Arsenal comes strong out of Birmingham encounter

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Arsenal started well with strong passing display. With Fabregas being the center of the passing games it was delightful for the eyes. Gunners has two changes to the regular back four with Gibbs and Eboue coming in for Clichy and Sagna. Midfield was filled with Diaby, Fabregas and Alex Song. Van Persie once again spearheaded the three men strike force with Rosicky on left and Walcott on right.

The sad part of the match is Walcott took a blow and was substituted at 38th min. Arshavin came on for Walcott and which changed some of the proceedings. The goals came out off Van Persie, Diaby and Arshavin. Bowyer was the only player to smash the net for Birmingham which kept them in the match until Arshavin closed the hopes with an 85th min beauty. He placed the ball instead of banging and placed it so well that Hart never stood a chance.

Vito Mannonne once again proved his worth with a string of wonderful unbelievable saves. I guess Almunia would get some good competition for his spot. This also might push Fabianski to be the third preference for goalkeeping. Italian goalkeeper claimed that Birmingham had fouled him for the first goal but referee had differnt view on it and the goal stood. Abou Diaby was another player who was exceptional. Not just with his passing and dribbling but first time this season with the much expected tackling. Diaby has good ability to tackle and get the ball from opponents. Since he is played in the front line and on left is seldom uses this. Today there were quite a few occassions he came to help out young Gibbs. Diaby once again showed his worth in the team. But the question remains...Is he reliable? Is he consistent. We need to wait and watch rest of the season. Wenger is a man on mission and he had earlier declared this could be Diaby's season. I trust in Arsene too! So there should be something behind that declaration.

Gibbs was not that impressive today but filled the void left by Clichy to some extent. But he keeps making silly mistakes and there were few occassions when Gibbs has to just hit outside which is not that great in intense matches. He needs to win possession and once ball is with him needs to move forward. He has shown some skills with his long passing as usual and I am sure we will have more to see from him in the coming years. Sagna came off the bench to substitute Rosicky and Eboue gave way to Wilshere on the 90th minute. Van Persie missed few good chances too. Otherwise the scoreline would have been different. Eduardo, Bendtner and Nasri is due to return during next game. Not sure how much Walcott will be missing. But it is quite evident that he won't be playing the next match which happen to be a champions league encounter.