4 Positives Wenger Will Take From Arsenal’s Impressive 3-0 Win At Cardiff

Arsenal cruised to a 3-0 win over Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon. Here, Gunner333 gives us 4 positives taken from the game.

In Arsenal’s first league visit to the Welsh capital in just over half-a-century, the Gunners locked horns with a Cardiff side which have already beaten Man City this season and which, just last week, held United at home. An in-form Aaron Ramsey returned to his boy-hood club, where he played his first game aged 16.

The earliest chance came in the opening minute, when Jack Wilshere came so close to repeating his midweek opener against Marseille. A string of passes involving himself and Ramsey, resulted in the Englishman rattling the cross-bar from distance.

Cardiff responded moments later with Theophile-Catherine’s excellent cross being nodded wide by Fraizer Campbell. Whilst another just went begging at the other end as Olivier Giroud was played on-side when he was actually off, only to stop with the ball at his feet and fluff the chance. A signal that perhaps the Frenchman lacks that goal-scoring instinct held by other Arsenal legends of the past.

The break-through did come though for the away side, Aaron Ramsey opening the scoring against his former club with a expertly-placed header from a pacey Ozil cross. No celebration from the Welshman causing a flurry of applause from the Cardiff fans.

The Gunners created another opportunity in the opening stages of the second half, Giroud thought he had finished off an excellent passing move only to be denied by the Cardiff Keeper.

Arsenal finally doubled their lead through a wondrous strike from an unlikely goal scorer – Matthieu Flamini unleashing a rifle of a strike after driving into the box from his usual holding position. Ozil once-again providing the assist.

Cardiff attempted to pull a goal back but were caught on the counter when ex-Bluebird Ramsey smashed the ball into the top corner of the net from close-range. Final score; Cardiff City 0-3 Arsenal.

Here I will yet again analyse four positives I noticed from a solid performance;

1) Brilliance All Over The Pitch

Often in matches won by this margin, it takes an excellent all-round team display, and while Ramsey played a hugely important role, this was certainly the case for Arsenal on Saturday. Arteta was a rock at the heart of midfield and his dirty work allowed Ramsey, and later Flamini, to burst forward when they wanted to. Giroud also worked hard to consistently hold up the ball to release our ‘number 10s’ which allowed fluid attacks.

Szczesny made a number of crucial saves and has recently being exhibiting wondrous confidence.  I continue to rave about our back-line also,  the same defence was selected as the Southampton game, same result – a clean sheet. This was a proper team performance from the boys.

2) Slick Passing

We haven’t been at our slick best in recent weeks but we showed signs of our one-touch passing ability in this game. Despite playing away from home at a tough ground, we had the confidence to stick to our passing game and play our way through the Cardiff team.  Ozil chipped in with two sublime assists but all game the players were stroking the ball about the pitch with confidence, which was great to see.

3) Maturing Players

In recent years Wenger has been criticised for playing a side full of youth but now this gamble looks to be paying off. Each of the once young-guns have evolved into matured footballers. Ramsey certainly showed this on Saturday through scoring  two rather difficult chances and by not celebrating against his former team.

Szczesny, as mentioned, is improving greatly between the sticks and made one match-winning save with the score at 1-1. To add to this, Gibbs has transformed into a first-team regular at full-back and we have several other players who are just coming to the peak of their careers.

4) Arteta The Anchor

The ageing Spaniard is commonly the dictator of our passing game and he is now playing in a holding role due to his lack of mobility when playing in a more advanced position. Together with Flamini, he neutralised the threat of our opposition and used his range of passing ability to set up attacks. His excellent performance as the midfield anchor was key to coming away with the three points.

Thanks for reading and I’m sure I speak for all Gooners when I wish all my best to Arsenal legend Pat Rice.