Defeat was not pleasant, especially in a derby. Without the opportunity to watch the match I would refrain from commenting on the performance of the home team.
It was just the decision taken by Arsene Wenger to rest the in form Per Mertersacker for the match was a bit baffling given the BFG's good performance in all the matches he has played this season.
Perhaps, he was influenced by the absence of a certain Ivorian who is now plying his trade in the Chinese Super League. However the partnership of Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen did not perform up to expectation. Both of them had a hand in all the two goals conceded.
The skipper conceded the two set-pieces that led to the goals while Kos failed to deal with the high ball delivered into the box, allowing Ferdy Torres to hook the ball past Vito Mannone.
Gervinho equalised with a sharp finish a few minutes before the interval. The Ivorian certainly proved his worth in front of goal this season, swiveling to turn Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pass from he flank past Petr Cech.
However, The Gunners were undone again less than ten minutes into the second half with Koscielny once again failed to deal with another delivery into the box by Juan Mata who was credited with the goal.
I believe that Mannone should have taken charge of the situation by coming out as the ball was delivered at his goal. But it was a difficult free-kick to defend and the defence has get their call right. Unfortunately for Arsenal, everybody got it wrong.
Lukasz Podolski forced a really good save from Cech. His looping header was destined for the top corner until the goalkeeper managed to claw it away. Cech again came into the picture when he pushed away a deflected Olivier Giroud's deflected shot.
The Frenchman then missed another opportunity to level the score when he was put through by The Ox but he could not find the target with his shot. It was a costly miss as the ones with the monies walked away with all three points.
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