W.B.A vs. Arsenal

1-1, Premier League, The Hawthorns, 06 October 2013
Wilshere 65

Considering the recent Capital One Cup clash and the fact that they beat Manchester United last week, we knew that this would be a tough game against West Bromwich Albion. And it certainly was a tough game, one that looked to be heading in the wrong direction for us for quite some time!

The initial fifteen minutes consisted of both teams creating half-chances without really getting anywhere, Arteta had a shot deflected off of Giroud wide and Ramsey sent a free-kick over the bar. The first decent chance to score belonged to West Bromwich as they had a shot on target, fortunately Szczesny was there to make the save. We continued to fire high and wide, however, with Gibbs' effort after approximately twenty minutes going way over the crossbar and Wilshere firing wide from outside the 18-yard-box five minutes later.
   West Brom took the lead at the end of the half through a header by Yacob.


Six minutes into the second half Anelka almost made it 2-0, but his shot went just wide as West Brom created another decent chance to score.
   With just over half an hour to go Flamini had a shot blocked by a defender and then caught by the 'keeper. The following minute saw Ramsey get replaced by Rosicky. Then, at last, we got one back! Jack Wilshere scored with a powerful strike after a quick round of passes from Giroud, to Rosicky, to the Englishman! It has been quite some time since Wilshere last scored, so it is certainly nice to see him back on the score-sheet.
   Szczesny was called into action again with about twenty minutes to go as Jones produced a shot on target. The following minutes Gibbs did well to deny another shot bound for our Polish 'keeper.
   Giroud got extremely close to giving us the lead with fifteen minutes to go as he ran past the 'keeper, who somehow managed to get back in time to block the goal-bound shot! The Frenchman was then replaced by Bendtner, the Dane getting five minutes to produce something spectacular. Unfortunately he, nor anyone else for that matter, managed to do so and we had to settle for just the one point this time around, putting an end to our stunning run of consecutive wins.

The one point was enough for us to retain our top spot in the league, even though Liverpool now has the same amount of points as ourselves. So let's remember, a draw at the Hawthorns is no easy feat and we should definitely be pleased with it.