The three points lifted Arsenal above their London rivals for a Champions League place, and the Gunners will now play twice before Tottenham are next in Premier League action. They have a Tuesday's home game with Everton and then the short trip across London to take on Fulham on Saturday. The visitors defended in numbers and restricted Arsenal to only a few crosses in the opening 20 minutes but City goalkeeper Mark Bunn had to be both brave and alert to deny Aaron Ramsey a few minutes later.
Wilshere helped on Giroud's flick as Ramsey burst through the Canaries back-line and Bunn had to rush out to get to the ball before the Wales midfielder. Giroud saw his header from Bacary Sagna's cross from the right loop over Bunn but bounce off the top of the crossbar and over. Arsenal continued to attack but Bunn pulled off a reflex stop at his near post to deny Giroud, with Sagna again the supplier. Sagna was then booked for hauling Robert Snodgrass down but, after Cazorla had fired straight at Bunn from outside the box, referee Mike Jones decided not to caution Norwich defender Russell Martin for a late challenge on the Spain midfielder.
The half ended with Whittaker heading away Giroud's goal-bound effort after the Frenchman had met another corner with his head. Arsenal came out in the second half with a barrage of pressure that Norwich somehow withstood, with Jack Wilshere seeing his shot blocked by Turner. The ball hit the Norwich defender on an arm but referee Jones refused the inevitable appeals for a penalty. Turner was immediately in the spotlight again at the other end when he lost his marker to head home Snodgrass's free-kick from the right-hand corner of the box, with Lukasz Fabianski in the Arsenal goal, rooted to the spot as it went in.
Wenger made an immediate double change with Gervinho and Wilshere replaced by Theo Walcott and Podolski. Walcott soon went down in the box as Whittaker challenged but again play continued. Norwich were forced to replace the injured Bradley Johnson with David Fox but could have doubled their lead through a counter-attack that saw Bassong set up Martin for an shot that was straight at Fabianski. Norwich's luck finally ran out when referee Jones ruled that Kamara, defending a corner, had pulled Giroud down by the shirt and awarded a penalty, which was dispatched by Arteta with just five minutes remaining.
Norwich protested bitterly beforehand and were unhappy with the award of the corner as well, as Snodgrass did not appear to have made contact before the ball went out of play. Arsenal threw everything at the visitors in the hope of three points and were rewarded when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, another substitute, played a one-two with Podolski and squared the ball across the Norwich goalmouth, where Giroud, arriving simultaneously with defender Bassong, turned it into the net. Fabianski then had to make a save to stop Jonny Howson making it 2-2 but the points were Arsenal's when Podolski turned to fire a low left-footer past Bunn in stoppage time. It was a massive win at the end and another vital three points for the Gunners. Arsenal soaring high, can we do it again on Tuesday night against Everton?
Arsenal: Fabianski, Sagna (Oxlade-Chamberlain 80), Vermaelen, Koscielny, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere (Walcott 59), Ramsey, Cazorla, Giroud, Gervinho (Podolski 59).
Subs not used: Mannone, Monreal, Jenkinson, Coquelin.
Booked: Sagna.
Goals: Arteta 85 (pen), Bassong o.g. 88, Podolski 90.
Subs not used: Camp, Garrido, R Bennett, Fox, E Bennett, Jackson, Becchio.
Booked: Snodgrass, Bunn.
Goal: Turner 56.
Arsenal Remaining Fixtures
Jack Wilshere , Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain & Podolski Twitter Reactions
Hi Fans, what a team,Turning the result, making the Arena Crazy! Amazing #Support at #Emirates! Poldi #Gunners #Love twitter.com/Podolski10/sta…
— Lukas-Podolski.com(@Podolski10) April 13, 2013
What a win for us today! Fans were brilliant, kept us going and this is what it means!!! #InItTogether #NeverGiveUp twitter.com/Alex_OxChambo/…
— Alex Ox-Chamberlain (@Alex_OxChambo) April 13, 2013
Great 3 points today! #AFC up to 3rd in the table above Chelsea and Spurs...#COYGFan's Reactions on Twitter
— Jack Wilshere (@JackWilshere) April 13, 2013
ArsenalSupremo tweeted out on Twitter to get Arsenal fans there opinions on what they thought on the game here are just a few of them. Remember if you wanted to get involved follow us on Twitter or just comment below on what you thought on the Gunners performance to get involved with the fans.
@arsenal_supremo Awful for the first 70 minutes. Subs changed the game and we were dominant in the next 20. Norwich players are all dicks.
— The Gooner (@TheGooner3) April 13, 2013
@arsenal_supremo Jack shouldn't have started, he looked tired. Ramsey once again brilliant so as back 4. Arteta avg,Santi invisible at times
— Jay (@Gasmuttai) April 13, 2013
@arsenal_supremo Ox once again showing he deserves to be given more game time. It was probably that Capri-Sun he was drinking earlier
— ArsenAli (@AleeArsenal) April 13, 2013
@arsenal_supremo Jack shouldn't have started, he looked tired. Ramsey once again brilliant so as back 4. Arteta avg,Santi invisible at timesArsene Wenger Reaction :
— Jay (@Gasmuttai) April 13, 2013
"I thought we wouldn't give in, and fight until the end. We have great attitude, spirit and desire and it got us there. We deserved to win but we were against a strong side and needed something special.
"We have shown that we are ready for a fight.
"We want consistency and that demands huge focus because you can see how quickly you're punished. We're not far away but we just have to keep winning."
Watch Here
Norwich manager Chris Hughton:
"A decision has gone against us that a linesman has given from 45 to 50 yards away and the referee is less than 10 yards away.
"For a linesman to give it from that distance, and the third goal was offside and it was 10 yards away from him, it's almost criminal on a day that we deserved so much more.
"It's not as if you'll show it back and [the referee's] view was blocked. He had a clear view and didn't give it and the linesman did and that's really tough on us. We gave a really good account of ourselves for 85 minutes. We need to bounce back but we showed a lot of character and a lot of good things."
Norwich manager Chris Hughton:
"A decision has gone against us that a linesman has given from 45 to 50 yards away and the referee is less than 10 yards away.
"For a linesman to give it from that distance, and the third goal was offside and it was 10 yards away from him, it's almost criminal on a day that we deserved so much more.
"It's not as if you'll show it back and [the referee's] view was blocked. He had a clear view and didn't give it and the linesman did and that's really tough on us. We gave a really good account of ourselves for 85 minutes. We need to bounce back but we showed a lot of character and a lot of good things."
Stats & Facts
1. Olivier Giroud mustered five attempts at goal and set up four more with passes today, contributing to nine of Arsenal's 14 attempts.
2. Mikel Arteta attempted more than 100 passes for the 10th Premier League match this season. It's only been done 35 times in total this season. Mikel Arteta attempted more than 100 passes for the 10th Premier League match this season.
3. Game Stats : Arsenal v Norwich Shots 14-5 On target 7-4, Fouls 10-11 Duels Won 56%-44%, Passing Accuracy 85%-70%, Possession 68%-32%
4. Aaron Ramsey made six tackles today, more than any other player on the pitch.
5. Only Man Utd (27) and Everton (22) have picked up more points from losing positions this season than Arsenal (16).
6. Arsenal have scored more goals than any other Premier League team in the last 15 minutes of matches this season.
7. Mikel Arteta has scored more penalties than any other Premier League player this season. Scoring 5 out of 6
8. 10 of Olivier Giroud’s 11 league goals this season have come at the Emirates. Only Michu (11) has scored more home goals.
Join in with our Arsenal community, we have connected with the Disqus comment system, it is now easier to comment on our posts to connect and talk with the Arsenal fans around the world. You can now post a comment using your Social Networks plugins or if you don't want to leave your name you can sign in as a guest. What did you think of the game? Was it a penalty? Are we going to finish 4th or 3rd? let us know below!
8. 10 of Olivier Giroud’s 11 league goals this season have come at the Emirates. Only Michu (11) has scored more home goals.
Join in with our Arsenal community, we have connected with the Disqus comment system, it is now easier to comment on our posts to connect and talk with the Arsenal fans around the world. You can now post a comment using your Social Networks plugins or if you don't want to leave your name you can sign in as a guest. What did you think of the game? Was it a penalty? Are we going to finish 4th or 3rd? let us know below!
0 comments:
Post a Comment