Tag: match report

Arsenal 3 – 1 Everton watch the highlights here!

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

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

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Video3 Comments

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.

Arsenal 4 – 0 FC Porto: Highlights

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Champions League, Video1 Comment

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.

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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.

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

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Video

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!

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Champions League, Video

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).

A good weekend for Arsenal, see Blackburn 4-0 highlights here!

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal1 Comment

Arsenal finished a good week with a fantastic 4-0 victory over Blackburn at Ewood Park this weekend. After Theo’s midweek hattrick for England, we had a goal glut on our hands. Theo – looking so, so, so confident, set the first up – for RVP to score, and then Ade went on to get a hattrick of his own, with assists from the likes of Ramsey and Denilson.

Wenger had thought of leaving Theo out, but decided against it:

“The problem with scoring three times for the national team is that everyone expects you to score again. Football isn’t like that.

“What is most important is that he has a good team attitude, tries to work hard and the rest will come with time.”

We looked fantastic and outplayed Blackburn, I was worried we would stumble here, but the opposite was true. Theo was confident, Ade got goals, RVP got a goal and the team looked good, plus the fact that Man Utd lost 2-1 to L’pool could only make it better!

Ade talked about the team performance, he will be happy that he got his goals in, I hope it can be a confidence booster for him. Ade is the player we rely on most for goals, so it was good to see him get the first few out of the way, lets hope they keep coming:

“People kept asking me when I was going to score my first goal in the league this season.

“But I told them it is more important that the team wins. We showed good character at Blackburn and that will help our confidence.”

Click here to view the match highlights.

Jack Wilshere came on, becoming the youngest player to play for Arsenal ever, and Wenger had this to say about him:

“I bring English players slowly through,” Wenger told Arsenal TV. “He is another one who will soon play for you [England].”

Exciting stuff, and you can’t help but get excited when you see some of the great youngsters we have coming through. I just hope they can match their talent with trophies..

Toothless Arsenal cause doubts at the Cottage (plus video highlights)

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Video6 Comments

Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at Craven Cottage yesterday was one of the poorest Arsenal games I have seen in a long time.

The line up didn’t really suprise me due to lack of midfield options, but I knew life would be hard for us when I saw Denilson and Eboue lining up in central midfield.

Nasri Eboue Denilson Walcott, it isn’t a title winning line up. I know Fabregas is out, and Diaby too, but even then the squad looks worryingly thin, all we had on the bench as cover was Ramsey and Wilshere. Eboue isn’t a central midfielder, and Denilson was out of his depth, he made a lot of bad mistakes.

We lacked the quality in the squad to replace injured players, and we desparately need a new centre mid. We ended up with RVP playing there and Bendtner and Adebayor up front.

The defence and attck however was the first choice team, and we looked worryingly toothless, we couldn’t string passes together, we weren’t tackling, crosses were misplaced, runs were mistimed. Schwarzer had 1 easy save to make all afternoon.

To make matters worse, Gallas’ awful marking at a corner allowed that new Fulham guy to get a leg in and score.

I know when Cesc is back in the squad things will be different, but we can’t rely on one guy, we seem to have lost a lot of defensive qualities in midfield (Diarra, Flamini, GIlberto) and creative qualities (Hleb). We need a new signing now, and the Boss needs to have a think about how the team will shape up for the season.

Arsene told the press:

“We were not sharp enough in the first half, and our passing was certainly not as good as we expect it to be. I don’t know why,

“Of course it is a setback. But the result is there, and we have to make up for it by winning the next match. We have a big game on Wednesday in the Champions League and need to improve.

“We paid a big price for the mistake on their goal. We should be able to cope with a corner when it comes in at low level like that.”

It’s only one loss, and we aren’t out of anything, but last year we finished 4 points off the top, we dropped 3 today and I hope we don’t regret it.

Click here for the highlights.

FC Twente 0-2 Arsenal: Video Highlights

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Champions League

Arsenal won 2-0 last night against Steve McLaren’s team in the Champions League qualifier 1st leg. We didn’t play fantastically, but a young team managed to get a result, which is good. 2-0 is a good away win, and puts us in a great position.

Here are the highlights:

End of season. Highlights: Sunderland 0 Arsenal 1. Walcott!

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

So a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light saw us hit 83 points, after a 24th minute goal from Theo, from great pass by Gilberto! Randall came on at the end as did Traore and they did well.

Highlights here.

We had a pretty young team out, and we should see more of these guys next season:

Fabianski

Song Senderos Djourou Clichy

Eboue (Randall 81) Denilson Silva Walcott

Adebayor Bendtner (Traore 81)

Wenger said:

“My message to Alex Ferguson is just congratulations for the achievement and get ready for the fight next year,”

“When I look back on the season I feel disappointment but to earn 83 points with such a young side gives you a lot of hope and that’s a respectable total because I’ve won titles with less. They made a big improvement when you consider last season when we earned 68 points.”

“There was a conjunction of bad luck and it was the first time this young team had to deal with big pressure so a combination of the two cost us the title,”

“Quality-wise we have been remarkable all season but we lost a 100 metres by a fraction of a second. We were on the same line but someone pushed their chest out in front of ours just at the end but that doesn’t mean we didn’t make a great 100 metres.”

We have made a huge improvement this year and I am sure we will be challenging for the title next season.

I couldn’t watch the game, I saw Wigan – Man Utd, which was boring as hell, and Man Utd ended up lifting the title, after they won 2-0 and Chelsea drew 1-1 with Bolton.

I think we deserved to win the title this year, but if not us then Man U deserve to win it more than Chelsea. But really I hate them both.

Some crazy results yesterday, Middlesbrough 8-1 Man City! Reading and Birmingham both scored 4 goals in their games, but still went down after Fulham won 1-0 at Portsmouth.

Anyway, another Premiership season comes to a close, and we have a big summer coming up. If Wenger gets the right people in and youngsters like Theo Walcott come through and play to their full potential then next season will be fantastic.

If players leave and we don’t replace then we will be in trouble.

Anyway, thanks Arsenal for a great season, we have little to show for it, but we all can remember. It has to be one of the closest seasons in the history of the Premier League, and it was pretty exciting.

Arsenal 2-0 Reading Highlights And Walcott

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

Sorry for the lateness of the post.

Yesterday we beat Reading very comfortably, 2-0 at the Grove. It was our first victory at home since the 11th of February, when we beat Blackburn 2-0.

Highlights here.

Arsenal 2-0
(HT 2-0)		 Reading
Adebayor 30
Silva 38
Bookings:
Kitson 28
Bikey 58
Sonko 71

The match itself was the most one sided I have seen this season. Reading had few chances and didn’t play well going forward.

We should have scored several more than we did. Theo had a shot which hit the bar, and a Van Persie free kick richocehted off the underneath of the bar and out!

It was pretty frustatring in that respect, we completely out played Reading with some good passing moves, but we didn’t score more. I thought RVP played very well as did Fabregas who had a stormer in central midfield.

Meanwhile Man Utd almost lost at Blackburn, an 88th minute Tevez equaliser gained them a point. It jsut shows how close we would have been had we picked up a few more points.

Wenger said this here:

In this match we showed what quality we do have and that the team is strong.”

“We are still ambitious – we have 74 points and want to finish with 83 points which is a decent total. We want to finish off as close as we can to the winners of the league.”

“We showed pride and responded after the disappointment of last week. We have to bounce back because the strong always come back stronger.”

“We have a very young team with a great future.”

This is true and there’s not much more you can say really. We want to finish as high as possible and get 3 wins from our remaining 3 games!

Theo wants his chance upfront next season here.

Fabregas confirmed his future lies with Arsenal. Click Here.

Busy day ahead so just a quick one, got to go!!