Key Incidents:
Goal (Arsenal) (33) - Just the break we needed. Our first really insightful move of the game saw Pires attempt to play Freddie in through the middle of the area. Freddie, however, ran into a crowd, but as the ball bobbled about, Savage`s attempted clearance landed on Bobby`s foot, and he curled the ball low into the bottom right hand corner.
Goal (Arsenal) (80) - As the ball hit the back of the net, Highbury collectively gave out a sigh of relief. You could feel the nerves in the stadium when we only had the one goal. But cometh the moment, cometh the man. Thierry turned Cunningham, leaving him for dead, and burst past the back tracking Melchiot. He proceeded to cruise into the area, and treat us all to a typical Thierry finish, as he slipped the ball cooly under Taylor and into the far corner. It was, for me however, his celebration which relieved my tension. To see how much that goal meant to him, and to see him kiss the badge and look so elated at doing so, reassured me that we are getting back to our best. Brilliant.
Goal (Arsenal) (86) - A well worked goal, which could have come straight from the training pitch. Freddie ran his marker on the right hand side, and chipped in a teasing ball, which eluded the Brum defence, and landed precisely on Henry's head to wrap up the game.
Player Ratings
Manuel Almunia - 6 - I was truly shocked when I heard the starting line up. My thoughts pre match were that even if Wenger had been contemplating putting Almunia in, after his mistake on Wednesday he would have changed his mind, as Manuel's confidence clearly took a beating. But nevertheless he started and gave a good performance. He kept out all that he put his way, but in truth that was very little, as Birmingham lacked creativity, and rarely threatened. A no-frills performance was what was required and he gave us just that. So now comes the media encore, "First clean sheet as Lehmann's dropped" and the list will go on. I would tip Almunia to start again on Tuesday night, with Lehmann being rested for the Chelsea game.
Ashley Cole - 7 - Stifled the few Brum attacks that there were. Bombed forward, and looked all the better after the arrival of Clichy. I personally cannot wait to see the two combine down the left on a more regular basis, as they compliment each other brilliantly.
Kolo Toure - 7 - Strong in the tackle, and never looked to have any trouble dealing with whatever was thrown at him.
Sol Campbell - 7 - Another solid performance, and did well top deal with the aerial threat that Heskey posed all afternoon.
Lauren - 6 - Was beaten for pace a few times, but other than that gave a professional display, and dug in late on when we were coming under pressure.
Robert Pires - 7 - A return to form for the Frenchman. His passing was far more accurate than at Anfield, and he tracked back on a couple of occasions. Took his goal well, and has now scored 9 goals in the premiership. Lets hope this form continues through the coming weeks and months. Also, he has to be given some credit for poll axing Savage, and making quite a dent in his nose!!
Patrick Vieira - 7 - Adapted his style of play to suite the different periods of the game. Showed great awareness in doing so, and gave a high class display. My only gripe with him would be that he is still going down quite easily; where as the Paddy of a few years ago would have shrugged off the challenge on kept moving forward.
Cesc Fabregas - 7 - Smooth passing as always, and continued to show his vision of the game with balls that spread the ball from touchline to touchline. Would like to see him given a break over the Christmas period to allow him to recover from an exhausting start to the season.
Freddie Ljungberg - 8 - MOTM. Another brilliant display from the Swede.
His work rate was phenomenal, and his passing exquisite. He has been wearing his heart on his sleeve in recent weeks, and seems to be determined to make things happen. Fully deserving of the MOTM award.
Thierry Henry - 7 - Some great awareness set up flowing Arsenal passing movements. Broke past defenders, and his final ball was good. His goals were top notch and he is getting back to his best at just the right moment for us.
Jose Reyes - 6 - Still unable to find that elusive goal that will undoubtedly kick start his season. Still, he linked well with Thierry for the first time in a few matches, and seemed to be more happy in himself.
Subs:
Gael Clichy - 7 - Got through a lot of running in a very short space of time. Caged Gronkjaer and Taylor for the final ten minutes, and linked the play well from defence to attack.
Mathieu Flamini - 7 - Fitted right into the Fabregas position, and gave an almost identical display to Cesc.