A rather lacklustre performance from Arsenal, but they managed to churn out the win by holding off West Ham's assault in the first 20 minutes of the second-half, and also some early pressure in the first 10 minutes.
Arsenal's only notable highlights would be van Persie's header in the 13th minute, a strike which was pushed onto the bar, and some delightful passing. Hleb did some good work down the right flank, before being set free and he crossed a beautiful ball in, and van Persie attacked the ball excellently, beating Lucas Neill in the air, and powering his header home. Green tried in vain to save the header, but it had too much power for him to do anything.
In the 30th minute, Mark Noble came in with a rather high and dangerous tackle, catching Hleb and he had to be stretchered off, to be replaced by right-back Emmanuel Eboué, who has played right midfielder a number of times this season. He proved a more than capable replacement, doing some great work down the flank, offering Arsenal a different kind of game than when Hleb was on. Hleb provided cutting-edge passes, creativity and plenty of trickery and mazy dribbles which catch defenders out, while Eboué provided a more defensive, but equally attacking game, having a robust style of play and loving to take defenders on as well as providing some cover for right-back Bacary Sagna.
Early in the second-half, van Persie fired a rocket of a strike with his weaker right-foot, but Green managed to push it onto the post. That, by far, was Arsenal's best chance in the second-half. Former Gunner Ljungberg also had a goal ruled out for offside, but it was a close decision that could have gone either way. Dean Ashton also had a few great chances, but he wasted all of them. West Ham right-back Lucas Neill was greatly troubled by Diaby's pacy runs and long strides down the left-wing, and Diaby almost always reached the bye-line before cutting a pass back. Seems like Diaby is a more versatile player than Vieira was, having the ability to dribble past a couple of opponents. He also defended the left flank well, together with fellow Frenchman Gael Clichy. Diaby is an uncharacteristic left-midfielder in the sense he played a defensive game, combined with his dribbles down the left-wing, and offered some bite and suport from midfield.
Mathieu Flamini was brilliant throughout, constantly harrying opponents and hassling them. However, he made a few rash challenges which I felt were unnecessary. He even got a yellow card. Fabregas played a strange game, playing so deep in midfield he was actually playing Gilberto's defensive midfielder role, with Flamini playing the central midfield role, with the freedom to get the ball and take shots if too much space was allowed.
A hard-fought win, but Arsenal take their winning streak to eight in a row.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Tottenham 1-3 Arsenal
A young Arsenal side rallied together and their persistence in coming back again was displayed once more. This is one of several times Arsenal have bounced back from a deficit and winning in the end. Wenger decided to leave new boy Eduardo da Silva out of the sixteen-man squad and was forced to field Gilberto in the middle of the defence, partnering Kolo Toure. Another new signing, Bacary Sagna, came back from a back injury, and filled in at right-back. Flamini was fielded in the centre of midfield with Fabregas, and Hleb was played on the right side of midfield. I wasn't surprised to see Rosicky on the bench however, seeing as he'd played for Czech Republic in midweek. Adebayor and van Persie were up front, and guess who would continue his great scoring record against the Spurs later on.
Arsenal shared almost equal possession with Spurs in the opening ten minutes at White Hart Lane and created a chance or two, with one Adebayor long-range effort saved superbly by Paul Robinson. The game continued with the passing flow now mostly to Spurs in the next five minutes. Berbatov received the ball and tried to hold it up to wait for support to come, but he was closely shadowed by Gilberto, but Gilberto, after tussling for the ball a little, decided to bring down Berbatov with a cynical foul. This was duly rewarded with a yellow card and a free-kick about 23-metres out for Spurs. Youves Kaboul and Gareth Bale stood over the ball, but it was Bale who took it. It was a sweet free-kick, curling just around the wall, and beating Almunia, the ball slipping just through the gap between Almunia and the post. Almunia's positioning wasn't very good, and Hleb should've done just a little more to block the free-kick. The Gunners paid the price for conceding a free-kick in a dangerous position, and partly because Bale's free-kick expertise showed.
Now, the fun had only just started. You wouldn't expect Arsenal to go down without a fight, would ya'? Arsenal then created a great chance for Adebayor, whose shot was well saved by Robinson. A couple of minutes later, some great work from Adebayor to lay the ball free for an onrushing Aliaksandr Hleb for a curling left-footed strike that was strongly pushed away by Robinson. Seems like Robinson has got his shot-stopping form back. The loose ball was quickly picked up by Robin van Persie, who drove it across the face of goal, but Arsenal didn't have a man there, so the chance was wasted. Six minutes later, some great work from the creative Hleb to carve the Spurs' defence wide open, and he sent a lovely reverse ball for a overlapping Diaby, whose powerful side-footed effort crashed against the crossbar and out of play. Perhaps it might be one of those frustrating days for Arsenal. Agonisingly close. Robbie Keane almost had a great chance after Berbatov had sent a great lob in, but Clichy quickly went to put him under pressure and the ball went wide.
Arsenal started the second-half in pretty much the same fashion as they did in the first-half, allowing Tottenham to dictate play, and one particular pass sent Berbatov racing clear of the defence. Manuel Almunia made a hasty and terrible mistake by rushing out some 35-yards out from his goal and try to stop Berbatov's progress, but this mistake allowed Toure to quickly rush back to prevent Berbatov from scoring. Berbatov took his time and tried to be a little too clever; to try and dribble past the defender. The Ivorian centre-back stood strong and managed a fantastic last-ditch sliding tackle to prevent Berbatov from scoring. The Bulgarian had a very poor start to the season, compared to his debut season, where he made waves in the Premier League with sterling performances. This inability to take advantage of Almunia's mistake to score didn't help matters either. It would have put Spurs 2-0 ahead. Soon after Toure's heroics, Arsenal were once again the dominant side, with Sagna doing excellently on the right side and managed to keep the ball in play whilst in the Spurs' penalty box, cutting the ball back nicely for Adebayor, but the Togolese striker decided to be wasteful and went for power, and curling the ball over. A couple of minutes after this miss, Adebayor held off a challenge well and Robinson appeared to have brought down Adebayor, but the replays showed that Robinson got to the ball before he brought Adebayor down, so the referee was right to not award a penalty. Wenger then brought on Rosicky for Diaby in the 56th minute to add some cutting edge to the attack. Kaboul headed over from a corner and Huddlestone sent a wayward volley well wide. Spurs might regret not finishing off their chances because in the 65th minute Arsenal won a free-kick on the left side of the field. Fabregas floated in a beautiful ball and Robinson made a quick decision to come out and punch the ball, but he misjudged the flight of the ball and Adebayor bulleted the header home. It was 1-1, and for all the chances Arsenal created, the Gunners fully deserved the equaliser.
A few chances came after that, but Fabregas and van Persie didn't take them well. In the 78th minute, another highlight of the match came. Berbatov got a touch on a corner floated in from the left, and it struck Clichy's chest and off the line. The Bulgarian headed over the rebound, but frantically called out for handball and or a goal. The referee wasn't interested in the protests and gave a goal-kick. Replays showed that the ball had struck Clichy on the chest and neither was it a handball nor did the ball cross the line. The Gunners responded to that scare with a quick attack down the middle, the ball having been brought into the Spurs half by van Persie. He gave the ball to Rosicky and Fabregas ran forward too. Rosicky gave Fabregas a quick pass and the young Spaniard took a touch, looked up, and rifled a rocket of a finish from 30-yards to give the Gunners a 2-1 lead in the 80th minute. Robinson got a small touch on the ball, but the pace of the shot made that touch insignificant as it arrowed its way into the top corner. By this time, Jol had enough and subbed off a rather tired Malbranque, who ran tirelessly all day, and brought Darren Bent, a new £16.5 million signing, on to try and change the game as part of a three-man attack. There were a few chances then on for Bent. A spectacular effort was tried, but he missed the ball. And he wasted a glorious chance to put Spurs level. A long-ball was floated over the defence and had found Bent, who was now one-on-one with Almunia, but he scuffed his shot and it went harmlessly wide. Spurs then kept pumping crosses in from the wings to try and find an opening, but Arsenal cleared every single one of them. Then in the last two minutes of stoppage time, there was more drama. Rosicky won the ball and set off on a counter-attack, playing a one-two with Adebayor before sending the ball into open space for an unmarked Denilson, who came on for van Persie on the 85th minute. Denilson whacked his shot directly into Robinson's leg and the loose ball fell to Fabregas, who played a 20-yard pass for Adebayor. With his back to the goal, the Togolese striker's flicked the ball up with an amazing first touch, swiveled and sent his beautiful volley crashing into the top corner of the net, leaving Robinson helpless. This masterpiece was reminiscent of Thierry Henry's volley against Manchester United in 2000 at Highbury. Similarly excellent control and pure technical genius to finish the volley. After this goal, the Spurs' fans could be seen starting to leave the stadium; all hopes of an equaliser crushed by a fantastic goal by Adebayor. This goal is an early contender for Goal of the Season.
Again, the resilience and determination showed by the young Arsenal side have again secured another victory for Arsenal - this especially sweet, the victory coming against their most bitter rivals. Now, Arsenal may want to continue their unbeaten form in all competitions this season, with the Champions League match against Sevilla at the Emirates in midweek to look forward to.
Arsenal shared almost equal possession with Spurs in the opening ten minutes at White Hart Lane and created a chance or two, with one Adebayor long-range effort saved superbly by Paul Robinson. The game continued with the passing flow now mostly to Spurs in the next five minutes. Berbatov received the ball and tried to hold it up to wait for support to come, but he was closely shadowed by Gilberto, but Gilberto, after tussling for the ball a little, decided to bring down Berbatov with a cynical foul. This was duly rewarded with a yellow card and a free-kick about 23-metres out for Spurs. Youves Kaboul and Gareth Bale stood over the ball, but it was Bale who took it. It was a sweet free-kick, curling just around the wall, and beating Almunia, the ball slipping just through the gap between Almunia and the post. Almunia's positioning wasn't very good, and Hleb should've done just a little more to block the free-kick. The Gunners paid the price for conceding a free-kick in a dangerous position, and partly because Bale's free-kick expertise showed.
Now, the fun had only just started. You wouldn't expect Arsenal to go down without a fight, would ya'? Arsenal then created a great chance for Adebayor, whose shot was well saved by Robinson. A couple of minutes later, some great work from Adebayor to lay the ball free for an onrushing Aliaksandr Hleb for a curling left-footed strike that was strongly pushed away by Robinson. Seems like Robinson has got his shot-stopping form back. The loose ball was quickly picked up by Robin van Persie, who drove it across the face of goal, but Arsenal didn't have a man there, so the chance was wasted. Six minutes later, some great work from the creative Hleb to carve the Spurs' defence wide open, and he sent a lovely reverse ball for a overlapping Diaby, whose powerful side-footed effort crashed against the crossbar and out of play. Perhaps it might be one of those frustrating days for Arsenal. Agonisingly close. Robbie Keane almost had a great chance after Berbatov had sent a great lob in, but Clichy quickly went to put him under pressure and the ball went wide.
Arsenal started the second-half in pretty much the same fashion as they did in the first-half, allowing Tottenham to dictate play, and one particular pass sent Berbatov racing clear of the defence. Manuel Almunia made a hasty and terrible mistake by rushing out some 35-yards out from his goal and try to stop Berbatov's progress, but this mistake allowed Toure to quickly rush back to prevent Berbatov from scoring. Berbatov took his time and tried to be a little too clever; to try and dribble past the defender. The Ivorian centre-back stood strong and managed a fantastic last-ditch sliding tackle to prevent Berbatov from scoring. The Bulgarian had a very poor start to the season, compared to his debut season, where he made waves in the Premier League with sterling performances. This inability to take advantage of Almunia's mistake to score didn't help matters either. It would have put Spurs 2-0 ahead. Soon after Toure's heroics, Arsenal were once again the dominant side, with Sagna doing excellently on the right side and managed to keep the ball in play whilst in the Spurs' penalty box, cutting the ball back nicely for Adebayor, but the Togolese striker decided to be wasteful and went for power, and curling the ball over. A couple of minutes after this miss, Adebayor held off a challenge well and Robinson appeared to have brought down Adebayor, but the replays showed that Robinson got to the ball before he brought Adebayor down, so the referee was right to not award a penalty. Wenger then brought on Rosicky for Diaby in the 56th minute to add some cutting edge to the attack. Kaboul headed over from a corner and Huddlestone sent a wayward volley well wide. Spurs might regret not finishing off their chances because in the 65th minute Arsenal won a free-kick on the left side of the field. Fabregas floated in a beautiful ball and Robinson made a quick decision to come out and punch the ball, but he misjudged the flight of the ball and Adebayor bulleted the header home. It was 1-1, and for all the chances Arsenal created, the Gunners fully deserved the equaliser.
A few chances came after that, but Fabregas and van Persie didn't take them well. In the 78th minute, another highlight of the match came. Berbatov got a touch on a corner floated in from the left, and it struck Clichy's chest and off the line. The Bulgarian headed over the rebound, but frantically called out for handball and or a goal. The referee wasn't interested in the protests and gave a goal-kick. Replays showed that the ball had struck Clichy on the chest and neither was it a handball nor did the ball cross the line. The Gunners responded to that scare with a quick attack down the middle, the ball having been brought into the Spurs half by van Persie. He gave the ball to Rosicky and Fabregas ran forward too. Rosicky gave Fabregas a quick pass and the young Spaniard took a touch, looked up, and rifled a rocket of a finish from 30-yards to give the Gunners a 2-1 lead in the 80th minute. Robinson got a small touch on the ball, but the pace of the shot made that touch insignificant as it arrowed its way into the top corner. By this time, Jol had enough and subbed off a rather tired Malbranque, who ran tirelessly all day, and brought Darren Bent, a new £16.5 million signing, on to try and change the game as part of a three-man attack. There were a few chances then on for Bent. A spectacular effort was tried, but he missed the ball. And he wasted a glorious chance to put Spurs level. A long-ball was floated over the defence and had found Bent, who was now one-on-one with Almunia, but he scuffed his shot and it went harmlessly wide. Spurs then kept pumping crosses in from the wings to try and find an opening, but Arsenal cleared every single one of them. Then in the last two minutes of stoppage time, there was more drama. Rosicky won the ball and set off on a counter-attack, playing a one-two with Adebayor before sending the ball into open space for an unmarked Denilson, who came on for van Persie on the 85th minute. Denilson whacked his shot directly into Robinson's leg and the loose ball fell to Fabregas, who played a 20-yard pass for Adebayor. With his back to the goal, the Togolese striker's flicked the ball up with an amazing first touch, swiveled and sent his beautiful volley crashing into the top corner of the net, leaving Robinson helpless. This masterpiece was reminiscent of Thierry Henry's volley against Manchester United in 2000 at Highbury. Similarly excellent control and pure technical genius to finish the volley. After this goal, the Spurs' fans could be seen starting to leave the stadium; all hopes of an equaliser crushed by a fantastic goal by Adebayor. This goal is an early contender for Goal of the Season.
Again, the resilience and determination showed by the young Arsenal side have again secured another victory for Arsenal - this especially sweet, the victory coming against their most bitter rivals. Now, Arsenal may want to continue their unbeaten form in all competitions this season, with the Champions League match against Sevilla at the Emirates in midweek to look forward to.
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