Match Report: Vfb Stuttgart 1-3 Arsenal

German giants Vfb Stuttgart welcomed the Gunners to the renaming of their stadium with another sell-out crowd. Arsenal, wearing in their new 1989 league-winning-season-themed yellow away kit, had a strong starting eleven for the first time since the beginning of their pre-season fixtures, including established players like William Gallas and Robin van Persie.

We also got to see Samir Nasri in an Arsenal shirt for the first time as well as Eboue in an unfamiliar central midfield role. Stuttgart fielded a strong starting eleven, just like Arsenal, with a wealth of seasoned internationals.

Stuttgart Starting XI

Lehmann

Tasci – Boka – Boulahrouz – Delpierre

Hilbert – Hitzlsperger – Pardo – Simak

Gomez - Marica

Arsenal Starting XI

Almunia

Sagna – Djourou – Gallas – Clichy

Walcott – Eboue – Denilson – Nasri

van Persie – Adebayor

First Half

The first half started out quite trembling from both sides. We had to wait until the 11th minute until the first proper chance appeared. Adebayor slipped a ball to van Persie who then tried to chip the ball over Lehmann from only a few yards distance. The very next Arsenal attack Nasri showed a bit of class when he played a good ball to Adebayor who was, quite clumsily, caught offside. The assistant referee sure had his work cut out for himself during the first 45 minutes.

Stuttgart’s only attacking threat seemed to be long balls up towards Mario Gomez, who scored 19 league goals last season, but nothing quite turned to fruition. It seemed to be a frustrating half for Adebayor as well who showed his ‘rustiness’ with some poor touches.

The Bundesliga sides first real chance came in the 17th minute when Djourou lost his concentration and Marica ran onto a through ball only to be denied by Almunia. Two successive corners followed that without any end product. Some nice build-up play from Arsenal in the next attack saw Nasri smash a volley over the bar from just outside the box after a cushioned header back from Adebayor.

Walcott looked full of confidence throughout the game and played a ball through for van Persie, he showed a glimpse of what a good player he is when he cut the ball back for the oncoming Walcott inside the box but Lehmann pulled off an incredible save to Walcott’s shot to keep the score level.

van Persie kept on going very deep, sometimes even inside Arsenal’s half, when we kept possession. He got the ball, held off a number of defenders in the middle of the pitch before playing the best pass of the game to Walcott once again who couldn’t convert the good opportunity.

Second Half

Three changes were made by Wenger for the second half. Bendtner, Vela and Fabianski came on, replacing van Persie, Adebayor and Almunia respectively.

Stuttgart started in a more positive fashion now, with Gomez getting a good chance in the 47th minute, but he couldn’t keep his header on target. Just a minute later he let fly from distance but the shot went far wide.

In the 50th minute Vela picked up the ball and ran at the ‘Die Roten’s’ defence and managed to earn Arsenal a free-kick. Nasri, who also took all the corners in the first half, took it and picked out Bendtner at the far post but the Dane couldn’t get his effort on target.

Stuttgart would take the lead in the 51st minute though when Bastürk slotted home between the legs of Gallas. It looked far too easy, a great counter attack from the Germans but they really should’ve been closed down during the build up.

Goal – Yildiray Bastürk, 51

Arsenal did respond though, Bendtner had a header denied in the 54th minute after a good Arsenal attack. Just minutes later Bendtner would combine with Vela. Vela showed a glimpse of what Wenger meant when he called him “an Eduardo-type player”, because he kept his composure when he went around Lehmann and comfortably placed the ball into the net from a pretty narrow angle.

Goal – Carlos Vela, 58

In the 61st minute Arsenal made further substitutions when Wilshere, who has impressed so far during pre-season, came on for Nasri and Ramsey replaced Eboue in central midfield.

Shortly after that Bendtner and Vela combine again, this time Vela made the assist when he chipped a lovely little ball through for Bendtner who headed the ball past Boulahrouz and slotted the ball past Lehmann.

Goal – Nicklas Bendtner, 65

What a pair these two seem to make. Vela was in the middle of the action once again in the 70th minute after he got to the end of a rebound of a deflected shot, but in the end it was a comfortable save by Lehmann.

In the 72nd minute we started to recogonize Arsenal and their way of playing when they kept possession in Stuttgart’s half for a longer period of time. Clichy recieved the ball on the edge of the box and he twisted and turned with tenacity to get away from two defenders and then sent a cross into the box where Jack Wilshere was totally unmarked. He controlled the ball on his chest before putting a low shot into the back of the net. Lehmann had no chance.

Goal – Jack Wilshere, 73

Clichy and Sagna started to get involved in the attacks more now, which added another dimension to Arsenal’s play. Clichy didn’t look like a fullback at times anymore, especially not when he twisted and turned in Stuttgart’s penalty box before pulling off a shot. It looked like he really wanted to get a goal, but unfortunately now was not the time to get it.

Further changes were made with 5 minutes to go. Lansbury replaced Denilson and Simpson replaced the impressive Carlos Vela.

Stuttgart tried to pull one back and almost got their second goal after a corner, but Fabianski could somehow save the very poor finish from a Stuttgart player from only 5 yards out.

The final whistle blew and Arsenal get an hard fought win over stern oppostition who were, by far, the toughest opponents yet this pre-season.

Player Ratings

Almunia - 6 – He had very little to do, looked confident as the new No. 1.

Sagna – 6 – Not at all as influential as we are used to, no errros though.

Gallas – 6 – Didn’t combine too well with Djourou, but he did a decent game.

Djourou – 5 – Looked a bit clumsy at times.

Clichy – 7 – Defensively he didn’t do his best game, but his will to attack in the 2nd half was great. Got an assist and nearly got a goal.

Walcott - 7 – Started off with a few bad touches and such, but he shaped up and put in a good performance. He gave Stuttgart problems with his pace.

Eboue – 5 – Not at all as bad as you could think. Didn’t do much, so the rating can’t be higher than this for a central midfielder in Arsenal.

Denilson – 6 – Looked ambitious and kept on falling deep to pick up the balls and distribute them. However, he is no Fabregas and that became very obvious today.

Nasri – 6 – Very confident with the ball, he did what you could demand from him on his debut. I expect more from him in the future though, but I have no doubts that those expectations will be met.

van Persie – 7 – The best player of the first half. Could’ve had 2 assists. Shame he was taken off, I’m sure he would’ve got a goal to his name.

Adebayor – 4 – Poor first touch, lost the ball too often and didn’t create that much apart from the occasional link up with van Persie. I think he will get better the more he plays though, it’s only pre-season after all.

Subs:

Fabianski – 6,5 – He couldn’t do much to stop the goal. He came out and did some important clearances. His best performance in an Arsenal shirt so far.

Vela - 7,5 – He is already ready for the premiership. Played well together with Bendtner. Future star in the making.

Bendtner – 7 – No poor first touch this time. Good goal and he played well together with Vela. Possible Carling Cup-striking pair? I think so.

Wilshere – 7 – He had a tougher time this time against older, heavier and stronger players. He looked very ambitious every time he got the ball though and always tried to create something. Kept his head and scored a great goal.

Ramsey – 7 – He was better than Denilson in my opinion. No sloppy passing.

Randall – 4 – Another bad performance. He only played for a short while but still made quite a few errors, giving the ball away. He needs to shape up if he wants to be involved in the first team.

G. Hoyte – 5 – had very little to do.

Simpson – 5 – Only played last 5 minutes.

Lansbury – 5 – See above.

Gooner Talk’s Man of the Match – Carlos Vela

The Mexican always looked like a threat to Stuttgart’s tough defence. He linked up surprisingly well with Bendtner and showed no signs of problems with adaption. The question is if he can replicate this kind of performance in the Premier League.

Tags: Adebayor, arsenal, Eboue, Germany, Stuttgart, van Persie