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Match Report: Arsenal 1-0 West Brom

Arsenal kicked off the new Premier League season with a hard-fought win against newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion.

French international Samir Nasri marked his debut with an early goal as well as a fine performance as the Gunners took all three points from a tight encounter.

Arsenal Starting XI

Almunia
Sagna – Djourou – Gallas – Clichy
Walcott – Eboue – Denilson – Nasri
Adebayor – Bendtner

West Brom Starting XI

Carson
Hoefkens – Barnett – Meite – Robinson
Cech – Greening – Morrison – Brunt
Kim – Miller

First Half

A sunny Emirates Stadium welcomed both sides as the new Premier League campaign kicked off, and it didn’t take too long for Arsenal to break the deadlock.

It was Arsenal’s new Frenchman who scored – Samir Nasri.

The French international attacking midfielder, who moved to the north-London club from Ligue 1 outfit Marseille earlier in the summer, tapped the ball home from close range in the 4th minute following a delightful pull-back from Denilson from left channel.

Goal: Samir Nasri (4)

Arsene Wenger’s side dominated the possession, but failed to add to their early goal as Theo Walcott had a couple of attempts blocked. Skipper William Gallas’ 35-yard thundering drive narrowly missed Scott Carson’s goal.

For Tony Mowbray’s side, lone striker Ishmael Miller was mostly cut off of quality supply, but Kim Do-Heon brought out a save from keeper Manuel Almunia at the half-hour mark.

Second Half

West Brom started off the better side in the second half as the West Midlands side searched for a decisive equaliser.

Johan Djourou cleared a Paul Robinson shot off the goalline as West Brom searched for a second-half equaliser.

Ishmael Miller ran onto a through ball and his low shot was parried into the path of full-back Robinson, who failed to punish the lapse in concentration.

Emmanuel Adebayor curled a shot well wide before going much closer from inside the box, as Arsenal still failed to build on Samir Nasri’s opener.

Robin van Persie and Kolo Toure came on late on but failed to make much of an impact as the three points went Arsenal’s way on the first day of the season.

Player Ratings

Almunia – 7: Relatively untested, but looked solid whenever called into action and his kicking was accurate.

Sagna – 7: Started this season where he left off the last. Rock solid in defence and always a decent outlet going forward. Could have perhaps slightly improved his crossing.

Djourou – 6.5: Deputised well enough for Kolo Toure, though he was caught napping and almost allowed Ishmael Miller to equalise in the second half, only to immediately make amends by making a goal line clearance from Do-Heon Kim.

Gallas – 7: The captain fared well in what was a reasonably comfortable outing. Looked assured in defence, though not quite as sharp as he would have liked. Crashed an incredible effort off the post from almost 40 yards early on.

Clichy – 7.5: Tireless down the left hand side, unbeatable at the back and provided endless goal-scoring opportunities when going forward.

Walcott – 6.5: Was kept fairly quiet for large parts of the game as Arsenal generally preferred to attack down their left hand side. Did not manage to hit anything resembling top gear as he occasionally did in pre-season.

Eboue – 5: No matter where he is played these days, the Cote d’Ivoire international cannot make it happen for the Gunners. Had a fairly simple job of protecting the back four in midfield, which he did to decent effect, but was very wasteful in possession.

Denilson – 7.5: Had a marvellous first half and was central to all the Gunners’ quality offensive play. It was when the hosts were at their best and the Brazilian deputised admirably for Cesc Fabregas.

Nasri – 8: A goal on competitive debut – can you ask for much more? He looked very lively all afternoon. Defied his critics as he had the physical fight in him to stand his ground and even tracking back to retrieve possession. Took his goal well, slotted seamlessly into the Wenger philosophy of football and enjoyed a somewhat free roaming position in left wing. No Hleb, no problem.

Bendtner: 6.5: Like Walcott, was by and large bypassed for much of Arsenal’s best moves and somewhat isolated at times. Put in a neat and tidy performance, but did not impose himself on the game as he has in pre-season.

Adebayor – 7.5: A relentless performance. Acted as a creator far more than he did a scorer this afternoon, hovering on the left hand side and constantly looking to power past his man and put balls into the box. Cannot be faulted for his work rate or creativity, but could have perhaps gotten himself into better goal-scoring positions more often, considering Arsenal’s dominance.

Substitutes:

Van Persie – 5: Very wasteful during his brief showing as a substitute. Wayward shooting and inaccurate passing.

Toure – 6: Made a fleeting appearance and looked full of energy playing in an advanced role on the right hand side.

Gooner Talk’s Man of the Match: Samir Nasri – Very lively and energetic, can be miles better than Hleb and showed that with his attacking prowess for the goal.

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