The Game

I don’t want to go as far as saying that it was a lucky win, but I wouldn’t have been surprised had Sunderland got a point out of this game especially when you see that they wasted a clear goal opportunity and were denied by a super Almunia who produced a match-winning low save.

As always, we see plenty of the ball, do nice things with it, but seriously, when you have no finisher in the side, a match which was supposed to end 4-0 or 5-0 ends 2-0 with plenty of late scares.

Some of our players were exceptional but Theo Walcott and Mikael Silvestre were very frustrating to watch. Both of them did nice things out there but were also guilty of the mistakes they are so renowned for, especially the latter.

Stoke City will be a tougher nut to crack, that’s for sure, so if we want to take full advantage of more dropped points from Chelsea and/or Manchester United, like today, we need to improve.

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: 7 – Saved our blushes with some nice interceptions and a crucial low-save in the second half.

Silvestre: 5 – He started brilliantly, defending in midfield as well but went back to square one with some shocking defending, especially in the second half.

Vermaelen: 6,5 – Made some mistakes but also made sure the Sunderland strikers were kept at bay by a very solid defensive display with interceptions in midfield as well.

Clichy: 6,5 – A quiet but very good game from Gael. Provided excellent support when surging forward.

Eboue: 8,5 – Phenomenal game. If it wasn’t for him, seriously, not sure we would have scored today. He was literally the only one who had the guts to attack their defenders, a shame his efforts were often wasted because there was no-one in the middle of the penalty area to read his intentions.

Song: 7,5 – Wow, I thank the Lord he recovered in time for this game. Guilty of some poor passes but a beast in midfield, made sure nothing went pass him.

Ramsey: 6,5 – As most of the game was on the attack, Aaron was of course involved and did well with the ball in his feet, but too wasteful with the long-range efforts and gave the ball cheaply in midfield.

Fabregas: 6 – Not impressed. Gave the ball away way too many times and also seemed uninterested with what was going on around him.

Nasri: 7,5 – Contrary to Eboue, he rarely took on defenders, but besides that, he did what he was supposed to do to perfection. Having said that, he should not be shy to shoot.

Walcott: 5 – Great pace, nothing new there, but getting there and then wasting it with a terrible cross or poor shots means no improvement at all for Theo.

Bendtner: 6 – Very lively up front and found the net with an easy tap-in but nothing more. He simply is not a finisher, he needs someone to whom pass the ball after doing the dirty work of a second striker.

(Subs)
Rosicky: 5 – Taking Nasri off was a crazy move. Tomas had very little time to settle down and made no impact whatsoever on the game.

Sagna and Denilson: No Vote – Too little to rate.