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: England beat Ukraine to reach quarters

England completed a far from convincing win in their final group D game against co-hosts Ukraine as Wayne Rooney returned from suspension to pop up with the vital goal. Rooney was the only change to the side that had beat Sweden last Friday as he came in for Andy Carroll. The England striker was far from his best , missing a free header from 4 yards out in the first half, but early into the second half he made up for it, as he got onto the end of Gerrard's deflected cross to nod the ball home from a yard out. The final score in Donetsk finished England 1-0 Ukraine. The result meant that England had managed to avoid Spain meaning they are to play Italy in the quarter-finals after finishing top of their group.

Wayne Rooney returned from suspension to head England into the quarter-finals

The other game of the day sprung a suprise as France suffered a defeat at the hands of Sweden. Sweden were playing for nothing but pride after already knowing their fate of being knocked out before the game had started. However it was a great performance from the Swedes as goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovich and Seb Larsson meant the final score finished Sweden 2-0 France in Kiev.

Those final group results mean that the lineup for the quarter-finals has now been decided and are as follows...

Czech Republic v Portugal - 21st June in Warsaw
Germany v Greece - 22nd June in Gdansk
Spain v France - 23rd June in Dontetsk
England v Italy - 24th June in Kiev

Euro 2012 Review: England come from behind to beat Sweden

Day 8 saw England return to action as they played Sweden in the capital city of Ukraine, Kiev. England made just one change to the side that drew with France as Andy Carroll came in for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The change meant that Ashley Young moved out to the left wing as Carroll partnered Welbeck up front.

England were the first team to score first in their match as Steven Gerrard found the head of Andy Carroll who nodded the ball past Isaksson in the Swedish goal. The score was still 1-0 at half time. However everything changed after the break as a double from defender Olof Mellberg left England fearing yet another defeat to Sweden. Roy Hodgson then brought on Theo Walcott who completely changed the game around as he scored a brilliant swerving effort from outside the box to equalise for England. He then set up the winner as he raced past two Swedish players before finding Welbeck who backheeled the ball into the back of the net to send the fans crazy. The final score finished Sweden 2-3 England.

The earlier game in the day was between England's group D rivals as France took on Ukraine. The game took a while to get going as on 4 minutes the referee had to stop play because of severe weather conditions. A massive rain and lightning storm had hit Donetsk which forced play to be suspended. The players did eventually get back on the pitch though but the game didn't go the co-hosts way as Samir Nasri was once again a key player for the French. However, this time he didn't score as Jeremy Menez and Newcastle United's Yohan Cabaye grabbed the goals which sent France top of the group ahead of England in Group D. The final score in Dontesk finished Ukraine 0-2 France.

Walcott was brought on as a substitute and completely changed the game around for England

Euro 2012 Review: Day 4 - England start with a draw

Day four of the Euro's saw the first round of group matches come to an end as England played France, and Ukraine played Sweden in Group D.

England started their Euro 2012 journey with a draw against a much fancied French side containing the likes of ex-Arsenal man Samir Nasri. However, it was England who strung the first suprise as 18 year old Arsenal man Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started as Theo Walcott was on the bench. Laurent Koscielny was amongst the French substitutes. The game was pretty evenly matched but perhaps France had a bit more possession than England. However it was England who struck first. Gerrard's looping free-kick found the head of Lescott who found the back of the net. France were level just 9 minutes later though as Nasri found room on the edge of the box before firing inside Joe Hart's near post. Before that though Hart had managed to prevent a storming header from Diarra to keep England ahead whilst Milner also missed a great opportunity after going round the keeper. The final score in Donetsk finished England 1-1 France.

The other game in the group saw co-hosts Ukraine take on Sweden in a brilliant end to end game. It wasn't until after the break though that any goals were scored. Sweden were the side who were to open the scoring as Ibrahimovich got ahead of his man to poke the ball past Pyatov. The Swedes weren't ahead for long as Shevchenko rose the highest to head the ball home and then managed to give Ukraine the lead just after the hour mark as he got ahead of Ibrahimovich to once again head the ball past Isaksson. The final score in Kiev finished Ukraine 2-1 Sweden which meant that the hosts went to the top of group D.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made his competitive England debut against France