The Game

Before the game I said this could go either way and you can say the pitch confirmed this. Villa Park is never an easy place to visit, remember they beat Chelsea here, but having said that, I’ve seen them play better at home in other occasions.

Wenger’s plan was to allow Villa to come forward and surprise them on the break, and seen from that angle, this one is a harsh result because we did go close first with Cesc and then with Tomas, with the post and bar hit respectively.

The same cannot be said of Martin O’Neill’s side, who saw plenty of the ball, but created very little and wasted their few good opportunities.

All in all, we didn’t have a lot of options in terms of starting line-up today and considering we were missing so many key players, I am delighted with the point we got out of the night.

Match Video Highlights

Match video highlights are available in the Videos section of our website. If not there yet, rest assured they will be up in a matter of hours.

Player Ratings

Almunia: 6 – He may have produced a brilliant save early on but how many times he had to come out yet stayed put? William was again left fuming late into the game when Manuel opted not to come out and I could count two more players waving their arms waiting for him to come and catch it.

Gallas: 7 – He coped well with the pace of Agbonlahor and the aerial threats of Heskey.

Vermaelen: 5 – Unlike William, he looked uncomfortable when Villa came forward and his game didn’t last enough to recover unfortunately.

Clichy: 4,5 – Completely lost the battle against Ashley Young, only managed to stop him twice if my memory serves me right. Was also caught napping in the second half but did well to recover and clear the ball.

Sagna: 6,5 – Yet again, let’s forget his crosses, awful to say the least. But, at the back, he was very solid once more.

Denilson: 6 – Had a very good first half in my opinion but looked tired and sluggish in the second. Can’t see him start ahead of Alex and Abou when the two are back.

Fabregas: 6,5 – Made up for a slow start with a flash of brilliance when he made his way past three Aston Villa players and hit the post. And did well in the second half.

Ramsey: 4 – Poor game from young Aaron. It could be that he was playing out of position or simple the incompatibility with Cesc. Fact is that he had a terrible game.

Rosicky: 5 – A very, very anonymous game from Tomas who had to score but blasted it against the bar in the second half.

Arshavin: 6,5 – Worked very hard and was involved in a good number of moves in the second half.

Eduardo: 4,5 – He looked like a 35-year old Dudu and it was heartbreaking to see. Regardless of how serious his injury is, he should be rested now that Bendtner is back.

(Subs)
Campbell: 7 – Brilliant game from Sol. If Thomas does not make it for Sunday, I believe we should be in “safe hands” back there.

Bendtner: 6 – First game after months on the sidelines so he did look slow out there, but one could immediately see how important he is when long balls are thrown up in the air.

Nasri: 6 – Produced a number of very good runs and was involved very much considering it was his first game after injury.