Arsenal title favourites – poll

Arsenal legends… Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira with the Premier League crown.
By NIGEL BENSON

Arsenal are the fans’ favourites to win the Premier League after an emphatic start to the 2009-10 season.
The majority of Goal.com readers believe Arsenal will win the English Premier League at the end of the season, followed by Chelsea and defending champions Man Utd.
While many fans believed pre-season that Arsenal could struggle this season, after the 49 million euro sale of Kolo Toure and Emmanual Adebayor to Man City, the red hot team from N5 has hit the ground running.
An opening day away 6-1 win against Everton (the biggest opening day away victory since 1994), was followed by a 2-0 win over Celtic and 4-1 rout of Portsmouth.
And that was reflected in the Goal.com readers poll, which showed 31.65% think Arsenal will win their first league crown since the “Invincibles” season of 2003-04.
Conversely, only 1.27% of readers believed the Man City revolution would result in any silverware this season, while the Xabi Alonso-less Liverpool were backed by only 8.86%.
Defending champions Man United and Chelsea were jointly the second favourites with
29.11% votes each.
The results were:
Arsenal  31.65%
Chelsea  29.11%
Man Utd  29.11%
Liverpool  8.87%
Man City  1.27%

Adebayor charged by FA

(Top) Robin van Persie is treated by Arsenal physio Colin Lewin after Adebayor’s assault.

(Bottom) How football fans were viewing Adebayor by the end of his Arsenal career.

 

By NIGEL BENSON

The Football Association has charged man City striker Emmanuel Adebayor with violent and improper conduct over his challenge on former Arsenal team-mate Robin van Persie and  provocative goal celebration.
Adebayor has until tomorrow night (Thursday NZT) to respond to the violent conduct charge and until September 30 to reply to the one relating to the goal celebration.
Adebayor, signed by City from Arsenal for 25 million pounds last month, has been accused of deliberately stamping on van Persie during Saturday’s match in what the Dutch striker has condemned as a “mindless and malicious” assault.
The Togo international also sprinted the length of the pitch to celebrate his goal in front of the Arsenal supporters.
A steward was knocked unconscious by a missile thrown from the Arsenal section of the ground and Adebayor’s conduct has been severely criticised by Manchester police.
He was given a yellow card for improper conduct immediately following the celebration.
Referee Mark Clutterbuck told the FA that he did not see the attack on van Persie, but that he would have sent Adebayor off for violent conduct if he had seen it.
It is expected Adebayor will receive a three-match suspension on the first charge.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said Adebayor deserved to be sanctioned for the vicious challege that left van Persie nursing a badly cut cheek.
“Did you watch it? If you
ve watched football for 20 years, you know as well as me what a player can do. You can ease off or not ease off. The biggest thing is in a challenge.
“I played football and I know exactly, in a fraction of a second, where you leave in or move out. You know exactly at that fraction, I can injure somebody or I can not injure somebody, and you ease off or you leave in. I have seen some challenges where if you do that in the street, you go to jail. It [the challenge on Van Persie] looks very bad. You ask 100 people, 99 will say it
s very bad and the hundredth will be Mark Hughes.”
The FA announced that “under the fast-track disciplinary process, Adebayor has been charged with violent conduct following an incident with Robin van Persie, which resulted in the Arsenal player receiving facial injuries”.
Wenger said Adebayor would one day look back and realise what he owed to Arsenal, who plucked him from obscurity at Monaco in January, 2006.
“My thought is that Emmanuel Adebayor deserves to be charged for what he did,” Wenger said.
“But I was surprised that there was such animosity in his attitude towards Arsenal because in a few years he will realise that Arsenal has been great for him. That is why I was deeply surprised and shocked.
“Only he can say if he will regret leaving. All I can say is that is life and professional football players move on. In life, the goal is to be objective enough in seeing who helped you and who didn’t help you, who had a positive influence on you or not.
“You can sometimes be disappointed in the short term. But still I believe that when you take distance with the events, you always get to the right judgement. I think the longer distance will make Adebayor realise that Arsenal was a very positive influence in his life.”

Sanity prevails as UEFA back down on Eduardo ban

 

Eduardo scores from the spot against Celtic.

By NIGEL BENSON

Sanity has prevailed as UEFA backed down on the two-match suspension handed to Arsenal striker Eduardo for alleged diving.
The Croatian was initially suspended for allegedly diving to win a penalty against Celtic in
Arsenal’s Champions League qualifier at the Emirates last month.
Eduardo successfully converted the spot-kick himself and The Gunners went on to win the game 3-1.  Following pressure from the Scottish FA and Celtic, UEFA began an investigation, which Gunners boss Arsene Wenger condemned as a “witch-hunt”.
Arsenal lodged an immediate appeal against the ban and, following an independent appeals panel hearing, UEFA announced the ban has been quashed.
“Following examination of all the evidence, notably the declarations of both the referee and the referees’ assessor, as well as the various video footage, it was not established to the panel’s satisfaction that the referee had been deceived in taking his decision on the penalty,” the football authority announced.
“Therefore, the decision of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body of 1 September, in which the player was suspended for two UEFA club competition matches, is annulled.”
Eduardo, who has stoically suffered abuse from other fans since the incident, said he was pleased reason had prevailed.
“I’m very pleased that we have finally arrived at the truth. All we needed to do was to prove what happened and we have managed to do that. This decision makes me feel a lot better,” he said after UEFA’s about-turn.
“All I remember of the incident is that as soon as I had possession of the ball I headed towards goal at full speed. I was very close to the Celtic keeper and felt contact on my foot and then lost my balance. I know perhaps more than anyone else that when you have contact at speed it can be dangerous.
“I just want to say that I’m a fair player. To score goals you must take your opportunities and I’m not the type of player who needs to be dishonest to score goals.”
Arsenal had been furious with the initial ban and welcomed UEFA’s action.
“We are grateful that the appeal body focused on the evidence and made the right decision in this case.
“We were able to show that there was contact between the goalkeeper and Eduardo and that the decision of the UEFA disciplinary body should be annulled.
“We fully support the drive for fair play in football and believe it is important that UEFA provide clear and comprehensive standards that will be consistently enforced going forward.”
Arsenal also argued that Eduardo, whose leg was shattered by 6’4” Birmingham defender Martin Taylor in February, 2008, took evasive action to avoid a repeat of the nearly career-ending injury, which it took more than year to recover from.
“I know perhaps more than anyone else that when you have contact at speed it can be dangerous,” the striker said.
Eduardo is now eligible for Arsenal’s Champions League clash against Standard Liege on Thursday morning (NZT).
“I was always prepared for the match in Belgium, because I had good feeling and I always remained positive about the outcome,” he said.

 

 

 

 

Attention deficit disorder… it’s Adebayor!

By NIGEL BENSON

Man City striker Emmanuel Adebayor faces a significant ban after his first match against former-club Arsenal at the weekend.
Manchester police blamed the Togolese player for sparking the crowd disorder that led to a steward being knocked unconscious during Arsenal’s 2-4 loss to Man City at Eastlands on Sunday morning (NZT).
Police reinforcements had to be called in, as the injured steward laid unconscious at the side of the pitch for five minutes.
“The player’s goal celebration caused the opposition fans to be aggravated and there was a crowd surge,” a police spokesman said.
“One of the objects that were thrown caught a steward and knocked him out. It’s the decision of the club, the ground security and the FA now whether they want to take the incident any further, but it must have been quite horrific for all the stewards at the time.”
The 25 million striker, whose apathy and lackadaisical attitude saw him hounded out of the Emirates in the off-season, will almost certainly face sanctions for celebrating a goal by running the length of the pitch to antagonise the Arsenal supporters.
Adebayor also faces a three-match ban for his cowardly stamp on Robin van Persie, which left the Arsenal striker with a gashed cheekbone and accusing his former team-mate of a “mindless and malicious” assault.
Football Association chief executive Ian Watmore, who was at the match, said Adebayor would have to answer to his actions.
“I am pretty unimpressed really, because the problem between Arsenal fans and Adebayor is well documented. The issue, particularly, is that he ran the whole length of the field. I am unimpressed and I will ask my [disciplinary] team to look very carefully at what he did.”
City manager Mark Hughes attempted to explain Adebayor’s brain implosion, describing his actions as “sad”.
“He really loved his time at Arsenal, he will tell you that himself, but for whatever reason he wasn’t appreciated by their fans towards the end and that is hard to take as a professional footballer. You want to be loved by your own fans because you get enough abuse from the opposition’s. That was the feeling behind it, I’m sure.”
Television replays of the assault on van Persie have incensed Arsenal players and management.
“Our governance team will take a good look at both of the incidents that have been highlighted and will come to the media with the answers early next week,” Watmore said.
Despite showing early promise, Adebayor became an unpopular figure in the Arsenal dressing room, after he head-butted team-mate Nicklas Bendtner during a League Cup match in January, 2008.

Arsenal to appeal Eduardo ban

 

Eduardo puts away the controversial penalty against Celtic in the UEFA Champions League qualifier.

By NIGEL BENSON

Arsenal will vigorously appeal the two match ban handed down to Croatian striker Eduardo da Silva after he was charged with deceiving the referee in last week’s Champions League play-off against Celtic at the Emirates.
A statement on UEFA’s official website confirmed the punishment.
“The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body today examined the case of the Arsenal FC player Eduardo for deceiving the referee during the UEFA Champions League play-off second leg match on 26 August against Celtic FC, and has suspended the player for two UEFA club competition matches.”
Arsene Wenger reacted angrily to the news that his player was to be charged last week, calling it a “witchhunt”.

Arsenal have three days to appeal the decision.

The club had presented a detailed 19-page submission to UEFA’s control and disciplinary body but, following a meeting via teleconference, the authority ruled that Eduardo was guilty of deceiving the referee in winning the penalty last Wednesday against Celtic.

If the appeal is unsuccessful, Eduardo will miss the group matches against Standard Liege and Olympiakos.

The matter is now likely to move to UEFA’s appeals committee, which could overturn the suspension or recommend that it is downgraded to one match.

The football world was quick to support the Croatian, who had his leg shattered in a horror tackle at Birmingham last year.
“Eduardo didn’t fall theatrically. There was some contact at first and he fell afterwards, Croatia FA president Vlatko Markovic said.

“Besides Eduardo has such a light physical build that he can be knocked over by a strong gust of wind. But Eduardo is not such a person or such a type that would be capable of simulating.”

The referee who awarded the penalty, Manuel Gonzalez, has also defended his decision after Eduardo went down in the box after a challenge by Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc.
“I made the decision honestly and during the game from my position,” Gonzalez said.
“The Celtic players were very upset but my decision was based on what I saw. My assistant also confirmed my decision.”
Meanwhile, Abou Diaby has revealed his anguish at scoring an own goal at Old Trafford in the 1-2 loss to Man Utd at the weekend.
“I have to forget it,” 23-year-old midfielder told The Sun.
“I made a silly mistake and it’s difficult to explain what happened. The goalkeeper [Manuel Almunia] called out to me to leave the ball, but it’s all my fault. Even when I look back at the images I ask myself what happened, and I tell myself that it’s just not possible.”

 

Travesty at Old Trafford

Arsenal 1 Man Utd 2 

Andrey Arshavin celebrates his brilliant opener at Old Trafford.

By NIGEL BENSON

Grrrrr!
The first miserable Monday of the season… enduring taunts from non-Gooner workmates all morning.
The 1-2 reverse at Old Trafford at the weekend was a devastating loss for many reasons.
It was our first defeat of the season, after a scintillating opening stanza.
This team of young guns only needs one big win to cement its confidence, and it should have
come at the home of last year’s champions on Sunday morning (NZT).
The opportunity was begging, as Arsenal were a class above united for most of the match, with
the home side chasing shadows and clinging to a game plan which revolved around Darren
Fletcher kicking lumps out of our players.
But, once again, our inexperience conspired to grab defeat from the jaws of victory.
My doubts about goalkeeper Manual Almunia continue with the peroxide-haired keeper
largely to blame for both goals.
His brainless challenge on Wayne Rooney, when the striker had overhit the ball and was no
threat to goal, handed united a predictable penalty and put a big dent in our confidence. �
As an Arsenal and football fan, I was embarrassed at Eduardo’s unnecessary penalty gaff
against Celtic.
But fans of every team have tired for years of the soft penalties given at OT.
And Wayne Rooney, in particular, has become a hate figure for his blatant cheating.
It’s not the first time Arsenal has been on the end of a poor penalty decision involving a diving Rooney
at Old Trafford.
Although referee Mike Dean, who was half the pitch away, confirmed his mediocrity by hastily giving the spotkick.
Almunia dived the wrong way and united were back in the game.
Arsenal had bossed the first half and deservedly went ahead in the 40th minute through a stunning 20-metre strike by Andrei Arshavin.
A minute before the goal Arsenal had a clear-cut penalty denied when Arshavin was brought
down by Fletcher.
United were in disarray at halftime and looked out of the match.
But Almunia’s 59th minute clanger changed all that.
Minutes later, Ryan Giggs floated an inoffensive ball into the box.
Diaby, who was under no pressure, obviously didn’t get a call from Almunia and so he attacked the ball… and promptly turned it into his own net.
Unbelievable.
A more dominant goalkeeper would have turned the situation into a non-event. Almunia remains, in my view, the weak link in Arsenal’s armour.
The frustrating thing is that we continue to make naive mistakes when vital players are injured which are costing us results.
It was shades of rookie defender Keiran Gibbs’ gaff in the EUFA Champions League semi-final last year, when he slipped over and gave a way a goal in the opening minutes.
Diaby spoiled another excellent match with his own-goal.
But, again, I would ask what Almunia was doing during that goal. That ball had “keeper’s” written all over it and our Spanish goalie is one of the most experienced players in our team.
It was not all bad news for Gooners, though. Even Man Utd fan friends have conceded that Arsenal was the superior team.
Hopefully, this loss will encourage Arsene to bolster our squad before the transfer market door slams shut tomorrow (Tuesday NZ time).
Soon after, Robin van Persie hit the united crossbar with a thumping free kick, before turning the ball into the net in injury time only to see William Gallas ruled offside.
Arsene kicked out at a water bottle in frustration and was bizarrely ordered off the bench and sent to the stands by the inept referee Dean.
The Referee’s Association has confirmed it will apologise to Arsenal for the officials’ performance.
A bit like losing a tenner and finding 50p, though…
Arsenal next play Manchester City on Saturday, September 12.

Arsenal: Manuel Almunia, Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, Thomas Vermaelen, Gael Clichy, Denilson (79), Alex Song, Andrey Arshavin (81), Abou Diaby, Emmanuel Eboue (71), Robin van Persie.
Substitutes: Eduardo (79), Mikael Silvestre, Aaron Ramsey (81), Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Nicklas Bendtner (71), Vito Mannone.

“Invincible” keeper to retire

Jens Lehmann is mobbed by his Arsenal team mates after his penalty save from Villareal’s Juan Ramon Riquelme saw The Gunners through to their first UEFA Champions League final, in 2006.

By NIGEL BENSON

Arsenal’s “Invincible” goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann, has announced he will hang up his gloves
at the end of the season.
The 61-cap German international started his professional career at Schalke’04 in 1989, before
spells at AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund.
He signed for Arsenal in 2003 and made more than 100 league appearances, before eventually
losing his spot in the starting XI to Manuel Almunia.
He moved to Stuttgart in the summer of 2008.
“After this season it’s finished for me, I’ve had enough,” Lehmann said this week.
“It’ll be time to try something else and to disappear a bit off the radar. It will be good to move
out of the spotlight for a bit.”

Lehmann played his last match for Germany in the 1-0 defeat against Spain in the Euro 2008 final.
The highlight of his career was as guardian during Arsenal’s Invincible season of 2003-04.
With Lehmann in goal, Arsenal also established a European record on the way to the 2006
UEFA Champions League final, by not conceded a goal in 10 matches.
However, he foolishly blotted his copybook by becoming the first keeper to be sent off in a
Champions League final, when he brought down striker Samuel Eto’o in the 18th minute against Barcelona.
Arsenal had been far the better side until Lehmann’s dismissal, but ended up losing 1-2, despite taking a 1-0 lead through a Sol Campbell header.
The red card also denied retiring Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp a deserved final farewell in Europe’s showpiece event.

“No chance” of Cesc leaving – Wenger

By NIGEL BENSON

Arsene Wenger has moved to dismiss rumours linking Arsenal captain and playmaker Cesc Fabregas with a return to Barcelona in his native Spain.
“No chance,” Wenger said before the opening day 6-1 demolition of Everton.
“Do you really think we’ll sell our players one day before the Premier League starts? Players
who are basic players of the team? There is no chance,” he said.
“You cannot stop people from having a lot of creative imagination during their sleepness
nights, but that doesn’t mean we will do it.”
A report in Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo has had the British tabloids speculating
this week that a deal has already been done for Fabregas, who learnt his football in the youth
section at the Nou Camp and joined Arsenal in 2003.
El Mundo Deportivo claimed Fabregas would make the move to Barcelona if The Gunners
failed to qualify for the Champions League group stage.
But after the emphatic 2-0 win over Celtic in the first leg this week, Arsenal now have one
foot firmly planted in the group stages draw, which will be held on August 27 in Monaco.
Barca would now wait until next summer to sign the Spain star, the newspaper claimed.
A fee of between 32 and 35 million euros has, reportedly, been agreed on which, from this
(admittedly-biased) Arsenal fan’s perspective is laughable after Cristiano Ronaldo’s 80 million
transfer to Real Madrid.
But, Wenger was having none of it.
“I believe that in life you are committed to clubs with contracts,” he said.
“And in no contract is the colour of your blood described. A man is always defined by the way
he is committed to his contracts and that has nothing to do with the blood you have.”
The Arsenal skipper’s father, Francesc Fabregas, has also dismissed rumours of his
imminent return to Spain.
“Honestly, I think this signing by Barca will not be produced,” he told Spanish radio last
week.
” think Cesc will stay at Arsenal. He is super committed to Arsenal and he is really eager
to do things there. If the day comes then it will come, but as a professional and out of respect
for Arsenal, where he has always been very well treated, he cannot say anything about these
rumours,” he said.
“Cesc is Catalan and a cule and, obviously, he takes that with him all the time. But, he gives
it all for Arsenal, regardless of that feeling.”

An Arsenal odyssey

“Think of all that free beer,” they enthused.

Journalism is the Homer Simpson of professions.
For me, though, the trip meant only one thing: I was finally going to see Arsenal play live.
Passion is a funny thing. One of the crustiest sons of Central Otago I have ever met, who also happens to be the Otago Daily Times chief reporter, is absolutely mad about roses.
I know! Go figure.
So my Arsenal obsession is quite unextraordinary, really.
But, if I was lying on a pyschiatrist’s couch, I would have to admit to being a bit eccentric about Arsenal Football Club.
Friends, family, girlfriends and workmates have all patiently tolerated my football fanaticism over the years.
The ODT editorial department is adorned with several “Arsenal Champions” posters on the walls.
If Arsenal has lost over the weekend, I spend most of Monday morning weakly fending off abuse from colleagues.

“How did Arsenal go in the weekend, Nige?” editor Murray Kirkness inquired with a chuckle when I tried to sneak past his office after a particularly painful 1-2 loss to Middlesborough.
ODT sports writer Hayden Meikle and online editor Sean Flaherty (Liverpool and Manchester United respectively, or the other way around; it’s really irrelevant) refuse to even speak to me about football because they reckon I’m too one-eyed.
Heh. They’re quite right.
Football is a very tribal passion. You love your team and loathe all others. It’s just the way it is.
The first thing I did on arriving in London was head straight to Arsenal’s old stadium at Highbury, which was vacated two years ago for the Emirates Stadium just around the corner.
Highbury is being converted to flats and I got talking with the construction workers on site.
They were all big, black West Indians with big, white smiles.
They thought I was hilarious - or tragic - and went and got a brick for me (for which I would later have to throw away a perfectly good pair of boots to make room in my luggage) from the old East Stand.

That brick now sits on my desk at work and is the source of great amusement to my colleagues.
I wryly acknowledge their mirth. But it gets much worse. When my family built an extra room at our Middleton Rd house in the 80s, I insisted we call it “Patrick”, after the Arsenal goalkeeper (and my all-time hero) Pat Jennings.
The room was henceforth known as Patrick until we sold the house 20 years later.
They did balk at calling a family dog “Arsenal”, though.

“What would the neighbours think?” Dad sensibly protested.

“We’d be calling out the back door “Here Arse, Arse, Arse.”

A few years later, for my 21st birthday, my parents had a gold Arsenal ring made for me by Daniel’s Jewellers, which I wear to this day.
Kaikorai Valley High School teacher the late Charles Croot once based an article about graffiti in the Mercury school newspaper on my pro-Arsenal handiwork on his class desks.

“The prevalence of graffiti proclaiming what a marvellous football team Arsenal are is probably untypical and merely a sign Nigel Benson spent many bored English lessons there,” he wrote.
I once managed to get my whole class enthused about Arsenal. It was the 1978 FA Cup Final against Ipswich Town and Arsenal was heavy favourite.

We lost, of course.
I can still recall the painful memory of a classmate’s hand-made Arsenal rosette ripped into pieces on his front steps the morning after the final.
Any influence I had among my peers died that day.
My first Arsenal match was against Bolton Wanderers at the Emirates.
In a nice bit of serendipity, the first ever Shoot magazine I bought featured Arsenal and Bolton on the front cover.
Football fans look for omens everywhere.

The match was surreal and I spent the entire 90 minutes in a dream-like state. We scored two goals and they scored none and I was blissfully happy. It was worth waiting 30 years for.
Afterwards I shuffled into the interview room with a dozen other journos for the postmatch press conference.
I carefully composed a question to ask manager Arsene Wenger, which I put to the erudite, professorial Frenchman at the first opportunity.
“Sorry?” he replied.

He hadn’t understood a word I’d said.
I turned the colour of an Arsenal shirt and mumbled my question again, which Arsene gracefully answered in some depth.
Once Arsenal realised I was in London they, quite naturally, made a special effort for me.
The next match was a record 7-0 thrashing of Slavia Prague in the Champions League. After the match, I had the chance to have a brief chat with Wenger.
I’ve interviewed half a dozen prime ministers and two Nobel peace prize winners, but felt like a 13-year-old schoolboy again in the Arsenal manager’s presence.
Later I got talking to Brian Glanville, the doyen of football writers. I grew up reading Glanville’s marvellous books about British football.
Curiously, he has always been interested in New Zealand, although he’s never been here.
“I’ve always been fascinated by New Zealand. I’ve still got a lovely letter [former All Black captain] Wilson Whineray sent to me after I wrote a column about the All Blacks in the 60s. He was a real gentleman. So was [Colin] Meads. They were all gentlemen, those All Blacks.”
He appeared quite taken with the idea of a New Zealander being an Arsenal fanatic and insisted we share the tube home together from Holloway Station. All the way back he regaled me with stories about Arsenal in the 1940s and 50s and the early World Cups.
I was in heaven.
Five days later I joined the Arsenal Supporters Club on the five-hour coach trip to Anfield to see Arsenal play Liverpool.
The bus was packed and my fellow fans treated me like an honoured guest.The chap sitting next to me, Ernie, filled me with stories of Arsenal matches and players from yesteryear.
Ernie, who was in his mid-80s, was an absolute delight. He kept busy “helping out the old people”

 in his neighbourhood, he said.
However, the bonhomie evaporated when our coach, emblazoned with “Arsenal Supporters
 Club” signs, entered Liverpool.
Red strings of Liverpool fans heading to the game threaded the streets and threw baleful looks up at us.
The most hateful (fearful) glares came from young boys.
We disembarked under police guard and were similarly escorted out of the city after the game. But, it was a fantastic atmosphere before the match, with Arsenal and Liverpool fans mingling comfortably, if slightly standoffishly, around the ground.
The only real venom came when a section of the crowd started booing me as I walked in the press and official guests entrance.

At least, for a horrified moment I thought they were booing me, but it was Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson who was brushing past me on his way in.
As I approached the press boxes looking for my seat, which had an Otago Daily Times reservation card placed on it, I saw a chap sitting there looking at me strangely. It was New Zealand Herald sports writer and long-time Liverpool fan Michael Brown, who was in England covering the Kiwis
 ill-fated rugby league tour.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw the ODT was next to me,” he said in astonishment.
The atmosphere was extraordinary; easily the most passionate and vocal sporting crowd I have ever experienced. The Kop made so much noise it was, quite literally, deafening.
Liverpool scored through a Steven Gerrard free-kick after eight minutes and I spent the next 80 minutes on the edge of my seat until Cesc Fabregas got a sublime equaliser with a couple of minutes to play.
When the ball hit the back of the net I hit the Anfield stadium roof.
As I floated back down to my seat, I realised I was surrounded by thousands of Liverpool fans glaring at me. I just grinned sheepishly; the default position for a New Zealander.
Anfield was the venue for one of the greatest days of my life, when Arsenal won 2-0 there on May 26, 1989 to win the championship (now premiership).
I had been following Arsenal for 12 years by then, and never seriously expected to see my team win the title. Liverpool were in a league of their own back in the 70s and 80s and I hated them for it.
They were about to win the title yet again and clinch an historic double after winning the FA Cup a month earlier.
Arsenal had to beat them by two clear goals, which no team had done to Liverpool at Anfield for more than a decade.
Arsenal had no chance.
I have watched that game so many times I can just about quote the whole match commentary.

“It’s up for grabs now . . . Thomas!” the commentator screams as Michael Thomas glides through for our title-clinching second goal.
I used to freeze-frame that moment on my video, so I could watch the look on the Liverpool fans
 faces behind the goal as the ball rolled slowly into the net.
I don’t expect anyone who is not a football fanatic to understand.
The only live English football match shown on New Zealand television when I was a boy was the annual FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in May. It was fortunate that Arsenal were in the FA Cup Final for the first three seasons I followed the team, from 1978 to 1980.
We lost two of them, though. Of course.
I used to set my alarm to wake up and listen to the BBC live football commentaries from England around 3am every Sunday morning.
The BBC would also read out the results just after 8am and you would try to discern from the announcer’s inflection how your team had gone.
“Arsenal 1,” he would say, before pausing dramatically and dropping an octave “. . . Leeds United 2.”

And my dreams would be dashed for another week.
Years later, the highlight of my week was Big League Soccer at lunchtime every Sunday.
Arsenal was my religion and Big League Soccer was my church.
The Gunners were invincible during the three matches I saw, scoring 10 goals and conceding only one.
On the way back from Anfield in the coach, the other Arsenal fans jokingly suggested having a whiparound to keep me in England for good luck.
You couldn’t ask for much more than all that, really.
Up The Gunners!

- Nigel Benson travelled to London courtesy of Speight’s Breweries. He would also like to thank Arsenal Football Club, Liverpool Football Club and the Football Association for their generous hospitality during his stay.

Arsenal’s title odds slashed!

By NIGEL BENSON

Arsenal’s imperious 6-1 thrashing of Everton on opening day has had the bookies frantically adjusting their pre-season predictions.
The odds for another Gunners’ title win were slashed to 6/1 after the display at Goodison Park on Saturday.
It was the biggest away win in the Premier League on opening day since 1994 and Everton’s heaviest home defeat since 1958 (also against Arsenal).
Many pundits had forecast a testing season for The Gunners, after the 39 million euro sale of Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester City.
But eight goals in two games has them re-evaluating Arsene Wenger’s exciting young squad.
The powerful opening game statement was matched with a comfortable 2-0 win over Celtic in the UEFA Champions League qualifier on Wednesday morning (NZT).
A William Gallas deflected free kick and a Gary Caldwell own goal settled the tie.
English bookies Bet365 had been offering 9/1 on Arsenal winning this season’s Premier League title before the weekend.
Now they’re 6-1.
Arsenal next face Portsmouth at The Emirates on Saturday.