4 Interesting Facts & Stats Following Arsenal’s Win Over Hull

Arsenal eased past Hull City 2-0 at the Emirates on Wednesday night. Here, Gunner333 gives us some thoughts on the game.

The Gunners welcomed a resurgent Hull City side to the Emirates, with the visitors fresh from a weekend victory over Liverpool. City were looking to emulate this success but the in-form London club boasted the likes of Ozil, Ramsey and  Cazorla in their starting eleven.

It took very little time indeed for the Gunners to take the lead as a brilliant ball played down the line from Ramsey was followed up by a sublime delivery into the box by Carl Jenkinson, which was nodded home by a rather unusual goal scorer – Nicklas Bendtner pouncing to grab his first since early 2011.

This looked to have set up a game of dominance from the home team with a flurry of possession and Bruce’s side looking unable to venture out of their own half. The great Dane up top had an opportunity to seal a brace but was let down by a poor first touch after he pounced on a spill following Ozil’s effort.

Hull keeper McGregor was playing well and denied both Ramsey and Koscielny in the first half as the Gunners went in 1-0 up at the break.

Similar to the start of the game, it took very little time for Arsenal to open their account in the second half. Ramsey once again involved, sending Mesut Ozil clear with a sublime through-ball, with the German confidently dispatched the chance for 2-0.

A rare mistake in the Gunners midfield nearly set up Jake Livermore but nothing came of it and few further opportunities were conjured up by the away side. Full time and yet another impressive victory in a truly fantastic season so far for Arsenal.

Here I will analyse what was a brilliant result with a few statistics and their meanings:

1) Great in the Air: 5 Headed Goals from 7 Headers on target

In recent seasons our physical lacking has been heavily criticised. We often shy away from knocking the ball into the box and instead play it around the area first. But why do we with heading like this? Surely with two forwards of Giroud and Bendnter’s ability in the air, we should take advantage and get more balls into the danger zone? Bendtner’s goal showed what we can do if the deliver is right.

2) Strong Back-Line: 5 Clean Sheets in Last 6 League Matches

I often rave about our defensive four and the proof is in the pudding. With the only other game of the six having one conceded (1-0 to Man Utd), Steve Bould’s influence as assistant manager is proving wonders as his defensive knowledge  continues to shine through our back-line. The added stat of a clinical Szzczesny racking up the highest save percentage this campaign (81%) we look formidable at one end of the field.

3) Attacking Psychology Changing: A Quarter of our Attempts came from Outside the Box

Here it is once again clear to see that we have undergone a rather rapid change to our more recent footballing style. We’d often restrict ourselves from trying more ambitious efforts from distance, to delve forwards with neat passes and find a more logical way through. All night we looked threatening and occasionally took a punt from distance which on another day may have come to something. With the likes of Ramsey and Cazorla often having strikes at goal from distance, it seems we’re willing to try our luck more this season.

4) Mesut the Magician: German has Most Assists in league (6)

Considering his big-money move came a few games into the season, it’s a real achievement for Ozil to already have six assists to his name, while he racked up four goals with his effort against Hull. Perhaps it was rather obvious that he’d be effective in the final third when we signed him, but after being given a bit of stick recently maybe he needs reminding just how productive he’s been in such a short space of time.

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