Two very bad dropped points. In days gone by a title-chasing team could afford to have the odd surprise draw here or there, but in this day and age home wins against lower-half sides are imperative

A bad day at the office, of that there can be no doubt. From the way we started we could have gone on to win that six-nil, however in the end we were held and it was the Mancs who hit the Barcodes for six to demote us back into second place on goal difference.

The majority of the first XI were restored for this game, with the exception of Robin and Rosicky through illness. Theo came in for Rosicky and had a bit of a stinker. Things started so brightly, which makes the end result even more painful. Early doors Eduardo and Gallas came close and then on 14 minutes Ade was almost clean through following a defensive slip. He could have squared it to Eddie but opted to go on himself yet eventually could not get a shot away. It looked like the deadlock would be broken at any moment and from there onwards the floodgates would open, it was probably the best football we were playing in a long time. Hleb especially was looking good down the left, he seems so much more comfortable there than on the right, where he seems to run into dead ends more often than not. On the left it is easier for him to cut inside than from the opposite flank.

Completely against the run of play Birmingham manufactured a chance. Muamba (I think) slid the ball down the side of the defence and Cameron Jerome used his pace to get in between Gallas and Senderos to latch on to it. He then sent a low effort to Almunia’s left which the Spanglish keeper did extremely well to keep out. These are the kind of saves which distinguish the good keepers from the average ones, those where they have nowt to do all game and then are called upon out of the blue. Then Eduardo had a couple of opportunities, the first come from a delicious LEFT-FOOTED Hleb cross (I never knew he could cross like that!). Eduardo lurked dangerously between the Brum central defenders and planted his header straight at Taylor’s chest. Anywhere else and it would’ve been a goal. Not long thereafter the Crozilian was played in a by combo of Ade and Hleb and time stood still as it always does when he’s through on goal. In fact he took so long that he had the ball nicked away from him, but the ref blew up and gave a penalty. From first viewing I thought that the defender got the ball cleanly, although the replays suggested that he did go in from behind, so even if he did get the ball there was enough contact to send Eduardo tumbling. Ade stepped as cool as you like and slotted it home into the bottom corner, just out of Taylor’s grasp. 1-0 up with 25 minutes played, it was the perfect platform from which to build on and really go for the jugular.

Birmingham came back into it and looked semi-threatening, especially Olivier Kapo who I remember scoring a belter at Highbury once. Cesc had a shot that was deflected over, but for the remainder of the half we seemed pretty content to knock it around and consolidate our position until the break, after which we would kick on and put them to sword. Right? RIGHT?!

Wrong. Four minutes in and we conceded stupidly from a set-piece. It was only their second effort of the match and it felt like 06/07 all over again. O’Connor’s downward header took a vital touch off Cesc, who was directly in front of Almunia, leaving the keeper with no chance. Having grown up with the famous back-four I simply hate conceding goals, especially cheap ones from set-pieces. It remains our Achilles heel.

The only consolation was that their equaliser came so early in the half and that we had a good 40 minutes to salvage a win. Only five minutes later we came pretty close. Cesc’s free-kick was met at the back post by Big Phil but he couldn’t direct it into the corner as it made for a comfortable save for Taylor. We were exerting a fair amount of pressure but it wasn’t paying off. Midway through the half Bendtner came on for Theo, who had a shocker. In fact I would go as far as saying that he is a liability in midfield. Up-front he can afford to lose the ball when trying to go past his man, but in midfield we cannot afford to concede the possession in such a manner. I remember it was he who was dispossessed very early on in the build up to Brum’s corner that led to the equaliser.

Paradoxically, the subbing of Walcott decreased our options as we lost the only man who was likely to hug the touchline. Bendtner’s arrival saw Eduardo move wide left and Hleb come over to the right, and with both players’ natural tendencies to come inside we were deprived of a valuable outlet called width. Our play became too narrow and it truly was 06/07 all over again as we chased a goal against a team who had ten men behind the ball. The tension from the crowd had seeped through to the players and our passing was met with a blue blockage on the edge of their box. There were a few times when we pierced them open, firstly Eduardo nearly ran on to a through ball after darting in from his wing, and then Bendtner was fed in some great play from Hlebregas but dragged his shot past the far past. Clichy, Sagna and Flamini were getting in on the act as they launched long range efforts without success. The one man required to step-up at this time was Captain Fantastic. As injury time beckoned Hleb managed to get free in the box, he fizzed it across the face of goal and all it needed was a decent contact and it would have gone in. The closest man to the cross was indeed Willy Gallas but he couldn’t connect well enough with it. You know that when even he is unable to save us that it’s not gunner be our day. The final attempt in vain was a Cesc screamer from 25-yards that swerved just past the post with Taylor beaten all ends up. And that was that.

Two very bad dropped points. In days gone by a title-chasing team could afford to have the odd surprise draw here or there, but in this day and age home wins against lower-half sides are imperative. Yes it is only our second league draw at The Emirates, but many more and it will cost us dear. This result was a mixture of many things but most of all it was due to us not putting the game to bed in the first-half and complacency at the start of the second-half. We missed that intangible factor today, that special someone who creates something out of nothing to lift us from mediocrity. His name is Robin van Persie. Anyone remember the home game against Sunderland way back in October? It was very similar to this, we dominated and were then pulled back to level terms, but managed to scrape a win thanks to a moment of individual class from the Dutchman. I will go on record and say that if he remains on the sidelines for a significant part of the rest of the season, we won’t win the league. Simple as that.

To be fair, most of the players who were on the pitch did ok. Manuel was not at fault for the goal and pulled of a very good save from Jerome. The backline looked solid, I was especially pleased with Senderos. He was back to his 2006 version; a no-nonsense defender who did the simple things correctly. Phil needs to go into every game as if he facing Juve or Real so he cuts out the frills which are often his downfall. He didn’t fuck about in this game and was more solid as a result, and I’m sure he benefited from having the more experienced Willy Gallas alongside him. Three of the midfield looked excellent in the first-half and it felt like they were getting back to their September/October best. They were let down by the fourth midfielder though. I hope Le Boss never plays him there again, although this was an enforced decision as Rosicky was a late omission and therefore an understandable one. I guess the only other option was playing Diaby left and Hleb right, but that combo may not have fared much better given Diaby’s lackadaisical form as of late. Although Eboue is much maligned he does link up well with Sagna and provide some defensive stability down that side. Without him and with Rosicky taken ill at the last minute, it does highlight our lack of depth out wide. Up-front Ade and Eduardo look to have struck up a decent partnership, I liked the way that even though Ade would pull wide and drop deep, Eduardo remained in the centre to get on the end of things. It’s a shame that we conceded so early in the second-half in the sense that had we kept it at one-nil for longer, Brum would have been forced to open up in desperate search of an equaliser, thereby leaving gaps at the back for Ade and Eddie to exploit with glee.

To make a bad day worse, United reclaimed top spot by thumping the managerless Newcastle six-nil. Their goal difference is so much better than ours that it is as good as another point in their favour. I may be being a bit childish here, but isn’t it just their luck to face Newcastle the game after they sack Allardyce? Newcastle have been shit all season apart from one game – and no surprises for guessing who their opponents were that day. We face them at home in a few weeks, and no doubt they’ll have appointed a new manager by then and will once again put in the performance of their lives. I went out when it was two-nil to the Mancs, came back home an hour later and threw a fit when I heard it was six. My anger wasn’t so much at Newcastle’s capitulation, but more a delayed reaction at our failure to win. We need to shake the cobwebs off and get back on the goal trail soon, or we may end up throwing away more points like these and slipping further behind the Red Juggernaut.