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If there was ever an English Premier League side that needed to make a statement on Saturday it was the Arsenal Gunners.
Led by Dutch forward Robin van Persie’s hat trick – which was something right out of the popular video game, FIFA Soccer ’12– The Gunners apprear ro be back where they belong-near the top of the table.
Once 17th on the EPL table, the Gunners—thanks in part to their 5-3 win over Chelsea— have performed their best Halloween impression and risen from the dead and up to fifth behind London derby rival, Tottenham.
The Gunners who have been decimated with both early injuries and transfer defections of former captain Cesc Fabragas to FC Barcelona and both Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri to league rival, Manchester City.
Arsenal would get off to a slow start at 0-4-1—hightlighted the most humiliating defeat in the storied club’s history at the hands 19-time champion, Manchester United, 8-2 at Old Trafford.
The debacle at United may have been a blessing in disguise as it would finally force the conservative and stubborn Gunner manager Arsene Wenger to dip into the transfer market.
Once stocked up with their new transfer pick-ups, Mikel Arteta, Andre Santos, Per Mertesacker, Yossi Benayoun and J.Y. Park, the Gunners would finally begin to turn things around.
The Gunners would score big Champions League wins over clubs, Marseille and Olympiacos and win Carling Cup matches against Shrewsbury and Bolton.
Arsenal would also tie German Bundesliga side, Borussia Dortmund, 1-1 in a Champions League match. The Gunners would return to Premier League action with resounding wins over Stoke City and Bolton.
Going into the North London showdown at Stamford Bridge, Arsenal has long been derided by both the relentless British media and rival fans for the lack of trophies in North London.
While Arsenal has the English record for longest uninterrupted run in the top flight of English soccer at 93 years, the Gunners recent travails may have finally given them the resolve that they need in order to win one.
The Gunners have also taken heat for a long time in not being able to beat the other members of the “Big Four”—Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool. Since last year, Arsenal has defeated all three, but still cannot seem to solve La Liga side, FC Barcelona in the Champions League.
For the Gunners, they were able to silence the critic’s premature reports of Arsenal’s early season demise as they proved to be false, and that the Gunners thrilling win in West London confirmed that Arsenal looks to be very much alive and back in top form.
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