What a difference a month makes

Everyone remembers Wenger's speech after the 3-0 drubbing by Chelsea, clearly he made an error in the way he summed up Drogba's contribution. However he also claimed that there was not a gulf between his side and Chelsea, and that the Blues would go on to lose more points.

McIlvanney is not the only pundit to suggest that Wenger is becoming delusional, but probably the most prestigious. I must confess  that I thought at the time Arsene's analysis of Chelsea was off key, that they had a firm grip on the title and that Arsenal were no longer contenders. That 11 points behind was a bridge too far. Now Arsenal are four points off the top with a game in hand, what a difference a month makes. None of this means that Arsenal will win the league, but it does mean they are contenders. Wenger's post match analysis was neither deluded nor disingenuous, but a rallying cry to his own troops.

Let's not be mealy mouthed this was a massive victory

This was the in form team of the Premiership that Arsenal were playing, a team one match off a grand slam of beating all four of the "top four"; this was a monster game, and whoever won would have a monster victory.

There can be no revision of this result, no claiming they were not up for it, O'Neil had far more of his squad fit than Wenger did. Indeed I suppressed a sigh when I heard that Fabregas was on the bench. There can be no claiming that Villa were an Everton or Liverpool waiting to implode, this was a team flying high at the top of its game.

Before the game I wrote how tight the game would be, and for 45 minutes that was the case. The crowd were up for it urging the team on from the start, and the team responded by coming sharply out of the blocks.

True Arsenal had more possession, but the diddy men were too intricate and the shooting too powder puff. In some ways it appeared like a rerun of the Chelsea game, lots of two thirds possession and no penetration. Agbonlahor is no Drogba, but he can hurt a team, and he has hurt Arsenal a few times in the past. But in the past we didn't have Gallas and Vermaelen playing so well in the centre. Villa did not have a legitimate shot on target during the whole of the first half. The defence were superb all game, including Sagna and Traore.

Captain Fantastic

Arsenal were dominating throughout but as the second half progressed the concern as to where the goal would come from intensified. The answer presented itself with a recurrence of Denilson's back injury. His replacement Fabregas revitalized the Arsenal effort and with only nine minutes on the pitch he scored with glorious curling shot from a free kick.

 It was a blow Villa could not recover from; Arsenal now had an iron grip on the game. Sixteen minutes later Traore put a long diagonal ball into the feet of Theo Walcott who gave a slide rule pass to Fabregas who placed his shot well clear of Friedel. As the ball hit the back of the net I noticed Fabregas pull up and anxiously look at the bench. Within four minutes the substitute was substituted by Ramsey. Wenger is hopeful it is minor injury.

Real delusion

In only 28 minutes the Arsenal captain had destroyed Villa; was Wenger so deluded? As long as he has Fabregas clearly not. For some strange reason, in injury time, the Villa fans were singing "we shall not be moved" (a real case of losing touch with reality) as Diaby majestically swept down the centre of the pitch to launch a daisy cutter that gave Friedel no chance. Three nil! Arsenal fans were ecstatic, they cheered the roof off and reprised the old favourites: "Are you Tottenham in disguise", and "Champions League you're having a larf".

They were right to celebrate; this is one of Arsenal's best victories in a long long time. They had beaten a team that Man U, Chelsea and Liverpool had all been defeated by.

This victory could be worth more than three points, but only if Arsenal can concentrate on beating the teams below them. It will also depend on how fortunate Wenger is with injuries. If Fabregas is injured long term then the lack of strikers could become a serious problem.

Song may not be badly missed if Diaby can keep up his present form, however if Denilson is also a long term injury then it may become difficult to keep up the midfield excellence that Arsenal demonstrated in this match.

Hopefully, Wenger is now reconciled with reality, and that reality is the maintenance of the level of performance produced against Villa in this magnificent victory.

Postscript

Stats can lie but I think these figures demonstrate Arsenal's dominance:

Possession 60% to 40%

Shots on target  7 to 3

Shots off target  8 to 4

Villa had not conceded for 5 games, Arsenal score 3

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