Arsenal 2 - Fulham 1. Improvements needed.

The new season has finally started and we've started with a win. A win that wasn't convincing at all. A win that showed everyone that there is lot of work to be done, on different fronts.

The starting lineup was the same which everyone expected with us playing a 4-4-1-1 with Hleb playing behind Van Persie. New man Eduardo Silva was dropped from the squad after a knee injury.

The first goal was scored by Fulham in the first minute, when Jens Lehmann tried to act smart on the ball. He received a back pass from Clichy and tried to pass it back to him even when Healy was in the way. He should have passed to Sagna, he didn't and went off-balance while trying to pass and made a real mess of it. Healy was left with the job to tuck the ball into the net and he did it without any mistake. So it was 1-0 to Fulham even before everyone had taken their seat.

From then on, it was the same old story. Arsenal trying to equalize only to miss several chances. Rosicky had a good chance after some good work by Hleb, but he dragged his shot wide. Another chance fell to Rosciky after some work on the right by Sagna and again the ball ended up on the wrong side of the net. Many chances followed and it looked like we were without any improvement on the finishing department.

Fulham meanwhile was not defending all the time, they had some pretty good chances and if they were taken the result would have turned out as something else. Our defense looked out of sorts on several occasions as their strikers were left unmarked at times.

The first half ended with a 1-0 scoreline and Arsenal continued their pursuit for the equalizer. Again there were so many chances. They fell to Hleb, Fabregas, Van Persie and Rosicky. But none of them were converted. Then when it looked like we'll be having another bad opening day, Toure went on a great run only to be blocked by Bocanegra. A penalty was awarded and Van Persie stepped up to convert it.
Then in the injury time we got a winner; from Alex Hleb who controlled a lofted ball from Fabregas to slot it home. Emirates erupted with joy and i can't explain how much happy I was.
The detailed match report is here.

Wenger in his post match interview commented that the team showed great fighting spirit and claimed that this was a result that could change a team's season.
He had an interesting comment about Hleb playing behind Van Persie.

"Hleb is doing very well in there, I felt that sometimes Van Persie was a bit isolated, when Bendtner came on and was supporting him it was a bit easier. But sometimes it depends on the games."

It was true that RvP looked isolated at times, and i definitely felt like we were missing Adebayor's presence. His work rate will only help RvP.

The first match brought to light many of our weaknesses and showed that we lacked a lot to compete for major trophies.
First, Eboue was just ok at right wing and it was definitely showing that we need a new winger. Someone who play very well in that position rather than just an ok performance.
Second, We need to improve the defense. Sagna seems to be solid, but the Toure-Gallas partnership was as shaky as ever. There were many occasions when our defending looked dreadful due to lack of communication.
Third, we are still very inefficient in using the set pieces. Nobody runs towards the ball and there isnt any determined attempt to head the ball.
Fourth, Jens needs to cut out his mistakes and improve his concentration.

Now onto plus points, Hleb looks great at the center, just behind the striker. He created a lot of chances, worked hard and showed good determination. He deserved his goal and i feel if he gets that role more, we'll see more goals from him.
Sagna looks solid at the back. He links up well with the wingers and looks like he has settled in no time.
Bendtner looks like he'll be very useful. He won several Aerial balls and showed immense power and determination to hold off the defenders after he came on. He might come very hand in those away matches when the opponent just tries to knock us out of the game.

In other matches, Chelsea and liverpool won their matches against Birmingham and Aston Villa. And Spuds lost against Sunderland. Serves them right.