Arsenal vs. Birmingham City Review and Player Ratings (Part 2)
Continued...
However, Arsenal took little under ten minutes to respond. Arsene Wenger, new signing Chamakh was adjudged to be brought down in the penalty box by Birmingham defender and referee awarded Arsenal a fourth penalty for this season.
The young French midfield sensation of Gunners, Samir Nasri easily converted that penalty into goal and levelled the score.
Before half time, it was all level at Emirates. Arsene Wenger men then came into the second period full of life and took the lead early. With only two minutes after half time, Chamakh combined tremendously with Arsenal new sensation
Jack Wilshere and scored the second goal for Arsenal.
Arsenal continued to dominate after taking the lead. The Gunners as usual enjoyed heavy possession and also created chances in front of the goal. After going down, the visitors rarely looked at threat. Birmingham failed to get any
chances at goal and Arsenal won the match by two goals to one. The win elevates Arsenal to third spot thanks to unexpected draws of Manchester United and Chelsea. While Manchester City, won another match and is at the second position.
Arsene Wenger’s men performed well last weekend despite losing to two consecutive matches. Even though Arsenal’s big guns were absent in this match however Arsene Wenger and his men displayed the right attitude. Without a doubt,
Arsenal was missing their talismanic players in this crucial match, which made them suffer their second consecutive defeat in Premiership.
Player Ratings
Lukasz Fabianski, 7.5:
The Polish shot stopper of Arsenal looked confident and unbeatable at times. It was an impressive performance from the 25-year-old keeper. He is slowly winning hearts of Arsenal fans. Surely his impressive performances would earn
him a permanent spot between the sticks.
Emmanuel Eboue, 7:
Eboue was calm, composed and energetic despite making a rash two-footed challenge on opposition defender. The right winger who was playing as a defender was a threat in attack, even if a little erratic with his control.
Sebastien Squillaci, 6.5:
Squillaci was Arsenal’s new skipper in absence of Cesc Fabregas and boasted a solid performance for the position along with a deserving credit for holding Serbian giant of opposition for majority of the time. The new singing of
this season, Squillaci was caught out in air occasionally and therefore failed to deliver the final tackle but all in all he gave a pretty good performance.
Johan Djourou, 6:
The young centre half of Gunners still looked rusty as he was caught out to often with poor positioning and lack of speed.
Gael Clichy, 6.5:
Clichy kept the left flank neat and tidy. The French defender was also a credible contributor in attack with some threatening runs. However, he was nervy when the ball was aerial.
Alexandre Song, 7:
The Cameroonian worked tirelessly for the whole 90 minutes and made a number of gallant and vital interceptions. Song was also very active in attack, generating a number of passes and attempting to orchestrate
a number of Gunners moves.
Jack Wilshere, 7:
A clumsy and reckless challenge from the English midfielder mares his terrific performance. Jack Wilshere was sent off in the dying stages of the matches. Wilshere conjured up a number of Gunners chances with quick feet, composure
and incisive passing. Wilshere is always a threat with the ball and Arsenal will undoubtedly miss him in the coming weeks.
Abou Diaby, 7.5:
Diaby was strong, evasive and powerful. He tormented the opposition defence with power-fuelled runs and neat, impressive footwork.
However, the French midfielder did lack some finishing in the final third but never the less a strong performance.
Samir Nasri, 7:
The young French sensation played a number of delicate balls that held up beautifully and created havoc for the opposition defence. The classy Arsenal midfielder wasn't afraid to get gritty and tenacious either.
Andrei Arshavin, 5:
Arsenal veteran left forward was lack lustrous, disinterested and worst of all poor in finishing. He was rightly substituted as he was not playing his usual high standard game.
Marouane Chamakh, 7:
Chamakh earned a penalty for his team and along with that he even scored the decisive goal to get his team full points from this crucial fixture.
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