This was a comfortable victory over a tired and injury plagued West Ham side. We scored both of our goals early, our first coming in the opening couple of minutes by way of Eduardo. We boast a fantastic record when scoring first as it forces the opposition to come at us in search of an equalizer. We still of course had to be wary, scoring two early goals is not always a blessing in disguise as was seen when we played Sunderland. You have to stay switched on. If your opponents claw one back then they find their momentum and it’s a lot easier to score a second. I thought it important that we score a third but we didn’t need to. West Ham had their share of chances but particularly in the second half they failed to give us cause for concern and at no point in the game did I think we ought to shift into second gear.
We head into 2008 top of the table, leading Manchester United barely, owed to them losing 2-1 to West Ham in The Hammer’s last fixture. I couldn’t be more surprised than anyone to tell you the truth. Don’t get me wrong, I have confidence in Arsenal and Arsene Wenger but few can have predicted that we would improve so much in so little time. I didn’t see it as the doom’s day or downward spiral that some did nor did I think the departure of Thierry Henry would have too negative an influence but I didn’t believe either that we would be where we are at this stage of the season - genuinely up there with a title fighting chance.
Eduardo, our Brazilian born, Croatian international striker is finally coming to life. Five goals in our last three games tells you he’s adapted. I’m not saying fully but he’s certainly now at a stage where he’s going to be giving Arsene serious selection headaches once Van Persie returns to full fitness. He’s a natural finisher, a real goal poacher whose contribution is mainly that, goals. I feel that’s something we have been lacking, a player who can be the difference in a difficult game, even when we aren’t playing well. The Everton game is an excellent example of that.
Adebayor was the scorer of our second, finding the net from what seemed an impossible angle, showing composure that he so clearly didn’t have on his side last season.
Onwards and upwards. We’ve finished the Christmas season in good shape, largely unscathed despite not always putting in a convincing performance and remain league leaders. Let’s hope we can repeat our form of 2007 in 2008.
Happy new year!
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