The last 10 minutes made up for the first 80 minutes. And man… the first 80 minutes were hard to watch. Very frustrating seeing our boys flop about like that. Our beautiful flowing game was only seen in glimpses. I know it was only Wigan, as some people say, but they are a team that has something to prove to the new boss, and I knew they weren’t just going to roll over. Who in the Premier League does? After 30 minutes I had this sinking feeling that we might wind up nil-nil. But as they’ve shown time and time again… it ain’t over until it’s over.

Despite the depleted side, the Gunners dug deep to find their game and make it all happen in the end. After 83 minutes of pure frustration, they ricocheted the ball around for a bit up the left, looking like their old selves, then got the ball out wide right to Bacary Sagna who put a picture perfect cross in front of William Gallas (recently made more aerodynamic and vertically stabilized with that bad ass new haircut) who headed home to break the stalemate. For some reason, it felt as though that was the precise moment that William truly became a Gunner. I know he’s been here for a while and he’s the captain and all. But that goal seemed to put him firmly and inextricably within the fold. He’s not Bill from Chelski anymore. He’s William The Conqueror and he’s all Arsenal.

Well, then Wigan had to attack. Poor bastards. And I knew all game that if they had the testicular fortitude to open up and play forward, even a depleted Arsenal side would make them pay… and we did. The 7′9″ Nick Bendtner broke free, had himself a fun time threading his way through pretty much all of Wigans midfield and back line, and then flipped a nice pass out to Tomas Rosicky who took a touch and then clanged one in off the far post for the deal sealer. Beautiful work on both their part. All who were out there did quite well, but I can’t help wonder how they game would have went if the squad that ended the game had been the one who started. But, I do not question Le Boss within his hearing, lest he turn a disdainful nostril in my direction.

Ahhh, the Prem is back. International break sucks, have I said that before? Well, I suppose I might have. But it does. Oh, and Man U got beaten by Bolton. Bol-ton. And Man City were held to a draw. What a great fucking weekend.

Missed this one, but just caught the news. If what I read was correct, the Gunners put in another command performance, with Mathieu Flamini, Emmanuel Adebayor and Alexandre Hleb all finding the nylon. Back to the top of the table. Love it, love it, love it. Next up, Wigan at Ashburton Grove.

By the time I got the streaming for this one working, I caught the final whistle. I shit you not. I only managed to see AW heading for the tunnel and the Sky announcer saying that holding Arsenal to a goalless draw was the game of the year for Slavia. Whatever… I guess our light squad didn’t have it or just didn’t want to expend the effort. Either way, a draw sees us through to the final 16 knock-out stage, with two games left to play in the group. Well done, Gunners. I imagine we’ll be sending light squads to those last two games as well. If not, certainly with instructions to take it easy and don’t get injured. We’ll see. Up to Madejski for Reading next Monday.

I had to sit on this post for two days before writing it. Had I posted immediately after the game, it would have come with a disclaimer about the filthy language you were about to read. But, more on that later… let’s focus on the positive.

Most are saying that a point is “ok” when you play Manchester United. I don’t disagree entirely, but I am slightly disappointed with the result. Honestly, on almost every level that the match could be measured, I feel Arsenal were the better side. Perhaps not by much, in some cases… but they looked and fought more like champions than United. If you think about it, we scored one of their goals for them. That ball from Rooney was heading straight for Almunia when it took the deflection off Gallas’ arm.

I was surprised at how conservative the play was from both sides in the first half. I really expected our boys to meet with an offensive tidal wave from the whistle and send one right back, but it didn’t happen. That all changed in the second half though. An early goal from Cesc Fabregas after the excellent Bacary Sagna set him up sent the message: Game On, Bitches. We still seemed to control possession fairly well, but United still looked dangerous here and there. And, they proved that to be true 8 minutes from time. Rooney may not have gotten credit for the first one, but there was no denying Ronaldo’s little flick into the net. He made that one happen. His smug little display on the ground was painful to watch, though. He’s a damn fine footballer I have to admit, but I really dislike his personality. It must be hell hanging out with someone like him. Speaking of assholes, I’ve got Pink Cards for Ronaldo, Evra and Anderson. Despite the fact that they’re all great footballers and that they are defending champions, they somehow still feel the need to dive and roll around on the ground feigning injury. It’s too bad, because there are a lot of great players on your team who don’t deserve teammates who do shit like that. Particularly Anderson this time around. What a pitiful display just before the half. Cesc obviously made a bad tackle, the official saw it, Cesc admitted it, the yellow card came out immediately, yet… there’s Anderson rolling around like he just had both his feet lopped off. You silly little bitch… if you’re going to cheat, at least learn when to do it. Ask Ronaldo, he’ll have pointers for you, you fucking amateur.

No matter… William The Conqueror redeemed himself with only moments to spare and we kept our place atop the Premiership. I can’t believe that judge at the corner spotted that ball behind the line in real time, but thankfully he did. I have to say, three points would have sent a better message, but the one sent was just as good. The Gunners are not fooling around this year. If you want that trophy again Sir Alex, you’re going to have to fight us every step of the way. See you in April.

Ah, The Blades… ye ain’t what ye used to be. I miss the days when Uncle Neil would come to town and play. The Prem needs characters like Neil, and I hope he comes back up someday. Although, currently it looks as though he’ll be riding yet another rele-bus down to League 1. Can’t blame this one on Teves. FFS, Neil… 11 of 39 points? When Birmingham calls next year, take the job. Anyway… if I remember correctly, The Blades took 3 points off us the last time we met. Well, not this time.

For this match, as I suspected earlier he would to rest his players, Le Boss went with the quite obscure 1-1 formation, with Emma Byrne between the sticks, and Vic Akers covering the entire outfield. Emma split her time evenly between pacing to and fro, inspecting her gloves and leaning on one post with her arms folded. Meanwhile, Vic continuously threaded his way up and down the other side of the pitch in a beige blur, completely frustrating the Sheffield midfield and back line. Winning quadruples just isn’t enough for these two, evidently. No injuries, no cards, and no one came off the bench. This proved enough to bring home a convincing 3 goal win. It might have been 4 goals, but Vic was beginning to show fatigue in the last 6 or 7 minutes. Well done, you two. We’re on to the quarter finals.