1-0 to the Arsenal, another clean sheet!

Well it’s not really the type of performance you’d want start your blog with, is it? But Arsenal won, so I guess the night wasn’t that bad after all. Theo Walcott’s early opener, a solid display by Wojciech Szczesny and the lack of cutting edge by the Udinese players secured us a vital win in the first leg of our Champions League qualifier.

There were a few empty places at the Emirates, obviously showing the fans’ frustration at the way the club is run at the moment. Arsenal started the game brightly, though, and I had the feeling this could be a rout. A brilliant attack from the right saw Aaron Ramsey deliver a good cross at the edge of the six-yard box where Theo Walcott slotted it into the back of Udinese’s net. It was a good finish by Theo, and he used his left foot too, which was nice to see. Let’s hope he can repeat the start he had last season and I believe the No. 14 could be a very handy player for us this season. Provided he stays injury-free, Theo Walcott is a player who can score and provide a few.

And that’s about where we stepped off the gas a little. It looked a bit like the team got complacent because of the early goal and they probably thought this is going to be another easy home game in the Champions League. It was anything but. Udinese looked dangerous and threatened Arsenal’s goal a few times in the first half. There was one counter attacking run between two of our defenders and it was only because of Wojciech that we stayed in the lead. They hit the crossbar with another shot, and those early chances should have served as a warning to our team.

The second half started with a substitution, Johan Djourou came on for the injured Kieran Gibbs. The word is Kieran’s got a problem with his hamstring, but we’ll have to wait and see how severe the damage is. Djourou took his usual role at center back, while, captain for the night, Thomas Vermaelen moved to left back. It wasn’t long until another injury struck, this time it was the big Swiss, after just 9 or 10 minutes in play. I don’t know if he wasn’t properly warmed up, or he pulled a muscle when blocking a shot from Di Natale, who looked certain to score just 5 minutes after the break. Djourou stretched down the turf and stopped the shot, but seemed to have injured himself in the process. New boy Carl Jenkinson was introduced at left back and Vermaelen went back to the center.

That wasn’t the last from Udinese though, and to be fair to them they had a good go in the second half and were able to dominate. Not many teams have managed that at the Emirates, so credit to them. But it has to be said, Arsenal played terrible. They couldn’t keep control of the ball, Rosicky’s passing was way off, Chamakh had a nightmare up front with his link up play totally giving up on him. Our passing game was unusually bad and that gave Udinese their fair amount of chances to strike us.

That’s where our defense came in, and credit to the back four and Wojciech Szczesny in particular, who was in tremendous form once again, making a lot of good saves and quite literally, keeping Arsenal in the game. Overall the defense was solid, gave very little in the first half and still managed to hold on in the second. A clean sheet was vital in the home leg, and considering the weight of away goals 1:0 probably isn’t such a bad score going to Italy. I must say the defense so far looks improved from last season, even though there are no new faces.

So, we’re still unbeaten this season and with two clean sheets, things do look good, right? We can do the treble here! On a more serious note, though, the lack of creativity is really troubling me. Yes, we do seem to cope at the back so far, but we haven’t been able to produce anything up front. The final ball is lacking, easy passes are being mistaken and there are very, very few chances for our forward players, which is unusual for Arsenal. And knowing our ability to waste chances, effectiveness in front of goal will be crucial for our chances this season. I hope this is down to the team not being in its best shape, it’s still early in the season and there is time to put things right, over to you Arsene.

Fingers crossed the injuries to Kieran Gibbs and Johan Djourou are as minor as they say. UPDATE: Strangely, Arsenal.com have removed the page where they said both injuries are “minor”. Let’s hope we get more detail on both soon. Hamstrings usually take two or three weeks at the very least, so I hope Colin Lewin and the rest of the medical team can do some sort of magic. Why isn’t it as easy as in Harry Potter? Just point the wand at someone’s broken arm and it’s healed in an instant! They should try that someday, you know.

Overall we can take some positives out of this game. Defensively we looked good, Wojciech Szczesny was solid and we managed another clean sheet. Yay! Van Persie is going to be back for the second leg in Italy and hopefully Jack Wilshere will have recovered from his injury by then. Now our attention turns to Liverpool on Saturday. More from me on Thursday, have a good evening y’all, and don’t forget to keep the faith!

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I would just like to thank you for reading my first blog post, it means a lot to me. Please feel free to leave a comment or drop me an e-mail with any critics and/or suggestions you may have. And don’t forget you can vote in the poll as well. Thanks again for reading until the end and I hope you like it! =)