Before the game, I was thinking that this match was Arsenal’s chance to prove they are worthy title contenders.

After the big disappointment of throwing away leads both at AZ Alkmaar and West Ham United last week, the North London Derby was the perfect chance to see if Arsenal had learnt their lesson and could close out games, keep a clean sheet and obviously get all 3 points.

And Arsenal delivered.

Tottenham had impressed in the opening games of the Premier League season but have recently been going off the boil, and Arsenal simply had too much for them today and completely dominated for large portions of the game. And it wouldn’t have been an exaggeration to say Arsenal could, and should, have won 6 or 7 nil.

The first half was a little cagey and Arsenal’s best chance came to Fabregas who saw his left foot shot saved well from Gomes after some quality work from Arshavin. As you would expect, Arsenal were pulling the strings and Almunia’s comeback was mainly uneventful, bar having to collect a few crosses.

Bendtner came off with an injury and was replaced by Eduardo after 36 minutes, after the Dane looked lively and was having a decent game.

And on 42 minutes, the game sparked into life.

A quick throw in from Sagna on the right was returned to him by Fabregas, and the Frenchman’s low cross was inch perfect as he found the in-form Robin Van Persie who darted in front of Bassong and nicked the ball under Gomes for the opening goal.

I have to say that Van Persie has been a revelation this season, and his game has adapted and improved greatly. From a natural second striker, he has become the target man we’ve needed and his passing, vision, control and team play has been just fantastic this year. Credit to his ability and desire to change the way he plays for the team, and as well as having a rocket shot from distance his positioning in the box shows real intelligence.

After that, Tottenham collapsed and a moment of brilliance from Cesc Fabregas almost blew the roof off the Emirates.

Straight from kick off, a lazy pass from Palacios was intercepted by Van Persie and the ball rolled into the path of Fabregas who started running at Spurs. He breezed past Palacios, nutmegged Ledley King and brushed off Corluka before coolly placing his shot into the near corner.

A stunning goal!

Then Arsenal saw out the remaining few minutes and led in the North London Derby at half time.

As the second half kicked off, the big question was how would Arsenal perform after conceding similar leads over the last seven days.

But after 20 minutes, Van Persie essentially killed the game off.

Eduardo had the ball on the right wing and was hacked down by Assou-Ekotto but referee Mark Clattenberg waved play on. Sagna stopped, played on and then crossed for Van Persie who tapped in from close range after Bassong and King could deal with it.

With the game dead and buried, it was a case of making sure Arsenal could show that they had learnt from previous games and keep Tottenham at bay and whether Arsenal could keep a rare clean sheet.

Eduardo and Diaby had chances to make it 4 but were guilty of profligacy and the scoreline stayed a only 3.

Arsene Wenger was clearly animated on the touchline despite the 3 goal margin and this was hugely encouraging to see.

We was absolutely livid as he was shouting instructions to his midfield to sit back and make sure that we didn’t concede another sloppy and unnecessary goal.

Obviously the last 2 competitive games and the dropped points have been discussed behind closed doors and while this is only the start, it is good to see that Wenger finally realises that we’re guilty of taking our foot off the pedal and are prone to throwing away leads. If Arsenal are even going to be considered real title contenders then closing out games is a vital part of fighting at the top of the table.

And fortunately, it looks like this issue is being addressed.

There is obviously a long way to go this season but sitting second in the league (with a game in hand after this weekend) is encouraging to see after a quarter of the season.

And from a usually pessimistic Arsenal fan, the signs at the moment are positive.

We have players such as Rosicky, Walcott, Denilson and Nasri to return and push for starting places, and with Vermaelen and Arshavin this season then we might just have that extra quality we need to really challenge.

If we’re near the top of the league come Spring, then that West Ham game might just have been a blessing in disguise.

Player & Referee Ratings

Manuel Almunia: 6/10
Mainly had to deal with crosses which generally, he did okay with. He did drop a couple and luckily the mistakes didn’t prove to be decisive. Was asked to make a one or two routine saves which were dealt with, but on the whole was a stroll in the park.

Bacary Sagna: 9/10
Excellent today. Full of running, dealt with the aerial threat from Peter Crouch well and more importantly his crossing was paramount in today’s win, with two quality deliveries for Van Persie’s brace. Robbie Keane drifted out to the left a lot throughout the game and didn’t get so much as a look in.

William Gallas: 8/10
On the whole, solid but made a couple of errors - one of which was giving away a freekick on the edge of the box for a handball. Did make an excellent last ditch interception though when Robbie Keane was through on goal to prevent and almost certain goal.

Thomas Vermaelen: 9/10
Sensational again. In the air he is colossal and dealt with most of Tottenham’s crosses with ease. Was extremely unfortunate to get a booking when he clearly won the ball fairly from Corluka.

Gael Clichy: 8/10
Up and down the left side throughout the entire game and looked very comfortable. Passing and decision-making seems to have improved and hopefully he can keep this consistency over the season.

Alex Song: 8/10
Excellent again and covered a lot of ground. Was quick to close down any Tottenham players and his distribution was top draw. Even managed to pull of some skills while beating players and was very commanding.

Abou Diaby: 5/10
For me, far to sloppy in possession and his unwillingness to track back was disappointing. I kept an eye on him closely and his positioning is poor as well. The passage of play which summed up his performance for me was when he had the ball on the edge of the box, tried to stupidly beat a player and then lost possession. Tottenham then proceeded to have their most threatening move of the match. If Tottenham would have scored from that, I, like Arsene, would have been f*cking livid. Also somehow managed to ‘head’ the ball with his shoulder from 2 yards out and with the goal gaping.

Cesc Fabregas: 9/10
Along with Song was very commanding and controlled midfield with ease. Again, he was pulling the strings with some glorious passing and really should have had more assists when Diaby and Eduardo spurned good chances created by the captain. Great ability and desire to score that stunning goal and it was hugely deserved.

Andrei Arshavin: 7/10
Not his best game, and was only influential at times but did oozed that quality in everything he did.

Robin Van Persie: 8/10
Scored two poachers goals, and technically set-up the other for Fabregas. Clever movement in the box and his desire to score was there for everyone to see. Not everything came off for him, but delivered when it mattered.

Nicklas Bendtner: 7/10
Looked lively when he was on but his game was cut short after only half an hour.

Eduardo Da Silva: 7/10 (Replaced Bendtner on 36′)
Did well when he came on and I would have given him an 8 or 9 if he scored his chances, which you would have to say in Eduardo terms are sitters - that’s how high we all regard his finishing. But still finding his feet and will get better with more games under his belt.

Emmanuel Eboue: 6/10 (Replaced Arshavin on 78′)
Didn’t really have much to do, but did release Ramsey with a great ball near the end of the match.

Aaron Ramsey: 6/10 (Replaced Van Persie on 86′)
Not enough time to make an impact, although had a glorious chance to play in Eduardo but failed to beat the solitary defender.

Referee - Mark Clattenberg: 4/10
I have to mention the referee because I thought he was awful. Although Arsenal won, he was shocking poor in my opinion. He failed to book David Bentley for a blatant handball, and then minutes later failed to issue a card after a terrible (and late) challenge on Vermaelen. It was a highly dangerous tackle and his studs were up and it could have seriously injured Thomas. I understand that he may have tried to ‘keep the game flowing’ but his reluctance to blow his whistle was, at times, ridiculous. And how half the Tottenham players didn’t get booked and Vermaelen did for a clearly good tackle is beyond me.

Well that was nothing short of a shambles.

The game against West Ham was literally a game of two halves.

In the first half, Arsenal were energetic, eager and moving the ball around well. We got two goals and only a ‘typical’ Arsenal performance of old would deny us of all 3 points.

Unfortunately, that’s what happened.

The second half typified everything I hated about Arsenal over the last few seasons, and the main reason for my ranting.

A lack of application, desire and passion.

And to let slip a two-goal lead when you’re a team that is challenging for the Premier League title is unforgivable. Seriously, which other Top Five club would collapse like that?

It happened so often last season - remember the 4-4 game at the Emirates against Spurs?

The second half was awful to watch, and every Arsenal fan could see it coming.

Arsenal thought they had won the game, were in cruise control and we’ve seen it time and again - if a team does manage to score against us, just like West Ham did, then because we’ve slowed down the tempo we struggle to get back into the game if we need to step it up.

And that’s exactly what happened.

It was all West Ham in the second half and we had no answers.

Arsene Wenger must have been absolutely furious in throwing away 2 points. There were a lot of ifs and buts, like if Van Persie’s last minute header had gone in, or Fabregas’ stunning 30 yard shot had flew in instead of shaving the post, but the fact of the matter is we were shockingly poor in the second half.

West Ham probably should of had a penalty when Gallas swiped at Parker in the box, and Song had no excuse when he stupidly kicked out at Cole to concede that penalty.

And we have to mention Vito Mannone’s awful ’save’ which gifted West Ham their opener.

I know the kid is young and still learning but that incident changed the game. The only saving grace is that Almunia probably would have let the freekick in anyway and Mannone did single-handedly earn us 3 points away at Fulham.

I guess I’m still seething because I would have loved to write about United’s defeat and Arsenal catching up with them but I’m just annoyed at not taking advantage.

Chelsea lost to Aston Villa yesterday, Liverpool lost to an in-form Sunderland, Manchester United were extremely lucky (again) at home and Arsenal cruised past Birmingham City.

So United are top, Chelsea second and Arsenal fourth, although we are only 4 points off top spot with a game in hand.

Here are my thoughts on the ‘top sides’ and what this means for Arsenal:

Manchester United

From where I’m standing, Manchester United have been extremely lucky at home this season. It borders on the ridiculous.

They have played five home games, won four and drawn one. Every win has come from a solitary goal and everyone one of those games was very fortuitous. And you can even say that for the game they drew.

Against Birmingham, they won 1-0 but Birmingham shaved the post and hit the bar. Then we have the Arsenal game, where Almunia and Diaby literally threw away the points and United somehow got all three despite Arsenal dominating the majority of the match. They beat Manchester City with a 97th minute winner and the same injury-time rule applied when Rio Ferdinand’s retarded younger brother decided to score an own goal to claim a draw against Sunderland.

And yesterday, Bolton had enough chances to steal a point in the closing minutes but Cahill and Knight’s headed opportunities were wasted.

United fans will argue that a sign of champions is the ability to win matches they don’t play well in and to grind out results, but you would have to believe that the longer the season goes on teams will realise that if you attack United at Old Trafford then you can get something. Manchester City and Bolton in particular were very negative but still could have got something - and you wonder what would have happened if they took the game to the home side. City only attacked once they went a goal down, and Bolton when they were two goals down.

They may be top at the moment, but there are definitely weaknesses in that side. With Ronaldo they had that aura of invincibility but without him they struggle to establish a settled midfield line-up. If they do end up winning the league come May then the other top sides should be ashamed.

Chelsea

Well they had a sensational start to the season.

They won their first six games and looked in cruise-control but since then they’ve lost 2 games from 3, losing to Wigan and Villa away, and beating Liverpool in between.

Under Ancelotti they do seem to be playing much better football. The two fullbacks have license to attack and they play two up top with Drogba and Anelka, and Drogba in particular is in great form with 7 goals already this season. And unfortunately for the rest of the league, he seems to be focused on scoring goals and (bar a lapse against Liverpool) cutting out his histrionics.

Chelsea do seem to have a slight weakness from set-pieces though, with both of their defeats including unmarked players (who happen to be opposing centre-backs) scoring free headers. Encouraging for the free-scoring Gallas and Vermaelen when Arsenal meet Chelsea on November 29th.

Objectively though, you could say that against Villa they were pretty unlucky because they had more than enough chances to equalise and probably win the game.

And where have we heard that before?

Liverpool

What can you say about the Merseysiders?

It’s hard to take their title-challenge seriously - not because they don’t have the ability - but just because it’s so long since they won it. There’s no doubt they are a top quality team but when it comes to a long 38 game season they just seem to come up short every time.

They lost Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid in the summer and with Lucas they just haven’t found a suitable replacement. There’s the old adage that they rely far too much on Gerrard and Torres and while it’s too easy to agree with that you’d have to say it’s true. Torres and Gerrard were both missing and they had nothing to offer against Sunderland.

On thing that bugs me about Liverpool is Rafa Benitez. Is he the only manager in the entire league who doesn’t celebrate a goal? When Liverpool score, he looks down in his notepad and writes something down. He’s like a headmaster or something.

Manchester City

Well based on their sheer buying power this season, you have to consider them a top side now, even if you don’t want to.

They’ve only lost one game this year, and that was against a fortunate United side. They’ve had 3 big tests this season, and they beat Arsenal, put in an excellent performance at Old Trafford (without Adebayor) and drew against Aston Villa. They have so much attacking talent so they will always be a threat. Defensively they are much improved with Toure and Lescott, although the latter is taking time to settle, and they have Shay Given who is a top class goalkeeper.

If you want to nick-pick Micah Richards at right-back can sometimes be a liability but with the personnel in their side they have more than enough to brush aside the majority of the lower sides in the league. Another big advantage they have is that they don’t have the distraction of Europe this season.

And with the top sides like Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea losing games already they will believe that it is an open title race.

The big question is like Liverpool, do City have the mentality to go on and win the league and can they handle the pressure at the business end of the season. It is new territory for both the players and manager so it will be very interesting to see how they cope come March, April and May.

And finally, Arsenal…

The summer brought in a few major changes, the biggest being the new 4-3-3 formation, the addition of Thomas Vermaelen from Ajax and the departure of Kolo and Adebayor to Manchester Citeh.

Thomas Vermaelen has been sensational this year, and on top of being a brilliant defender he’s scored a lot of important goals already this season. He’s a threat from set-pieces (which is a great addition to our style of play) and adds some steel to the team. And his determination is fantastic and can only be a positive influence on the squad.

The formation change was subject to a lot discussion and debate and I was surprised more than anyone when it was actually used this season. Wenger’s been using 4-4-2 ever since he came to the club so it was a bit of a shock. But to his credit, Arsene’s willingness to change things looks like to have worked.

We’re not in top gear right now, but despite our rocky form in Manchester we’ve won every other game, have a flawless record at home and scored a record number of goals, apparently.

I also have to mention the form of Alex Song this year. He has really impressed me and along with Denilson has really stepped up his game. Unfortunately, Denilson is injured for a while and Diaby is his replacement. I’m not convinced about Diaby (as regular readers will know) but hopefully Nasri’s impending return might help the situation. Arsene could also play Rosicky in that role as well - at least he makes an attempt to tackle.

There’s no doubt we can unlock any defence but it’s our defensive frailties which will be the biggest factor in whether we win anything this season. With our attacking talent our goal-scoring record speaks for itself but we are sometimes prone to make mistakes at vital times. Almunia and Diaby were quite frankly idiotic against Manchester United, in a game we threw away the points - the big question is can this Arsenal team take the pressure? Old Trafford is a fortress and when questions were asked of Arsenal we crumbled. Our performances at Stamford Bridge and Anfield this season will be a measure of what this Arsenal squad can achieve this season.

The encouraging thing is though that despite already racking up two defeats this season, we are only 4 points off United with a game in hand. So hopefully there’s more to come once we’ve got everyone back fit and we’re at the top of our game.

There’s certainly a lot to be optimistic about this season, for a lot of different reasons.

Well despite going behind twice Arsenal showed great spirit and in the end comfortably won the game 6-2, with goals from 6 different goalscorers.

The opening goal from Blackburn really set the pace for the match and because they got it so early you almost expecting an onslaught from Arsenal. After only 3 minutes, a long freekick from Paul Robinson flew into our penalty area and Steven Nzonzi got ahead of Vermaelen and his header looped over Mannone and went in off the bar.

A quite fortuitous goal, but one we always seem to concede now and then.

After that it was attack against defence.

Arsenal were really pushing forward and minutes later a nice cross from Arshavin found Fabregas in the middle who looped a header over Robinson but it hit the bar.

Then on 17 minutes Arsenal got what they deserved.

A great interception by Vermaelen won back possession and despite being fouled, the referee played a decent advantage and waved play on. The ball found its way to Fabregas who fed Vermaelen who needed no second invitation to shoot, and he rifled a stunning left-footed shot right into the bottom corner.

Arsene has made some great signings in his 13 years at Arsenal, but this guy has to be right up there.

Fabregas was running the show at this point and he had a couple of decent long range efforts saved well by Robinson. But as Arsenal piled forward Blackburn took the lead again, this time from a well executed counter attack.

Everyone’s favourite player Diouf played a 50 yard ball to Brett Emerton, who ran 20 yards with the ball without a challenge and played in David Dunn. He cut inside and pulled the trigger and the ball deflected off Gallas and into the net. A lucky goal and there was nothing Mannone could have done about it.

That goal seemed to just galvanise Arsenal and Fabregas made another two assists - one for Van Persie and one for Arshavin - to put Arsenal in front before half time.

In the second half, Arsenal carried on from where they left off and an already fantastic performance from Fabregas was capped off with a stunning left-footed half-volley on 57 minutes. 3 assists and a beautiful goal, not bad for an hours work!

Walcott came on for Rosicky on 69 minutes for his eagerly-awaited return and he only took 6 minutes to make an impact and score a well taken goal.

Fabregas again fed in Arshavin on the left hand side and the Russian ran down the wing before playing Fabregas back in just outside the area. But instead of shooting, Fabregas just ushered the ball on to Walcott on the right who placed a shot right into the bottom corner.

And that signalled the end of Fabregas’ matching winning performance, and along with Arshavin they were replaced by Aaron Ramsey and Nicklas Bendtner.

In all honesty you didn’t notice Arshavin and Fabregas were no longer on the pitch, due to the sheer dominance of Arsenal. Ramsey played particularly well in his 20 minute cameo, creating excellent chances for Bendtner, Walcott and Van Persie. and it was his pass which setup Arsenal’s final goal which was another stunning strike from Bendtner.

In the end, you couldn’t ask for more from a football match. Plenty of goals, a great performance and all 3 points.

Player Ratings

Vito Mannone: 7/10
Despite conceding twice, I honestly can’t fault him for either of the goals. The first was a looping header which was - in my eyes anyway - very fortuitous, and the second was a heavy deflection. After the first goal he came out confidently for crosses and long balls so at least he learns from previous incidents. I don’t know what it is about this young goalkeeper but I feel confident when he’s playing - even more so when Almunia or Fabianski are playing. Is that strange?

Bacary Sagna: 8/10
Full of running yet again and solid at the back. Like Clichy, gives Arsenal that extra outlet when attacking and put in a superb performance in today.

William Gallas: 7/10
Maybe I’m being harsh, but I wasn’t too happy with his handling of Dunn for Blackburn’s second goal. We all know Dunn is right-footed so to not force him wide was a strange decision I thought. Unlucky in the way the ball came off him to finish in the net but maybe it shouldn’t have got that far in the first place.

Thomas Vermaelen: 9/10
Excellent yet again. First to everything and Di Santo didn’t even have a sniff. Was unfortunate for the first goal but after that didn’t put a foot wrong. Great determination and desire to create the opening for his equalising goal and that strike was sumptuous. He really does give Arsenal that extra dimension, with his threat in the air and his long-range shooting ability. Could be one of the highest scoring defenders since Fernando Hierro. Possibly.

Gael Clichy: 7/10
Another solid performance, but still a bit rash when trying to win the ball high up the pitch. Supported Arshavin and Rosicky well on the left hand side.

Alex Song: 8/10
Another good performance from Song. Won the ball convincingly, always covered key areas and his passing was good today too.

Abou Diaby: 5/10
Too wasteful and indecisive. I never see him making a decent effort to help out the defence and when on the ball he insists on taking far too many touches. Missed a sitter when presented with an open goal to shoot at and I can’t count how many times he loses the ball when he’s not even under any pressure. Was lucky that everyone else was playing so well.

Cesc Fabregas (Captain): 10/10
What else can you say about his performance today? Just when you thought that he might be going off the boil he shows us all what he’s all about. 4 cute assists and an emphatic left-footed piled driver on the half volley. Was so good and made such an impact he was taken off with 20 minutes to go.

Tomas Rosicky: 7/10
Got involved in the play well and always wanted the ball. Also put in a solid performance defensively, making some decent tackles and closing down players. Came agonisingly close with a 20 yard effort which could have easily went into the top corner and can be happy with his 29th birthday.

Robin Van Persie: 9/10
I’ve been very impressed with Van Persie’s performances recently. Out of all the players, Robin has had the biggest change thrust upon him playing in the central role of the 3 attackers but he has really adapted well. He’s added new skills to his repertoire, and now holds the ball up well, links the play well and is much more intelligent in his passing. Totally deserved his goal and will be a massive player for Arsenal this season.

Andrei Arshavin: 8/10
Everything this guy does with a football just oozes quality and today was no different. His passing, movement and ability on the ball was decisive and took his goal very well.

Theo Walcott (Replaced Rosicky on 69′): 7/10
An ideal return for Theo, who scored a well taken goal just minutes after coming on. Almost added a second when played in by Ramsey but his scuffed effort was scrambled off the line.

Nicklas Bendtner (Replaced Arshavin on 76′): 8/10
Looked bright when he came on and always wanted to be involved in the play. Took his goal superbly and hopefully that goal will be the start of a few for him this season.

Aaron Ramsey (Replaced Fabregas on 76′): 8/10
It would be no exaggeration to say he did more in 20 minutes than Diaby did in the whole game. Created 4 fantastic opportunities for his team-mates with some great through balls and was composed and confident on the ball. Shows far more intelligence (as well as desire to help defensively) which is why I am stunned Diaby is ahead of Ramsey in pecking order. Ramsey is the far better option on every level.

Well how the hell do you analyse that?

Arsenal were simply diabolical in the first 5 minutes.

Vito Mannone was making only his second first team appearance in the Arsenal side tonight and he was literally left exposed as Arsenal decided to neglect all defensive responsibility and self destruct.

He must have been wondering where was the defence?

After only 2 minutes, a Standard Liege corner was headed away for Eduardo to try an audacious backheel into the path of Fabregas. It didn’t come off, and the ball landed at the feet of central defender Mangala to smash the ball into the bottom corner.

Not the best start.

Then only minutes later, Gallas hacked down Jovanovic just inside the area and the referee awarded a penalty. On first glance, I thought it was a blatant dive but replays showed Gallas made clear contact and that the referee had in fact made a good decision. Jovanovic picked himself up and coolly dispatched the spot kick.

So after 5 minutes Arsenal were 2-0 down. You had to watch it to believe what happened, and Arsene Wenger must have been absolutely seething.

Ironically before the game, I was wondering if Arsenal were capable of keeping a clean sheet. I was worried if we’d concede silly goals like we have recently and my fears were realised in dramatic fashion.

But in a strange way, the 2 goal deficit actually worked in our favour.

Champions League new boys Liege couldn’t believe their luck, and understandably sat back and were intent on defending their lead. And that helped us.

From then on Arsenal bossed the game.

It was literally attack versus defence and you have to give the Belgians credit they defended well for the most part, and could be considered unlucky on all 3 goals.

The first Arsenal goal came from great work from Diaby, who showed great strength to beat several players before feeding Bendtner with a top quality goal before the Dane finished well. Up to that point, Standard Liege had defended well and I couldn’t remember their goalkeeper Borat Bolat making a notable save.

Talk about getting out of jail.

So that goal set-up the second half perfectly. Arsenal were chasing and Liege were going to be even more content on sitting back and protecting their lead. There was a lot of huffing and puffing but we couldn’t get the final ball right. We had a lot of set-pieces but Fabregas couldn’t find his range and all of his deliveries were over hit. The crosses (as usual) from Clichy, Eboue (and Sagna when he came on) were very poor. I don’t know why they bother crossing it to be honest.

But the pressure paid off and Liege were fouling more and our equalising goal came from a Fabregas freekick which was for once on the money.

The ball was floated in and found Song on the back post who scrambled the ball into the path of Vermaelen who capped off a fine performance with a goal from 2 yards. Replays showed that Song was not offside (as Eduardo made no contact) but he did seem to handball it. Standard Liege were livid with the linesman but I’ll take it!

From then on Arsenal’s tails were up and only 5 minutes later they scored another.

A corner from Fabregas wasn’t dealt with and Eduardo coolly poked the ball into the net inside the 6 yard area with his knee. An unorthodox finish but classy and deliberate all the same.

So a hugely entertaining game where Arsenal left with all 3 points.

I don’t think I can really say more than that…

Player Ratings

Vito Mannone: 7/10
Can’t fault him for any of our goals and therefore can’t fault his overall performance. He was let down and completely exposed by his more experienced team mates but wasn’t really troubled after the quite frankly crazy first five minutes.

Emmanuel Eboue: 7/10
Full of running and always there to support the attack but was shaky when defending.

William Gallas: 6/10
Looked nervous in the first half and the unnecessary hack to concede the penalty was silly at best. Settled as the game went on but still looked shaky at times.

Thomas Vermaelen: 9/10
Man of the Match for me. By far the best defender tonight and a solid performance overall. Saved Arsenal’s bacon a few times from mistakes from Clichy and Gallas and didn’t put a foot wrong. Scored that vital second goal and minutes later almost scored another with a beautifully executed backheel.

Gael Clichy: 7/10
Full of running but was caught out a few times on the break. Guilty of letting a few crosses into the box when he was in control of situations but on the flip side made a couple of vital last minute interceptions in the second half which could have put the game beyond Arsenal.

Alex Song: 7/10
Had a mixed evening tonight. Seemed to suffer from the side’s collective ’shell shock’ in the first few minutes but still managed to have a relatively solid performance. Was exposed heavily but fellow midfielders such as Diaby which didn’t help.

Abou Diaby: 6/10
Apart from the run and pass for Bendtner’s goal very poor. You know he has the ability but his decision-making at times is woeful. Will hold onto the ball and lose it instead of making a simple pass and never really makes an effort to get back and help out his defence.

Cesc Fabregas (Captain): 7/10
Didn’t really make the impact he usually can and his delivery on set-pieces (apart for the ones for the two goals ironically) were all over hit. Kept the team flowing though which was important and never shirked responsibility.

Tomas Rosicky: 8/10
Very impressive considering it’s his first start this season. Followed on from his influential performance on Saturday and was the one who was making things happen. Played in Bendtner in the second half with a stunning 50-yard ball which really should have been our equaliser. Encouraging signs for Arsenal if he can stay fit.

Nicklas Bendtner: 8/10
Found it tough tonight against a Standard Liege side that defending deep but was enthusiastic and always willing to run for the side. Took his goal superbly and that gave Arsenal a platform to build on in the second half.

Eduardo: 7/10
Things didn’t really come off for him tonight but was there to bury the chance when it came his way. That was the first real opportunity he had throughout the entire game and he finished it like we know he can.

Aaron Ramsey: 8/10 (Replaced Rosicky 70′)
Looked bright and unlike his Arsenal team mates wasn’t afraid to shoot. Disposed a Standard Liege defender to create a shooting opportunity and did the same again later, but his pass to Bendtner in the middle was over hit. Solid shift though.

Bacary Sagna: 7/10 (Replaced Eboue 80′)
Solid enough for a 10 minute stint.

Jack Wilshire: 6/10 (Replaced Eduardo 83′)
Not enough time to make an impression.

The start of to the campaign couldn’t have been better. A fantastic 6-1 win at Goodison Park really did surprise a lot of people. We thrashed Portsmouth 4-1 a week later and in between the two Premier League games we managed to beat Celtic away, something which teams like AC Milan, Manchester United and Barcelona had failed to do in recent seasons.

And I was particularly excited about the currently squad.

Vermaelen was clearly a brilliant signing. Hungry, quick and great in the air - the Celtic game really showed us what he was all about. This guy was obviously a winner and his determination and ability were hugely impressive. Another great signing by Arsene Wenger.

But with that, it seemed that two of his young protégés were now ready to step up to the mark.

Denilson and Song looked a lot more mature and composed in midfield. Alex Song in particular has looked a far better player this season and his tackling ability has really impressed me, and along with Vermaelen has been one of our best players so far for me.

But the confidence and winning start to the season came crumbling down at Old Trafford, and again at The Eastlands.

I didn’t write after the Manchester United game because I was livid. Nothing I would have wrote would have made any sense, although in fairness I suppose you could argue that I’ve never made sense anyway.

But I was livid for so many reasons.

We were the better team by far but we had let United off the hook, big time. We should have inflicted them with their second defeat in the Premier League and emphasised our intent for the season but a combination of bad luck, quite frankly shocking refereeing and stupidity from our own team threw all the hard work away.

Remember, we were dominating the Champions at their own ground and United were so worried about our attacking threat they actually played 5 in midfield. At home!

After taking the lead into half-time with a wonder goal from Arshavin, we dominated the first 10 minutes of the second half - which culminated in THAT Robin Van Persie chance which for all intents and purposes would have finished the game as a contest. United were not a threat at all but with only a solitary goals advantage a single mistake would change the game completely.

And unfortunately, we had two.

Rooney was charging down (away from the goal) in the penalty area and for some strange reason Almunia decided to take out the fat scouser. It was a ridiculous decision from an experienced goalkeeper who should know better. United had nothing and to gift them a penalty was unforgivable and I still get angry about that. Yes, Rooney started to fall before contact was made but why give him an excuse to fall to ground? This is Wayne Rooney we’re talking about here. Pure idiocy plain and simple.

As you would expect, Rooney dispatched the penalty and the game completely changed. You don’t give a team like Manchester United any sort of encouragement and as expected the goal rejuvenated them and then another moment of stupidity gifted them the winning goal.

I know my criticism of players in the past has probably been over-critical but I honestly don’t know why Abou Diaby plays for Arsenal. I was cursing his performance well before he stupidly headed in that own goal because he is such a lazy player. And I was even more infuriated when he stayed on the pitch as Denilson, Eboue and Arshavin were substituted. This guy has no big game intelligence and might be good against whipping boys like Portsmouth but doesn’t have the desire and drive to be top class.

He’s been around longer than players like Denilson and Song but for me, Diaby never looks like improving. I’ve said this for years now and my opinion hasn’t changed one bit. He is a liability and the problem is these mistakes keep happening time and time again. I honestly wonder how Wenger has so much patience with the guy. If you thought Adebayor was a lazy player, Diaby takes the biscuit. There’s no doubt he has some ability, but unfortunately we only see it when he’s bothered - which quite honestly isn’t enough.

And we have to mention the refereeing, because it was disgraceful. We should have been awarded two penalties (on Van Persie and Arshavin) in the space of 2 minutes but nothing was given. And I couldn’t believe how many fouls Valencia got away with in the first half without even getting booked. Evra did get book eventually but it took around 1,274 fouls before his name was in the book. And of course, Arsenal picked up 6 bookings to United’s 2 even though the home side produced a lot more fouls over the 90 minutes.

We all know about the disgusting songs aimed at Arsene at Old Trafford too, and the ridiculous sending off so I won’t go over old ground again.

Then we come to the Manchester City game.

I always look to see who the referee is before an Arsenal game, and funnily enough I was confident when I saw Mark Clattenburg’s name come up. I’ve always thought he was a decent referee, but not yesterday.

I only caught some German highlights yesterday and obviously it only showed the major incidents, so excuse me if I am incorrect in my interpretation of the game.

What I saw wasn’t a white-wash from Citeh.

Their opener came from a lucky Almunia own-goal. Can you blame the Spaniard for the goal? Who knows. People have said that he didn’t shuffle his legs over enough and others just put it down to back luck. And it looked like Micah Richards was offside (not unlike Gallas was for our disallowed equaliser at Old Trafford). When it rains, it definitely pours.

Manuel Almunia hasn’t had the best start to the season, and has only kept one clean sheet in 6 games so far which was against Celtic at Parkhead. And to be fair, Gallas and Vermaelen were immense that day and he didn’t have many saves to make. The problem is should a top-class keeper be conceding so many goals for a side like Arsenal?

The second half saw Tomas Rosicky’s introduction and it seemed like his presence gave Arsenal the charge they needed, and Robin Van Persie scored an excellent goal after turning Lescott (not for the first time this season) and drilling the ball into the bottom corner with his weaker foot.

From what I saw from the coverage, the reason Arsenal lost was partly because they were unlucky and partly because they were hell bent on going for the win. And our attitude to never give up and always score is one of the reasons why were are were we are.

That’s not a criticism, but an observation.

It looked like Arsenal had a hell of a lot more chances than City did. Van Persie came close several times, including a shot which hit the post. Gallas had a header cleared off the line and Shay Given (as you would expect) showed his quality and was called to make several top drawer saves.

On the balance of play, a 4-2 defeat is pretty harsh.

But now to the encouraging news.

Yes, we’ve lost 2 games in 4 and in seasons gone by, I would be the first to criticise the team for a lack of effort, heart and desire. But that doesn’t seem the case this season.

The biggest problem I’ve had with Arsenal teams that have lost games (remember Fulham and Hull last season) was the lack of desire. I couldn’t care less how much ability you have, if you didn’t give 110% when you wore an Arsenal shirt then I found that extremely annoying. Regular readers will know that I loved players like Ray Parlour because he would die in an Arsenal shirt. Obviously, I don’t really want to see our players actually dying but determination is paramount for me.

And that hasn’t been our problem this season.

If we apply the same attitude over this campaign then I won’t be worried about what the season holds for Arsenal. For me, the reasons for our defeats have been down to a combination of bad luck, and the desire to win.

Leading 1-0 at Old Trafford, if we closed the game out we probably could have left with all 3 points. Even at 1-1, when we gifted them a goal we probably could have left with a point. But that’s not in our nature, and unfortunately we were punished for it.

It was the same story in the blue half of Manchester. We pegged it back to 1-1 but got caught on the counter-attack trying to score the winner. In both games, at the vital times we were on top but then got hit with a sucker punch. Don’t get me wrong, along with the back luck we have to eliminate the stupid individual mistakes from players like Diaby and Almunia, but we’re not a million miles away from everyone else.

UEFA hope that their tough stance will act as a deterrent to other players looking to lash out unnecessarily and improve the image of football throughout Europe.

A spokesman for UEFA had this to say:

“We will not accept any negative actions in our game, whether it be diving, cheating or unnecessary aggression and will always take the appropriate action.

“In cases like these, the most important thing is to keep our punishments consistent.

“Otherwise we would just look like idiots and be accused of witch-hunts.”

Personally, I would like to congratulate UEFA on their balanced and well thought out approach that will give football and the governing bodies a lot more respect in the future. Clamping down on all the negatives will improve football tenfold.

Update!

UEFA have just produced a video which Steven Gerrard has generously volunteered to be featured in, showing fellow footballers how to dive without being punished.

I’m not sure why they would do this, but that’s UEFA for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abk9JSDBra4

If Platini had a vendetta against Arsene Wenger then this is surely it.

As well as being a complete disgrace, it is extremely sad. It’s as if this is the first dive ever made in football.

And I hate to bring this up, but if this was an English player - I don’t know, someone like Steven Gerrard maybe, or Wayne Rooney then I don’t think this would even become an issue. Michael Owen is another player who is a saint when it comes to these things. But it’s okay if he’s ‘winning’ a penalty against Argentina…

It’s just a huge amount of hypocrisy from everyone which is just pathetic.

When I think about the punishment Eduardo might face, along with the already high-profile incident then I’m just so riled. And here’s why…

It’s Unfair

The fact is diving has been in football for years now and nothing has been done to stop it. Disgraceful acts of diving from players like Gerrard, Rooney and Owen have happened in England internationals yet these instances were swept under the carpet. I remember one from Gerrard (against Estonia was it?) which was one of the worse dives I had ever seen. But hey, they’re English so it wasn’t a dive, it was being clever.

It’s a shame Theo Walcott wasn’t on the pitch and dived on Wednesday night.

We’d have a peaceful life then.

The Bigger Picture

I’m not condoning diving but let’s look at the bigger picture here. This was a 5-1 aggregate win over Celtic. The penalty didn’t make that much of a difference overall and certainly didn’t effect the result, however hard you want to argue to the contrary.

But how about going back to that faithful night at Old Trafford when Shrek dived over Sol Campbell’s leg to ‘earn’ a penalty and effectively end our unbeaten run in the Premier League. That incident still makes me sick to my stomach, and was a much bigger game then the Champions League qualifier. That one dive essentially ended our title challenge that season.

We could even talk about the valid tackle Gael Clichy made in that Birmingham game where we conceded a last minute penalty and Eduardo broke his leg. That decision f*cked us over as well. In fact, there’s been a lot of big and important games penalty decisions have gone against us, but nothing was done about it.

It’s Eduardo

I have to say that the incident against Celtic was the first time I’ve seen Eduardo do anything like dive before. So why is he being singled out now for it? If diving isn’t acceptable in the game, then the authorities should have done something a hell of a lot sooner. If diving was punished then Eduardo would have thought twice about doing it.

If this whole thing was happening to a serial diver like Cristiano Ronaldo or Steven Gerrard then fair enough, but Eduardo? Come on! What has he done to deserve this treatment? The guy’s come back from a horrific injury and been out of the game for almost a year.

And the guy who did it to him got off scot free.

Nice.

Arsene Wenger’s Stance On Cheating

Arsene has always been an advocate of helping referees.

He says that technology should be used to help officials who can make mistakes. That’s not a criticism, but a fact of human nature. Referees will make mistakes. Surely a guy behind a TV screen who has a benefit of a replay can instantly tell the referee on the pitch if it’s a right or wrong call.

And if this was implemented and players knew that every decision was based on replay evidence then they would stop cheating and diving, because they would know they wouldn’t get away with it.

UEFA and FIFA govern football, the richest and most popular sport in the world. They have a responsibility to ensure the game is played fairly and in the right spirit and they have had the means to enforce this. Other sports like Rugby and Tennis are light years ahead of us in this respect so the governing bodies have absolutely no excuse.

What’s the point of retrospective punishments when ‘the damage has been done’ so to speak?

Surely it’s more important to eradicate the problem rather than punish it?

There is absolutely no point in what UEFA are doing. Because if it’s the Champions League Final and a player goes into a 50:50 with the goalkeeper then he doesn’t give a sh*t if his dive wins the match is he? If it’s the choice between winning Europe’s biggest competition and a 2 game ban then I know what every player would choose.

People only remember the winners.

If you want an example of how UEFA shouldn’t be run and how stupid they actually are, then this is it. Common sense just goes out the window.

Not the free flowing football from Saturday, but an impressive, frustrating and fortunate game tonight. And it’s very rare to have all of those contrasting components in a football match!

The impressive was our defensive unit.

I’ve said for a long time that while we would have a good defence on paper, the fact was we couldn’t defend as a team. Too many times we would be exposed, and we saw what happened - nights like the one we had against Spurs in that 4-4 draw. Too many times we’d get caught out.

But tonight, we were excellent.

Vermaelen is sensational. I can’t speak highly enough of this guy. I’m almost speechless.

Nevermind that he’s only playing his second game with Arsenal, he is a godsend. He was stunningly good tonight and for me, the Man of the Match. He is great in the air, his tackling is breathtaking and the number of interceptions he made was mind-boggling.

F*ck me Wenger has done it again.

He did it with Sagna, and now he’s done it with Vermaelen.

But with him, Gallas, Clichy and Sagna all had excellent games. Gallas looks totally different alongside the Belgian and the fullbacks had very solid games as well.

And very encouragingly, Denilson and Song look to have come on leaps and bounds.

They were fantastic as well. They both played the best I have ever seen them play in an Arsenal shirt.

Their tackling (along with Fabregas’) has improved ten fold. Tonight, Song didn’t put a foot wrong. He was quick, solid and his passing was accurate and not sloppy in the slightest (which it has been over recent seasons). Denilson was almost equally as good, although there were a few stray passes now and then.

And we know Fabregas is quality.

The captain was roughed up quite a bit, but still managed to get hugely involved with the play and he covered the most ground from all the players on the pitch tonight.

Now on to the frustrating.

We had a decent amount of the ball but were very wasteful in front of goal, and in particular in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

We kept swarming forward with the ball but the end product was severely lacking. Bendtner, Van Persie and Arshavin all had decent opportunities to test the keeper but most of the shots were dragged wide. If they had been on top form, we could have really had something similar to the Everton game.

But it was the same problem as the weekend. Eduardo (who was injured tonight) was the only forward who actually scored against Everton and tonight the strikers drew blanks again. Of course it’s a good thing that the midfield and defence are chipping in with goals but sooner or later the strikers need to get the ball into the net. But after winning tonight I suppose I’m just nit-picking.

It’s just that with such a brilliant performance from the defence and midfield, the icing on the cake would have been if the strikers could show that killer instinct in front of goal. We had a lot of shots towards goal but the Celtic goalkeeper only had one save of note to make, and that was from a Fabregas shot in the second half.

And the fortunate?

Well all the Arsenal critics (like the ones from the weekend) will say that Arsenal were lucky again tonight.

The fact is though that you make you own luck in football. Arsenal deserved their goals on the balance of play, and while it’s fair to say Celtic didn’t do much wrong in conceding those goals they rarely tested Almunia in all honesty.

The first goal was deflected freekick off William Gallas. He’s our top scorer at the moment alongside Cesc.

And the second was after good work from Clichy on the left, whose cross was put into his own net by Celtic captain Caldwell. Bendtner was lurking behind anyway so would have scored if the defender missed it.

Overall, a fantastic result and impressive team display without the killer instinct. But they say a sign of a quality team is one that still win without completely playing well, so I’ll take more of these kind of wins alongside the pretty ones.

I do have to mention that it seems like Arsenal have changed their approach and game this season. Along with the ‘new’ formation, it’s clear that they play the ball around with much more purpose and play a smoother one-touch passing game. It is strange (but also refreshing) that players like Song and Denilson are so comfortable with one-touch play, as you are used to them controlling the ball before playing it. The only player that still takes 2, 3 and even 4 touches (in the entire team) is Nicklas Bendtner.

Player Ratings

Manuel Almunia: 7/10
Didn’t have anything to do really.

Bacary Sagna: 8/10
Up and down the right side again and solid at the back.

William Gallas: 9/10
Excellent. Made tackle after tackle and always looked in control. Made a fantastic interception from a cross in the second half when the game was carefully poised at 1-0. A mistake there could have changed the game, and it was a decisive moment. Looks much more comfortable alongside Vermaelen.

Thomas Vermaelen: 10/10
As I’ve already mentioned he was the Man of the Match for me. How many times have we seen Arsenal not quite click up top and then pay for it by conceding sloppy goals? In times gone by that could of happened but this guy is rock solid. I can’t really describe how good he was tonight. He was everywhere, and on top of being a brilliant defender he can pass the ball too. Take a bow son.

Gael Clichy: 8/10
Solid, and like Sagna full of running. There were one or two moments where you questioned his decision-making but overall had a good game and he made the second goal which could prove to be hugely important.

Alex Song: 9/10
I’ve been one of his harshest critics but he was right up there with Vermaelen for me tonight. He did not put a foot wrong, and if performances like this are what he’s capable of this season then we should be very excited. Looks like a different player - quicker, more intelligent and much better with his tackling.

Denilson: 8/10
He looks to have stepped up his game as well. His passing has improved, his positioning has improved and it looks like his fitness and pace have too. Still prone to a sloppy ball now and then (Fabregas and Arshavin won’t be thanking him for a couple of suicide balls) but I’m sure he will improve on that as well.

Cesc Fabregas (Captain): 8/10
The hub of the team yet again, and pretty much dictated the game. Slightly wasteful on occasion but probably fatigue from the weekend.

Andrei Arshavin: 6/10
Not really in the game, and seemed to struggle. I expected him to explode tonight but it never happened, and you wonder if he’s struggling with the new system. Was on the periphery of the game in the first half and disappeared in the second. His passing and shooting just seemed off tonight as well.

Nicklas Bendtner: 7/10
Full of running and held the ball up well at times. You sensed that he’s getting used to his new position on the right, as well as being a regular starter for Arsenal. As the season goes on you know he’ll improve.

Robin Van Persie: 7/10
Always wanted to be involved but just lacked that little bit of quality (which he has in abundance) at the vital time, whether it was a final ball or shooting opportunity. On his day, he would have scored a brace tonight.

A Manchester United fan (by the name of Colm Jackson) has taken it upon himself to get a shirt printed, with a message on the back which says:

YSB
96
Not Enough

The link to the actual photograph is here (it’s on his Facebook profile).

No doubt that the picture will probably be deleted soon, as I’m sure a lot of people will be reporting it.

Don’t get me wrong, hatred for other teams is okay but this is well over the line. To have a shirt like that is shocking, and I’ve supported Arsenal for almost 20 years and never (and I mean never) come across something as distasteful as that from an Arsenal fan. To make fun at a terrible disaster like that really does beggars belief.

From the comments on the picture, it’s clear that it was actually printed at a Sports Direct store in the Arndale Centre, Manchester.

I can’t believe a Sports store would even allow something like that to be printed. Surely they would be liable for printing this filth.

Maybe I shouldn’t be shocked and maybe this kind of thing is rife among football supporters.

But I’ve never come across it with Arsenal fans.

Source: Empire of the Kop