Five On the Road!

FENERBAHCE 2 Silvestre OG 19 Guiza 78

ARSENAL 5 Adebayor 10 Walcott 11 Diaby 22 Song 49 Ramsey 90+4

A trip to Turkey is never easyArsenal took the field against Fenerbahce with an untested back-four with Alex Song and Mikel Silvestre partnering one another for the first time and Gael Clichy and Manu Eboue on the flanks.

A five man midfield comprising of Cesc Fabregas, Abou Diaby, Denilson, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott was designed to keep it tight while providing the opening for Manu Adebayor who operated as a lone striker.

Manuel Almunia skippered the Arsenal side with William Gallas and Kolo Toure being side-lined with injuries.

Despite being left alone upfront Adebayor put Arsenal ahead after a wonderful through ball by Fabregas in the 10^th minute.

Then barely a minute later another through ball by the Spanish midfielder put Walcott through and the English youngster found the net with the smallest of margin to put the Gunners two goals ahead.

Arsenal fans were in dreamland.

Then the home side snatched one back from a typical Arsenal weakness, that is the free-kick. Guiza volleyed the long free-kick from the left and the loose ball was deflected by Silvestre into his own goal.

Then Arsenal restored their two goal lead when Diaby latched on to a pass from Fabregas and shrugged off three Fenerbahce defenders before shooting past Demirel from quite an acute angle.

Just after the half an hour mark Dani Guiza put the ball into the Arsenal net but his effort was correctly ruled out for offside. Arsenal did not look comfortable defending.

Song who was earlier booked for obstruction was given a lucky break by the referee when he committed a similar offence on Roberto Carlos. In the 40^th minute Guiza was put through again but his low shot just missed the target by mere inches.

In the 41^st minute Fabregas put Walcott clear again but Demirel managed to cut out his low ball from reaching Fabregas. At the other end Almunia had to pull off another important save on one to one situation to deny Fenerbahce from reducing the gap.

Two minutes into the second half a sight every Arsenal fans did not want to see when Nasri went down clutching his left leg. From the resultant free-kick, comedic defending gave the opportunity for Song to get his name on the scoresheet, his first in European competition.

Almunia steady handling prevented an Alex’s free-kick from going in after Diaby adjudged to commit a foul outside the the penalty box just under the hour mark.

Again the Spanish custodian in the 67^th minute came out on top on one on one situation though it needed a collective effort to prevent the ball from ending up in the back oof the net.

Diaby exited in the 73^rd minute to be replaced by Aaron Ramsey, who scored a spectacular goal against England in their U-21 European Championship play-off match last week.

Finally Guiza managed to put his name on the scoresheet in the 78^th minute when a defensive error by Song put him through and he lobbed Almunia with ease to give the home fans some hope of a comeback by their team.

Johan Djorou came on for Walcott with six minutes to go. Carlos Vela followed Djorou a couple of minutes later in place of Adebayor.

Ramsey in the last minute of additional time opened his European account with another cracker from just outside the box which hit the post before going in.

It was five on the road for the rampant Gunners!

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A Good Start For the Notebook.

ARSENAL 3 Nasri, van Persie, Walcott

EVERTON 1 Osman

As the referee blew for the interval, the thought that the first match that I am goinng to talk about is a defeat crossed my mind. The direct football deployed during the first half certainly did not pose much problem for Everton at all.

Thinking a change of ritual would bring some good luck, I decided to hang out the laundry which earlier had been put into the machine.

Somehow, it worked.

I came back just in time to witness Cesc Fabregas’s corner which eventually ended up in the back of the visitors’ goal after a cool finish by Samir Nasri for the equaliser. We pressed forward and the enforced change that saw Theo Walcott coming on for the injured Kolo Toure saw a more menacing attacks on the Toffees goal.

Manu Adebayor who had been the target of my long distance abuse for not properly getting himself into the match during the first half finally did good in my book tonight. He managed to create the opening for Fabregas’s shot which was intially saved by Tim Howard.

But Robin van Persie was on hand to head home the rebound which put us into the lead for the first time during the match. After seeing the Dutchman failed to make much headway during the first forty five minutes, it was good to see him finally putting one over the line for his 6^th goal of the season.

Then a sight that all Arsenal fans did not want to see. Nasri hobbled off the pitch and my preference was to see Mexican forward, Carlos Vela for a like for like substitution. But I was no Arsene Wenger, who brought on Abou Diaby for the lanky player first match back from injury (again!)

It turned out to be another shrewd move by the Frenchman when Diaby found himself free on the right after Walcott found him with a short pass. It was a delayed ‘one-two’ and the young Englishman’s first time effort gave Howard no chance at all with a low effort which went through his legs.

The three points collected was really valuable as Chelsea had earlier thrashed Middlesbrough 5-0 at the Riverside. Liverpool posted another remarkable comeback against Wigan at Anfield, coming back from 2-1 down with ten minutes to go to win by the odd goal in five.

But most importantly was that the first Arsenal match review that I typed using my brand new HP Notebook was a character building comeback win.

So, another laundry on Wednesday?

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Not A Happy Anniversary for Arsene.

Arsenal 1 McShane OG
Hull City 2 Geovanni Cousin

Many were expecting a cricket score when Hull City came a visiting but I did share that view. Not after a good start made by Phil Brown's men that saw them in the top half of the Premier League table rather than the bottom.

But then again, I did not expect us to lose either.

On the 12th anniversary of a certain Arsene Wenger officially joined Arsenal it should be a week of celebration. Results from previous matches against Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield United indicated the Gunners would be too much for the Tigers to handle.

However, Brown did not spend years under Sam Allardyce at the Reebok Stadium without picking up a thing or two from the big man when it comes to playing Arsenal.

There was a quote from Brown that to come away with anything from the Emirates is to catch Arsenal on an off day. It was certainly that day.

The first half was largely a forgetable affair with neither goalkeeper has to make any serious save at all. Then suddenly everything clicked into one fluid movement with Theo Walcott finally found his groove and a lucky deflection later Arsenal finally broke the deadlock.

A collective sigh of relief by many at the Emirates.

But it was not for long. A moment of magic by Geovanni brought things level again. The Brazillian was allowed too much time and space by the Arsenal players and there was nothing Manuel Almunia could do but grasping thin air as the ball whizzed past him.

A goal of the season candidate for sure.

Things got worse a bit later. Arsenal had conceded two goals from set-pieces this season and tonight they conceded another. The way Daniel Cousin scored his first goal for Hull indicated that we still need a big tall centre-half who could take charge from this kind of situation.

Neither William Gallas nor Kolo Toure could rectify the situation. Clearly, we are still looking for the next Tony Adams.

One thing about the match last night was that many Arsenal players looked like they were fasting. They were lacking the urgency required to match the pressing game that Brown instructed his men to carry out.

I am getting tired of seeing the two Manus, Eboue and Adebayor.

We played quite a number of high balls into the box but with Robin Van Persie being not the best player with the head, it would make more sense if Nicklas Bendtner was given the slot to partner Adebayor up-front.

I would play Walcott on the left and Van Persie on the opposite flank so they could cut inside and the more damage with their right and left feet respectively. A bit predictable but there would be variety and physical presence up-front especially against a team which has this never say die attitude that we were sadly lacking during the match.

Carlos Vela should have been given the nod sooner, especially after we fell behind in order for him to make a meaningful contribution. He was quite unlucky when the ball fell too near to him from the Gallas header.

As always, the question of luck would always come in after a defeat and it is no different this time around.

We simply did not have much of it tonight.

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Another Comeback at the Reebok

Bolton 1 Davies
Arsenal 3 Eboue Bendtner Denilson

Arsenal went to the top of the Premier League with this comeback victory at the Reebok Stadium against what used to be their bogey team, Bolton Wanderers. It was a delight to watch the slick passing of the Gunners overcoming direct football deployed by the home team who relied on dead ball situations to pose problems to the Arsenal defence.

Despite using the direct route for most of the time, there were some moments of flair from Gary Megson's side. Kevin Nolan's long range effort in the 3rd minute ensured Manuel Almunia was on his toes throughout the match.

The visitors created a host of chances but much to the delight of the majority in the crowd, Bolton went ahead in the 14th minute through Kevin Davies who capitalised on some loose marking in the Arsenal defence from a Joey O'Brien's corner. It was a typical Bolton goal against Arsenal.

Then Manu Adebayor and Alex Song hit the post as Arsenal pressed forward for the equaliser. Then Kolo Toure saw his effort went just wide after Nicklas Bendtner had chested down the ball for him.

The Danish striker played a huge part in the equaliser by threading the ball for Manu Eboue to shoot home past Jussi Jaaskelainen. Replays suggested that the Ivorian was offside when the pass was made but this time the decision went Arsenal's way.

Barely a minute later Bendtner got his name on the scoresheet when another sweeping move on the left saw Denilson sprinting clear before delivering a low ball into the box. The tall Dane attacked the near post and managed to connect with the ball and turned it past Jasskelainen.

Toure and Almunia then combined to prevent Bolton from going to the interval on level terms. The Ivorian defender clean tackle robbed the ball from Ricardo Gardner who was poised to pull the trigger inside the box. Then Almunia dived to his left to push away Nolan's effort after the midfielder was set-up by Joey O'Brien.

Then a hard tackle on Gael Clichy by Davies saw the France international being taken off during the interval and Johan Djourou came on for the second half at the right-back spot while Bacary Sagna moved to the left to take Clichy's place.

Song nearly made the contest over in the opening minutes of second half with a good shot from outside the box but Jasskelainen denied the Arsenal midfielder with a good save.

As expected, Bolton would always be a threat with a single goal lead and they came close in finding the equaliser a number of times in the second half. However, Arsenal defended stoutly and when substitute Theo Walcott's pace led to another quick counter-attack Bolton were exposed.

The youngster found Adebayor who ran to the right. The Togolese delivered a hard low ball across the face of the goal and Denilson who came in from the blind side side-footed the ball home to ensure the three points going Arsenal's way.

For the moment, Arsenal are on top and hopefully they would remain there.

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Back From the Dead

Dynamo Kiev 1 Bangoura
Arsenal 1 Gallas

Arsene Wenger expected a point from the trip to Kiev and a single point was what Arsenal got. The first half suggested that the trip back to London would be a jovial one as Arsenal stamped their authority all over their Ukrainian opponents.

Robin Van Persie came close but the biggest miss of the night surely had to be attributed to Manu Adebayor who shot high and wide with only the goalkeeper to beat after a mistake by the home defence.

Had Arsenal be more clinical in their finishing it would have been a different story altogether and continue Dynamo's run of defeats in the Champions League. Last season the Kiev side finished bottom of their group without a single point.

Perhaps the capital of Ukraine held a curse on Arsenal as the Gunners never get the right result there. But a point is definitely better than none though for a long time after going behind, Arsenal did not look like scoring at all.

Of course the penalty decision was very harsh and I thought the Dynamo player induced the penalty by pulling Bacary Sagna to fall with him. However it would not have come to that if William Gallas had not misjudged the flight of the ball which led to the break by Dynamo.

I was mouthing all kind of bad words to both Gallas and Adebayor when the two of them played quite a significant role in bringing the score to par. First the Togolese found the unmarked Theo Walcott wide on the right. Good for him.

Then Gallas popped up at the end of Walcott's low hard ball across the Dynamo's goalmouth to divert it into the net though there was a hint of offside (I think...) when he connected with the ball.

We continued to push forward but a point from Kiev could be regarded as a success considering previous heartbreaks that we suffered there.

Now, the Reebok awaits and hopefully we could snatch another three points there like we did last season.

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E-Wow Park: Four on the Road

Blackburn 0
Arsenal 4 Van Persie, Adebayor 3

Last season the visit to Ewood Park spelt the end of Jens Lehmann's time with Arsenal after he let slip a long range effort by David Dunn as Arsenal were forced to share the points that afternoon. This time around it was completely the opposite as the Gunners ran out easy winners and by a scoreline which was quite unexpected.

Theo Walcott continued from where he left at the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb on Wednesday with another display of confidence and maturity. Despite not getting on the scoresheet himself, the run that he made which opened the path for Robin Van Persie to score was certainly crucial.

The lead gave Arsenal confidence and despite not increasing the lead until late into time added on at the end of the half, Arsene Wenger's men were never in any real danger as they seized control of the proceedings.

The three goals scored by Manu Adebayor did take a few chunks of my 'dislike' for him. I do not know when it will be completely gone, perhaps it never will but as long as he is doing the job for Arsenal then it is fine by me.

So it is the long trip to Kiev now and hopefully the result there would be great for us Gooners.

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Just Starting for the Season.

It was not the best of start to the season, having to miss writing about the opening five fixtures but hopefully I would be able to make amends from now on.

The opening quarter of an hour of the match against WBA had me drooling for what we could expect from Arsenal this season. The rest was a stark reminder that things could go the other way around and we could end up without anything to show again for the fourth season running.

Then came the visit to Craven Cottage when we simply did not do the business on the pitch. It was a poor, poor performance and of course credit must be given to Fulham who showed more willingness to get more out of the match than Arsenal.

FC Twente at the Emirates could be an early season disaster if the necessary result was not achieved. In the end it was back to the old Arsenal and it continued against Kevin Keegan's Magpies on Sunday morning (in Malaysia, that is).

I was urging another goal for Robin Van Persie to complete his hattrick but had my heart skipping a beat when he was seen clutching his ankle after the shot that hit the bar. Fortunately, it did not out to be a major concern. Hopefully he would return from his international duties with the Netherlands in one piece too.

The next three matches are pretty tricky too with Premier League trips to Blackburn and Bolton sandwiching the long journey to Kiev to face Dynamo in the Champions' League. The timing is good though for the Kiev trip as the wheather now is be more tolerable than during the later part of the year.

It seems the Boss is true to his words that there is no player available to strengthen the midfield, experience wise that is. For talents, I really think that we could boast one of the most skillful bunch of midfielders. Heck, if Manu Eboue could come up with the backheel to set up Van Persie's second, who else do you need? :)

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