Arsenal 1 – 0 Roma
Champions League Round of 16
First Leg (Emirates)
Finally something really good to write about, the showing of Arsenal last night was not one we have seen often, or at all, this season. Fast, slick, creative and solid at the back. The only thing lacking was a bunch of our best players and a clinical striker. Luckily, Robin Van Persie was at his imperious best. It was like watching Megan Fox strip, it was that good.
Ive been critical of a few players but nobody really put a foot wrong, its easy to say ‘Bendtner should have had six!’ or ‘Eboue will never score again’ but both of them played an important part in a fantastic performance. I was saying to Gooner Chris from Gooner Talk before the game that i hoped Eboue would not start as he is a disaster, Chris told me that would not be the case and so it turned out.
Nasri was a little magician all game, he created a hell of a lot and gave the Roma midfield and backline hell, Denilson was a brick wall in midfield and Diaby was, dare i even whisper it, actually i will whisper it,
Vieira like
Van Persie converts
in the middle of the park. Eboue also came to the party with a display of strength, mental strength too and pace. He nearly wrapped it up with a goal that he should have taken but his lack of confidence told, it was a good display from the ‘pass master’.
The backline was solid as a rock with Almunia, Gallas and Toure keeping up their good form, Clichy also showed signs of regaining his own form.
Cometh the game, cometh the hour, cometh the man with Van in his name. He won a penalty after putting himself in a terrific position totally bamboozling the Roma defence and won himself a deserved penalty, he slotted it away with consummate ease.
After that we bombarded Roma and despite them slightly growing in confidence and ambition we replied ourselves with chance after chance. Sadly we did not really kill them off but they never looked like scoring.
Manu misses
On the whole we are stronger away from home in Europe, on our run to the final a few years ago we beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeau and last season we beat AC Milan at the San Siro, i think it would be also helpful for Wenger to remind Roma of what we did to them, and what Thierry Henry did to them, in their own back yard a few years back. We have a capable of doing that in Van Persie.
The team will also be stronger with two of our players currently out due back by then, maybe three if Theo Walcott is back. Its looking up.
This side has shown what it is capable of and whilst Wenger will be disappointed we did not put the game practically beyond Roma with a couple more goals, he can be pleased with his side. I even saw him say ‘for fuck’s sake’ after a Bendtner miss!
He had this to say,
“That is the regret we have tonight. I am happy with our performance, but of course there was room to score more goals. From tonight we know we can create chances. You never know what a good result is in the European Cup. One of the positives is we didn’t concede a goal. It’s put us in a position where we know we need to attack over there. If we score once that should be enough.”
I think he is being a bit overly negative there for once, im sure he is a bit frustrated but this team has shown what he knows it can do and maybe he is just trying to keep their feet on the ground.
There will be negativity in the press later saying we will be punished for our lack of potency in front of goal, i doubt Man Utd will though and they did not even manage to score!
Five Live have already said they have the advantage now but do they really? One Inter goal could fudge it right up for them, whereas an away goal for us might just secure the tie.
An away goal is one of the most valuable things in games like this because it puts big pressure on the other team.
Right, thats your lot, cheers for reading.
Til Tomorrow!
'Tis nothin'
Up The Gunners!
It was a great match – really warming the heart to see that Arsenal can rip through teams which at least try to play some football. My personal motm was Diaby – played really, passing progressive balls, generally solid and broke up Roma attacks. Roma enjoyed a bit more possession and our dominance slackened – i put that down to the fact that Diaby had just recently come off. He was epic. Nasri deserves a shout out and really did very well, running everywhere and even getting in some great positions. Eboue played well, but as soon as he had that good oppertunity from Roma’s mistake, I knew he would miss it. Bendtner really shoulda banged in a couple and at times his first touch let him down but I can have few complaints
Overall, really encouraging performance. I had a feeling that Arsenal would play with a bit of spark and speed this evening and I was pleased with the result. Really enjoyed it. As I said elsewhere, Arsenal play at the best against the better teams. I think I was right with this assumption.
Spot on, Goonblogger.
I was especially encouraged by our midfield play. I haven’t seen us be that competitive in midfield all year. Winning the free balls and headers kept us on the attack all match, and led to much creativity and flow. Still a bit short in finishing, as you noted, but RVP was THE MAN when we needed him most.
If we bring that game to Saturday’s tilt against Fulham, we gain the 3 points. And if we bring it to Rome in 2 weeks (with the additions of Ade, Eduardo and perhaps even Theo), we’re into the next round of the Champions League.
There’s a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel, and for the first time in a long time I don’t feel it’s maybe an oncoming train.
Great match, Excellent performance by the lads on the park at the Emirates.
Finally seeing the soccer we know they can play, It was also good to see the Gooners getting behind the players and making the Emirates a daunting place to play away from.
However, Consistency is the word here and I would like to see us take the momentum from this game further and to other competitions.
Go the Gunners!