Clean Sheet in the North-East

You might feel that Arsene Wenger never really put a serious assault on the League Cup since taking charge of Arsenal. His usual line-ups would consist of squad players and promising youngsters that have excelled in the reserve side.

However he has proven so many times that his belief in the ability of young players at his disposal is not an act of blind faith. The have dispatched quite a number of big name sides in recent years such as Liverpool and Manchester United and a few sides that fielded their strong sides when facing The Gunners in that competition such as WBA and Wigan Athletic.

This morning Carling Cup tie at Newcastle saw Wenger continued playing his young players. Craig Eastmond and Kieran Gibbs continued to feature while Havard Nordveit made it to the bench. But for me the most important player starting the match was goalkeeper Wosciech Szczesny who has been crying out for a chance to prove his worth for Arsenal.

The Polish youngster certainly did not disappoint with a few good saves against a Newcastle side that was not really at their full strength, with Chris Hughton clearly putting his priority to the weekend North-East derby against Sunderland at the same venue.

The emerging Szczesny, whose display during his loan spell at Brentford really showed his potential to become a good goalkeeper; will now make the contest for the spot between the sticks even hotter at The Emirates between him, Lukasz Fabianski and the 'injured' Manuel Almunia. Of course, the three of them will have to content with Vito Mannone once the Italian loan spell at Hull City ends in January.

After a long period of feeling vulnerable with their goalkeepers, Arsenal fans can now breathe a bit easier knowing that Wenger is right after all by sticking with the ones at his disposal. Fabianski certainly growing with confidence during each match he played and he would have to work hard in order not to make any mistake, knowing that his place could be taken by others.

I am very pleased with the developments as I have been a fan of Fabianski since he first came to the club. His erratic displays prior to this season really made me wonder whether he is just a good goalkeeper in a low quality league in Poland or he really is a great goalkeeper in the making. Right now my opinion is of the latter and I really hope that he will keep it up for years to come.


The 4-0 win against Newcastle also marked good return to the side by Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner. The England international brace sandwiching another good strike by Bendtner who has scored twice in as many matches after a similar strike against Manchester City on Sunday.

It was a match with a lot of positives for Wenger and he will be looking forward to Saturday London derby against West Ham United at The Emirates as another potential three points on the board even though matches against The Hammers were never easy.


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Fruitful Trip to Lancashire

At the time of writing mad redo1 has not seen the goals from the Arsenal visit to Blackburn Rovers last night. After the conclusion of Terawih and Witr prayers he immediately took Mortimer to the McD Drive Thru Restaurant where Eezmo has been watching together with returnee GanuGooner, Spalding.

What left on the clock was just minutes and the score was 2-1 in favour of the visitors. Then Arsenal broke on the right and in the end the ball reached Jack Wilshere who only had Paul Robinson to beat. However the teenager's attempt was blocked by the veteran custodian and shortly after the man in the middle blew for full time.

It is good to know Theo Walcott keeps scoring goals for Arsenal and his opener certainly shows his continuous development as a forward which will bode well for Arsenal challenges on all fronts this season. However there must be a bit concern about Laurent Koscielny ability to withhold the physical nature of Premier League after he was shouldered off the ball by El Hadji Diouf en route of the home side equaliser, which was scored by Mame Biram Diouf.

Arsenal defended stoutly for the rest of the match in the face of Blackburn's direct route football and Manuel Almunia performed efficiently despite the uncomfortable nature of the match which saw heavy rain pouring down in Lancashire in the early part of it.

Andrey Arshavin's winner just six minutes into the second half did not kill off the match as the home side tried to force an equaliser. But the resilience showed by the Arsenal team was enough to ensure all three points went The Gunners' way, much to the delight of all Gooners around the world and especially the three at kT's McDonald's Drive Thru Restaurant.

However, there was some concern when Robin van Persie hobbled off with an ankle injury and according to Arsene Wenger the Dutchman will be out for ten days. Van Persie started his first match of the season and so was skipper Cesc Fabregas whose blocked shot led to Arshavin's winner in the second half.

Arsenal fans could be reunited with their former skipper William Gallas as early as September when both North London clubs were paired together in the Third Round of the Carling Cup competition. The match which is slated for 20-09-2010 will be at White Hart Lane. Arsene is expected to field his youngsters while Harry Redknapp will do otherwise, seeing the competition as one where his side could get their hands on a piece of silverware this season.

That will be a fodder for another day. For the time being just enjoy the fruit of labour from the trip to Ewood Park. It is certainly a good birthday gift for mad redo1 who turned 41 on the 19th day of Ramadhan.

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November Rain

October has passed with Arsenal quietly making their way into the top four. Unbeaten during the month which started with a 6-2 demolishing of Blackburn, the 3-0 win over Sp*rs is certainly the best way to end it.

However, events in between the two results certainly raise doubts whether we can sustain a meaningful challenge for the Premier League title and also the Champions' League this season. The win over Blackburn is followed by a 3-1 win over Birmingham City while the young Gooners' victory over Liverpool in the Carling Cup precedes the win over the neighbours.

But it is the draws at AZ Alkmaar and West Ham that really put the question mark whether Arsenal could maintain their challenge this season. In both matches, Arsenal are cruising at 1-0 and 2-0 respectively when they fail to deliver the knock-out punch, a goal that would ultimately seal the match on both occasions.

Despite the draws do not really bear any bearing at this stage, it could be detrimental to the Arsenal cause in the long run. Drawing too many matches certainly cost us dear last season and we must avoid the same thing happening again.

November will see us travelling to Moulineux and the Stadium of Lights to face Wolves and Sunderland respectively. On paper these two matches should be just a walk in the park but in football just about anything can happen. Champions League campaign will see AZ and Standard Liege coming to the Emirates and at the end of the month it will be another London 'derby' with Chelsea being the visitors.

Nine Premier League points in November could be a tall order but in order to cement their credentials as genuine title contenders this season, Arsene Wenger's boys and men have no choice but to push for it, and push very hard.

C'mon Arsenal!

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Wigan Vela-ed Off

Arsenal 3 Simpson 2 Vela
Wigan 0

As usual I have to wake up in the wee hours in the morning in order to catch the Arsenal youngsters in action but as it was against Sheffield United in the last round, it was totally worth it.

Another scintillating first half display (according to the commentator as I woke up with just five minutes of the half to go) was rewarded with a Jay Simpson goal that separated both teams at the break.

Then the young Gunners just continued where they left off and when you thought there was a hint of a fightback by Wigan, they just struck. As Wigan pressured the Arsenal defence, captain for the night Lukasz Fabianski punched away a cross and the ball found it's way to Carlos Vela.

The Mexican international's pace was simply too hot to handle and he cut to the byline with ease. Having the mind of a team player he squared the ball to Simpson who finished cooly for his second of the night and distanced Arsenal from their more experienced opponents.

A while later it was 3-0, as Vela displayed the kind of skill that made Arsene Wenger persisted in bringing him to the Arsenal fold. Another ball out from defence from Johan Djourou found Vela who flicked the ball towards goal.

Then it was a race with a defender to the ball and Vela just nicked it with a sublime chip that sailed over the bemused Chris Kirkland in the Wigan goal. It was such a priceless look, as I remembered he was one of the biggest culprit when it came to time wasting at the Emirates a couple of season back.

He did not waste any time tonight.

It was also a good outing for Fran Merida, whose long range effort had Kirkland scrambling to save and also for Kieran Gibbs. The young left-side player forced the Wigan custodian into making a couple of hard saves during the match.

Eduardo da Silva appeared on the TV screen tonight, and I really hope to see him in action real soon. But one of Wenger's summer acquisition did get his first competitive action in Arsenal colours during the match.

Amaury Bischoff was given his debut when he came on for Jack Wilshere, whose pass released Simpson for the first goal. It was a descent performance under a no pressure situation.

However, in the closing stages Wigan did pile up the pressure and Fabianski was forced to work hard to keep his clean sheen dream intact. Daniel de Ridder's mazy run ended up with a shot with the Polish goalkeeper did well to save but Henri Camara was following up.

Fabianski did well to get up quickly and got his hand on the goal bound ball and push it against the bar. Arsenal eventually cleared the danger and saw out the match.

Now we are in the last eight, I wonder who we could be facing next?

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