The first goal, due to a deflection from an Eduardo free kick in the 28th minute, was a sign of things to come. You can’t stay in the Premiership without the fight to overcome bad luck and, while there were several individual efforts at scoring, Pompey’s team spirit was gone.

The man of the match, for me, was Samir Nasri. He orchestrated much of the play and got the second goal in the 42nd minute. He was tireless and looked as fresh in the end as he did at the beginning.

Aaron Ramsey’s individual effort in the 69th minute was beautiful. He strips the ball, makes a gigantic redirection to get around the defender, and rips the ball into the top right corner. No goalkeeper has a chance when its hit that cleanly. Arsenal 3, Portsmouth 0.

We should have done better against a team like Portsmouth. They should not have had the chances that we gave them and certainly not the goal we gave up. Nadir Belhadj pulled one back in the 74th minute. Arsenal 3, Portsmouth 1.

Sounding like a broken record, Almunia just doesn’t have what Arsenal needs. We need a goalkeeper that’s willing to to come strong in the air and take charge. Almunia does not have that killer instinct to knock but not get knocked. He’s too often thrown off balance because an opposing player gets to the ball at the same time. Any goalie in the English league needs to be able to do damage while clearing out loose balls.

The last goal came from a Nasri cross that found an unmarked Alex Song in front of the goal. Using as much strength he could muster, Song redirected and gave the ball enough power as he headed the ball into the back of the net. Arsenal 4, Portsmouth 1.

Abou Diaby redeemed himself in this game. He’s gotten back into the starting line-up because of injury. He seems to have gotten his confidence back, after the atrocious own-goal against Manchester United.

Samir Nasri excelled at controlling the ball. Slowly but surely, Nasri has shown some grit this season. In last bit of the second half, there was an incident where it was alleged that Nasri purposely stepped on Richard Garcia’s foot, after Arsenal were awarded a free kick. The Hull players shouldn’t have been standing there in the first place and Garcia made a meal out of what looked like an accidental toe step. After a long scuffle, Stephen Hunt and Nasri were both given yellow cards. Hunt’s tactics in this game were scandalous. He tried to push guys off the ball whenever the chance arose. In one person, he’s what Wenger calls “anti-football”. The fact that he was involved in the melee should tell you where the blame lies (just ask Petr Cech).

The first goal was scored by a Denilson freekick right before half time. It was a wonderful display of power and pace. If you’re going to pick any place for a freekick, that was the place to take it.

Steve Bennett, the referee, did a terrible job in this match. I can’t believe he claimed that Silvestre was holding a Hull City player’s shirt. I understand that a referee might want to make amends for something he missed, but to fabricate a penalty when there wasn’t one is just lame. In the 56th minute, Almunia saved the ensuing penalty kick, taken by Marcio Geovanni. Justice was served.

Eduardo did lots of hard work but couldn’t put any of his chances away. Finally, he was gifted a cross right in front of the goal by Diaby in the 59th minute. Song and Diaby worked some magic to get into the box with the ball, then it was up to Eduardo to not mess up the tap-in.

Abou Diaby had to score the final goal. He just had to get on the scoresheet. If there was anyone who deserved to score in the game, it was him. In the 80th minute, he got the end of a through ball into the box, outmaneuvered the defender and slammed it home.

Hull City play a very good style of football. With the exception of Stephen Hunt, Hull are a very entertaining team and I wish them all the best in staying in the Premiership.

This victory moved us back into 3rd place. Next up will be Aston Villa and the game that I think will decide how we finish this season. Its a deciding moment. We play them again at the end of January. More on that later.

When Abou Diaby is playing well, I have to remind myself that he’s not Patrick Vieira. His wide gate and prowling maneuvers in midfield sure give the impression that Vieira has returned in prime form. In the post match press conference, Arsene Wenger highlighted his Vieira-like ability to move from box to box very quickly. With Denilson playing the defensive mid role, along with Diaby, there will not be many midfields we do not control by the fact that both have such an awareness of space and positioning.

The troubling thought during the match however was that, even with a 3 to 1 lead, the game was still questionable. We are great at going forward and attacking. The problem seems to be with shutting down oppositions and being able to hold the ball when we’re not going forward. Pompey’s attacks were sporadic but, every time they went forward, its worth asking how they were getting through our defense. These are the mistakes we tend to make when the win becomes too easy.

It’s also time to start asking questions of Almunia. I think its time for a better decision maker between the posts. That Pompey goal should never happen and its one of the reasons why the game never seemed out of reach for them.

After two Premiership games, Arsenal 10, opposition 2.

While Arsenal possessed the ball well, this game was settled by set pieces. The first goal was a master strike by Denilson to curl Fabregas’ side pass into the upper left corner. But, it wasn’t the dagger that ended the possibility of an Everton comeback. The 2nd and 3rd goals did that. Both centerbacks, first Vermaelen, then Gallas, headed the ball home on well-orchestrated set pieces by Arsenal, not so well defended by Everton. One team has been practicing these, the other not. After those two goals, any confidence left in Everton was gone. The rest of the goals would come on counter attacks, because Everton was pushing forward. This is what Wenger’s Arsenal does best and its been too long since we’ve seen it happen.

If you go back 3 or 4 seasons, you’ll remember that the way other teams figured out how to stop Arsenal when they were in the mood was to take them out of it by being overly physical. Its part of the English game that a team can push and shove a team with superior ball skills and technique. Its looked upon as opposing “tactics”. Manchester United were the first to employ it. Sir Alex Ferguson knew he couldn’t beat the Arsenal team that had gone on a 49 game unbeaten run by just playing football and so enabled his team to muscle their way to victory. Others (to name a few, Chelsea, Bolton, and any team managed by Sam Alyrdice) have tried the same. Credit should be given to David Moyes and the team he put on the field Saturday for not doing the same. But then, its been awhile since another team needed to employ this tactic.

This should be the season where Arsene Wenger’s plan for this team shows its full potential. After the 2004 Invincibles, he began a work of building a culture and program around his style of all-around football. Now he’s got a complete and youthful team to show it. I hope he’s got a plan for controlling the ball and game when things get rough, when teams decide they have to go back to the imposing game of physical intimidation.

And, even though the flowing free-form game of old seems to be back in this squad, there are still questions to be answered about the defense. Vermaelen and Gallas did a great job as central defenders but (1) they didn’t have someone like Drogba or Rooney to contend with, and (2) neither of them are very tall and imposing themselves. Both play the role of speedy, mobile centerbacks very well, although Gallas, at his age, will probably start to wear over a long season.

In any regard, it was a magical game and was a great start to the new campaign. Champions League football against Celtic on Tuesday (2:45 pm EST, Fox Soccer Channel here in the States).

1 down, 37 to go.