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.
Samir Nasri the best player on the pitch.
Top performance from the new-boy.
boring game..but win.. huhu.. congra nasri..
Thought Denilson did well too. Felt the lads never got out of 1st gear. Result is great but hope we close the games down in future.
Never expected to get anything from The Emirates, but since everyone was predicting 2-0, I think 1-0 is pretty good! 🙂
Arsenal winger scoring goals??? This is huge!
your midfield formation is incorrect it was walcott-eboue-denilson-nasri
If we can get a DM who can shoot better than Eboue and hit the target we may score a few more. To his credit at least he had a go ! Wish some of the others woud shoot when presented with a chance.
nasri ,clichy and denilson awesome,still so shakey at the back with none of the centre backs showing any kind of authority,glad it was only wba today,need a quality midfield player desperatly.still 3 points so got to be happy with that
Yes true, they did swap around, i'll change it – thanks. 🙂
Nasri and Clichy were the best players on the pitch. I cant decide which 1 of them were best, but 1 thing is for sure, I think we will have the most dangerous left wing in the premiership…..
Impressed with Nasri. Only lost the ball once in 90 mins I think & played well with and without the ball that we didnt miss Fabregas much today. Eboue was OK. Walcott & Bendtner still dont look ready to have an impact from the start
Worried with our CB's and GK. They dont seem to have much of an understanding. With Fabregas, Toure & a new player to come into our first 11 we will surely improve on todays performance
Nice one Nasri.
Agree, a DM is really needed, Denilson did impress me today though.
We played decent but things can only improve. (stats and alternative match report at :http://arsenalcolumn.wordpress.com/). Come on you Gunners!!! We can win it this season. yeah. woo hoo. waaga baaga. coome on u luvleys.
samir nasri was terrrific today.So was denilson and clichy.I still think we need a defensive mid.Adebayor was poor. I am surprised dat vela didnt get a run
Yep, surprising Wenger did make three substitutions, Ade didn't have his best game.
debut goal from him is fantastic start league by arsenal..
go arsenal go gunners..
Theo's poor performance during the past 2 games concerns me.
He still looks like a little boy. And it's not his size because we've seen what Nasri and Vela can do despite not beein the biggest or strongest. It's as though Theo just lacks a footballing brain.
He needs a goal to boost his confidence IMO, very talented player but needs to maintain a level of consistency.
and Spurs are losing – ain't life good
was at the game and should have been 3 or 4 nil. Need to be sharpen in front of goal.
haha brilliant, 2-0 Boro.
Adebayor was shite 2day i was at the game and he even got booed at one point cause he was playing so badly. Tottenham av just grabbed a goal back but arent gonna win hahaha. 4th place? Or not!!
Spurs doesn't have chances for nothing what an idiots
At this rate they won't even finish in the top ten!
Oh dear the 4th place contenders didn't do so well !! sounds like superstar Bentley wasn't as great as as they thought (snigger)
£50000000000000000 and they can't beat Middlesborough. They should get that bald Dutch twat to manage them !
.. but the again would McClaren want to manage Spurs.
Denilson and Nasri did well in midfield, the whole back line looked good enough….. Ade was not convincing, Bentender and Walcott were terrible, Eboue was average, should have tested the keeper with his chances
haha, Hull are ahead of us in the league, unbelievable! 😉
We are ok…only one body more and we shall beat every living thing
Not a bad game, but 3 points are what is important. A completely injury-free Arsenal squad is a force to reckon with.
Take it to them Gunners!
you are a stupid person and i think you are blind to rate eboue 5 ..cuz u got a blog dnt mean u can fool anyone who didnt even watch the match
Think the rating on Djourou and Eboue was harsh. Thought Djourou especiall was very good, Eboue did ok. Walcott and Bentender were bad and Ade did not look sharp
Nasri has been the best, but Denilson and Clichy has done a great game
theo and bendnter went home early because they did fuck all in d match
FUCKING HAPPY SPURS LOST!!
There are gooners here from all over the World – brilliant to see you all. Great to see the hatred of Spurs has covered the whole Earth !! The sun is always shining on a piece of earth where a gooner has spat at the mention of the spuds !
Some Great individual performances from Nasri, Denilson, Clichy.
I think Adebayor played pretty well on and off the ball and this game made me realize just how important his is to this arsenal team. was unlucky not to score.
very worried about Walcott, didnt play well at all. i think wenger should only use him as an impact player from now on.
other disappointments were Van Persie, Bendtner and Gallas…. worrying
The evaluation of Eboues performance was a bit harsh. He wasn't the best player but hewas definately not the worst, as your ratings would have some believe. He kept it simple and his passing was ok. Apart from his dismal shooting he wasn't that bad, considering he is a RB playing CM.
Nasri was wonderful today, the goal was well taken and i cannot remember him losing the ball once tbh ! i thought Djourou was good also
Boring Game? Are You sure u were Watching the Right Game mate?
Good Game, Good Result, Even Though i Felt we should Have scored More Really , we had Pretty Decent chances Shame we couldn't Convert them oh well its Just the First Game in The EPL soo Im sure It will Get better and To be honest I am sooo Pleased The lads Starting to Shoot On The Target even though not Sharp Shooting but at Least They were Trying but i can see this Really to get better with abit of Practice In Training .
Defencively I think we did allright I Mean Sagna Had a Great Game same goes for Clichy They did really much much Better Than what They did against Twente, Gallas and Djourou Had Pretty Decent game i Think.
I Thought Really our Midfiled Were outstanding i Mean considering that we were missing out on some Key players But Denilson was Outstanding so was Nasri He was all over the Pitch really Decent Preformance From him and Im Glad he Started his arsenal Firs Season with a Goal that should Make Him Very Confident, Ebou i Thought he was Not Too Bad to Be honest even though he should have done alot better with his shoots though but i thought he had a good game. Welcott I Thought he would have made a massive impect But he was abit Rusty but Im sure he one having one of these days but i can see him really doing much better with the coming games.
Ade i Thought he had a Really Good First Half, Second half well He had Pretty Decent Chances which he should have converted into Goals and He looked abit Kinda Greedy on Couple of occasion but Im sure he will be back into his goal scoring Habit Soon …I HOPE. Bendtner did he a Really Good First half as well Held the Ball well with some decisive Passing . Van The Man he didn't have much to do but he did well on couple of times the one which kinda stood out for me his Sweet Turn in the Box and tried to Pin the Ball into the net but was kinda Unlucky After all i have to say im Really Pleased with the Preformance and i Just wish we could really take most of our chances by converting them into Goals anyway Well Played Lads… Thanks Gooner_Chris For the Post and hope he Guys Enjoyed The game 😉
Where is the Hoyte article????
Impressed with Nasri and solid defence. Good start
And as usual different rules apply when it comes to Eboue ..He was actually quite surprisingly one of the best players on the field , credit should be given when its due.
man ishamael miller was an ANIMAL today, biggest and ugliest striker ive seen yet, wtf man he made adebayor and bendtner look small!!!! :O
Everyone is being completely harsh on Eboue…! i thought he had a great game..! Out of position but did a gud job..! I know alot of fans have no time for him but he is alot more valuable than you all think..! Midfield was solid..! Nasri and Clichy were amazing together and i thought Djourou had a super game…! 3 points now lets push on..! Fulham crucial before Cesc gets back..!
Did you watch the game – Eboue was solid – did simple things broke up play and passed the ball to the better players – what a good DM should do. How many goals did Flamini score last year? I don't like Eboue as a wide man but DM – he seems a suitable fit while Ramsey comes along. Hopefully Wenger will buy someone next week for the DM position. Djourou was solid. He will make the odd mistake as he has not played CB for a while and Gallas is a new partner. Gallas was good on the ground, but he still gets caught out on high balls. Toure looked unfit. He did not have the legs and was a waste playing on the right. He needs more time to be fully ready.
Chris mate, just taught i'd let you know that goal took the words from your ratings and changed the ratings themselves, constantly takiing your stuff 🙂
Chris mate, just thought i'd let you know that goal took the words from your ratings and changed the ratings themselves, constantly takiing your stuff 🙂
Chris mate, just thought i'd let you know that goal took the words from your ratings and changed the ratings themselves, constantly takiing your stuff 🙂