Back In The Saddle.

Arsenal 2 Birmingham City 1

It may not have been an evisceration of the Birmingham defence but it wasn't a grind either. Arsenal were comfortable. The only worry was that it wasn't reflected in the scoreline.

Birmingham's goal came from a situation similar to the one I highlighted yesterday. Zigic pulled off Djourou and onto Clichy. Fahey's ball was precise and Zigic made no mistake with the header, placing it inside the far bottom-corner.

I have to say I was disappointed with Djourou in the concession of that goal. He let Zigic get away from him and when the ball was played in, he didn't have a clue where the giant striker got to. I'll put it down to rustiness this time.

You might have started to worry after that but the Arsenal response was rapid. A one-two between Chamakh and Wilshere saw the ball spill in the box. The Morrocan got to it before Dann, contact was made and the penalty given. Up stepped Nasri and he made no mistake, sending Foster the wrong way.

The winner came right after half-time. A lovely combination between Wilshere and Song allowed the former to pop the ball into Chamakh's path. Carr pulled out of the challenge and the striker kept his composure as he skipped past a defender's challenge and the keeper's dive, to slide the ball home. There wasn't much else in the form of chances afterwards but there was, of course, the big talking point.

Wilshere deserved his red. It was a miss-timed and nasty challenge. It's not his first bad one of this season and it will unlikely be his last. Other than that, he was fantastic. I have no problem with him showing a bit of bite in challenges but it was unnecessary this time. And when you consider all the injuries we have, it's a suspension we could do without.

There's a few more players that I'd like to mention too. Chamakh was excellent and made a big impact on the game. It was nice to see Bendtner back too. And while Fabianski had very little to do in the line of shots, he commanded his box with confidence and authority.

Midweek, we'll see the emotional return of Eduardo to the Emirates. Shakhtar are a decent outfit so we should be in for a good game. A win would all but guarantee qualification so hopefully we'll get that and a few good goals too.