Arsenal vs Blackpool Review

Hello readers.

What an almost perfect match. There will be sterner tests ahead(not least the very next match against Blackburn away), but lets give credit where it is due. Agreed, we were playing for about an hour against 10 men, and it was only Blackpool, but it was heart warming to see us create a number of chances(26 in fact), and take 6 of them. I know we could, and probably should, have scored more but I'd take the final scoreline against any team any day.

It was nice to see Theo in such fine form. If he can perform consistently like this then he'll be a real threat to rival defences. It was also a wonderful sight to behold Rosicky's awesome vision and  passing. In fact, the whole team played well and it was also a great opportunity for our World Cup finalists Cesc and van Persie get some game time. Hopefully they'll play a bigger part in the next match.

First Half Analysis:

We had total control of the match from the start. Blackpool were awful in possession; they kept giving the ball away. In fact, they couldn't cross the halfway line even. Credit goes to our midfielders and defence for pressing the ball, winning it back and launching devastating counter attacks. The first goal came from a flowing move from the left and it was nice interplay from Arshavin and Rosicky that sucked the defenders and allowed space to open up for Walcott, who finished with aplomb. Thereafter, Blackpool had a golden chance to equalize but they failed to take their chance. After that, the game was over as a contest when Chamakh was brought down and Arshavin converted the resulting penalty delightfully. It was nice to see Chamakh and Walcott switch positions to confuse the defenders and from one such situation Walcott buried his second goal magnificently. At this point, you could sense that a hattrick was coming for Theo.

Second Half Analysis:

There was no let-up as we piled further misery on Blackpool when Diaby boomed his shot past the goalkeeper. Finally, the hattick came as a result of bursting pace from Theo and a well taken left-foot shot. After that, the subs came on and I had my heart in my mouth when Robin was writhing on the ground. Luckily, he was able to continue playing and I'm sure thousands of Gunners heaved a collective sigh of relief. Carlos Vela should have scored earlier when he was put through but he wrongly chose to pass rather than shoot when one-on-one with the goalie. Even then, he produced a wonderful moment of magic and it was a pity he could not score a goal - which would have been the goal of the season then. There was no respite for Blackpool as Chamakh made no mistake from the resulting corner as he opened his account for us in the League with a well connected header.                     

I think we eased off in the closing 20 minutes or so otherwise if we kept playing with the same tempo then we could have scored at least 12.

Conclusion:

We shouldn't read too much from this match as we'll not find easier games in the season. But, we can definitely take the positives from this game and carry them in our next match which is against Big Sam's physical surround-the-goalkeeper Blackburn side who took full advantage of Fabiansky and our injuries last season. I'd be glad if we can thrash them properly and come away without any injuries.

Until then, have a great day!