Lukasz's Premier League Debut on Monday?

Lukasz Fabianski is more likely to be given the starting position in Arsenal remaining matches in order to give him the necessary exposure of playing in the Premier League. This is according to the UK's Daily Mail.

If it is true then for me it is a good move by Arsene Wenger. Even though the Pole has performed well during the Carling Cup and reserve matches it is nothing better than to gain exposure by playing in the first team.

Hopefully, this piece of news will be true and I would be able to watch him keeping goal during our visit to Derby County on Monday.

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Men Between the Sticks.

It is the end of the season. Again football fans will be out in droves commenting on how to improve their teams for next season.

A bit like what I am doing now, ironically.

But I am not going to suggest any names to strengthen my beloved Arsenal for that matter as I believe Arsene Wenger has done his homework on who will be available and suitable for this purpose.

Many have called for Wenger to find another goalkeeper to replace Manuel Almunia in goal. But for me, the Spaniards performance throughout the season has convinced me that he deserved to be between the posts.

He may not be spectacular but when called upon he performs the tasks efficiently. One noticeable aspect of his game is his preference to punch the ball rather than catching it, which is a trait almost all the continental goalkeepers have.

This season his punches have improved and more often than not he cleared potential dangerous crosses before they reach opposing players.

Early in the season I have said that Almunia would only be a stop gap measure when Jens Lehmann decides to leave/retire and before Polish youngster Lukasz Fabianski takes over. It seems the Pole has to wait a bit longer but having somebody like him would definitely keep Almunia on his toes to ensure he will remain Wenger's number one.

I definitely do not see Lehmann staying beyond this season and most likely the German will retire after the EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland. Of course I would like to see him keeping goal for Germany in their quest for glory in the Alps nations in June.

There are so many names have been brought forward as potential transfer target for Wenger in the goalkeeping department. Among them are Robert Green(West Ham) and Chris Kirkland (Wigan), Gomez of PSV and Bolton's Jussi Jusskelanaen.

It just that I do not see any of them coming except for Jusskelanaen who would be out of contract in the summer. Now that would be the kind of signing Wenger would make.

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Premier League - Match #35

Arsenal 2
Adebayor, Gilberto Silva

Reading 0

In a pressure free match, Arsenal dominated proceedings against relegation haunted Reading at the Emirates. The 2-0 scoreline could have been bigger but the woodwork seemed to favour the visiting side more.

It was nearly a vintage Arsenal performance with crisp passing were all over the pitch. The decision to start with Theo Walcott also augured well as the England youngster had put on several impressive performances over the last few weeks.

Many fans believe in Arsene's approach to how football should be played and how competitions should be won.

The scoreline did not matter much but the way Arsenal played was really the way of proving the point that a total overhaul of the squad is not necessary. Most players in the current squad are off high quality despite many of them are still at a very young age.

For me, at most we just need three more players, that is after considering the total number of injured players right now. Had all the player been fit, Arsene Wenger would definitely have a bit of a problem in keeping everybody happy.

One thing for sure is that I am hoping very much that Matthieu Flamini would put pen on paper as soon as possible on a new contract with us. After finally cementing his place in the side after a number of seasons being used as a 'utility' player, it would be so strange for him to pack his bags and leave.

If there is one player that I really would like to see scoring goals for Arsenal is Ajax's Klaas Jan Huntelaar who already notched 33 goals for the Amsterdam side this season. Ironically, he was the first player to score at the Emirates when he opened the scoring for Ajax during the Dennis Bergkamp Testimonial match last season.

Now, wouldn't it be nice if he is scoring week in week out for Arsenal at the Emirates?

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Premier League - Match #34

Man United 2
Cristiano Ronaldo, Hargreaves

Arsenal 1
Adebayor

It is confirmed. Arsenal is without a trophy this season, again.

Does that mean a switch of allegiance to another team? Not in mad redo1's case. It is true that we have not won anything of worthy since 2004-05 season when the FA Cup came back to Highbury after a penalty shoot-out victory over Manchester United.

It was the same opponent again that confirmed the reality that many Gooners are trying to defer from accepting. The defeat could be considered as a bit unlucky but in truth, the way Arsene Wenger's men have coped with all the trials and tribulations that befallen them this season has been nothing short from admirable.

We came back strongly after being unluckily eliminated from the Champions League on Tuesday to show our interest in the league has not wavered. Perhaps the chances created should have been put away but after a long hard season it was asking a bit too much from the one who has contributed quite significantly to the campaign.

But we kept plugging away and finally the break came when hesitation in the United's defence allowed Manu Adebayor to turn a Robin Van Persie cross over the goal-line.

Unless we take the lead in the 94th minute of a match, I would not be comfortable with our ability to preserve the scoreline. True enough, it did not.

Skipper William Gallas handled the ball inside the box and Cristiano Ronaldo tucked home the equaliser despite Jens Lehmann going the right way on both occasions. Lehmann who was recalled after injury to Manuel Almunia made a few significant saves and a few more similar performances would see him as the number one goalkeeper for Germany for the upcoming EURO 2008.

Jens Lehmann made a surprise return to perform heroically at Old Trafford. His performance should put him ahead in the race for the goalkeeper position for Germany at EURO 2008.

The winner came from another dead-ball situation when Gilberto Silva was adjudged to foul Patrice Evra just outside the box. Owen Hargreaves' effort flew into the goal with nothing much could be done by the Arsenal defence. It was certainly a wonderful effort.

Despite trying their best, scoring another couple of goals proved to be a mountain too high for the visitors to climb and at the final whistle Alex Ferguson was seen offering consoling words to Arsene Wenger, knowing that Arsenal had lost the race rather than his side winning them.

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European Champions' League

Quarter-Final, Leg 2

Liverpool 4
Hyppia, Torres, Gerrard (penalty), Babel

Arsenal 2
Abou Diaby, Adebayor

Liverpool won 5-3 on aggregate

The April Trilogy ended in favour of Liverpool after an outstanding acting performance by Ryan Babel fooled the referee into thinking that Kolo Toure's attempt to get out of the way as a foul on the Dutchman.

With the score level at 2-2, Arsenal were holding the advantage on away goals rule but Steven Gerrard dispatched the penalty with great confidence past Manuel Almunia. This prompted an all out attack by the visitors which left space for Babel to score the fourth after getting past Cesc Fabregas and slotting the ball wide from the out of position Almunia.

The match began with Arsenal holding sway and Abou Diaby erased any advantage Liverpool had from the first leg with a stiff shot that came off Pepe Reina's knee into the net. The visitors managed to hold on for quite a while but Sami Hyppia equalised when he managed to shake off Phillipe Senderos to head home.

Abou Diaby shoots past Pepe Reina to cancel Liverpool advantage.

Then Fernando Torres showed his class when his control after receiving a knock-down from Peter Crouch enabled him to find the extra space against Senderos before unleashing a powerful shot past Almunia.

A moment of magic worthy to grace and winning an European tie unfolded with six minutes to go when substitute Theo Walcott embarked on a 60 metre run past four Liverpool players before cutting back the ball for Manu Adebayor to slot home past Reina.

The end product of a Walcott magic.
Manu Adebayor gives The Gunners the advantage which was theaterically taken away just a couple of minutes later.

Advantage Arsenal.

But the joy was cut short after the acting began, and Arsenal were left ruing the big decisions that went against them over the two legs.

However, this defeat should not take their focus away from another big task waiting for them on Sunday at Old Trafford where a win is paramount to ensure our title dreams would not be over when Monday comes along.

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Premier League - Match #33

Arsenal 1
Bendtner

Liverpool 1
Crouch

The second part of the April trilogy between Arsenal and Liverpool failed to separate them again with the score similar to the one on Wednesday. The visitors looked more fired up for this match with Peter Crouch leading the line, a rare start for the bean-pole striker.

Perhaps it was his hat-tick against us that prompted Rafa Benitez to use him again but his presence certainly unsettled our defence. It was our failure to deal with one of his lay-off that opened the scoring.

Youssi Benayoun was quicker to latch onto it and Crouch's touch enabled him to control the ball and unleashed a low shot past Manuel Almunia. It was totally against the run of play, after Nicklas Bendtner tested Pepe Reina with a low shot which lacked power to cause any harm to the Liverpool's cause.

But it was the goalkeeper's reluctance in coming in for a long ball into the box that gave the big Danish youngster the time and space to bring Arsenal to par again with the visitors. It was from a free-kick taken by Cesc Fabregas after former Arsenal player, Jermaine Pennant had fouled Armand Traore on the left.

Bendtner heading home the equaliser.

The home side went for the kill afterwards, needing all the three points on board to ensure the gap with them and leaders manure would remain manageable. Unfortunately the front line lacked the killer instinct and putting Bendtner on the left did not put any pressure on the Liverpool defence who only had Manu Adebayor to content with.

In the end, a point each for both sides seemed like a fair result but for the Gunners, the title aspirations have become something of an unattainable, at least for this season.

But of course we would not give up until the end, would we?

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European Champions' League

Quarter-Final, Leg 1

Arsenal 1
Adebayor

Liverpool 1
Kuyt

The first part of the April trilogy between these two giants in English football ended in a stalemate, a result which suited the visitors more.

The Gunners were denied from taking a lead to Anfield in a week time when the referee failed to award a clear penalty when Dirk Kuyt tugged Alex Hleb down in the box with the score at 1-1. On a night where team-mates seemed to conspire against one another from scoring, it was quite a fair result.

Unlucky 13 for Alex Hleb?
Twice the referees did not see the 'foul' when they were clear to the rest of the world.

Manu Adebayor made the most of the confusion in the Liverpool penalty area to head Arsenal ahead. If this has happened under the George Graham era most probably we would shut up shop and chorus of 1-0 to the Arsenal would have reverbrated around the Emirates.

However, defence is not the Gunners' strongest point this season with just two clean sheets in our last seven matches. The lapse of concentration enabled Steven Gerrard to provide the telling ball for Kuyt to bundle home just two minutes after Adebayor's goal.

Robin Van Persie looked lively but he did not return for the second half due to an injury. His presence has been sorely miss though he might have some crucial role to play in the next few weeks to ensure Arsenal's season does not end trophyless, again.

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