Ramsey and Podolski fire Arsenal to victory over Hull

Arsenal appear to be a team on a roll again. Aaron Ramsey's return to form signaled that and it was no coincidence we strolled to victory with him back amongst the goals. It was an impressive and comfortable display against the team we'll be playing in next month's FA Cup final at Wembley. Lukas Podolski once again bragged a brace after notching twice against West Ham in the week. After Everton lost to Crystal Palace on Wednesday night we now have the advantage in the race for fourth as we sit one point ahead of the Toffees going into the final three fixtures. Our line-up for this game was the best we've had for as long as I can remember. The subs bench was filled with options, something we've lacked in recent games. Ramsey and Ozil both started whilst Oxlade-Chamberlain and Rosicky were both amongst the substitutes.

Aaron Ramsey returned to form as Arsenal beat Hull

Where would we be had Aaron Ramsey stayed fit for the whole season? That is the main question that is being asked at the moment. Sunday's game showed Ramsey as though he had never been away. His class outshone everyone else on the pitch as he bagged a goal and two assists. The goal he scored was typical of him this season. He broke into the box before assertively finding the net. Had he been fit all season then we may well be still in the hunt for the Premier League title. However, as injuries have so often plagued us this season, it looks as though it was never meant to be. Ramsey's return to full fitness, and to form is a big relief, especially at such a crucial period of the season when no points can afford to be dropped.

Mesut Ozil played an hour on his return from injury but it was another German that got us talking. That man was Lukas Podolski who found the net another two times after his two cracking strikes against West Ham. His first goal was as good as the pair he scored in the week. Giroud played a lovely ball into Ramsey who chested it into the path of Podolski who vollied home. His second was one of the easiest finishes he'll ever get. Cazorla pulled the ball back to Ramsey whose shot was saved, but the German was there on the rebound to tap the ball into the back of the net. That's four goals in two games now for the clinical forward.

It was certainly no coincidence that with Ramsey and Ozil back in the side we were a much improved team. It brought out the best in Cazorla and Giroud who have been a bit quiet towards the back end of the season. Giroud should've added to his 20 goals this season though against Hull. Steve Harper was caught out by the Frenchman from a back pass but after winning the ball, Giroud fired an effort against the bar from a tight angle. However tight an angle, he really should've made it four though.

Mikel Arteta was much improved despite losing his front tooth in a clash with a Hull player. His passing was more assured and he drove forward a couple of times. Compare that to a few weeks ago when he seemed to always be caught in possession and didn't have many options around him. However, what Ramsey and Ozil seem to do so well is always make an option for a team mate and are always looking to get on the ball. That has been a key figure of our season when the pair have played. It makes such a massive difference having them back!

Next up is Newcastle at the Emirates. They're a side that look as though they just want the season to end and hopefully we'll witness another routine win. However, Alan Pardew's Newcastle always seem to step up their game when playing Wenger.

The teams lineups:

Hull City: Harper, Elmohamady, Chester, Davies, Rosenior, Meyler, Huddlestone, Livermore, Boyd(84), Long(45), Jelavic(69).
Subs: Jakupovic, Figueroa, Bruce, Koren(84), Quinn(69), Fryatt(45), Sagbo. 

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Ramsey, Arteta, Cazorla, Ozil(60), Podolski(84), Giroud(73).
Subs: Fabianski, Jenkinson, Flamini(60), Kallstrom, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain(73), Sanogo(84).

My man of the match: Aaron Ramsey

Referee: Jon Moss.

Arsenal return to winning ways in the league

Following the euphoria of reaching the FA Cup final at the weekend, the Arsenal players were thrown straight back into action. Tuesday night saw us take on West Ham in the League, another must win clash in our bid to reach the top four. Win was exactly what we did though. That was despite going behind as Podolski scored a brace whilst Giroud also popped up with a goal. If we're going to reach the top four then we'll surely have to win every game left we have in the league this season. However, it's all in Everton's hands at the moment. The 3-1 victory over the Hammers lifted us back into the top four of the Premier League which was crucial after slipping into fifth at the weekend.

Lukas Podolski scored twice as Arsenal regained fourth place

In terms of the line-up Wenger was forced into making more changes. Kieran Gibbs and Nacho Monreal were both injured, again, so Vermaelen deputised at left back whilst Laurent Koscielny returned at center back. Tomas Rosicky was also back in the squad along with Szczesny and Giroud who replaced Fabianski and Sanogo respectively.

The fact that we went 1-0 down to a header from Matt Jarvis summed up our current league form. However, what we realised from the FA Cup semi-final was that this team do in fact have some fight in them. They displayed exactly the same fight to get themselves back into this game and pull off in the end, what was a fairly comfortable victory. When West Ham scored I thought it was going to be another one of those nights but like we had done at the start of the year, we managed to come out the other side with all three points.

Each of our goals were of high quality. Lukas Podolski scored twice as he played a rare 90 minutes. The first goal was brilliantly set up by Cazorla with a reverse pass before the German fired home at the far post. His second meanwhile was emphatic as Ramsey's cushioned header found him before he hammered the ball literally into the roof of the net. Giroud's goal meanwhile was a touch of genius. He had spurned a great chance in the first half which made his strike to put us in the lead, even more remarkable. Vermaelen lumped a ball forward and the Frenchman plucked the ball out of the air before finding the net via his weaker foot. Giroud had received a lot of stick for his performance in the first half, but his goal certainly shut the critics up for a short period of time.

Kim Kallstrom started his first game in an Arsenal shirt and put in a fairly encouraging performance. He was perhaps a little slow to get out to Nocerino for the goal and there were a few misplaced passes here and there but he showed he was willing to take risks. He showed against Swansea that he has a fantastic passing range whilst he also scored in the shoot-out at the weekend. As expected he hasn't played a huge part yet but without him we would perhaps have risked Ramsey. 

It was meanwhile great to see Laurent Koscielny back in action. He's up there as one of the best defenders in the Premier League this season and his partnership with Mertesacker looked as sturdy as ever. Vermaelen was also solid at left back. As for Santi Cazorla, he played his best game in ages, a performance which earned him the man of the match award.

Up next is Hull City in a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final this weekend on Easter Day. Another must win game!

The teams lineups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Arteta, Kallstrom, Cazorla(88), Rosicky(72), Podolski, Giroud.
Subs: Fabianski, Jenkinson(88), Bellerin, Ramsey(72), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Akpom, Sanogo. 

West Ham: Adrian, Demel, Tomkins, Reid, Armero, Nocerino, Noble, Downing(78), Diame, Jarvis(78), Carroll(84).
Subs: Jaaskelainen, McCartney, Johnson, Cole(78), Taylor, Vaz Te(78), Cole(84). 

My man of the match: Santi Cazorla. 

Referee: Kevin Friend.
Attendance: 59,977.  

Walcott double helps Arsenal regain top spot

Arsenal gave their fans a late Christmas present by returning to the top of the Premier League. This was thanks to a 3-1 win against West Ham on Boxing Day yesterday. The Gunners showed some signs of rustiness having it been Christmas the day before and it took them a while to get going but in the end they ran out comfortable victors. Theo Walcott scored twice whilst Podolski came off the bench to seal the points. In terms of chances created it was a hugely improved performance after the disappointment of Chelsea on Monday. In terms of the team line-up there was just the one change from our last game. Tomas Rosicky missed out completely so Santi Cazorla regained his place. Apart from that, it was an unchanged side as Vermaelen once again played instead of the injured Koscielny.

Santi Cazorla starred as Arsenal beat West Ham

The Gunners were desperate to get back to winning ways following four games without one in all competitions and that's exactly what they did against West Ham. However, that wasn't without a few nervy moments at the back throughout the game. We performed much better than we had done against Chelsea and created way more chances than previously. Monday was a rarity where we somehow struggled to create any clear cut chances. This time around though chances fell quite regularly and we could've had more than three. The hosts meanwhile, also probably warranted more than what they got in front of goal.

Thomas Vermaelen put in another assured display at centre half, and that was despite the defence coming under heavy pressure at the start of the second half. Wojciech Szczesny who has been reliable in goal this season made a rare error as he spilt a shot straight into the path of Carlton Cole to fire home. Cole should then have had a second but put it wide whilst the same fate fell the way of Joey O'Brien.

The Gunners were to come back fighting though and at the heart of it was Santi Cazorla. His form has been anything but superb this season and has struggled to find the displays he put in regularly last season. However, yesterday he was back in full flow. Everything seemed to come through the Spaniard who was playing in a more central role than we've been used to this campaign. He played some brilliant balls in behind the defence and grabbed an assist for Theo Walcott's first goal. Moving onto Theo Walcott, he was another one of the stars of the show. He has been brilliant since returning from injury and he has showed what a miss he has been. His first was a rather lucky effort on his left foot which somehow crawled under the keeper's legs whilst his second was a fantastic header. It was the wide man's first ever headed goal in all levels of the game. Theo may have had a hat-trick too if he had put away a first half chance rather than putting it wide from a few yards out.

There was a welcome return to the side for Lukas Podolski who played in his first match since August. He was absolutely fantastic when he came on and once again showed that we do indeed have some sort of strength in depth. He showed what we'd been missing out on the left in terms of a proper outlet. He assisted Walcott's second goal and then scored a peach of a strike to mark his return in perfect fashion. The German now has three goals in 108 minutes of Premier League football this season, a prolific record.

To finish off I'd just like to quickly pick up on the form of Olivier Giroud. He certainly isn't firing on all cylinders at the moment which is a real shame after his explosive start to the season. His link-up play and first touch is world class but he seems to be lacking in confidence in front of goal and is snatching at his chances rather than finding the net. Giroud grabbed an assist but perhaps it's time to give him a little rest and play Bendtner once or twice. The big Dane came on for the last five minutes and almost scored whilst he also made some really positive runs into the box.

We're back on top of the League now with a tough game against an inform Newcastle side on Sunday at St James' Park. We'll be looking to build on the West Ham result and find some winning momentum once more. We'll be traveling to Tyneside without Aaron Ramsey though who picked up a thigh problem in the game yesterday. Time for Jack Wilshere to step up into his preferred role.

The teams lineups:

West Ham: Adrian, O'Brien(63), Tomkins, Collins(38), McCartney, Jarvis, Nolan(75), J.Cole, Noble, Diame, C.Cole. 
Subs: Jaaskelainen, Demel(63), Rat(38), Collison, Diarra, Taylor(75), Maiga.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey(65), Cazorla, Ozil(81), Walcott, Giroud(85).
Subs: Fabianski, Jenkinson, Monreal, Flamini(81), Gnabry, Podolski(65), Bendtner(85).

My man of the match: Santi Cazorla.

Referee: Phil Dowd.
Attendance: 34,977.  

Euro 2012 Review: Group A, B and C reach conclusions

Group A, Group B and Group C have now all reached conclusions and we now know which teams from those three groups will be going through to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012.

Group A saw 2004 winners Greece spring a surprise to beat and knockout dark horses Russia to second spot as Karagounis scored a late first half goal to send the Greeks through as they beat Russia 1-0 in their final group game. The other team to make it through from the group was Czech Republic. They were thought to be long shots to make it through after losing their first group game 4-1 to Russia but a well taken goal from Jiracek sent them through as they knocked co-hosts Poland out of the competition with a 1-0 win. 
Group B also sprang a surprise as Holland were beaten and knocked out by Portugal, who beat the Dutch 2-1, thanks to goals from Cristiano Ronaldo. That result meant that the Portuguese went through along with Germany who were victors over a good Denmark side as new Arsenal signing Lukas Podolski along with Lars Bender scored for the Germans to seal a 2-1 win. 

Group C didn't really throw up any shocks as both Spain and Italy, the teams expected to make it through from the group did. The final games finished Italy 2-0 Ireland thanks to goals from Cassano and Balotelli whilst Spain were far less convincing in their final group game but still managed to come away with victory as a single Jesus Navas goal meant the final score finished Croatia 0-1 Spain.

Euro 2012 Review: Day 6 and 7

Day 6 of the competition saw Denmark and Portugal play each other whilst the groups 'heavy weights' Holland came up against Germany.

The first match of the day saw a very tight encounter between Denmark and Portugal. Portugal were the team to dominate early as Pepe and Postiga gave them a 2 goal lead. However just before the break Nicklas Bendtner got the Danes back into the game. It was then with 10 minutes remaining that Denmark managed to grab a deserved equaliser as Bendtner grabbed his second of the game. That wasn't before Ronaldo had missed a glorious opportunity to put Portugal further ahead. However the game wasn't over yet Varela struck with 3 minutes remaining to win the game for the Portuguese. The final score finished Denmark 2-3 Portugal.

The second game of the day was between the two fancied teams to make the next round of the competition as Holland played Germany. It was Germany who came out on top though as the Dutch once again failed to take a host of their chances whilst their defence once again was not at its best. Germany were two goals up before the break as Mario Gomez took both of his chances. Despite Van Persie's sweetly right footed strike from outside the box in the second half, Holland were left on the brink of going out of the competition. The final score finished Holland 1-2 Germany.

Day 7 saw Spain turn it on for the first time in the competition as they beat the Republic of Ireland 4-0 thanks to goals from Torres(x2), Silva and Fabregas which meant Ireland were the first team to leave the competition. However the earlier game in the group was a much tighter affair as Italy drew with Croatia 1-1. Pirlo grabbed the Italians goal through a curling free-kick but 18 minutes from time Madzukic fired the ball home to rescue a point.

Robin Van Persie's goal for Holland wasn't enough as they lost to Germany

Euro 2012 Review: Day Two

Day 2 of the Euros wasn't as exciting as day one despite the teams that were playing but we witnessed a big upset as Holland really under performed, whilst Germany and Portugal never really got going in their match.

The first game of the day saw Holland come against Denmark. The outcome was a major shock as Nicklas Bendtner's Denmark beat a much fancied Holland side through a well taken goal from Michael Krohn-Deli. Holland, bolstered by such in form players as Robin Van Persie and Klaas Jan Huntelaar failed to take any of their 29 chances on the Denmark goal, of which only 6 were on target. All those chances would indicate that the Danes were very poor at the back. However that was not the case as Kjaer and Agger were a formidable force at the back, compare that to the Dutch who were very poor defensively. It was an extremely disappointing performance from the Netherlands with all their attacking quality, unfortunately couldn't equal that at the back. Denmark though, do have their defensive efforts to thank as the final score finished Holland 0-1 Denmark.

The second game of the day, and the second game in the supposed 'Group of Death' saw pre-tournament favourites Germany play Portugal. It was the first time for Arsenal fans to see Podolski in action since his proposed move to Arsenal, meanwhile other Arsenal player, Per Mertesacker was on the bench. Both sides failed to really get going and it took a fine header from Mario Gomez, moments before he was about to be taken off, to seal the game for the Germans. Portugal almost looked like coming away with a point as Varela had a great chance near the end but Manuel Neuer made a great stop to keep him at bay. Arguably the best player in the competition, Cristiano Ronaldo didn't have the greatest of games and will look to improve when Portugal next play. The final score ended Germany 1-1 Portugal in a far from convincing days play of football from some of Europe's big teams.

Robin Van Persie had several chances to score in Hollands game against Denmark