.

Anyway, attention must first turn to the game at 3 o'clock this afternoon. Sunderland have been pretty awful of late, losing their last 4 league games so they are there for the taking and we must ensure we get the win today, because anything less will be considered as a disaster especially in the wake of United's loss at Chelsea; this is a glorious chance to put our mark on this title race and keep the pressure on Fergie and his boys.

The big news is that Aaron Ramsey has returned from his latest loan spell at Cardiff and is in the squad for today's game. Its exciting to think he could make a big impact today and I hope he gets some game time this afternoon, it would be brilliant to see the Welsh wonder run out at the Emirates. I'll be at work so will miss the game as per usual but I'll be keeping a close eye on the scoreline once 3 o'clock rolls around. Massive day for the Arsenal, just gotta hope they can deliver when it matters...

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Keeping The Pace

Arsenal kept their title bid alive last night by beating Birmingham 3-0 at St Andrews. Goals from Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri, and a howler from City's Roger Johnson secured all three points for the travelling Gunners. Arsene Wenger and his men didn't succumb to Birmingham and their impressive home record against the top clubs (despite City's struggles this season), and are still very much in the mix for the title.

Arsenal needed maximum points last night after their slip up against Wigan mid-week, and Wenger's men managed to deliver. I had the displeasure of watching that performance at Wigan, and it was pretty frustrating to see the team play in such a sloppy fashion. I understood Wenger resting some key players during this busy Christmas/New Year schedule, but the side he put out were obviously out of sorts and couldn't gel on the pitch at all, leading to a disappointing 2-2 draw. Thankfully the boss learnt from his mistake and started the strongest team possible against Birmingham, the same eleven that dispatched Chelsea so convincingly just a week ago.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about last night's game as you can read a match review on the wealth of other, and more detailed, Arsenal blogs around. Overall, we played well for the entire 90 minutes and created so many chances that the 3-0 scoreline was a bit flattering in the end. Fabianski only had one real save to make all game and it was fantastic to see him record a clean sheet, that elusive statistic he'd prefer to have more of. It was also great to see van Persie play a full game and get on the score-sheet as well, even if it was a deflected free kick off Lee Bowyer. Nasri took his goal well in the second half after some typically stylish Arsenal build-up play with El Capitan, Cesc Fabregas. It really was a nice strike by the in-form Frenchman, who has now increased his tally to 13 goals this season. The Gunner's 3rd goal came minutes later thanks to some more brilliant passing by Cesc and Nasri, the latter's beautiful pass setting up Fabregas who forced City keeper Ben Foster into a save. Unfortunately for the home side, the ball ricocheted off of Foster into the Birmingham defence, finally hitting Roger Johnson, before trickling over the line for an embarrassing own goal. Game over and Arsenal managed to hold on for the win and three crucial points, keeping the pressure on the opposition.

This was a massive game and one that Arsenal had to win. Our away record this season has been sublime and we need these results every week to ensure we are up there at the top, battling for first place. Now Arsenal face Manchester City on Wednesday, another important match in this topsy turvy Premier League season. The blue side of Manchester will fancy their chances when they travel to the Emirates this week and we'll have to beat them to distance ourselves in the title race. Here's hoping we get the result and put those Manchester City playboys back in their place.

Thanks for reading.