Arsenal Win 5-2

Arsenal stood on the brink of the real possibility of the season falling into disrepair. They were already suffering through their worst start since the 1982-3 season. We were dropping too many points, giving up unnecessary goals, letting opponents back into games (twice in a week from 2 up) and our offense seemed to be going cold at the wrong times. But there were glimmers of hope in the 2-0 victory over Liverpool, the draw at Man City and the three goals we scored against Fulham. But with substantially more parity in the EPL this season, it was becoming increasingly clear that every point matters. And we had left them all over the place, from 3 dropped at Norwich, to 2 against Fulham, Stoke and Sunderland to a disappointing displays against Chelsea and Man United. Now we faced a resurgent Tottenham team buoyed with the hope of finally supplanting Arsenal in the table, for the first time in the Wenger era. 

So when we fell behind 1-0 after only ten minutes, on a goal from hated ex-Gunner Adebayor, tremors went through the hearts of many a Gooner including me. But then the same Adebayor offered us a gift -- a straight red card for a reckless tackle on Cazorla. From there the fixture changed dramatically, culminating in a 5-2 victory. While we should not take too much from a game where we played a man up for 70 minutes, it was a needed victory that just may go a long way to restoring confidence in a side that seemed to come back from the last international break battered physically and mentally. And the news that followed across the weekend offered further positives to take from the game. Both Man United and Chelsea lost, as did Fulham, Newcastle and Everton. We moved up to sixth and stand four points behind fourth place surprise West Brom and only one behind Everton, who have fallen off their early season form. Looking at the rest of the year, we have reeling Aston Villa next weekend, followed by an important fixture at Goodison, before taking on Swansea and West Brom at the Emirates, Reading and Wigan on the road and then West Ham and Newcastle in quick succession at home. Given recent form, the Everton game on the road and West Brom and West Ham fixtures will be key, with the rest expected wins. Of course this is Arsenal, nothing can be taken for granted, but a winning streak now could put us comfortably into fourth heading into the new year (or maybe even third if Chelsea continues their recent collapse).

The results over the weekend actually begged more questions than they answered. Would Tottenham have gone on to win without the silly and unnecessary challenge from Adebayor? Are Manchester United good enough to win the title (with such a porous back line)? Did we overrate Chelsea early in the season? And whom among the also rans will stake a claim to that fourth spot? Looking at the Gunners triumph, we still saw the defensive lapses that have followed after the early defensive success (it should be noted against teams that have been having trouble scoring against anyone). And we were ceding possession far too easily early on before taking control of the game after the Mertesacker header that leveled the match. This was his first goal at Arsenal and only augments the strong performance he has been putting in defensively this year. Cazorla looked resurgent in the game after a few average performances, scoring a goal and setting up many of the others. Walcott was great as well, though he should have had at least two -- setting up two scores and putting one in at the death himself. Podolski played better, though I am still troubled by the way he disappears at times and Arteta returned to the reliable force in the middle we have come to expect. Wilshire also looked lively and appears to be gaining confidence with every performance. And Giroud continued his excellent play, adding his name to the other two excellent signings this summer.  Finally, Oxlade-Chamberlain looked wonderful off the bench and one hopes he gets more chances to play in the coming weeks. 

So where do we go from here? With Arsenal in recent years, it is impossible to know. But we have a winnable match at the Emirates Wednesday against Montpellier that could vault us to the knock out stage if Schalke wins as well. Then the aforementioned mixture of matches with the Capital One Cup Quarter against Bradford City thrown in on December 11. An expected win there puts us into the semis with a strong opportunity to win some silverware for the first time in seven years. The match Wednesday is the first step in restoring our season, as anything less than a win means a nervy trip to  Greece with a spot on the line. Building on the victory Saturday, we should follow Man City in putting the pressure on Villa and then head to Everton with the confidence to maybe grab a win (or at least draw). All of the tough and winnable fixtures are key for our season though, as from January 13 to 30 we play Man City (at home), Chelsea (at the Bridge) and a suddenly hot Liverpool (at home) in a row. If we are not firmly ensconced in the top four by then, it could be a make or break two weeks. Let's hope the victory restores the players drive and confidence and we start performing to the level we saw earlier in the season. As I mentioned last week, we still need some defensive reinforcements (particularly at left back given Gibbs' inability to stay healthy), a defensive midfielder to marshal the back (as I do think we are stretching Arteta too thin leaving the back four to chase any advances down the wings) and probably another striker to switch in and out with Giroud or play side by side when appropriate (though the 4-4-2 seems unlikely at the moment). And we need to sort out the Walcott situation, with his recent form leading me to advocate keeping him for the first time in a long time. It seems a fire has been lit underneath him and with the exception of the Man United game, he has really improved his crossing, first touch and obviously finishing. Go Gunners!