Arsenal 1-0 Wigan

By: travis | December 8th, 2008

It was ugly, but it was three points. I could stop right there with the match wrap, because after playing that poorly at times it was somewhat of a miracle that we came away with all three points. Wigan should be an easy win, but there was nothing easy about it on Saturday.

Steve Bruce had his charges fired up and ready to be yet another underdog to visit the Emirates and come away with three points. They started off well, so credit is due to the them, especially after they finished strong. But it was a lucky break for us as well as some woeful defending from none other than Titus Bramble that opened the scoring. His inability to deal with a lob by Cesc freed up Adebayor who slotted it home past Kirkland.

From there I was hoping the gates would open and the final score would read something like 3 or 4-0. If not, I almost thought it was a certainty that Arsenal would concede and drop the two points, or worse, and lose all three. And the times when we couldn’t convert on second half chances, it seemed inevitable for the likes of Amir Zaki or Emile Heskey to steal a point. Fortunately, Wigan couldn’t take of some dreadful play from Emmanuel Eboue and panic defending at the back and we came away with the result. On the one hand, it is a win. On the other, nagging concerns linger a team that claims to have title aspirations, yet time and again look very fragile.

The play of Eboue is easy to single out, and he was literally booed off the pitch by the crowd at the Emirates. A tough situation to say the least. Eboue is a players supporters love to hate – he has more howlers than he has good games, and his return to the first team on Saturday after his injury problems should have been a confidence boost. Rather, it has become a detriment to his place in the side and I wonder if he’ll be able to come back soon. His teammates have come to his defense, with Adebayor and Toure both backing him to bounce back and put this performance behind him.

Their opinions aside, his play on Saturday was one of the worst I have ever seen since starting to watch the Gunners a few years back. If play like that were to continue there is no justification for him remaining in the side. It was simply dreadful, and those who watched it know what I mean. He turned the ball over at least five or six times, and Wigan could have turned a few of those miscues into goals. But that doesn’t excuse the supporters who feel right to boo him. That’s not going to help him turn around his confidence and help him to turn around his poor play. Why are you there? The fans in the stand aren’t running the club, and given our current injury status there isn’t much beyond Eboue. As scary as that thought is, it doesn’t mean he should be cast off thanks to one poor match.

The best part about the weekend is that it is time to move on and celebrate that we didn’t fall off the pace. Which is a good change of fortune for one. With five losses already and still eight points back, a title run isn’t out of the question. But a fair amount of things will have to change if there is to be one. Match of the day highlights are after the jump. Leave comments below, and I’ll have more later tonight.

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