In midfield, Arteta and Song stood out for me and their partnership gets stronger with every game played. Defensively they are both solid and together they form a great wall to protect our defence. Offensively they were both magnificent and took turns pushing forward. In one of their forward runs

Hello,

Its been long I did this, my schedule makes it difficult to put down thoughts from an average Arsenal fan who lives *far far far* away from our beautifully constructed stadium.

We celebrated our 125 years of existence on Saturday against an Everton side who like us didn’t start the season the way they would have liked. The occasion brought together a lot of our ex-footballers/Legends which made dropping a point or 3 a lot more harder to take, coupled with the fact that we have City next week Sunday away at the Etihad Stadium.

Games against Everton, even though we have won a large amount in recent years always gets me nervous and yesterday was no exception. A home victory was exactly what the doctor ordered and Robin van Persie was there to hand us the victory after a fine work from Song to put him through.

In as much as the goal was sublime and up there with best for this season, Song’s over the top through pass was nothing short of jaw dropping.

A perfect pass and an equally perfect goal sealed the game and pushed us into 4th place on the log having played 1 more game than Chelsea who host City on Monday.

We played as a unit and really didn’t give Everton any chance going forward, instead we made them sit on the edge of their seat for a full 90 minutes thinking when the next spate of brilliance would come from. We should have been out of sight by the end of the first half but our lack of decisiveness made sure we finished level, at a point I felt it was one of those days. A day were we carve out openings and still have nothing to show for it.

Second half came up and our urgency went down a notch, largely because Everton sat deep and were ok with just a point, carving out openings became a lot harder but out of no where, in came Songinho who cooked up something out his book of tricks and RvP who on the day wasn’t at his best but was on hand to smash in the goal with a marvelous half volley.

My key performers on the day were 3 of our back 4 who stuck in and didn’t give Cahill and Saha a sniff and also Coleman who didn’t get a chance to cross balls in.

Koscielny has grown in stature, a more consistent performer who isn’t afraid to get stuck in. For pace, Saha was no match for him while physically Cahill didn’t stand a chance. He is turning into a monster which is a sign of good things to come. God bless the day Wenger decided to shell out £10m for him.

Mertesacker is another player that stood out for me. His calmness knows no bounds which is of great importance to our set up. Watching his game you might come up with the conclusion that he doesn’t do enough or he isn’t in the thick of things but you are definitely wrong. His knowledge of the game makes it easier to pick up positions that immediately snuffs out danger which he administered perfectly yesterday. Him and Koscielny worked well together which for me was a massive positive.

Vermaelen was also very good, played in a position that he hasn’t played in for a while and did the job like a top profession. Coleman was shut out and wasn’t given a chance to put in crosses into the box.

In midfield, Arteta and Song stood out for me and their partnership gets stronger with every game played. Defensively they are both solid and together they form a great wall to protect our defence. Offensively they were both magnificent and took turns pushing forward. In one of their forward runs came our only goal which sealed our faith on the day.

Song for me was my man of the match, he battled hard in midfield, pushed us forward with his energy and set up a goal. What more can you ask for from an all action defensive midfielder?

In attack, Theo continues to sparkle. He gave Baines a torrid time ghosting past him with pace, putting good balls into the box and also having a crack to break the deadlock. The old Theo is long gone which puts a big smile on my face.

Like I said earlier in my write-up, RvP wasn’t at his best on Saturday but to come out with a sumptuous winner puts him right into the mix. The goal was incredible but his movement and ability to peel off his marker made the goal even more beautiful.

The celebration for the goal was even more perfect. RvP’s run to bench, rallying the bench players was magnificent. Like I said on twitter it means only one thing which is; We are in this quest together – Starting 11 and Bench players working in tandem.

All in all,  3 good points…. Above Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle who at a point where far ahead of us. The quest continues but at the moment let’s enjoy the massive strides we have made.

Until next… Stay Blessed!