Football Update: EPL News- Arsenal Fought Hard To Score A Victory Against Birmingham City
Birmingham City is considered to be a physical team and they proved their strength against Arsenal. Although, the Gunners emerged victorious in the end, however, they had to fight hard for this victory. Now, Arsene Wenger, Arsenal’s manager, would be happy
with his team’s performance as it gets back on the track.
Arsenal had failed to score a single point in last two games, before the start of international break. Last time, they were up against Chelsea, who won the match easily, being a more physically dominating side. Therefore, Arsene Wenger had been rallying
his troops to regain their form against Birmingham City, in a match that was being played at the Emirates Stadium.
However, against the run of play and against all odds, it was Birmingham City who scored the first goal at Emirates Stadium. But, Arsenal soon levelled in the same half, while an early goal in the second half proved to be enough to get all three points from
this match. With this victory, Arsenal has gone ahead of Manchester United in the English Premier League table.
Arsene Wenger was hoping to get Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott back from their injuries, but he put both of them on the benches. This meant that Marouane Chamakh was once again playing as a lone striker with support from Andrei Arshavin and Samir Nasri
supporting him from the midfield.
Arsenal went on attacking the opposition from the start of first half, while Chamakh went close to scoring in the first few minutes. However, his effort was denied by the goal-keeper. Arsenal was enjoying a lot of possession in the midfield, but they were
not able to convert their chances into goals. Sebastien Squillaci found the net for the Gunners but he was denied because of an offside. After that, Gael Clichy had a real chance but his shot went wide, without challenging the keeper. On the other hand, Birmingham
always looked threatening on the set-pieces, especially with the presence of Nikola Zigic in their penalty area.
Wenger started Johan Djourou in the central defence, probably because of his better aerial ability. However, it was Djourou’s mistake that led to the first goal of the match, as Zigic won the header instead of Arsenal’s defender. It was the first goal by
Zigic in Premier League, and it was provided by Keith Fahey.
However, Arsenal went into the half time equal on goals as a penalty was awarded in the 40th minute to the Gunners. The decision was somewhat controversial as Chamakh was fouled in the penalty area. Samir Nasri stepped up to take the penalty and
he did not miss his chance. Therefore, Arsenal got back the equaliser and was looking comfortable once again.
Both teams resorted to physical play in first half, as there were many serious fouls. Arsenal won a penalty, while Nasri was booked for a challenge that could easily have been enough for a red card. At the end of half, there were some serious exchanges between
the players. At the same time, Chamakh got an elbow from Roger Johnson, but luckily, referee did not see the incident. Both teams went into their dugouts with a lot of bad blood between the players.
The second goal came for Arsenal at the start of second half. It was a good passing manoeuvre between Jack Wilshere and Chamakh, as the later cleared his way before scoring past the goal-keeper. After that goal, Arsenal started to enjoy a lot of possession,
while Birmingham started chasing the game. There could have been more goals, but like before, Arsenal failed to convert their chances. In the end, victory celebrations were further spoiled, as Wilshere was shown a direct red card and a three match ban for
an extremely rash challenge.
With this victory, Arsenal moves into third spot, ahead of Manchester United. The Gunners have also reduced their gap, as Chelsea drew its match against Aston Villa. Also, Bendtner and Walcott have made their comebacks, which means that things would only
go uphill, for Arsenal, from here.
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