The Winning Potion

December 2012 Part 1

V

Arsenal 5 – 0 Newcastle United
Podolski (9 pen, 12, 86 pen) Koscielny (53) Wilshere (67)




Benfica 1 – 1 Arsenal
Andre Gomes (3) – Oxlade-Chamberlain (58)

FINAL UEFA CHAMPIONS’ LEAGUE GROUP STAGE TABLES

Four shock exits in AC Milan, Juventus, Zenit St. Petersburg and Schalke. Celtic’s stellar defence also enabled them to progress in a tough Group.

FA CUP THIRD ROUND DRAW

OLDHAM V ARSENAL

December 2012 Part 2

V
Aston Villa 0 – 4 Arsenal
Cazorla (35) Giroud (66) Sagna (82) Walcott (85)
(Santi Cazorla out for 3 weeks with a twisted ankle)

CAPITAL ONE CUP QUARTER FINAL

V
Arsenal 3 – 1 Cardiff City
Oxlade-Chamberlain (90+1, 113) Ramsey (97) - Pantsil (69)
(AET)
(Arsenal will face Aston Villa for the Semi-finals)



V
Arsenal 4 – 1 Reading
Giroud (2) Wilshere (25, 84) Podolski (40) – Akpan (47)

V
Norwich City 0 - 4 Arsenal
Giroud (12) Mertesacker (39, 88) Ramsey (89)

1

1

1

HENRY’S BONY HEADACHE

Arsenal boss Thierry Henry will have to bear without star striker Wilfried Bony for at least two more months following his inclusion in Ivory Coast’s African Cup of Nations squad.

Bony is currently injured at the moment and will not be fit until just before the start of the tournament and Arsenal has confirmed his presence.

The Ivorian has scored 13 goals in 17 games for the Gunners and Henry admits it will be hard to replace him.

“It’s frustrating that we will miss him for another two months. We’ve not had him for one already and we won’t have him fully fit until mid-March if all goes well.

“That’s almost a third of the season and any team in the league would find it harder to perform without a player of his calibre.”

UEFA CHAMPIONS’ LEAGUE LAST 16 DRAW

December 2012 Part 3

V
Arsenal 5 – 1 West Ham United
Arteta (12 pen, 14 pen, 45+1) Giroud (65, 68) – Taylor (59)
(This win puts Arsenal 1st ahead of Manchester United on goal difference)


V
Queens Park Rangers 1 – 1 Arsenal
Samba (10) – Podolski (46)
(Arsenal drop back to 2nd, two points behind Manchester United)


V
Liverpool 2 - 3 Arsenal
Suarez (26) Sterling (45+2) Gerrard RED (84) – Walcott (34) Podolski (47) Koscielny (54)
(Arsenal return to 1st, one point clear of Manchester United after they lost 4-1 to Tottenham Hotspur)

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE






ARSENAL’S EA SPORTS PLAYER OF THE MONTH



LUKAS PODOLSKI
So many candidates for this award but Lukas Podolski just knicks it. I had a word with him after a few games in which he was non-existent. The German agreed and showed great attitude to get involved and become the key performer of December with important goals and assists.

MANAGER MOVEMENT

Valencia – Unai Emery – SACKED
Replaced by Luciano Spalletti
Zenit – Mircea Lucescu – New Manager
Shakhtar Donetsk – Ruud Gullit – New Manager
Everton – Martin O’Neill – SACKED
Norwich City – Chris Hughton – SACKED

Barclays Premier League Manager of the Month – December 2012

THIERRY HENRY

Thierry’s Verdict: Once again we have been brilliant. The defence is getting stronger and the goals keep flowing. We seem to have that champion glint in our eyes as we are beginning to grind out results and now find ourselves top of the league and in the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup.

1

2012 AWARD WINNERS

FIFA Ballon d’Or

3RD



Real Madrid’s Thomas Muller

2ND



Manchester United’s Robin Van Persie
(Boooooooooooo)

1ST



Barcelona’s Lionel Messi

World Player of the Year

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi

FIFA World Team of the Year

Featuring Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla

African Team of the Year

Featuring Arsenal’s Wilfried Bony

European Golden Boy

Liverpool’s Phillippe Coutinho

South American Player of the Year

Coritiba’s Alex

French Player of the Year

Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny

Foreign Player of the Year (Ukraine)

Metalist’s Jose Sosa

Ligue 1 Foreign Player of the Year

Paris Saint-Germain’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ligue 1 Revelation of the Year

Troyes’ Corentin Jean

Serie A Fans’ Player of the Year

Juventus’ Sebastian Giovinco

Serie A Young Player of the Year

Napoli’s Lorenzo Insigne

Russian League Players’ Player of the Year

Zenit’s Domenico Criscito

Russian League Managers’ Player of the Year

Zenit’s Domenico Criscito

Russian Young Player of the Year

Terek Grozny’s Magomed Mitrishev

African Goalkeeper of the Year

Super Sport United’s Rowen Fernandez

African Defender of the Year

Saint Etienne’s Faouzi Ghoulam

African Midfielder of the Year

Manchester City’s Yaya Toure

African Striker of the Year

Anzhi Makachkala’s Samuel Eto’o

Serie A Foreign Player of the Year

Inter Milan’s Fredy Gurain

Serie A Italian Player of the Year

Juventus’ Sebastian Giovinco