It was almost poetic justice that the Arsenal dark arts on display in yesterday’s 3-2 win came against the side that Troy Deeney once played for.
The former Hornet famously described Arsenal as a team lacking ‘cojones’ but there is nothing but edge to what Mikel Arteta has instilled in his side. The Gunners moved up to fourth in the table after recording four wins back-to-back in the league for the second time this season.
The Arsenal sides of old admittedly did lack the street smarts of the game and with the number of poor officiating decisions surrounding the club this season, the Gunners have needed to take more control over their own progression.
Yet another penalty claim was denied in yesterday’s win as Alexandre Lacazette was fouled inside the area. A decision that would be given anywhere else on the field, just not in the box for Arsenal.
However, thankfully the brilliance of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard secured all three points despite the refereeing error.
Yet what stood out throughout was again Arsenal’s ability to frustrate their opponents with tactics to gain some reprieve and eat up valuable seconds.
Some may not like this, but frankly, it has become a part of the game and fine margins separate sides from success and failure.
Cucho Hernandez throwing the ball frustratedly into the chest of Tierney with mere minutes left, prompted the tough Scotsman to fall to the ground before getting up to goad the Watford goalscorer.
The action wasted extra seconds and took the pressure off. Gabriel Magalhaes was also lightly clipped by Moussa Sissoko but ensured he too maximised the effects of the collision to win a foul and eat up more diminishing seconds.
There are no more ‘good guys’ in football. Every team from champions Manchester City to relegation battlers Norwich will deploy all the tricks of the trade to ensure maximum points are assured. There’s no prize for fair play, or at least there’s no prize that matters anywhere near as much as silverware and a top-four finish to qualify for the Champions League.
Against Wolves, when the European hopefuls themselves were wasting time, Granit Xhaka had no issue pushing Raul Jimenez off the field of play as Bruno Lage tried to deploy some shadiness of his own with a mistaken substitute.
The irony being the wasted time gave Arsenal enough minutes to win the match in glorious ironic fashion.
The result is that Arsenal are now solid favourites to reach the fourth spot in the table and with the youngest average side in the table. The quality of the football has improved, the goalscoring potential has gone up but the club are taking no chances and are clearly willing to do everything possible to get there.
Mental fragility is looking like an old memory for the Gunners and it is a welcome absence.
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