The opportunity had knocked so loudly it practically hurt. With Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur not in Premier League action this weekend, Arsenal knew that three points against struggling Norwich City would lift them above their Champions League rivals and ratchet up the pressure on them.
The form book said home win yet the football gods decreed that it would be harrowing before Arsène Wenger's team got there with a dramatic late flurry. It had been easy to fear the worst for Arsenal when their first-half control yielded nothing and they fell behind to Michael Turner's header following a loosely defended set-piece.
But the tide turned when the assistant referee Richard West spotted, from a long way away, a pull by Kei Kamara on Olivier Giroud and Mikel Arteta converted the high-pressure penalty. Norwich were furious about the decision but worse for them would follow.
The substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain surged to the byline, following an interchange with another substitute, Lukas Podolski, and his cross was bundled into his own net by Sébastien Bassong, under pressure from Giroud. Even then, Norwich almost clawed level when Jonny Howson drew a reflex save from Lukasz Fabianski but Podolski settled the issue with an injury-time blast from a Theo Walcott cross, although the Englishman looked to have been offside before he played the ball.
With this 3-1 win, Arsenal go third on the English premiership table.
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