The lads are a more united bunch, fighting for one another and digging deep. In the past 3 seasons we have done away with sulkers namely Adebayor, Gallas and Nasri which has done well to help the

We are through to the Champions league knock out stage with a game to spare, the 1st English side to do so this season. Who would have thought after the supposed crisis we were in at the start of the season.

The departures of Cesc and Nasri seems to be a blessing…. The lads are a more united bunch, fighting for one another and digging deep. In the past 3 seasons we have done away with sulkers namely Adebayor, Gallas and Nasri which has done well to help the team. I look at our current squad and I can’t seem to find one. Good Radiance!!!

Dortmund coming into town wasn’t going to be an easy ride, they are a tough opposition and after their gutsy performance against Bayern in the weekend where they picked up all 3 points at the Allianz Arena made it a lot tougher.

In the end, we came out victorious, RVP with another double with brilliant assists from Song and Vermaelen.

Like I did in my last write-up, I would be looking at key performers in our win that cemented qualification.

Koscielny

He played in an unfamiliar position but still put up a great shift. He was solid and used all the experience gathered playing in the heart of our defence to shut out attacks coming from Dortmund’s left hand side.

Going forward he was usually suspect and had an average passing accuracy of 73%, reason being that he isn’t an out and out Right Back. Injuries have forced our hands with Sagna and Jenkinson sitting on the side lines but still Koscielny has worked well in our last 2 games to put us on the right stead.

Koscielny has been nothing short of a revelation this season, brushed aside the negative remarks and pushed forward to churn out top quality performances this season. £10m paid by Arsenal to Lorient is looking like a bargain now.

Santos

Santos is a player that had a big Question Mark hovering above his head but in the past 3 games + the second half performance against Chelsea he has been very impressive.

He had a stand out game yesterday, defended properly and won a couple of tackles. In our past few games Wenger has curtailed his attacking instinct which has helped his game defensively.

Going forward he is at his best and he showed that 2 or 3 times with some surging runs down the left that could have led to goals on the night. He also had the highest number of passes on the night with an 83% passing accuracy which in my opinion is massive seeing how well Dortmund pressed from the start.

Santos has showed that with this form on display it would be hard for Gibbs to displace him at the moment. He is in  good form.

Song

After the 70 minute mark the commentator said something which I 100% agree with it……. “Destroyer on one hand, Creator on the other hand.”

Song has grown a thousand and one times since that very forgettable night at Craven Cottage where majority of Arsenal fans wrote him off. He was at his majestic best on the night, battled hard, won many duels, pushed us forward and never stopped running.

His assist for our 1st and RVP’s 1st was a beauty, who would have thought Song would pull that out of the bag? He left 3 – 4 Dortmund players for dead and put in a lovely floated cross for RVP to head home. I stood to clap because 80% of the goal was his.

I had a few problems with Song on the night, he held on to the ball for too long and he also had a couple of misplaced passes. His holding on to ball led to Dortmund’s consolation goal which in turn spoilt our chance of keeping a clean sheet.

Song was my man of the match and he showed why we are  not a  one man team.

RVP

He can do no wrong, can he? His movement has improved this calendar year reason for the tons of goals he has been on hand to score.

I’m actually short of words to describe his performance on the night but all I can say is that may he continue to bang in the goals.

The likes of Vermaelen, Ramsey and Theo all had good games. Confidence looks to be building  up high which is also a good sign.

Diaby made his long awaited return on the night which I’ve long been waiting for. Our midfield 3 (Coquelin, Frimpong and Diaby) for the game against City in the Carling Cup looks pretty much solid. I really can’t wait for the game to be honest, I’ve got a good feeling about it.

All in all good victory, which seal qualification into the next round with a game to spear and an opportunity to try out fringe players in the final group game in Greece against Olympiakos.

Till next time…. Stay positive!!!!