The Soccer Blog: Sunderland 1 - Arsenal 1: How Do You Write a Headline for a Match Like That? (UPDATED with Player Ratings)

Sunday 19 September 2010

Sunderland 1 - Arsenal 1: How Do You Write a Headline for a Match Like That? (UPDATED with Player Ratings)

PeevishNever have I felt so ... serene at a last minute loss of points. I dunno, I just think we deserved to draw, or even lose this one. Credit to Sunderland, and shame on us for playing so poorly, in the first half. Song didn't deserve at least one of his two yellows, but got away with a yellow when he not-so-subtly tripped a player, while sat on his ass, twice.

Was it me, or was the pitch really heavy? Not as an excuse, but it just seemed to me the ball died on passes. Maybe that was just the players not giving much of a crap.

Hey ho, just hope this 2 points doesnt come back to haunt us, but really no complaints. Over the course of the game, the missed penalty is cancelled out by the freak goal, and I'm glad for Sunderland they got something out of their performance. And we did surprisingly well with 10 men, seeing how poor we were with 11. I guess thats partly due to one of the players sacrificed being Andrei McUseless.

And thanks for the very fair write up Martin, after watching the match on DVR (no VHS here Darren and Homey ... thugs) I wondered how the blog world would react - Im pleased to see not much complaining over the injury time thing a la Wenger. So they had an 'extra' 30 seconds. Big deal.

Lets just hope Cesc is fine, and the rest get their heads together during the few days they have off.

And most importantly - what the shit was that ... THING on the back of Richardson's head???GunAAI was really hoping this would be the game where Arshavin would stop choking so hard. Guess not. I admire his new found work ethic, and hard work does pay off. It seems as though this is the first season where he is truly adjusting himself from a solo act to a team player of Arsenal's caliber, getting over his ego and compromising his self proclaimed "sparkle", and that can not be easy. I wouldn't be surprised that midway through the season, everyone would have him in their fantasy team. We all know what he is capable of.
Or maybe I am just deluded.RedandDreadScore the penalty and all the argument about what, if and maybe, would have been academic.

I was surprised that Wenger didn't rotate a little, as the lads definitley looked leggy in the 1st half but hats off to them because they played very well during the 2nd and did enough to win the game. Sunderland deserved something from this game but the manner in which they got it did make me choke on my ham sandwich!Gigi_manSorry for the big letters, my stupid tradition of writing seeing the keys not the screen, so, I am not yelling but I am too lazy to re write :)

Almunia stepped up today, I agree w SAirax, him and both cetrals were ouratNDING. tOO BAD FOR THE 2 MISTAKES. mADE BY rOSICKY AND cLICHY.
i ALSO AGREE WITH SOMEONE SAYING THAT WE TOUGHT THIS WOULD BE OUR BREAKTHROUGH: DIDNT PLAY GOOD BUT WON, BUT NO, APPARENTLY IT WONT HAPPEN-
tHE REAL BADS THING IS cESC INJURY-
oNE POINT AWAY IS NEVER BAD, i THINK IT WAS THE WAY, BECAUSE ALL OF US THOUGHT WE HADS THE 3 PTS.
aw SHOULD HAVE PUT vELA, JUST TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED, THIUGH.Homey_MillsMartin,
Not sure if this was an error or not, but you said the team will have a week to rest before playing WBA. Of course there's the Carling Cup game against Spurs this week. But maybe you meant the top starters will rest. Not sure.OtariqFolks we all need to calm down. There will be more performances like these after a Champion league draw, especially if we are on the road. It's not easy playing on Wednesday and having to play on Saturday.Homey_MillsAnyone see the Blackburn/Fulham highlights? Schwarzer pulled a Flaps to give up an awful goal. Honestly, I'm glad we have Almunia and not him right now.
Oh, and Dempsey had a nice equalizer. Good to see Texans scoring quality goals.Homey_MillsSairax,
I've had the same trouble with Disqus sometimes. I hit reply and it posts as a new one.
And Martin, I was thinking the same thing about a late sub. Didn't mention it in the prior thread because there were so many other talking points at that moment. I was hoping Eboue for Wilshere.
But I don't recall being so gutted by an Arsenal performance in a while. Towards the end, I was thinking that everything was bad except the score. Bad performance, man sent off, injury to Cesc. But if we could steal 3 points from it, then maybe it's a sign that this year is different. Maybe the worm has turned, or whatever that saying is. But no, the worm is the same. Can't seem to get the breaks we need to win titles. Ugh ugh ugh. Big setback for me today.brentonwaltersWilshere was shit in the first half, giving the ball away too often, but did better in the second. Chamakh looked lethargic out there today, and definitely should have been subbed off in the last couple minutes for someone who was willing to run.Darren_VBut... he was very very close to scoring. I had no problems with that at allDarren_VYea, Wilshere was sitting deeper than Song all match, it was interesting to see.Isabel_GFrustrating end to the game. It feels like we lost even though we got the draw, though there were many positives. First of all last year we lost here, so it is in that regard a point gained. Secondly the defence, especially Kos and Squill put in very good performances and only let Sunderland have 2 clear cut chances. Nasri had a decent performance and it seems he has recovered his pre-season form.

But being honest, Sunderland deserved at least a point. They had far more possession and really gave their everything. Arsenal for whatever reason were not up to the pace today and lost the midfield battle. Wilshere and Song were both very poor and I am not liking Song joining the attack more and more. He is a DM he is not there to score goals.

The penalty miss was awful and it was frustating. I realise our main penalty takers were not on the pitch, but at this level when you have the chance to put away the match with a penalty you should. And it could be one of those moments you look back at, at the end of the season and think if only.

Both goals were incredibly flukey. My main worry has to be Fabregas's injury. I really hope he is back for the Chelsea game. Anyway hopefully we will beat the Spuds on Tuesday and get a nice confidence boosting victory against WBA.third eyeLets say that Song sold this game. A man of this position should have more composure and intelligence. He should know when to use full strength and use a risky tackle and when to settle down and something tells me that he is going to do that again this season. I was satisfied to notify that Martin acknowledge that Song definitely NOT had a WORLD CLASS performance. And I would go as far to say that he is not World class. And if you think that he is not there yet, then be on your guard because the level he is playing right now, I think this is as far as he can get...

Furthermore, if it were not for him, Vela could have been brought for Arshavin and the game might have ended differently. Wilshere nothing special, but nothing bad either. Nasri, like usual. Rosiky...I don't even want to talk about him.

You see, this is where you need competition. If we keep having Song as an undisputed starter, whenever he makes mistakes he will never progress since he has every thing for granted. Alumunia learnt the harsh way this season that he really had to step up if he wanted to be part of this team and it seems to be starting to be paying off. The only player who deputized Song's spot is Denilson who is even lamer.Simondavies530Sorry that you underplayed Gael Clichy's blind panic.Look back over the last two seasons his catalougue of big blunders is growing.I saw Gibbs at Wembley,for me it's time to give him his chance.MartinI tend to agree. Honestly I didn't want to go into it too much because I was trying not to keep banging on about it and saying "I told you so" after we had a discussion in the comments section when some people took issue with me labeling Clichy a "defensive liability."

It's just one game, and I won't overreact, because I still like Clichy and think he's our best option at left-back for the time being. But this was pretty much exactly the sort of thing I had in mind when I made that statement.J___VTotally agree. Mistakenly put my opinions on this subject on 'match thread'. It was such a yarn I can't be bothered write again but yup Gibbs in for clichy please.KennyDenilson was more like a 7 today. He did really well in all phases (save for one back pass). Agree with your MOTM. It is difficult for me to place a finger on what exactly was wrong, but Arsenal just looked tired in midfield and going forward. Walcott would have helped quite a bit to relieve all the pressure.SairaxOk why did my reply show up as a new post? I hate Disqus.

SairaxThanks for that thought! Oy..SairaxAlmunia, Squizz, and Kos were immense. What more could they have done today?

Well done Sunderland. I'd be lying if I said they didn't deserve to take the full 3 points. Hope they do well this season.

Good god, we were hoofing balls up the pitch and everyone seemed on a half second delay because whenever I saw a ball that could have been won, our closest player hesitated half the time for a split second before going for it.

So frustrated but I'll get over it in a couple days.buzzWhy did Rosicky take the penalty? He's never scored a goal in such a long time n his face showed such a lack of confidence, it didn't surprise me that he missed. And the referee Phil Dowd appears to want to teach Wenger a lesson not to tell referees what to do. He was harsh on Arsenal players n lenient on Sunderland. Even the TV commentators were agreed on that. And to help Sunderland, he gave them an extra min to score. Again, Arsenal couldn't hold out for a win. Fabregas looking on must be totally frustrated. He'd gifted them a goal but they couldn't do the rest. Having to play with 2nd rate players such as Rosicky, Arshavin - who misses so many chances in so many games & always give the ball away to the opponents - must be frustrating. Better to return to Barcelona & team up with 1st rate players such as Messi & Xavi. So beware, Mr Wenger...your 2nd rate players will cost you Fabregas come end of season!ladyarseWith a 'slow sub' Dowd would have added the time on and we'd probably have ended up losing lolSairaxSpeaking of holding up the ball, we couldn't get guys up to support Chamakh when he held the ball up. Clichy crossed into a box empty of Arsenal players. Wilshere was doing too much and giving up possession too easily. No midfield control at all, even with Cesc on the pitch.

Why didn't Chamakh take the bloody penalty? He took one in preseason. When Rosicky stepped up I had a minor fit in front of the tv and just shook my head when he skied it into row ZZZSairaxWell why didn't he bring on any of those 3 guys even earlier than the 85th minute to try and get another goal. At least when Denilson came in he was passing the ball properly. Though I wish he hadn't taken the shot near the end and that he had tried to hold the ball up instead.SairaxSong could have been sent off anyway, he kept both his feet in after a tackle on Malbranque I think it was. He was winning a lot of balls in midfield, but was getting forward way too often. Nasri or Rosicky needs to be threading through balls not Song. Get back! Seriously.MartinAgree 100%. Song is getting forward far too often for my liking this season.blog comments powered by Disqus

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Sunday 19 September 2010

Sunderland 1 - Arsenal 1: How Do You Write a Headline for a Match Like That? (UPDATED with Player Ratings)

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