Saint Santi, the killer of the Saints « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. 800,000 visits last month
By Walter Broeckx
Santi or Saint. The same number of letters but what a difference the place of the I made today. Or was it the dot on the i?
It looked a sunny North London day and the way the game went it was a bright summer day at the end.
From the first minutes Arsenal was on top of the game and in control. Our Saint Santi was the one who pulled the strings for most of the game. But it was hard working Lukas Podolski who made the break through today. When he had seemingly lost the ball he battled with German grit and determination (oh those clichés…. ) to win the ball back. And when he did he gave a perfect ball to Gibbs who saw his shot half saved by the goalkeeper but the ball trickled to the goal line. Saints defender Hooiveld didn’t want Gibbs on the score sheet so he chose to push the ball over the line himself. 1-0 and just 11 minutes gone.
Arsenal kept in control and Southampton was chasing the ball and didn’t came really close to the Arsenal penalty area. Just after the half hour mark a Saint defender made a rather stupid foul on Coquelin and the good leading referee Friend (no pressure on the ref reviewer mind you – my first feelings only) saw that not really an advantage was on and gave the foul. On TV it was clear to see that Podolski and Cazorla had a few words. You? I? I? You? Till the wall was placed and you could almost see Podolski saying to Cazorla: I blast it in. Cazorla smiled at Podolski, nodded his head and…. my goodness Podolski curled the ball beautifully under the cross bar. He scores when he wants… 2-0 to the Arsenal.
And then things went fast. A lovely ball from Arteta, a great run from Gervinho and the Ivorian blasted the ball in at the near post. 3-0 after 35 minutes.
Arsenal was on fire, Southampton didn’t know where to run and one of the next attacks delivered another goal for Arsenal. Again Gibbs was running on his flank and his low cross was put in his own net by Southampton defender Clyne. Gervinho was waiting in the centre for tuck it away but the Southampton players wanted to score themselves it seems. 4-0 after 38 minutes.
Then Arsenal took the foot of the throttle and Southampton started to try to go forward a bit. And then Szczesny clearly felt some compassion for the Saints and gave the ball away after a rather easy catch on a high cross. Fox said thank you to Szczesny and blasted the ball in the goal. I hope that Szczesny got a real kick up the arse in the interval. What a stupid way to lose a goal. Vito Mannone will have his thoughts on that goal I think. 4-1 at half time.
The second half was a non event. Arsenal laid back and didn’t really try to score a lot of goals. Southampton was a much better side but I wonder how much was down to Arsenal not wanting it that badly anymore? As always we will never know. Szczesny kept us asking questions about his real fitness level. He didn’t seem comfortable at all. But at the end of the game did make a few good saves but I really wonder if he is completely 100% fit.
The game just kept on rolling from one side to the other. No real urgency anymore. Then Ramsey entered the field and shortly after that Cazorla played a nice ball to the young Welshman. A lovely piece of skill took him past his defender and he was on his way to goal. A lovely passed shot with the outside of the boot was going towards the goal but it trickled against the post… lucky for Arsenal Gervinho was on hand to put the ball over the line finally. I felt a bit sorry for Aaron as it would shut up a few moaners but well now they can shut up about Gervinho for not scoring.
Southampton tried to score a goal but the Arsenal defence had gifted enough they felt (I agree with this sentiment completely) and the strikes went all wide of target apart from a low shot from Puncheon that was well saved by Szczesny this time.
The icing on the cake came 2 minutes from time. Vermaelen ran forward, Cazorla (who else) gave him a lovely ball (again….) and Vermaelen struck but the keeper could punch it away. But Cazorla (amazingly once again) was there and the ball went off him to Walcott who slotted the ball home with his left foot. A cool finish and a cool celebration. Well we all know Walcott is a nice guy and he didn’t really wanted to celebrate against the team where he started his career in the youth teams.
So a very convincing win. The moaners will probably moan about the two own goals so they can be lucky in a way. Or about the conceded goal. Szczesny come on, better next time. I think Mertesacker will have given him the disturbed German look at half time I think.
And well if you look at the league table we are now in 3rd place. 2 points after leaders Chelsea who didn’t score today. 1 point after Manchester united who beat Wigan in a convincing way and equal on points with Manchester City our next opponent.
Podolski scores when he wants, Gervinho in the main striker role most of the time scored 2, our Saint Santi is an amazing player… And our bench looks great with still some important players to come back from injury like Sagna, Wilshere and Diaby. Oh and we have the best goal difference also.
Well I think we got a team that is wanting to fight hard in every game. And that is all I want from the players. Fight hard, work hard. What a great game from the Arsenal. Well done lads.