Note: Regular readers will know I usually post match reports on a Monday. However with Chelsea and Manchester United playing tonight I thought I would include a match report of that game from an Arsenal perspective in tomorrow’s post. Stay tuned.

Arsenal 4 (Zubar og 28, Craddock og 35, Fabregas 45, Arshavin 65)
Wolves 1 (Craddock 88)

Minute-by-Minute

Match Review

After an uneasy opening half-hour where their opponents had the better of things, Arsenal produced the sort of performance to beat Wolves that suggest that they should be included with Manchester United and Chelsea as potential Premier League champions.

The 4-1 win over Wolves was achieved despite a spirited start from the home side and without ever really hitting top gear as two own-goals and a superb third by Cesc Fabregas essentially put the game beyond doubt before half-time. Andrey Arshavin added a fourth with just under a half-hour to go in the pouring rain at Molineux before Wolves pulled back a late consolation goal through Jody Craddock’s header.

Three changes were made to the team that beat Alkmaar in the Champions League midweek with Bacary Sagna returning in place of Emmanuel Eboue, Eduardo getting the nod over Samir Nasri and Aaron Ramsey surprisingly getting a start at defensive midfield instead of Alex Song, who was given a break by the manager. An injury to Abou Diaby after twenty minutes meant the Cameroonian’s rest was cut short however, and his introduction saw Ramsey move into a more advanced midfield position.

This game had the hint of a potential banana skin for our boys and that feeling was exacerbated during an opening half-hour that saw Wolves put immense pressure on our players and created the better openings. However two or three decent headers from set-pieces was the best Wolves could manage.

Just as it looked like our boys would have to fight hard for the points we scored when Ronald Zubar put through his own net under pressure from Eduardo. Astonishingly it was two just five minutes later when Ramsey and Eduardo raced through and Craddock followed Zubar’s lead by nodding the Crozilian’s chipped pass into the net.

With Wolves in disarray we scored an outstanding third just before the break when Fabregas, Sagna and Robin van Persie combined to allow our captain to stroke home his 5th league goal of the season and end the game as the contest.

The second half was a predictably lackluster affair as Arsenal probed for more goals without ever exerting too much effort. Arshavin managed to get the fourth with a cleverly-controlled strike from outside the box while up the other end Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas controlled the Wolves attack without breaking a sweat.

Substitute Tomas Rosicky blasted over a decent chance near the end while van Persie and Fabregas also went close. However it was Wolves who got the final goal of the game as Craddock’s clever movement from a corner saw Vermaelen bundle into Sagna and the veteran defender headed home.

Manuel Almunia was furious at the team’s inability to keep a clean sheet but in truth it mattered very little as we ran out comfortable winners and move into second on the table.

Talking Points

0-0 after 24 minutes with Wolves well on top, Diaby was replaced by Song in a move that saw Ramsey shuffled forward into a move advanced position. Ten minutes later it was 2-0. Coincidence?

Although the Diaby-haters (and Song-lovers!) will argue the opposite the answer to that question is unquestionably ‘yes’. The reshuffle had absolutely no influence on an opening goal which knocked the stuffing out of a Wolves side that had worked their socks off and perhaps deserved the lead. From that point on playing with a cushion allowed our boys to take control of the game and go on to win comfortably.

I think it would be overly convenient and incorrect to say that Ramsey struggled in the defensive midfield role early on or that removing Diaby from the midfield changed the game. In fact, had the first gone in with Song still on the bench I would argue that we would have gone onto win the game by a decent margin regardless. All conjecture and hearsay, I understand, but worth thinking about for people who look for too much reason in a game that relies on moments of luck and chance far more than we like to admit.

Sagna continued his attacking resurgence with another excellent cross to set up the third goal. While it may not go down as an assist the Frenchman’s controlled pass for van Persie was right on the money and allowed Fabregas to score. With Gael Clichy struggling to have an impact going forward before his injury and the inexperienced Kieran Gibbs mostly focused on getting his defensive positioning correct, Sagna’s attacking contributions down the right have been as important as any member of the team in the last few games.

Final Thought

If Manchester United and Chelsea draw tonight and we win our game in hand, Arsenal will be top of the Premier League. What more can I say?

Have your say on Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Wolves by leaving a comment.

Arsene Wenger calls Robin van Persie the best striker in the Premier League.

ESPN Soccernet looks back at the impact made by Patrick Vieira in his time at Arsenal.

Soccerlens predicts which teams will qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League.

Arseblogger reviews the week on the always excellent Arsecast.

The Guardian has a comedic pictorial tribute to Thomas Vermaelen.

Studs Up has the first of what is sure to be many comics focusing on the suspension of Chelsea’s transfer ban.

Right then, enjoy the game. Come on ARSENAL!!!

Have your say on today’s Arsenal links by leaving a comment.

The boys’ confidence will be high after dumping Liverpool out of the Carling Cup, smashing Tottenham in the North London Derby and putting four past Alkmaar to all but secure qualification. And while newly-promoted Wolves have had a very respectable start to the season for a newly-promoted side, I really can’t see anything but an Arsenal win if our boys turn up motivated and ready to play.

I expect there to be a little bit of rotation after the midweek game. Eduardo is a good chance to come into the side after being used off the bench against both Spurs and Alkmaar while Bacary Sagna should return at right-back in place of Emmanuel Eboue.

Samir Nasri should keep his spot after a sharp midweek performance while I’d suggest we could see Aaron Ramsey brought into the side, perhaps at the expense of Abou Diaby. Tomas Rosicky is fit again so we could see him from the start however I suspect both Andrey Arshavin and Robin van Persie will start their third game in a row. Meanwhile Manuel Almunia should continue in goals.

Arsene Wenger has admitted that he won’t be rotating the central defenders anytime soon so we can count both Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas in, while the same can be said about Cesc Fabregas. The captain’s performance against Alkmaar was full of confidence and conviction and given he was pulled off with a decent amount of time remaining in the game I think it’s safe to say he’ll be leading out the boys on Saturday afternoon.

This game is certainly a potential banana skin considering the relative mystery surrounding last year’s Championship winners. I do fancy us to go to Wolves and get a few goals however, and the presence of our solid defensive of Vermaelen, Gallas and Alex Song should ensure we avoid a potentially embarassing result if things get a little mucky.

Turning attention away from the Wolves game and there was some excellent news today regarding the future of Carling Cup hero Fran Merida. According to the manager the young Spaniard has verbally agreed a new contract with the club (if not signed it) despite the recent rumours that Atletico Madrid were hoping to lure him back to Spain.

Meanwhile Bordeaux target Marouane Chamakh has admitted he is not yet ready to sign an extension to his contract, meaning he remains a real possibility to leave the club and perhaps join us in January. He scored a nice goal against Bayern Munich midweek and although it will very much be a game of wait and see it’s relatively interesting news nonetheless.

Right, that’s it. Enjoy your Friday and be sure to check out this week’s Arsenal FC Weekly podcast guest Arseblogger on his own show if you get the chance.

PS. I’ll be working on some blog design stuff over the weekend so if the blog happens to go weird from time to time, please don’t despair! Cheers for your patience.

Have your say on Arsenal’s trip to Wolves or other contract-related stuff by leaving a comment.

The Arsenal boys produced an excellent performance last night to dispose of AZ Alkmaar 4-1 and all but qualify for the second round of the Champions League. Cesc Fabregas scored two, Samir Nasri got his first of the season and the scoring was complete when Abou Diaby fired home our fourth. Alkmaar pulled one back very late on – Aaron Ramsey, Emmanuel Eboue and Manuel Almunia all could have done better – but it mattered little with the game well and truly in the bag at that point.

Fabregas was absolutely superb last night and fully deserved his two goals, the second of which from the sort of finish that only a player who is high on confidence can produce. Nasri and Diaby’s goals were equally as excellent as Andrey Arshavin showed his value to the team on the night with a hat-trick of assists. The little Russian improved on a solid performance against Spurs at the weekend to put in Man of the Match honours despite Fabregas’ brace.

Kieran Gibbs had a good game in place of Gael Clichy, almost grabbing a goal, while I also thought Emmanuel Eboue and Abou Diaby put in improved performances. The defence looked solid throughout and although Almunia probably should have done better with the goal, he showed his worth to the team with a fantastic reflex save to deny Alkmaar with the scores at 3-0.

The win sees us on 10 points in the group, four ahead of Olympiakos and six ahead of Liege with two points needed to secure top spot in the group. Let the good times roll…

Have your say on Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Alkmaar by leaving a comment.

It’s Arsenal FC Weekly podcast time again as Arseblogger joins me to celebrate the wins over Tottenham and Liverpool and preview the week ahead. We discuss the confusion caused by Cesc Fabregas’ solo goal as well as the return of Manuel Almunia, so be sure to click the play button above and let the ear-magic begin.

Just another reminder that you can subscribe to the Arsenal FC Weekly Podcast via iTunes (click here) or alternatively you can just subscribe directly to the RSS feed (click here).

It’s AZ Alkmaar tonight in the Champions League with a win enough to see us qualify for the second round of the competition. With Chelsea and Manchester United achieving that feat last night it would be great to see our boys do the same and given our excellent home record this season I can’t see anything but an Arsenal victory.

The (very) bad news going into the game is that Gael Clichy has been ruled out of not only this game but potentially two months with a stress fracture in his lower back. Clichy is of course joined on the injury table by Nicklas Bendtner – who strained his groin at the weekend – while Tomas Rosicky will return to the squad for the first time in a few weeks.

Clichy’s injury is an hugely surprising and immensely disappointing piece of news, however it does open the door for Kieran Gibbs to show what he can do over an extended period of games. Personally I’m not as convinced by Gibbs as a lot of other Arsenal supporters are – I still think he can be defensively naive at times, which is to be expected of a young player – but he’ll be hoping to give Arsene Wenger a headache when Clichy does eventually return to full fitness.

As I said earlier I expect us to win and win well tonight and there’s not much more to say, really. Enjoy the game wherever in the world you may be watching it and I’ll speak to you tomorrow on the blog.

Have your say on the Arsenal FC Weekly Podcast or the Champions League clash with Alkmaar by leaving a comment.