Andrey Arshavin had played his best game since we won at Partizan Belgrade, we were witnessing the player we broke our transfer record for. He was heavily involved in our build up, he was running at Villa

Only Arsenal can make a game of football look so different at so many different stages of the game. But before talking about how we made the opposition look let us remember that it was Aston Villa who dominated Manchester United only a short few weeks ago and were in total control, two goals to the good with only 10 minutes remaining on the clock before they caved in. They also held Chelsea to a scoreless draw back in October and really should have come away with the three points but for wasted opportunities.

I felt a sense of confidence before the kick off after having a look at our line up. Even without Cesc Fabregas it consisted of Rosicky, Nasri, Wilshere and Arshavin. Our engine often runs smoothly when Rosicky and Nasri are playing together. I was a little surprised that Van Persie was left on the bench after missing from the squad in Portugal but it gave the rest of the team a nice balance with Chamakh leading the line.

Arsene made a number of changes from the Braga defeated side on Tuesday and I am often worried about the fluency of our game when many players are rotated at the same time, well if someone wanted to argue against that then this was the perfect opportunity. We flew out of the blocks from the very first whistle and imposed our game from the off. Chamakh had scored the fastest goal of the Premier League season 2010 at Wolves and could have surpassed that in the opening seconds of the game. Arshavin drifting in from the left into a more central position, slipped a ball in between the Aston Villa defence for Chamakh who was closing down on Brad Friedel, Arshavin’s pass was slightly over hit allowing Friedel to get close enough to block Chamakh’s poke from close range and James Collins cleared away to safety.

So many of Messi’s goals have been little dinks over the advancing keeper and it would have been the only way to have beaten Friedel from that position.

Villa were under the Arsenal spell and we were completely dominant in the early stages. I cannot remember a time, Braga aside, where we were as in control of a game this season as we were in the first half at Villa.

A minute later Tomas Rosicky was slipped in by Jack Wilshere and our magical Czech dragged his shot wide of the far post. He had a great chance a little later in the half when Chamakh flicked the ball on to him but he couldn’t apply enough power to his effort and Friedel easily saved. We were creating chances for fun but we couldn’t find the opener.

Chamakh dragged a left footed shot wide, Nasri fired wide also on his weaker side and Arshavin had a shot blocked. For all our complete dominance the scores were still level until five minutes before the break. Fabianski’s long ball down field was cocked up by Young and Collins going for the same ball, Arshavin collected the loose ball on the left, drove into the penalty area, stepped inside his man and drove a shot through the crowd past the diving American.

Andrey Arshavin had played his best game since we won at Partizan Belgrade, we were witnessing the player we broke our transfer record for. He was heavily involved in our build up, he was running at Villa players and popping up in dangerous central positions. He was vocal also, pointing and organising his team mates which was nice to see. Not only this but he contributed massively to our defending by pressing whenever we were not in possession and won many tackles. In fact he won 15 out of 18 tackles which is quite remarkable given his previous. It is even more remarkable when someone like Nasri only won 3 of 9 tackles and Rosicky won 5 of 7. Arshavin won more tackles than Nasri and Rosicky combined. Are we seeing Arshavin’s twin brother here? Or has Arshavin benefited from the absence of Cesc Fabregas?

Indeed it is far too early to make that assumption but what I noticed during the game was the ease of which the three interchanged. All three players want to play in Cesc’s advanced central position and all three can play in either wide spot. When Arshavin came inside, Rosicky switched out wide the same applied with Nasri who started on the right.

A few minutes later Arshavin threaded through a delightful through pass to Nasri who was making the ‘Theo run’ from right to center. He skipped past Friedel but couldn’t get enough direction on his left foot shot and instead of landing into the empty net, his shot brushed against the side netting.

By this point, I am in amazement, we are utterly dominating the game and could have been 5-6 goals to the good before half time, instead we are narrowly ahead on the scoreboard.

We soon managed to double our advantage when Arshavin swung a corner out to the edge of the penalty area to the swinging right boot of Samir Nasri to volley in via a slight deflection for 2-0 on the stroke of half time.

Robert Pires was replaced at half time and you have to feel sorry for him. A player of his quality needs the ball, needs runners but instead he looked lost and way behind the pace. He would have enjoyed sitting in that Arsenal midfield during the first 45 minutes.

Aston Villa started the second half with more desire and a lot more purpose and they put us under pressure. The Arsenal players still had last weekend’s result on their minds and looked somewhat edgy.

The Aston Villa goal was absolutely ridiculous. John Carew was standing clearly in an offside position and was standing right in front of Lukasz Fabianski. In every way possible, John Carew was offside. I would love to have heard the explanation from the referee and his assistants. Gael Clichy should have gone out to block the shot, but instead was more interested in what Ashley Young was doing behind him, he backed off giving the time and space for Clark to volley past the obstructed Fabianski. It is difficult to know who misjudged the situation more. Clichy? or the assistants?

2-1, which should really be 5-0. How on earth did we get into this position I thought to myself and obviously the Tottenham game was still fresh in the memory.

Credit to the team for switching up a gear and getting our noses back in front again. The fantastic Tomas Rosicky (I love that guy) increased his accelerator bursting pass a Villa player and threaded a pass through to Chamakh who poked under Friedel.

Marouane Chamakh was back to his best after a tough few weeks. His energy levels looked to have dropped in the last few games and his touch had deserted him, but he made a telling contribution from the bench on Tuesday and looked very good yesterday. He held the ball up very well, battled against both Collins and Dunne and took his goal like a true striker. That is ten goals in all competitions for Arsenal so far, not a bad return for a player getting used to English football.

Ciaran Clark who had earlier missed from close range seemed to have a taste for goals, He scored his second of the game following a flicked header from Richard Dunne from a corner kick. Clichy and Nasri on the line could not prevent it from crossing the line. 3-2.

Gael Clichy who had a superb first half was having a difficult time up against Ashley Young in the second. Young gave a Clichy lacking games a very tough time last season at Villa Park, and was up to it again forcing Arsene to switch Arshavin into a permanent central position and Rosicky on the left to track back and help Clichy.

Gibbs and Denilson were sent on late to strengthen up the team but instead of sitting back, we broke late on and Chamakh’s lofted cross was put in via a diving header by Jack Wilshere at the back post.

Conclusion

A massively important three points for the Gunners put us top of the pile for a few hours. Some of our football was majestic, some of the best football we have played at times during that first half without applying the finishing touches.

I thought several players had good games. Laurent Koscielny was quality at the back, made several very good tackles and blocks when called upon. Gael Clichy was superb in the first half but made an error of judgement for the goal.

I was most impressed with the midfield and attacking players. Rosicky, Nasri and Arshavin were superb whilst Wilshere and Song controlled the tempo of the game.

Whilst I would have loved to have kept a clean sheet, I am much more frustrated about the amount of chances we squander. Without Walcott and Van Persie do we lack a killer instinct throughout the team?

If we can increase of our current conversion rate then our recent goals concede wouldn’t count one bit.

Our middle third is currently fantastic, without doubt the best in the league by a country mile. The two ends of the pitch needs improvement, if a fraction of improvement happens at both ends then we can run away with this league, that I have no doubt. If we do not improve then we will continue to beat ourselves at times.

At the same time, we have scored four goals away at Villa yet feel hard done by, which tells you how much offensive quality this squad has.

In the short term, the three points are very much welcomed. Robin, Nic and Theo get a chance to sharpen up their boots on Tuesday in the Carling Cup clash against Wigan.

Fabianski (7)
Sagna (7)
Koscielny (7.5)
Squallaci (7)
Clichy (7)
Song (7)
Wilshere (7.5)
Rosicky (7.5)
Nasri (7.5)
Chamakh (8)
Arshavin (8)

Please note that ratings are only my interpretations of the game and that others will have differing opinions