Arsenal 3-0 Aston Villa – 27/12/09 – (Premier League) 28 December, 2009

I said before that game that the inclusion of Cesc Fabregas would make all the difference but I didn’t think he would be such a massive influence! All the talk before the game was whether he would be fit enough to start or not. In the end he made the bench but came off it for a fantastic 27-minute cameo in the second half.

The starting line-up was as expected really, a shame no Fabregas but still some exciting talent in there. In the opening few minutes we had two great chances to take a very early lead. Firstly a cross fell deep to the feet of Vermaelen but the shot went across the face of the goal. Then Diaby broke through into the box and squared it for Eduardo, he turned his man but the shot was weak and was easily saved. Eduardo should really be putting that away but it was only the 3rd minute so I let him off.

Villa soon got into the game though and showed they weren’t just here to make up the numbers. Both sides looked well up for it though and were sort of cancelling each other out. There were chances in the first half but nothing worth shouting about. There were a few headers just off target and some optimistic shots but nothing worthy of a goal.

I thought 0-0 was pretty fair for half time. It hadn’t been exactly a boring half but something had to be changed, something special was missing. I said to my mate at the break that ‘the something special missing’ was Cesc and I was hoping that we would see him in the second half.

I didn’t have to wait long. Arsene made no chances at the break, waiting to see how the second half started but a back problem to Denilson meant it was time for him to call it a day so Fabregas replaced him in the 56th minute.

He said afterwards that it was a gamble bringing Fabregas on but a gamble he was willing to take. He thought the change was necessary to win the game. Arsene said he knows Song is off to the African Nations Cup and with Denilson coming off injured it could leave us short but he said it was ‘instinctive’.

His impact was immediate. He galvanized the team and we really looked a much more confident and capable side with Fabregas in there. Arshavin sprang into life at the captain’s introduction and the two were linking well.

However it was a sublime piece of individual skill from Cesc that gave us the lead. He won a free kick on the edge of the box when he was brought to the ground after a good run. He stepped up to take it and curled it perfectly over the wall and inside the post leaving Brad Friedel no chance. Everyone went mental including Fabregas, what a goal! It was quite similar to Denilson’s last week and from a team that never scores direct free kicks we’ve got two in two weeks.

We kept the pressure on after the first goal and quarter of an hour later Fabregas doubled our lead. Traore put Walcott down the right who went sprinting towards goal. Cesc had carried on his run too and showed great pace and determination to stay ahead of the defenders. Theo played a nice little ball into his feet and Cesc put it inside the near post past Friedel.

No such celebrations for the captain this time though, he got up and was worryingly limping around clutching his hamstring. It doesn’t surprise me he aggravated his injury making that run but it shows great commitment from him, even in that pain he knew how important the second goal was so just kept going.

That was his last involvement and was replaced by Ramsey. A shame it had to end that way but what a half hour he had. He won the game single-handed for us and that’s why we love him so much. He’ll now face two or three weeks out but luckily we’ve got no massive games in that time. He should be back for our tricky run of games starting at the end of January – Villa (a), United (h), Chelsea (a), Liverpool (h) and Porto (a). Ouch.

Right at the end Diaby made it 3-0 with a fine solo effort. He picked up the ball just inside Aston Villa’s half and drove towards goal, he saw a gap and just drove through it skipping past the defence before finishing nicely. Another great goal from Diaby to cap off another good performance. Lets hope he can continue this form, especially with our current midfield situation.

So 3-0 it ended up. Maybe a little harsh on Villa in terms of how the game went but I think it represents us well in terms of that little bit extra we have over Villa. At the end of the day the better side won and we made a good account for ourselves yesterday.

Next up it’s Portsmouth away on Wednesday night, lets try keep this run going.