Fenerbahce 2 – 5 Arsenal highlights – A European night to remember

Last night Arsenal beat Fenerbahce in style and with class. The game was exciting and had plenty of goals. Wenger had wanted to silence the notorious Turkish fans, and I think we did – 3-1 up after 22 minutes!

There were some notable highlights for us, Diaby came back and looked very, very impressive – he got a good goal. Nasri continued to look good, Ramsey scored after coming on very late in the game, and Adebayor got a goal. Also Song, playing at CB, scored a lovely goal in the second half. Oh, and Walcott got a great goal.

To view the highlights click here.

To subscribe to our news feed click here.

Wenger told the press:

“We had a young team and I’m proud we came in and tried to dictate the game in a heated atmosphere,”

He was particuarly impressed by Ramsey – who looked so relaxed in such a big game.

Almunia led the team well and denied the Fenerbahce strikers all night – one of his best games for us I think. Only problem was the defence looked a little weak. Maybe a SIlvestre – Djourou partnership would be a little more stable.

Silvestre spoke after the game:

“It was not easy to come here with a good atmosphere against us and I think we coped not too bad with the experienced players we played against.

“It was a good game to improve and learn from. Hopefully we can get some consistency.”

Arsenal 3 – 1 Everton watch the highlights here!

Just a quick one:

A great result yesterday, poor at the start, but we came back welll in the second half. Song played much better at CB than at RB, also Silvestre did well. Walcott and Nasri add pace and flair on the wings. Ade looked a bit lazy, but we got the goals from Nasri, RVP and Walcott, we just need to lose the complacency!

Hibbert was an idiot – dirty tackle on Denilson, and then he tried to strangle Clichy and got a yellow – the refereeing yesterday was pretty atrocious at times.

Here’s the highlights

Cheers!

Sunderland 1 – 1 Arsenal – Watch the highlights here

Have Arsenal learned from the Hull game? Probably not. Were we unlucky today? Yes.

These are the answers you don’t want to hear, but I think it is true. Sunderland never really created much, but they had their chances. They kept at least 8 men behind the ball until the last ten minutes, and they managed to score a reasonably lucky goal – yet another wonder strike – which wasn’t defended against properly (click to watch).

However, Arsenal were extremely unlucky not to have scored earlier in the game, having a few good chances and RVPs goal disallowed.

We were then extremely lucky that Fabregas equalised with 90 seconds of added time remaining from RVPs corner. (Craig Gordon was completely lost).

That is how football works. I can say now that I am glad to have the point, after a hard fought wet, cold and windy away game in the North East.

Nevertheless we really can’t afford to drop points like this. I think Wenger will be extremely disappointed in the dressing room.

The main problem is – if you want to win the title, you have to beat teams like Fulham, Hull and Sunderland. Getting lucky decisions and grinding out results away from home is crucial and we aren’t doing it.

The full match highlights are here, click to watch them.

Arsenal Insider some good analysis here, he highlights Adebayor’s lack of consistency this season, and agrees with me, Arsenal haven’t learned from the Hull game.

The goal that won Arsenal the Premiership – Wiltord at Old Trafford – Video Post

This is a classic Arsenal moment. The goal that won us the title in 2001 – 2002 at Old Trafford. Wiltord scored, after Ljungberg’s shot was saved. The win gave us the Double that season, after we won the FA Cup too!

Ljungberg was a crucial player in the run in, scoring many goals with his famous runs into the box. That season was arguably the height of Ljungberg’s Arsenal career.

Click here for the BBC match report.

A fantastic moment, hopefully we will have some more of these this season.

Analysis of another Old Trafford Arsenal scorer – Adebayor.

Arsenal 4 – 0 FC Porto: Highlights

Arsenal responded resoundingly to their critics tonight, outplaying Porto and winning 4 – 0 to put them top of Group G with 4 points.

To watch highlights of the whole game click here.

Click Here For Our Recent Posts

Match Report

Arsenal started well, although there were a few close calls early on – a badly defended corner lead to Clichy clearing off the line, and a Porto shot skimmed the bar.

Van Persie looked so much sharper than on Saturday, and he got the first goal – a lovely move, leading to him sliding in Ade’s cross. Click to watch.

Ade got the second, heading down into the ground from a corner, the ball looped over Almu and in off the underside of the bar. Click to watch.

RVP scored again in the second half, this time taking it past the Porto defender and smashing it home with a left footed drive. Click to watch.

Ade finished the scoring from a penalty after Bendtner was brought down in the box. Click to watch.

Goals: Van Persie 31, Adebayor 40, Van Persie 48, Adebayor 71 pen.

Player Analysis

We could have scored more, Bendtner, Nasri, Eboue, Walcott all spurned chances. Walcott played well, as did Nasri – I thought he added an extra dimension to our play which was much needed. Clichy was also back to his best on the left!

Eboue, Bendtner and Vela came on, Eboue didn’t contribute greatly, except by making the crowd laugh at his imitation of Ronaldo step-overs – badly.. Bendtner, who I think is excellent, wasn’t sharp at all, but still looked ok. Meanwhile Vela performed fantastically and is definetly one to watch!

Overview

All in all a good, standard Arsenal performance, Porto weren’t great, but we kept possession well and closed them down, which made it hard for them. The goals were well taken and we could have had more. In the last 10 minutes we got a little complacent but we still won 4 – 0, a clean sheet is always welcome!

One point to make is that Porto never really got going, and we were lucky that Clichy cleared their best chance off the line. They like to play attacking and keep the ball on the ground, that is our game, and we can beat anyone at that on our day. The Fulhams and Hulls of the world are teams who you need to beat to win the Premier League.

4 points now in the CL – top of Group G, so lets take this result and push on against Sunderland on Saturday – another team who will be hard to beat.

Watch Vieira’s top 6 goals for Arsenal – Video Post

Patrick Vieira was undoubtedly one of the best Arsenal players of all time. He would certainly make my all time XI.

He played 279 games for Arsenal between 1996 and 2005, and scored 29 goals. Vieira was an impressive midfielder who could win the ball with ease and then attack.

Vieira had a fiery temper, and his rivalry with Roy Keane was probably the most famous the Premiership will ever see. Vieira was still getting into trouble at Euro 2008, this time with ex-Man Utd rival Van Nistelrooy – watch the video here.

He took over the Arsenal captaincy after Tony Adams’ retirement in 2002 and kept the role, until he left the club for Juventus in 2005.

Here’s one fan’s compilation of his six best goals:

If you liked this post then check out some of our other video posts. To watch Kanu click here. For the Theirry Henry post click here.

Arsenal 6 – 0 Sheffield Utd – watch the highlights here

Last night Arsenal’s youngest ever team smashed past Sheffield Utd at Ashburton Grove in the Carling Cup.

We won 6 – 0 with three goals in each half. Vela got a hattrick and 16 year old Jack Wilshere got his first First Team goal for the club.

You can watch the goals by clicking here.

Have a good week Gunners.

Bolton 1 – 3 Arsenal highlights, a masterclass & Eboue’s first PL goal!

Arsenal came from behind at the Reebok to win 3 – 1 whilst playing some fantastic football. We now sit top of the Premier League on 12 points, at least until Chelsea play Man Utd later today.

Click here to see the match highlights.

Kevin Davies scored Bolton’s goal – a header from a corner in the 14th minute – as you would expect – and things didn’t look great.

But, Arsenal pummelled the Bolton box and after hitting the post twice and playing some great football, we pulled back to 1 -1, in the 26th minute, with Eboue’s first Premiership goal (although it’s debatable that he was offside), and then within a minute a Bendtner strike made it 2 – 1.

Bolton came back better in the second half, but couldn’t find the net. Clichy was tackled clumsily by Davies, who got a yellow (click here to see the foul). Clichy had to go to hospital for an x-ray. Meanwhile Djourou came on and played alright.

Hopefully Clichy doesn’t have a fracture, Wenger said afterwards he wasn’t sure. Clichy is now an intergral part of the team – amazing in attack and defence – without him we really lack on the flank.

Update – Clichy has only suffered bruising – and is free to join the rest of the squad – read on Arsenal.com

Walcott came on near the end of the game and really reignited the Arsenal attack. He looked fantastic and had several chances. His pace and balance were brilliant. He was at the centre of the third goal with a wonderful run from his own half, drawing six Bolton players, before giving it to Adebayor who crossed to the far post and allowed Denilson to kill the game off.

Wenger was euphoric afterwards:

“I thought it was a convincing, united, classy performance with strengths everywhere.

“We can always get better, that is the positive thing. We want to improve. As long as your attitude is right, you can go forward. We did not panic after going behind and that is the pleasing thing.”

Ahh, those words sound so good, how great it is to play fantastic football and win. It’s days like this when I love supporting Arsenal! Thoroughly satisfied Gooner!

Goals:

Bolton: Davies 14.

Arsenal: Eboue 26, Bendtner 27, Denilson 87.

Click here to watch more Arsenal videos.

Arsenal salvage a draw with Dynamo Kiev – Watch the highlights here!

Arsenal were lucky to come away with a point tonight after a 1-1 draw with Dynamo Kiev in front of 20 000 in the Ukraine. Dynamo went ahead after a penalty was harshly awarded against Bacary Sagna, and they defended hard afterwards.

Arsenal left it late to equalise, with a low Walcott cross bouncing its way to Gallas at the far post who bundled it home.

Click on the links below to watch the goals.

Dynamo Kiev 1 – Bangoura 64′ (pen)

Arsenal 1 – Gallas 88′

We looked good early on, and there were great chances for Adebayor and Fabregas. But after half time Dynamo seemed to improve. They piled on the pressure, and eventually the penalty was conceded.

Walcott impressed yet again tonight, his confidence seems sky high at the moment, and he is fulfilling his potential right now.

Interestingly Sagna came off for Eboue in the second half, suggesting he may have picked up a slight knock.

I think we were lucky to salvage the point, but I’ll take it.

The stats tell the tale – a game where Dynamo defended and tackled well, although Arsenal had the most attacking pressure, and eventually managed to break down the Ukrainians.

Dinamo Kiev Team Statistics Arsenal
1 Goals 1
0 1st Half Goals 0
2 Shots on Target 5
8 Shots off Target 4
7 Blocked Shots 3
3 Corners 8
17 Fouls 14
2 Offsides 4
4 Yellow Cards 1
0 Red Cards 0
84.9 Passing Success 86.1
14 Tackles 21
85.7 Tackles Success 66.7
46.6 Possession 53.4
44.3 Territorial Advantage 55.7

Teams

Dynamo Kiev: Bogush, Betao, Diakhate, Mykhalyk, Nesmachniy, Vukojevic, Yussuf (Asatiani 90), Yeremenko, Aliev, Ninkovic, Bangoura (Kravets 90).
Subs Not Used: Shovkovskiy, Ghioane, Morozyuk, Shatskikh, Olexander Romanchuk.

Booked: Nesmachniy, Bangoura, Vukojevic, Diakhate.

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna (Eboue 78), Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Walcott, Fabregas, Song Billong (Bendtner 70), Denilson, Van Persie (Vela 83), Adebayor.
Subs Not Used: Fabianski, Ramsey, Wilshere, Djourou.

Booked: Sagna.

Ref: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain).

Nwankwo Kanu: Quality, Quantity and Wenger – Video

Arsene Wenger took a massive gamble in 1999. He signed Nwankwo Kanu up after the player underwent a massive heart bypass operation. Kanu had previously played for Inter Milan, but heart problems threatened to end his career. Nwankwo Kanu told Canal he owes his career to Wenger, who took the chance to sign up a talented player.

Kanu was a mesmerising foward, all legs and feet. His gangly frame masked one of the most skilful players around; an African superstar, Nigerian legend. Unlike his date of birth, his tricks were unforgettable.

Doctors said that Kanu would never play football again. Wenger thought otherwise:

“I owe him a lot because he believed in me,”

“He gave me self confidence and faith. And I think I paid him back because I did very well with Arsenal.

We all know that there is a good dressing-room atmosphere at Arsenal, and not many players have complaints about the way things are run, as Kanu says:

“We were all together, like a family during this period, and I scored special goals, especially against Chelsea, three in 15 minutes.

“He gave me the chance to have fun playing football and permitted me to dream on.”

Kanu’s third goal in 15 minutes saw Arsenal come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against Chelsea at the Bridge.

“…with the puddles deeping at Stamford Bridge, it was Kanu who kept his feet to give Arsenal hope with a quarter of an hour remaining.”

Click here to read the BBC match report from that memorable day.

It’s well known that Harry Redknapp tries to recreate a ‘Wenger style’ in his teams, Kanu commented:

“I feel great because I have found the same atmosphere than at Arsenal here. This state of mind resembles Arsenal’s and helped us win things.

It’s probably true that the quality training and diet that Kanu recieved at Arsenal revitalised his career and has allowed him to continue playing against all odds.

Read about more Wenger signings – Kaba Diawara the bargain buy that never made it. Or watch more Classic Videos.