Profile Robin Van Persie (Arsenal)

ROBIN VAN PERSIE

Before the start of the 2010–11 season, van Persie changed his squad number to 10, previously worn by Arsenal and Netherlands legendDennis Bergkamp.^[66] He made his 200th appearance on 28 August but an ankle injury suffered in the same game placed him on the sidelines once again. He returned as a substitute for Arsenal's 0–1 defeat to Newcastle United on 7 November. On 1 January 2011, van Persie scored his first goal of the season in a 3-0 away win over Birmingham City.^[67] On 15 January, he added two more goals to his tally in a comfortable 3–0 win over West Ham. This made him only the fourth Dutchman to reach 50 goals in England's top division.^[14] Van Persie continued his goal-scoring return by scoring against Leeds United in a FA Cup match to help Arsenal qualify for the fourth round.^[68] Van Persie scored his first career hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Wigan Athletic on 22 January^[69] and two goals against Newcastle United in a 4–4 draw on 5 February.^[70]Continuing his fine form, he hit a brace the following week against Wolverhampton Wanderers scoring both Arsenal goals in a 2–0 win including a volley from inside the box.^[71] The ten goals he scored between 1 January and 12 February set a new Premier League record for most goals scored in the first two months of a calendar year.^{[citation needed]} Van Persie set the Emirates alight with a goal from an almost impossible angle in Arsenal's fightback against Barcelona in the Champions League Round of 16 which ended 2–1 in favour of the Gunners.^[72] On 27 February 2011, Van Persie captained Arsenal at Wembley Stadium in the League Cup final, scoring the first half equalizer for the Gunners. It was his first goal at Wembley and his first in a cup final for Arsenal. However, he was later taken off in the second half with a knee injury he picked up while scoring the goal. On 1 March 2011 he was ruled out for 3 weeks which would see him miss the Champions League return leg with Barcelona. However, he recovered in time for the return leg at Camp Nou. During the game, he received a yellow card in the first half for a foul. In the second half, he was sent off after he received a second yellow card when the referee, Massimo Busacca, deemed him to be time-wasting by taking a shot at goal after the whistle was blown (one second earlier) for offside. Barcelona went on to score twice more and advanced to the quarter finals on a 4–3 aggregate result. Afterwards, Van Persie described the Busacca's decision as a "total joke", claiming that with the noise of the 95,000-strong crowd he could not hear the whistle. On 19 March 2011, he scored the equalizing goal in a 2–2 against West Bromich Albion at The Hawthorns. The match finished 2–2 with Arsenal still five points behind the current leaders, Manchester United. On 10 April 2011 in a match against Blackpool, Van Persie put in a man of the match performance to give Arsenal a crucial 3–1 win as van Persie set up a goal and scored the 3rd. On 24 April 2011, van Persie became the first player to score in seven successive Premier League away games when he scored against Bolton, beating Didier Drogba's record who was on six successive away games, between August and November 2009. However, the Gunners lost 2–1, all but ending their title hopes. On 1 May he assisted Aaron Ramsey who scored the winning goal against league leaders Manchester United to add a twist to the Premier League. Van Persie was named EA SPORTS PLAYER OF THE MONTH for April.^[73] On 8 May 2011, Arsenal lost 3–1 against Stoke atBritannia Stadium, van Persie scored the goal for Arsenal and with that goal van Persie extended his Premier League record by scoring in an eighth successive away match. On the last home game for the season van Persie scored against Aston Villa, but Arsenal lost the match 2–1. On the last game of the season away to Fulham, van Persie managed to score in his ninth consecutive away match, bringing his goal tally for the season to a personal record of 18 league goals. He also equalled the record held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry by scoring 18 league goals from the turn of the year to the end of the season. He ended the season just two goals behind joint league top scorers, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov in the race for the golden boot. He was voted as the second best player of the 2010–11 season on Arsenal's official website and also received the Goal of the Season award for his audacious strike in the 2–1 victory over Barcelona in the Champions League.