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Post by Football News on Apr 30, 2016 18:37:51 GMT
Arsenal 1-0 Norwich CityDanny Welbeck 59 Time for change, was the slightly distant call at the Emirates. But not yet it seems, as Arsenal completed an Arsenal-ish April afternoon with a meandering 1-0 victory in front of a grouchy but far from volatile crowd to take a significant step towards a place in the top four at the end of the season, sinking into that comfortable low-pressure end-game like a comfortable old armchair. Norwich competed feistily and might have equalised in the second half. But defeat here leaves Alex Neil’s team second from bottom and needing to win one if not both of their next two home fixtures. Before kick off the atmosphere inside the Emirates was more a low level anxiety than anything more bellicose ahead of a game with plenty riding on it for both teams. There was a loud cheer for Santi Cazorla’s presence on the bench, the return of a classy, waspish influence who has been badly missed since his injury against the same opponents in November. Otherwise Arsenal lined up in the usual 4-2-3-1, with Olivier Giroud given another chance to continue his haggard, debilitating, The Revenant-style quest for a first league goal since January. Points for Sunderland and Norwich earlier in the day had increased the sense Norwich really did need to get something from this game. The hard-running Nathan Redmond came in on the right, and had the game’s first chance on six minutes, taking Martin Olsson’s cross and shooting low only for Cech to save well with his legs. Ivo Pinto also came in at right back and it was down his flank that Arsenal’s first twitch of life came, Alex Iwobi shuttling through but shanking a left-footed shot wide. The promise of protests had circled this game with various entities, including REDaction and the scary-sounding Black Scarf Movement, calling for a show of dissent. Time For Change is the mantra. But the real object of protest is an atmosphere, a sense of congealment, the feeling of a luxury vessel simply drifting on its momentum. Get rid of certain players, start getting to the last eight not the last 16 of the Champions League, stop being overly pleased about making a profit: as ultimatums go it’s a fairly slow-burn affair, and no doubt fans of Charlton, Aston Villa and Leeds United will all come out in sympathy some day soon. Not that the discontent of the Reds and the Blacks should be undervalued. It is simply a novel, oddly pointed kind of disaffection, a reflection perhaps of the wider weirdness of modern football, that broader sense of alienation. The demo duly came on 12 minutes, one for every year Arsenal have been deprived of the league title. There were around 300 banners held aloft, accompanied by a mix of booing, jeering and applause as Wenger stood in his rectangle pretending to watch the football, but looking a little sad and thin and brave. Most of those involved settled into a chant of “we love you Arsenal”, followed once the minute had passed by “one Arsène Wenger”. It was, in the end, a slightly meandering, slightly inconclusive Arsenal demonstration. Or in other words, an Arsenal demonstration. After which not much continued to happen. Giroud had a shot blocked. Laurent Koscielny thundered through Pinto but escaped punishment. Arsenal worried away at the edge of Norwich’s deeply-packed defence. Redmond had another good chance on the right, Cech again saving well. And overall Norwich looked the more threatening in a scoreless first half, with Johnny Howson beavering to good effect in central midfield. The second half kicked off in something close to silence, with Arsenal looking like a team in desperate need of an injection of urgency, fear, desperation, anything really. Instead they remained flat for long periods, with even Alexis Sánchez unable to alter the tempo. Redmond again wandered unimpeded down the right and flashed a cross through the six-yard box. Per Mertesacker departed with what looked like a hamstring pull. Little was seen of Aaron Ramsey or Mesut Özil running beyond the last line of defence. Before this game Wenger had described Giroud as a player who “cannot score”, never an ideal quality in a striker. He has a point too. As the season has narrowed to a fine point his response has been a run of two in 20 and none in the league since mid-January. Here there were huge cheers as Wenger made an early change for once,. Danny Welbeck came on for Iwobi, and changed the game almost immediately He was assisted by Giroud, who produced a lovely cushioned downward header, under no pressure from Sébastian Bassong, giving Welbeck the time to pivot and smash the ball into the corner. His fifth since his return in February, it was a much -needed goal for many reasons, not least the mild sense of discontent ahead of the second stage of the Wenger-not-quite-out protests. Norwich sagged a little after the goal, but continued to hustle and press on the flanks. Dieumerci Mbokani almost got on the end a Redmond cross, but was blocked by Gabriel. And Arsenal hung on a little at times as Norwich pressed energetically, but fruitlessly to the end.
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