Morning all,
Now that’s the Arsenal I know. Dominating performance in which all our weapons were on show.
Right before the match news came out that Bacary Sagna picked up a virus last night and would not be featuring. This resulted in a backline of Eboue-Toure-Silvestre-Gibbs. One that made every gunner cringe a little.
We didn’t waste any time, going at them right out of the gate. We controlled the ball and it resulted in a few chances, the best being Adebayor’s when RvP took a quick throw-in to Fabregas who cut the ball back to Adebayor who had an open net but looked as if he got caught in two trains of thought and did neither.
Gunners wouldn’t have much time to dwell on Ade’s chance as on the next possession Eboue sent the ball down from the right flank, Fabregas played a excellent flick-on with his back heel that resulted in Walcott open on goal, who calmly chipped the keeper into the corner of the net. An all-around great goal with a magnificent setup and a finish that matched. 1-0 to the Arsenal.
Villareal had a few chances after that, Pires, Bruno, Rossi, and Mati Fernandez all had chances, nothing really threatening to the keeper. Pires was the best, which might of found the net if not deflected by Toure.
At the half-hour mark Fabregas was brought down at the edge of the box that set up a free kick at a perfect angle for RvP. He stepped up and smashed it right at the edge of the goal but the keeper didn’t have far to move and got a hand on it. Adebayor then had a free header that he didn’t take as well as he should but deflected off of Pires in what looked like an own goal. No whistle was blown and on replays it showed that the ball did not cross the line.
Went in at the half 1-0 Gunners.
Villareal started to gain some momentum at the beginning of the second half, but at the 60th minute van Persie got the ball on the edge of the box, danced around two defenders, played a pin-point pass to Adebayor who slotted it into the corner. 2-0.
In the 67th minute Walcott won a penalty. It wasn’t a penalty, the Villareal defender didn’t even touch him, but it wouldn’t of effected the outcome, the match was over anyways. Villareal lost it after that, surrounding the ref for what seemed like forever and resulted in a yellow card and another yellow card that happened to be the player’s second, sending him off. Surprisingly this didn’t stop Villareal from surrounding the ref and line judge. Get on with the game. Anyways, 3-0 to the Arsenal and we were into the semi-finals.
A few minutes later Wenger brought on Alou Diaby and Denilson for Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie and went into a more defensive formation.
We were cruising now, highlight was the crowd bringing back the ole Super Robert Pires chant. You know your a Arsenal god when your on the other team and the crowd is still chanting your name. Wonder if the same will happen if we see Barca in the final with Henry.
Bendtner came on for Adebayor in the 82nd minute and created the only real chance of the rest of the match when he played through Diaby.
Game finished 3-0 and we were moving on to our 2nd semi-final of the Champions League in our history. There we will play Manchester United who beat Porto 1-0 while our match was going on. First leg is April 29th at Old Trafford.
Player Ratings:
Fabianski – 8 -He was perfect. Whether it was coming out to clear the ball or grabbing a corner, he did everything perfectly. Only reason he doesn’t have a higher rating is because he didn’t have to make a good save. Glad to see Fabianski got his confidence and swagger back, it is what makes him him.
Eboue – 8 -Eboue was probably our best player. He shut down Pires on that flank, and was consistently getting forward and playing great 1-2’s with Walcott while overlapping. He had a great game, only mistake I can think of was when he made a great run to the edge of the box then kicked it into the upper deck. We forget how good a RB he is, and that is what he is with a full squad.
Toure – 7.5 -Commander of the defense. Made some good deflections and tackles, and made up for Silvestre’s mistakes. It’s clear that King Kolo has been back this last month, couldn’t of been at a better time.
Silvestre – 6 -Was shaky all game. Made a few good clearances and tackles, but was really worthless in defense all game. I’m off after I finish this blog to Milan to kidnap Senderos.
Gibbs – 7 -Gibbs had a good game. Didn’t play scared like most of us thought he would in this massive match. Played some good passes with Nasri and overlapped a few times and played in some crosses. Defensively wasn’t really challenged but did well when he was.
Walcott – 9 -Man of the match. Completely tore apart Capdevila all match, and with ease got loose on that right flank and played in crosses. Turned in that magnificent chip goal and won the penalty later on. When he plays like this there is no better winger in the premiership.
Fabregas – 7.5 -Much like Toure in the defense, Fabregas controlled the midfield. Played that excellent flick on for the first goal, and played good passes getting us forward all game.
Song – 8 -Beast. Ran around all game, never stopped. Made tackles, flung people around, cleared the ball. Song with a high work-rate and a mean streak is just what we need. He has proved it this last few months that he deserves to be a starter, and was rewarded with this start. Unless he moves back to defense to make up for Silvestre, I think we will see him start next to Cesc.
Nasri – 7 - Had a good match. I can remember 4 occasions where he ran back and won the ball. Was all over the pitch. Nothing special, but effective.
Adebayor- 7 - Missed some chances early, but put the ball in the back of the net and worked hard all game. That’s all we can ask from the man. He was the reason we had the advantage with that wonder goal in the first leg.
van Persie- 7 -Played well all match, set up Ade for the second, slotted in the penalty perfectly, slung in a few free kicks and was dangerous throughout. I took off a .5 for trying to join the Africans in that dance, if you can call it that.
Subs:
Diaby – 6.5 - Played well after he came on. Created a few chances, almost put in one of his own.
Denilson – 6 - Didn’t make much of an impact.
Bendtner – 6.5 -Same as Diaby, created chances, tried hard.
I’ve put videos of the goals from the match in the video section in the left column.
You can download the first half here and the second half here.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with any news.
Poll of the day:
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WOW!