Woah, felt like 'touch & go' for a period last night!
Morning all,
A good match last night. We took the lead through a RVP penalty in another first half that we dominated and failed to kill off the opposition in. In some senses the match became academical as Braga lost to Shakhtar and we were (barring a loss) guaranteed to go through. But whilst saying that, there were times last night that it felt like Partizan could have picked up an unlikely victory.
In all honesty we should have sealed the match up in the first half when RVP picked up a missed header from Partizan's Krstajic and looked to pick out Chamakh. Bu the final ball was slightly lacking and was behind Chamakh and a good chance was lost.
Partizan had equalised early in the second half through Cleo and once again it became 'squeeky bum' time. Images of going out at the group stages must have flashed through the mind of all but the most optimistic Arsenal fans. Fabianski again had an up and down night and whilst having some good saves later on in the match should done better with the first goal.
It wasn't until the introduction of Walcott, who replaced Arshavin who was showing signs of having celebrated too much at Russia's victory in hosting the World Cup and not enough time training, that Arsenal once again stepped up a gear and showed the form that could see us pick up at least one piece of silverware this season. Walcott picked up on a clearance from Partizan and with a superb volley put the Arsenal back infront.
From that point on we started to control the game more and more and Nasri continued his sparking season and added third to finally kill off the match.
One down point was the late sending off of Sagna. He tackled from behind but I think even the most hardened Partizan fan would agree that a red card was harsh and at best a yellow would have sufficed.
The other down point is the injury to Kieron Gibbs, there's no news at the moment to the extent of the injury but it a shame to see yet another injury in this young lads career. I wonder if he's Van Persie's secret half brother....
The victory secured our place in the next round but does leave us in the line of fire for, what Arsene calls the 'super-favourites' in his best Spanish gameshow host impression. In the next round two teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other, so this leaves us in line for either: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Batern Munich & Shalke. Van Persie stated "I want Barcelona or Madrid", be careful of what you wish for was the first thing that sprung to my mind....
Don't get me wrong, if possible I'd love nothing more than to get nice easy draws all the way through (and hopefully for) the final. But to be realistic we're going to have to face big teams at some point. Whether it's Pep's Barca or Jose's Real the basic fact is that if you want to be known as the best team in Europe, you've got to beat the big boys at some point. What worries me is our ability to keep our concentration over 180 minutes against one of the big teams. Our attack I think can rival that of any of the European teams at the moment, our defence on the other hand is another matter. Especially if Vermaelen is out or struggling to keep match fitness after a long stretch out. The one hope is that the long stretch between now and the next round mean that HOPEFULLY Squillaci, Koscienly and Djourou will have enough time to develop an understanding between them which will shore up the defence.
Speaking of our defence Fabianski has been saying that he doesn't care what the press say about him and only the managers opinion matters. "I play for the manager, the club and myself" was his statement. Whilst Arsene continues to keep with in the young Pole, his inability to keep clean sheets against 'lesser' Premier League clubs such as Newcastle and Fulham, makes me quake in my boots at what the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and co. will do to him should we draw either of the big Spanish clubs. The upside is that should he manage to put in excellent performances against the top Iberian hitmen and keep some clean sheets, it should do wonders for his confidence. I only pray that the supposed 'top class' form he shows in training will come to the for in these games.
To more onto other news, Craif Eastmond has been in a run-in with the law and has been re-bailed until the new year. He was nicked by Wansworth police on 'suspicion of indecent exposure'. He's the third Arsenal youngster so far to be involved in minor run-ins with the police so far this season (Wilshere was involved in a dust-up in the early hours and JET allegedly failed to stop for police). Well my fellow Arsenal supporters, I guess this is what we get for our demand that more English players are brought into the squad. Whilst we would all love our young Englishmen to follow in Theo's footsteps of well-spoken middle-classness, the truth is English players tend to get into trouble more than their young continental imports. We can only hope that these young lads, suddenly flush with cash and fame, will learn from these experiences and follow the Ryan Giggs
Well that's all for today. No point in rehashing my previous comments on Mamadou Sakho, who again is in the papers being linked to us. Wrap up warm if you're in Britain, keep the sun-tan oil on if your in Singapore and if your American please don't vote anymore retarded people in as President as you did with George Bush Jnr. Take care!
The Afterthought.
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