There is a certain grimness swallowing Arsenal’s fixtures. The inevitability of a letdown despite all the craft and industry of worker drones creating a bright intricate weave. A link frays and forces far more opportunistic and muscular burst through in a Trojan Horse moment to create havoc. The Trojan Horse analogy might be apt because Arsenal’s dominant possession always seem to lull their practitioners into a stupor and in that vulnerability lies the opposition’s salvation.
Alexis Sanchez is the best that Arsenal have. Period. His strike had everything. Work rate to keep those legs pumping down the right. Ball skills to turn Curtis Davies inside out and keep driving. Composure to look up and see Hull’s goalie Steve Harper drifting far to his left. A clinical finish sweeping the ball past Harper into the far corner. Lovely bit of individual skill. He was also responsible for Arsenal’s late, late equalizer as he found Danny Welbeck after slaloming his way through four Hull players and the former Man Utd striker let the ball run through his right onto his left foot before poking the ball past Eldin Jakupovic, a replacement for Harper after he departed with a shoulder injury in the first half.
However. If. But. That’s Arsenal season now. A series of disclaimers. Arsenal watching can be injurious to health. And so it was. Barely four minutes after Sanchez’s other worldly strike, Mohammed Diame bulled his way through an Arsenal cluster to use a nifty sleight of hand to pull back Mathieu Flamini and keep the ball to smartly chip over the onrushing Wojciech Szczesny. That should have been a Arsenal free kick as Diame clearly fouled Flamini but it was perfectly in keeping with the theme of supplication. Begging for trouble. And it became worse in the first minute of the second half. Tom Huddlestone’s cross found Abel Hernandez elevating in front of a straggling Mertesacker with feet of clay to head the ball past Szczesny who despite getting his hand failed to keep it out.
What gets one is the way Arsenal score goals. Uniquely well crafted with aplomb and finesse. What gets one is the way Arsenal concede goals. Uniquely slovenly and cast aside with a single brush. At this point Arsenal have nothing to really point to other than stasis. 5 draws in eight matches. 11 adrift of Chelsea at the top of the table. On a day when Fabregas scored his first Premier League goal for Chelsea, a winner against Crystal Palace. On a day when Southampton smashed 8 unanswered past Sunderland making a mockery of their summer transfer exodus. On a day when City through Aguero once again reduced Spurs to rubble. Sides who have answers versus sides who have questions. Arsenal is the latter.
A special shout out to Hector Bellerin making his first PL start and the Spaniard responded with a good, solid performance. Nacho Monreal on the other hand partnering Per Mertesacker as a makeshift for the injured Koscielny, looked exactly that. And when will Arsenal ever score from the dozens of set pieces?
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