Match Reports
ESPNSoccernet: Andrey Arshavin opened his Arsenal account as an attacking masterclass saw the Gunners to a handsome 4-0 victory over Blackburn in their Premier League clash at the Emirates.
Telegraph.co.uk: Andrei Arshavin the inspiration as Arsenal move up to fourth
Match Video
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Man of the Match
This one is easy and shouldn’t be too controversial: I’m giving MotM to Arshavin. I mean, all he managed was two goals and an assist. One of those goals was an early goal to boot.
I can’t stress the importance of early goals enough, especially against teams that play the Fat Sam style of football. If a team is there to harass and try to steal one on the break and you get an early goal, then that team has to go to plan B and try to attack. So, Arshavin’s early goal was the key to why Arsenal had such an open game against Blackburn yesterday and certainly helped furnish the 4-0 score line.
That said, I was really proud of the way he waved off the first goal. It was pure class to straight admit that he didn’t score the first. You can bet your ass that El Hadji Douche would have had a 4 hour celebration if his endeavor had led to a similar goal.
And the second goal… well, if Arshavin waving off the first was class, the second goal was pure class. Dummy the defender, dribble down the end line and shoot it straight at Paul Robinson, who collapsed into a heap as the ball sailed over his head and into the top of the net. All with stitches in his foot from a cut suffered in the first half, at the hands of some Blackburn foul, probably.
Goals have been coming for Andrei, you have to admit and it was a little glimpse of paradise to see him score the first two.
The Good
The midfield pairing of Song and Denilson were superb, again. It’s too early to hail them as the midfield of the future, but it is very nice to see them put in a string of performances like they have done over the last few games. Song was excellent in defense and would have had an assist had it not been for the serial wastefulness of Bendtner. Denilson, for his part, did end up with an assist (his 7th) and it was no less than he deserved for all his graft.
Who could have guessed that Eboue would come on as a late, defensive sub and would score two goals — one from a penalty? I certainly wouldn’t have. Hell, if you gave me 1000 predictions I wouldn’t pick The Pass Master to score from a penalty. Especially one that was won by someone else. Strange. But he did score a good goal after Arshavin’s shot caromed off the post and deserves credit for that.
Oh yeah, and Theo… he was electric wasn’t he? I can’t wait to have him get some games under his belt. His pace and width were crucial to Arsenal breaking Blackburn down and he was seriously unlucky not to have notched up an assist or two.
The Bad
I’m not going to pick on Bendtner. He played his heart out and was unlucky not to put in a couple of goals. That said, he had to feel miserable sitting on the bench and watching Eboue score a brace. I’m hoping it makes him double his efforts, that and a little speed training and he’ll be a hell of a player.
The Ugly
On the one hand I wish that Eboue wouldn’t dance after scoring a goal (much less a penalty) on the other hand I wish that El-Hadji Douche would die in a fire. So, as you can see I’m a bit unsure of what I should write about.
I can’t understand how Diouf gets away with tackles like the one yesterday: it was studs up, late, intentional, and intended to hurt. This isn’t a Tiny Taylor situation where the argument could be made that he’s oafish and just not quite at the same level as Eduardo, plus, as they all said, he’s Taylor’s a nice guy.
No, El-Hadji Diouf is a cheating bastard who has a long record of dirty play that he’s somehow escaped censure for. Last year at Liverpool, he pulled a similar stunt on Arbeloa and similarly was given only a caution. I remember at the time, former refs and pundits alike were calling for retroactive action against people who commit fouls like yesterday’s.
I don’t care whether it’s rugby style post match reviews or if it’s more of an instant re-play like we do here in America. Something needs to be done before a no talent ass clown like Diof cuts down a promising young English keeper like Almunia.
He’s a spitter, a diver, a drunk, a foul mouthed shiat, and now he’s trying to add “leg breaker” to his resume. How much longer must the EPL suffer this person?
Conclusion
It doesn’t get much better than this: Arsenal are now 15 matches in the EPL without a loss and 4 consecutive wins in all competitions (I’m counting Roma as a win). Moreover, we’ve got Theo back, Arshavin is scoring, the midfield is playing well, we’re scoring goals, the defense is playing well, and if that wasn’t enough, Cesc and Adebayor will be back after the international break just in time for the match against Citeh and the sprint toward the finish line of the FA Cup, Champions League and the League.
Oh yeah, and we’re back in fourth place.
Truly, it’s goo goo goo to be a Goonah!
It feels so wrong rooting for Tottenham this morning so wrong but an early goal to Jenas is nice
not rooting for Tottenham, but rooting against Villa.
and now truly in 4th as the villa slide continues. they have liverpool and united in their next two, we have newcastle and city is it? should be 4 or 6 up after those two matches. anything less would be a disappointment
Thank god the spuds have done something decent for a change! one issue Bendtner doesn’t need speed training, he just needs to be able to finish. Good news in that Song is becoming the player that we want, injured players are on their way back at the business end of the season. Suddenly I feel confident, I hope it’s not misplaced!
Anyone Heading to Doyle’s for the FA cup on Tuesday? I heading there about 1 to start St Pattys day off right with a win.
Hey Travis, it looks like I should be able to come down. I’m not sure what time (locally) the match kicks off but I should be able to get there.
Kick off is at 12:45 local
Would it be a crime to throw a bunch of money at Thierry to come and train Nicky to finish goals, despite Henry being at Barca? I give Nicky alot of crap because I can see how good he can be but he’s behind where I think he should be. He has good speed for a big man, good fight in the air and great positional awareness. However, he does lack a bit of finesse and most importantly finishing. I hate Perter Crouch but I will admit for someone who is damn near 7 ft. tall Crouch has skill with the ball at his feet and given how crappy his team and attacking support is, he finishes most of the few chances Pompey give him. Even in his Liverpool days he scored a significant number of goals with the limited time Rafa gave him. Nicky should be where Crouch is now and build on that in the future. Nicky has a far better team at his disposal giving him all the service he wants but he just cannot find his shooting boots. I think at one point the team just stopped trying to give him the ball if they could avoid it and went for goal themselves because they were frustrated with his finishing, or lack thereof. Bendtner isn’t even some new rookie either really, even at 21. He’s had about 3 seasons or so, one of which he started most games with Birmingham for a whole season. Rooney is just a couple years older but has been putting away his chances since his move to Old Trafford a few years ago. If Wenger can, he should keep hold of Nicky but develop him more and buy a striker who can put teams to the sword while Nicky is under that player’s tutelage. It’s not Bendtner’s time to shine yet, he has a couple more years before he can fulfill his potential because given all his opportunities on Saturday he should have put at least one away if he really wants to be the best.