Once Arsenal’s big guns all took to the pitch late in the game the club woke up in time to slam home three late goals for a 3-1 win over a pesky Norwich side. The three points move the Gunners into third place for the time being with 59 points as they leapfrogged over London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea. Chelsea and Spurs are level in fourth spot with 58 points, but Chelsea has a game in hand over Arsenal and Spurs. They also managed to keep their four-point lead over sixth-place Everton who beat Queens Park Rangers 2-0 and hammered another nail into their coffin.
Midfielder Jack Wilshere and forward Theo Walcott were back for the match with Walcott starting on the bench. Per Mertesacker was out with a suspension. Arsenal’s performance for the first two-thirds of the match was nothing to write home about and Norwich, who are fighting for survival in the Premier League, took a 1-0 lead in the 56th minute on a simple free kick. The ball was crossed in from the right wing and with all of Arsenal’s defenders standing flat footed Michael Turner headed the cross in behind keeper Lukasz Fabianski from close range.
Manager Arsene Wenger had seen enough at this point and took off Gervinho and Wilshere and replaced them with Walcott and Lukas Podolski. Arsenal tried to break down the Canaries defence, but didn’t have much luck in doing so. Podolski came close to leveling the score, but keeper Mark Bunn got his fingers to a hard left-footed drive and pushed it against the crossbar.
The equalizer finally came a moments later in the 85th minute when Olivier Giroud had his shirt pulled in the 18-yard box by Kei Kamara and was yanked down to the ground. The assistant referee called a penalty while the referee watched the incident and did nothing about it. Mikel Arteta calmly stepped up to take the penalty and his low drive to the bottom right corner was met by Bunn’s hand, but he couldn’t keep it out of the net.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started the play for the game winner as he broke down the left side of the pitch and cut in towards goal. He then crossed a low ball in front of the net which Giroud and Norwich defender Sebastien Bassong both went for and Giroud just got enough of a touch on it to bundle it over the goal line. Norwich replied right away when Jonny Howson broke in from the right side of the pitch and drilled a low shot at the net, but Fabianski managed to get his foot to the ball and steer it wide.
Podolski then added the insurance Arsenal were looking for when he turned with the ball from about 18 yards out and slammed a nice low, hard shot past Bunn in the second minute of injury time. It was a great last five minutes plus six minutes of injury time for the Gunners and they earned their fourth consecutive victory, but they left it a little late to start playing the way they’re capable of. They’ll need to be better on Tuesday April 16 when they host Everton. The loss left Norwich in 14th place with 35 points, just four ahead of the relegation zone.
Arsenal Player Ratings vs Norwich on April 13
Lukasz Fabianski 7
A good game by Fabianski. He couldn’t do much about the goal and made a big save on Howson to keep the score 2-1 at the time.
Bacary Sagna 6
a pretty good game by Sagna until he was taken off in the 80th minute for Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain. Was good in both ends of the pitch and showed some attacking skills today. Was poor on Norwich’s goal though, as were all the defenders.
Thomas Vermaelen 6
Had a steady game other than Norwich’s goal. No other big mistakes.
Laurent Koscielny 6
Another defender who did his job except for the goal.
Kieran Gibbs 5.5
Gave away the free kick that led to Norwich’s goal and wasn’t too good in the air. Was better at attacking than defending.
Aaron Ramsey 7
Ramsey played well for 90 minutes and put in some good tackles.
Mikel Arteta 7
Arteta laid off some nice passes and was steady. He controlled defensive aspect of the midfield and got the Gunners on the scoreboard with his penalty.
Jack Wilshere 5
This was Wislhere’s first game back after six weeks off with an injury…and it showed. It wasn’t his best game by a long shot and he was taken off in the 6th minute shortly after the team fell behind 1-0 and replaced by Walcott.
Santi Cazorla 6.5
Cazorla didn’t have a huge impact on proceedings, but played a steady 90 minutes.
Gervinho 6
Gervinho created some room and chances for himself, but wasn’t able to do anything with them. He wasn’t great and he wasn’t bad, but came off after 60 minutes for Lukas Podolski.
Olivier Giroud 7.5
Giroud played a decent game. He set up Podolski for a good scoring chance with a nicely chested ball. Was hauled down for the penalty and scored the winner. He also hit the crossbar during the first half and had a few other attempts..
Substitutes
Theo Walcott 6.5
Came on for Wilshere after 60 minutes and injected some much-needed life and speed into the team.
Lukas Podolski 7.5
Came on for Gervinho after 60 minutes and scored the third goal. Had a couple of other good chances saved and was a force even though just for 30 minutes.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 7
Came on after 80 minutes for Sagna when Arsenal went for the win. Set up Giroud for the game winner and showed good speed, skill, and vision. A fine showing.
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