Wigan 0-0 Arsenal – 09/03/08 – (Premier League) 10 March, 2008

Jesus Christ. That’s 3 draws in a row now; we haven’t won in a month! We were 5 points clear not so long ago and everything looked great but now look where we are. Man United can go a point ahead of us now if they win their game in hand.

We started with the team I thought it’d be, there was really no other option. Toure, Song and van Persie all returned from their injuries to make the bench, but you have to wonder if they were they to just make up the numbers or whether they were actually fit.

We got off to a flying start and caught Wigan out early. Adebayor was sent clean through on goal but Kirkland came rushing out to narrow Adebayor down and he made a great save on the edge of the box.

It would turn out to be our best chance of the game, however with such a promising start I thought it wouldn’t be long until a goal came. How wrong I was.

The pitch was terrible up in Wigan, the rugby lines were still clearly visible on the pitch but it was still not a surface fit for that sport. A few minutes after Adebayor’s chance, Bendtner got free down the left hand side of the box and was getting ready to square the ball in when he completely missed the ball with a massive air-shot. The replay showed that the ball was bobbling around all over the place thanks to the pitch making it impossible for Nick to strike the ball.

The opening 10 minutes or so weren’t bad, we hadn’t got an early goal but we looked on course to break Kirkland’s clean sheet.

However half time came and it was still 0-0. We’d had most of the possession but we couldn’t really work an opening. Wigan had a couple of chances of their own but you had to say we were on top. We still had another half to score thought so I wasn’t too worried at this point.

We nearly scored early in the second half; a couple of goalmouth scrambles were cleared and Wigan were safe again. The game was becoming increasingly frustrating to watch. As time ticked on I was just hanging on to that slip belief that we could get that late goal.

After 66 minutes Wenger decided we needed a change. Robin van Persie got his first League appearance since God knows how long ago, he came on for an uninspiring Bendtner. Nick has a habit of scoring late, important goals though but Arsene decided to put van Persie on anyway. Kolo Toure also returned from injury replacing Gilberto Silva who has completely had it. It’s really sad to see a player play so badly, a player that most of the Arsenal fans loved. He looks past it, a great contrast from the performances he saw last year. Toure came on at right midfield, which shows the extent of our problems.

The substitutions didn’t really change anything, I thought the introduction of van Persie might inspire some decent football but nothing happened. Robin had a decent chance with a free kick, but it was smashed over the bar.

In the last few minutes Fabregas found himself free in the box, 6 yards out but Kirkland reacted quickly stopping Cesc from slotting the ball underneath him.

At the whistle it ended up a very disappointing 0-0. I asked before the game for a ‘San Siro performance’ but it was nowhere near that quality yesterday; you have to blame it on the Champions League hangover I guess. Yesterday was the day we came crashing down to earth and we’re really going to have to work at our league form. It looks like that match at Old Trafford next month will be a decisive one.

Arsene’s got a week to sort the players out before we face Middlesbrough this weekend. If we don’t win that then we’re really on a bad run. ‘Boro got outclassed by Cardiff this weekend so we should really win, shouldn’t we? Build up to come this week.