Twice. That’s how many times –prior to today- that Robin Van Persie had failed to score or assist in an Arsenal win this season. Once at home, back in Gameweek 4 in a 1-0 win over Swansea, and once on the road, in a 2-1 triumph at Sunderland in Gameweek 25. With the Gunners on a six-match winning run coming into today’s game with Villa, confidence in the Dutchman was high; we’d handed him the armband in our droves, with 46% of all votes in the Captain Poll, double that of Wayne Rooney’s 23%.
Today’s 3-0 win at the Emirates extended the Gunners’ winning streak to seven games but it was the midfielders who stole the show; Mikel Arteta and Theo Walcott grabbed a goal apiece, while Alex Song provided a pair of assists.
There’s no doubt Van Persie’s blank – the first time since Gameweek 5 he has failed to score in back-to-back Gameweeks- hands the advantage firmly to Rooney this Monday evening. Those of us who have the United man, but failed to captain him, are now caught in a quandary as the champions take on travel-sick Fulham; willing Rooney to do well but, at the same time, not to run riot and rub our noses in it, with the rarity of an unreliant Robin perhaps proving pivotal in many a mini-league standing this week.
Swansea’s defeat at home to Everton also threw us a curveball, making a mockery of both form and fixture. With three clean sheets in a row, Brendan Rodgers’ backline was widely expected to produce defensive returns in this afternoon’s Liberty Stadium showdown. The Toffees spoiled our Fantasy plans, though, notching twice in an away for the first time since November; Leighton Baines netted for the first time this calendar year as the Swans’ wings were well and truly clipped.
Elsewhere, Wigan ruined the clean sheet hopes of Liverpool defenders in a shock 2-1 win at Anfield. With a single win in their last fourteen, Roberto Martinez’s side looked to have little chance of victory; Liverpool would surely bounce back from their midweek defeat at Loftus Road, right? Maybe the shock of Luis Suarez’s first home goal since Gameweek 15 stunned the hosts but yet another inept display from the Carling Cup winners saw them taste defeat for the fifth time in six. Daniel Agger’s return from a rib injury can’t come sooner for Kenny Dalgish.
In a weekend filled with the unexpected, then, it was left to Bolton to put a positive spin on the day’s events. Only this time last week, many of us had watched on as Fabrice Muamba lay motionless in the White Hart Lane turf after collapsing in the FA Cup clash with Spurs. Prior to kick-off, the club paid tribute to the midfielder’s remarkable, and continued, recovery over the last few days and, in an emotional match on Lancashire, the Trotters 2-1 derby win over Blackburn hauled them out of the relegation zone and proved a fitting end to what has been an extraordinary last seven days for everyone at the Reebok.
