Van Persie stunner seals win on anniversary day

Robin Van Persie scored a brilliant volley on Saturday as Arsenal beat Everton 1-0 at the Emirates on a day which saw the club celebrate 125 years of existance. The Gunners broke into the top four for the first time this season thanks to the skipper's wonder goal and also ensured they remained three points behind rivals Tottenham. The famous scoreline of 1-0 to the Arsenal could have been many more had they finished their vast amount of chances as Everton made it difficult for the hosts as they were happy to sit back and defend for most of the game. Arsenal were forced into making two changes for the match as injured Andre Santos was replaced by Djourou who went to right back with Vermaelen shifting out wide to left back as Mertesacker and Koscielny partnered each other at centre half. Mikel Arteta was playing against the club he signed from for the first time since his move to the Gunners. Manuel Almunia was in the team for the first time this season due to the injuries to Fabianski and Mannone as the Spaniard was on the bench. Rosicky was also on the bench after returning from injury.

Van Persie was once again the difference as he scored a stunning volley

The first chance of the game came early on. Arteta dispossessed Fellaini who then found Walcott who raced towards goal but instead of shooting he decided to pass the ball over to Gervinho. However he did not make contact with the ball and the chance was gone.

The next chance came to Arsenal again as Song found Ramsey, who then brought the ball onto his left foot but fired the ball just over the crossbar.

Gervinho then had a good opportunity to give the Gunners the lead as he got clear of the Everton defence but stuck his shot straight at Howard who kept out the shot comfortably.

Everton's only real sight of goal in the first half fell to Saha as the ball looped up into the path of him but he tried a shot from distance which went wide and was never going to trouble Szczesny.

The score at half time was 0-0.

Robin Van Persie was then presented with a decent opportunity to score as Walcott flashed the ball across the box but the ball had too much pace on and the captain could only put the ball way over the bar. 

Theo Walcott then created another chance but this time for himself, as he got past Baines before unleashing a shot which Howard was forced into making another good save.

Everton then started to commit men forward as first from a Baines cross Cahill almost put the ball in the net. Another chance then came as Vermaelen's header out of the box only went as far as Coleman, who set the ball back to Neville who hit a shot which only just went over Szczesny's crossbar.

With 20 minutes left Arsenal finally got the goal which they deserved. Song picked the ball up in the middle of the field before finding Van Persie. He then hit the ball first time on the volley which found the bottom corner of the net. That was the Dutchman's 33rd goal in 32 Premier League games in 2011, one short of Thierry Henry’s club record for a calendar year.

Everton substitute Conor McAleny then managed to create a chance as the 19 year old struck a looping shot from just inside the penalty area which bounced just wide of the far post.

The final score finished Arsenal 1-0 Everton.

The teams lineups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Djourou, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen(83), Song, Arteta, Ramsey, Walcott(90), Gervinho(83), Van Persie.
Subs: Almunia, Miquel(83), Frimpong(90), Rosicky(83), Benayoun, Arshavin, Chamakh.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Heitinga, Baines, Neville(76), Fellaini, Coleman, Bilyaletdinov(76), Cahill, Saha(63).
Subs: Mucha, Distin(63), Barkley, Stracqualursi, McAleny(76), Gueye(76), Vellios.

My man of the match: Alex Song

Referee: Howard Webb
Attendance: 60,062   

Arsenal celebrate 125 years - Commemorating Legends

Arsenal Football club have honoured three Arsenal greats by unveiling three statues outside the Emirates Stadium.Former manager Herbet Chapman, defensive rock Tony Adams and goal scoring hero Thierry Henry have all been commemorated in bronze statues which were unveiled by Arsenal Chairman, Peter Hill-Wood. The unveiling of the three statues forms part of Arsenal’s 125th anniversary celebrations which is set to continue before todays game against Everton.

Joined by Peter Hill-Wood, Arsene Wenger and Thierry Henry for the event was a large crowd to witness the unveiling around the stadium. The first statue to be revealed was Herbert Chapman who was Arsenal manager between 1925 and 1934. Chapman's Arsenal teams won the league four times in five years whilst his management developed and advanced diets, fitness, tactics and brilliant football. His time, however, at Arsenal was cut short as he died in 1934 aged just 55. Herbert Chapman's statue has been placed underneath the clock close to the Danny Fiszman Bridge and sees him looking towards the Stadium as a symbol of the Club’s achievements and importance whilst he was at Highbury.

Herbert Chapman

The second statue to be unveiled was of defender Tony Adams which has been located outside the Northbank at the Emirates. Adams spent 19 years at the club as he made a total of 669 appearances, becoming Arsenal's second all time appearence maker behind David O'leary. He is also the most successful captain in the Club’s history, leading Arsenal to ten major competition victories.

Tony Adams

The third and final statue to be unveiled was Thierry Henry. Henry is Arsenal's all time leading goal scorer with 226 strikes during his 8 years at the club. Henry won several major honours winning the Premier League and FA Cup twice, the Premier League 'Golden Boot' four times and the PFA Player of the Year award on two occassions. The Frenchman has always been renowned as an Arsenal legend as he also scored the last ever goal at Highbury in May 2006. Thierry Henry's statue has been placed in the south-east corner of the Emirates Stadium, next to the Spirit of Highbury mural.

Thierry Henry

The statues to commemorate these Arsenal legends were designed and created by MDM. They have been cast in bronze and are all life size and a half of the individuals. Having taken around 625 hours to create and weighing approximately 200kg each. The figures were lifted into place on Wednesday, ahead of Friday’s ceremony.

Also to celebrate the Club's anniversary, referee for Arsenal's game against Everton, Howard Webb, will use a sixpence in the coin toss to commemorate how the club started out. A group of workers at Dial Square armaments factory in Woolwich decided to form a football team, each giving a sixpence - two and a half pence in today's money - for the purchase of a football.

Arsenal celebrate 125 years - A history of the club

Arsenal Football Club celebrated 125 years of existence on December 1st and will celebrate the anniversary before their game with Everton on December 10th. The Gunners have had a long and successful history as they have won 13 First Division and Premier League titles, 10 F.A Cups and 2 League Cups. Arsenal also holds the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the English top flight and is the only side to have completed a Premier League season unbeaten. In this post I have picked out some of the most important parts in the club's long history.

Starting Out:
Arsenal FC originally started out as ''Dial Square'' in 1886 when they were founded by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. Shortly after, the club was renamed to ''Royal Arsenal''. In 1893 the club was then renamed again, this time to ''Woolwich Arsenal''. In the same year Woolwich Arsenal became the first southern member of the Football League, starting out in the Second Division and then winning promotion to the First Division in 1904. However their football was watched in lower attendances than those of other clubs. This led to the club being faced with financial problems and effectively bankrupt by 1910. They were then taken over by businessmen. The take over wanted to move the club and in 1913, soon after relegation back to the Second Division, Arsenal moved to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, they dropped "Woolwich" from their name the following year to become just ''Arsenal''. Arsenal only finished in fifth place in 1919, but were elected controversially to rejoin the First Division at the expense of local rivals Tottenham Hotspur.  

The club under Herbert Chapman:

Herbert Chapman

Herbert Chapman, one of Arsenal's most famous managers was appointed in 1925. Chapman had experienced previous success having won trophies with Huddersfield and brought Arsenal's first period of success and led them to dominate English football throughout the early 1930's. He guided the club to victory in the 1930 FA Cup Final and also won two League Championships in the seasons 1930/31 and 1932/33. In addition to the success that Chapman brought to Arsenal he was also key in the renaming of the local London Underground station from ''Gillespie Road'' to ''Arsenal'' which made it the only tube station to be named specifically after a football team. However Herbert Chapman's time at Arsenal was ended suddenly as he died in 1934, from pneumonia, aged just 55. This left assistants Joe Shaw and George Allison to carry on with Chapman's success. They were successful in continuing his work as they won more titles with Arsenal.
 
The Club under Bertie Mee:  
Bertie Mee was also another manager to achieve huge success with Arsenal. He was manager at the club for ten years between 1966 and 1976. He started off his success with winning the Gunners first European trophy, The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The following season the clubs European achievement was followed by a greater triumph, their first League and FA Cup double in 1970–71. Arsenal managed to beat Leeds to the championship with a victory over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. Arsenal then went on to beat Liverpool after extra time to win the FA Cup at Wembley.

Recent Times: 

After former player George Graham's successful time managing Arsenal and Bruce Rioch's one season in charge, Arsene Wenger was appointed manager in 1996. This was to be the start of something special. Under the Frenchman's reign so far, he has guided the club to three League titles, four FA Cups and 3 Community Shields. One of the three league titles came in the season of 2003/04 in which they went unbeaten for the entire league season. Arsene Wenger also guided Arsenal to the 2006 Champions League final, however they lost 2-1 at the hands of Barcelona. Wenger has managed many great players during his 15 years in charge but none better than Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp who played a pivotal role in the Gunners success. Arsene was vital in his teams move to the Emirates Stadium in 2006 after 93 years at previous ground Highbury. During his time as manager of the club he has also turned young players into fantastic players that are still becoming better. Players such as Cesc Fabregas(now at Barcelona), Robin Van Persie, Bacary Sagna, Alex Song and Theo Walcott all started out as not very well known players. They are certainly well known now. More recently though players such as Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny are all players that are becoming greater players due to Arsene's work.

Arsene Wenger