Cazorla blunder seals it
Albion earn their success after wasteful Arsenal fail to cash in on total dominance yet again
ROTTEN fortune or an indication that Arsenal’s season will turn out like all the others since 2004? For the second week running Arsene Wenger’s side blew the chance to go top of the table, succumbing to West Bromwich Albion through bad luck but also moments of poor play.
Santi Cazorla slipped at the worst time to balloon a late penalty over the bar — he touched the ball twice in any case — but beforehand Arsenal had been unable to turn vast amounts of possession into goals.
West Brom have not always been the picture of resilience instantly identifiable as a Tony Pulis team, but here they were defensively superb; blocking, tackling and grinding out the victory.
Arsenal attacked repeatedly right until the final whistle but they underwhelmed all the same by failing to produce the clinical edge required of champions.
After five Premier League wins on the bounce it is now one point from two games and a fall to fourth place in the table.
Wenger has two more injuries to contemplate as well, with Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta adding to an absentee list that already features six major names. Both central midfielders are serious doubts ahead of Tuesday’s crucial Champions League encounter with Dinamo Zagreb.
Wenger said: ‘We had 70 per cent possession, we scored an own goal, we missed a penalty, we gave a goal away on a set piece, we missed open goal chances. It was perfect to make the afternoon a nightmare.
‘We lost focus at 1-0. Our defending on that level was very, very poor. But it was a game where we produced enough to win.’
Like everywhere else in the country La Marseillaise sounded out from stadium speakers before kickoff and for Arsenal the moment carried significant emotion.
Laurent Koscielny, Olivier Giroud and Coquelin sang the words on the pitch as did Wenger from the touchline, with their strength of feeling palpable. But the Arsenal manager refuted the suggestion that the terror attacks of Paris in any way contributed to this defeat.
Almost to prove the point, Giroud opened the scoring in the 28th minute by losing his marker Salomon Rondon and glancing home from Mesut Ozil’s long free-kick.
The French striker, who had been in the Stade de France during that terrible night, pointed to the sky in recognition of those who died.
But West Brom troubled Arsenal with waspish endeavour in midfield and used their possession meaningfully. In the 35th minute they won a deep free-kick of their own — Chris Brunt flighted the ball into the Arsenal area and James Morrison cushioned a volley into the far corner. The ball seemed to come off his shin but the intent was there.
Five minutes later the hosts took the lead. Rondon got the ball in the left channel and ran at Koscielny, then fed James McClean as he made an overlapping run. The pass was a little heavy but McClean reached the byline to pull back and Arteta rather needlessly stretched a limb to divert the ball into his own net. West Brom were 2-1 up having had only one shot on target.
Arteta’s miserable afternoon was complete when he, too, was forced off injured after half time having played only 34 minutes.
Arsenal monopolised the ball and created enough openings to equalise. Ozil hit the post with a snapshot inside the area.
Joel Campbell replaced Kieran Gibbs and four minutes later was guilty of a horrible miss. Cazorla’s cross was good, McClean’s tumble a blessing, but Campbell’s fluffed shot simply awful.
West Brom were content to threaten only at set pieces and the home crowd thought the lead had been extended when Jonas Olsson connected to a corner. The ball hit the bar and came down, but not over the line. With seven minutes left Mark Clattenburg gave Arsenal a glimmer of hope. The referee pointed to the spot when Alexis Sanchez fell far too easily after an arm over the shoulder from Brunt.
It was soft and West Brom’s players did everything to unsettle Cazorla. Olsson moved the ball after the Spaniard had placed it on the spot and Jonny Evans remonstrated with Clattenburg.
They needn’t have bothered. Cazorla slipped as he struck his effort and the ball lofted harmlessly over the bar.
The win for West Brom galvanises what has been a stuttering season so far and extends Pulis’ fine record against Wenger at home, dating back to his days as Stoke manager. ‘Arsenal were very good second half when they ramped it up. Wonderful talent,’ said the West Brom head coach. ‘It is a great result for us. The lads deserve it.’