Arsenal News 24/7Writer: Rocky7 
Date:Sunday April 8 2012
Time: 7:54PM
UK time is: 08:26:44
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Arteta Makes It a Happy Easter
Sometimes family responsibility comes before Arsenal, not often, but sometimes there are no options other than sucking it up, missing the football and doing so with a smile on your face.
Unfortunately today was one of those days, however the outcome of the match makes it all the more bearable.
With Easter Sunday traditionally being a family day in my house, it had long been a realisation that this meant I would surely miss the action in what turned out to be a massive game in our season.
Having started the day hunting Easter eggs with the boy, followed by a wonderfully prepared Sunday roast, a few pints of Guinness and a visit from the old dear, I sat fixated, staring at the BBC Sports application on my ageing android phone.
Never has one man pressed the "refresh" button so often in such a short space of time.
Even though I hadn`t watched the game, I always felt this was one match that was more than win-able. We`ve played well against the big boys this season and late goals seem to be our forte, I didn`t know how well we`d done, but my gut told me we would emerge triumphant.
So even though my family was surprised to see a man supposedly watching Toy Story with a small child sat on his knee almost launch the unsuspecting nipper across the room and begin jumping up and down, cheering, I wasn`t as shocked to see us net a late winner as my celebration might suggest.
So thanks Mikel for giving me a perfect end to a perfect day …. Well as perfect as it could be without actually getting to see the game.
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Your Comments
It was a superb performance from the team bar clinical finishing which we could have lived to rue were it not for the super Spaniard who took the jersey of the petit ponce. Name any performance metric - possession, passes in the final third, shots on goal, midfield duels - we won them all and it would not have been a surprise to see us win 3-0 what with the woodwork hit on 3 occasions and glaring misses from Benayoun, Arteta, Rosicky and Ramsey. The poznan dance from the fans after our goal was hilarious. Top 4 is not yet secure though, lots still to play for.
Deltaforce
GREAT game. Could have been more were it not for the Verminator being temporarily ManC last line of defence and the miraculous triple miss. But Arteta is an expert on those long shots, isn't he? Offers something different to RVP.
Anyone still wanna say that we are a 1 man team?
gunnerfan1987
*Sings* Same old Arsenal, taking the ***** - http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/arsenal-fans-mock-manchester-city-with-the-poznan-2/
Rocky7
I very rarely watch Match of the Day, but I'll be making an exception tonight.
Rocky7
We've played well against City all season, so I always believed we'd pull this one out!
gunnerkid107
I was nervous as hell before the game, but this was a game that we deserved to win. What a performance. Loved the fight in the lads. Benayoun had a good game, considering he hasn't featured in more than a month. Fizzing right foot volley from Arteta. And that was some deadly ***** taking from our fans Rocky, absolutely hilarious.
prits
Despite what the suicidal Spurs fans are thinking, this 3rd place spot is going right down to the wire, and whilst the old adage that there are "no easy games in the Premiership" is true, a match against Wolves is about as easy as they come right now. We could do with a very healthy win to boost our goal difference. 4-0 would be sweet.
Rocky7
Prits - if there is one thing our fans are the best at, it's taking the p***.
Rocky7
The way that the scum fans reacted after scoring their lucky goal said it all about the spite that is part of their dirty character. I feel sorry for City who are a great club with great fans. Good luck to them. A sad day for football.
Henry Baker Brown
And Balotelli should have been sent off much earlier. His knee high boot challenge against Song should have earned him a 1st yellow much earlier, so he can't have any cause for complaint. Great win, I'm so pleased with that performance, even Theo was fighting for the ball, to win back possession. Keep it going for the rest of the season lads, come on !!
prits
"Lucky goal" - I might not have seen the game today (but I have seen th goal), but it's clear Henry Baker Brown has never seen a football match at all. That said he is a Spurs fan .... have any of them ever seen a football match?
Rocky7
Ignore the spud, Rocky, this is a time to enjoy our win. How the ***** did Ramsey miss that open goal? That kid really needs to work on his finishing (no, its not a rant against Ramsey, I'm a few pints down) We deserved to win by a 2 or even 3 goal margin. These are the days when you believe in this team, it was not a perfect performance, but the 3 pts is in the bag :).
prits
Happy Easter Henry Baker Brown. You dont seem a happy cockeral today, whats the matter?
Deltaforce
I don't mind the trolls on days like this Prits, they just come across as bitter cry babies. If he's trying to say celebrating a goal is somehow a criticism of our fans thing then the dude really needs to work on his trolling skills. -F for effort. Must try harder.
Rocky7
I think his chicken has fallen off the basketball again Delta. One week ago they emerged from under their rocks by the side of their swamps and dared to take the p**s after two months of dross from the Tiny Totts, only to be shoved straight back under 7 days later.
Rocky7
Sweet victory. Rosicky was a man possessed again! chasing players down, winning tackles, Ive fallen in love with him all over again.
gunnerman76
If a win can be said to be well deserved, this was it. We surpassed citeh in every department of the game, and they were lucky to have escaped without conceding more goals. But I was scared it might be one of those days when we do all the playing, and they win by some freak goal, thankfully, that didn't happen.
I know it's early to be talking about next season, but I can hardly wait for the new season to come, this team is hinting about an ability to compete, that wasn't evident earlier in the season, and that would be even more compelling, once we have our injured players back, and reinforcements either in the shape of new players brought in, or promotions from from the junior ranks. Whatever the case, bring it on.....
deledudu
I was screaming at Arteta "smash it... FU(KING SMASH IT!!" Im sure he heard me and every other gooner.....I lept out of my chair on his backlift....willing that ball into the goal. between him and Rosicky we have two midfielders with a cracking shot, they need to do it a lot more.
gunnerman76
I said after the QPR game that it's not the loss that tells us something about the team, because everyone loses games, but it's how we respond to that loss. It's safe to say that Wenger and the boys have completely turned this around. 3rd of 4th, it doesn't matter (though 3rd would be sweet), they all need credit.
Rocky7
Cracking game that everything except lots of goals; credit to both defenses for this, you'd think. A comment about Balotelli though. With all the trouble the lad keeps getting himself into, despite his manager's continued trust in him, one doesn't know if to trash him or feel sorry for him. How does a man on the fringes of being sent off keep living on the edge with the ref? He should have seen red earlier and the manager should have taken him off for the 2nd half, seeing that he had picked up a yellow and kowing the ref may see/hear the review of that stamp on Song, at half time and could be looking to make recompense. Mancini has shown less than average man management with this maverick of a player.
Naijagunner
*that had everything*
Naijagunner
Cheers gunnerman, you can take credit for that Arteta strike ;)
prits
Hehehehe!
Naijagunner
Even Mancini openly criticized Balotelli. That dude needs to calm down.
gunnerfan1987
I just got through watching the highlights and Balotelli could have seen three red cards in that game, and the PL should be handing out an additional 3 match ban for his tackle on Song. The ref has to say he hasn't seen that tackle in his report, because if he says he's seen it and doesn't think it's even a foul then he's clearly the biggest fool in football.
Rocky7
Vital Citys hilarious match report seems to ignore that the 'savage' as he puts it tackle on Toure, if it was so savage then how come the med team were applying an icepack to his other leg? & indeed he limped off in pain to the other leg that Song made contact with. Very well played by us today although I couldn't be the only one that fully expected them to score with a solitary shot in target after our hogging possession for the majority of the 1st half. Despite days like this which does feel like a vindication of selling any cash grubbing mercenaries in our ranks and Wengers' footballing ethos the fact remains we still need some additions as 18 points off the top is just nowhere near good enough. Citeh had given up before the 1st whistle today and I wouldn't be surprised if we close the 10 pt gap between them significantly in the remaining games.
nikolaijns
heh......http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/beer-bottle-thrown-at-arsenal-s-wojciech-szczesny-from-crowd-who-
nikolaijns
Arteta was immense today, very proud of his performance. Citeh should be ashamed of that performance - they didn't look like a side that needed to win to stay in the title race. But with all their money and squad I find it difficult that two former Villa bums in Milner and Barry make their side they are two of the worst players to be in a starting lineup in a long long time. Walcott was also below his usual mediocrity today - just run at pace into the nearest defender and get tackled. The Ox has to get a start ahead of him sooner than later as Walcott seems to be one of Wenger's untouchables.
Will-i-am10
Has to be Wenger's love child, Theo. I still don't get it that he persists with him, whereas, it could bring out the best in him to have the Ox breathing down his neck at every turn. He needs to know he doesn't have that 'shirt' tied to him and maybe, we will see him improve. On his day, he can give defenses a scare with his pace; what he has to work on is his control while in possession and his decision making. He did some defensive work today and made himself available in dangerous positions but the end result wasn't there. We'll all like to see him reach the potential he was reputed to have.
Naijagunner
Thoroughly deserved win for Arsenal and a thoroughly unreserved nutcase in Mario Balotelli. As if the horror lunge on Song's knee wasn't bad enough, couldn't believe his antics all over the pitch on Sunday. He is simply not right in the head. I can't remember ever seeing a player's team-mates shaking their heads at one of their own like that or a manager waving disgustedly at a player to just get off the pitch, but why Mancini didn't sub him by half-time, is a mystery. And how Song's leg didn't snap in two either, I'll never know, but thank goodness for that miracle, I say.
julieloveshenry4ever
I wouldnt be too harsh on Theo. The City defence didn't leave many gaps for him to exploit. He did a good job of winning the ball back.
prits
i hope beneyoun will extent his stay with us. he rarely disappoint whenever he played so far. unsung players like him win title for their team
Joe_@**
Chesney is a legend!
Rocky7
Why thank you prits ;).....agreed joe, beneyoun always gives defenders something to think about with his body sways and close control, I like his directness and he is not afraid to take a player on, similar to rosicky he is the sort of player that draws in tackles effectively creating space for his team mates. A Great squad player and for the small amount of time he has turned out for us I think he deserves a permanent move. It just depends whether he is happy being a squad player at a bigger club or being a starter at say a club like stoke or villa. I think chesney deserves a massive amount of credit for sprinting out of his box like usain bolt to intercept that trough ball to the clown. I just thought "goal" then he came from nowhere. A great piece of goalkeeping, he just needs to stop trying to pass the ball to defenders and stick to throwing it.
gunnerman76
Why thank you prits ;).....agreed joe, beneyoun always gives defenders something to think about with his body sways and close control, I like his directness and he is not afraid to take a player on, similar to rosicky he is the sort of player that draws in tackles effectively creating space for his team mates. A Great squad player and for the small amount of time he has turned out for us I think he deserves a permanent move. It just depends whether he is happy being a squad player at a bigger club or being a starter at say a club like stoke or villa. I think chesney deserves a massive amount of credit for sprinting out of his box like usain bolt to intercept that trough ball to the clown. I just thought "goal" then he came from nowhere. A great piece of goalkeeping, he just needs to stop trying to pass the ball to defenders and stick to throwing it.
gunnerman76
Apologies for the double tap
gunnerman76
Excellent performance from the team and a well deserved win. Kind of *****ed that much of the Sky and MOTD post match guff was about Man *****ty and Balotelli and not us. Also can some please confirm if a yellow card in a cup game (FA cup) counts towards Kos's 10 yellow cards? Because according to the Arsenal website he has only received 9 yellows in the league.
DBerg
DBerg - All cards in domestic competitions are accumulative, unfortunately.
Rocky7
Haven't seen a game at home that we've deserved to win as much as that, which basically had me feeling City would score from a corner or free-kick. Had we drawn, it would have felt like a defeat. Great atmosphere again, at last us fans have learned that we have a role to play at home. Obviously, Wednesday is a massive game for us, even a draw not really good enough against a team that's clearly on its way down and in terrible form. Let's hope we learn the lesson from QPR because our away performances haven't been the best even during our great run. Cannot underestimate the difference that experienced players such as Arteta, Benayoun and Rosicky are having. My only gripe is that Ox should have been brought on much earlier as we were getting so much joy on the right side and Theo hasn't the guile to take players on.
Gooner_Vin
agreed gv, arteta, benayoun & rosicky will definitely make wenger rethinks his policy on older players. the longevity of players' career has increased in the modern game. i would be more than happy to see the trio coming off our bench in the next 3-5 years
Joe_@**
Fantastic performance, only disappointment is that we should have won by a far greater margin. I live in Manchester, despite hating both Manchester teams, Citeh are much worse. Their fans would have been unbearbale despite the fact they have achieved very little after so much ridiculous spending.
Sagna was MOTM for me, probably our next best player after RVP this season. Always up for the fight, amazing stamina that keeps him going til the end and also won a lot of aerial duels yesterday against much bigger opponents.
I think the key area has been our midfield trio of Song, Arteta and Rosicky. They can all attack and defend making our play much more fluid and unpredictable. When you compare that to spuds with someone like Parker, who is a great at defensive duties but offers very little creativity. A lot of fans and pundits were clamouring for us to sign Parker over the summer, but I can see now why AW knew better and decided he wouldn't fit inour system. Arteta is much more suited to our style of play. It's not over as far as 3rd or 4th place is concerned but if we can get 6 points in our next 2 games without Kos then we have to be strong favourites for third.
bowiecokemirror
Thanks Rocky. Although tbf I would prefer he miss these two games than risk him missing the Chelsea game.
DBerg
Good comment bowiecokemirror. It does boil down to the situation we find ourselves in before the Chelsea game - will we take our foot of the pedal ala QPR against relegation battlers Wolves & Wigan or will we run them ragged and improve our goal difference. The next game (Wolves) is on wednesday and its away. Some fatigue in the first team will be natural so being clinical with the chances we create is going to be critical.
Deltaforce
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