Longball Rovers 1 Netbusters 2

By Aashish Siwan

 

Goals: Blackburn Rovers: M. Diouf 27’ Arsenal: Walcott 20’, Arshavin 51’

Arsenal walked away with all three points from a wet Ewood Park. As expected, the hosts tried long balls all afternoon but the Arsenal defence held strong under the guidance from an inspired Manuel Almunia.

Wenger kept Almunia in goal, Sagna and Clichy at right and left back respectively and Laurent Koscielny returned after seeing out his one match suspension to partner Vermaelen in central defence. Song and Diaby added some muscle in font of the back four while Cesc Fabregas started his first match this season. The Arsenal captain was flanked by Walcott and Arshavin while Robin van Persie also started his first match for Arsenal in the lone centre forward role. New signing Sebastian Squillaci however was not available for this tough away fixture.

History tells us that taking on a team put together by Sam Allardyce is not an easy task and so a tough long afternoon was expected with a feeling of nervousness thrown in the mix. The Gunners knew what was expected from them in this match with Arshavin throwing down the gauntlet to the rest of his team mates saying that they should be after revenge for last season’s loss.

Trying to set an example, the diminutive Russian went on to tackle the biggest man on the field, Blackburn’s Christopher Samba, to give away a free kick with only 30 seconds gone. As expected, the free kick was sent in long but to no avail. Morten Gamst Pedersen then took Blackburn’s first throw-in of the match. He looked to do a Rory Delap even asking the ball boy to get him a towel to wipe the ball with. Pedersen was leaving nothing to chance but his throw-in was ineffective.

Diaby got a chance to give Arsenal the lead in the 3^rd minute as a van Persie corner managed to find it’s was to him via Walcott. Diaby hammered his shot in from 12 yards out but Vince Grella managed to get a block in even though neither he nor his keeper, Paul “Behind You” Robinson, had the faintest idea of where the ball was headed.

It was all hands on deck after this for Arsenal as Blackburn put pressure on and put in more of those long balls and throw-ins. Even van Persie found himself defending as All White’s captain Ryan Nelson nearly gave Blackburn the lead, rising well to meet a Pedersen corner only for Fabregas to clear off the line. A series of corners and throw-ins ensued before Koscielny got a block in on Nikola Kalinic’s effort and Samba steered his header over the bar from the resulting corner in the 15^th minute.

The battle continued with Blackburn looking to exploit potential defensive weaknesses but Arsenal remained resilient and it was against the run of play that Arsenal took the lead. Van Persie skilfully controlled a pass from Arshavin before playing in Walcott who thundered a shot low past Robinson to give the battling Gunners the lead. So fierce was his attempt, that it left a hole in the Blackburn net as the match officials found out before the start of the second half. Walcott’s goal seemed to sap confidence out of the hosts but not for too long as Blackburn were level seven minutes later as El-Hadji Diouf outmuscled Koscielny to tee up Mame Diouf (no relation and on loan from Manchester United) to tap into an empty net. Koscielny learnt the hard way that a dummy tackle is not the best way to defend and Blackburn’s goal was one straight out of the Gunners attacking manual. 

Van Persie was then replaced by Chamakh as the Dutchman hobbled off with what looked like an ankle injury.

Arsenal continued to hold firm despite the double set back and further long balls and managed to withstand the Blackburn pressure to end the first 45 at 1 all.

The second half started eventually as the Blackburn grounds keepers took their time to repair the torn net. Pedersen was on hand to block an attempt from netbuster Walcott, before Pedersen himself had an effort that went high and wide over Almunia’s goal. Then, out of nowhere, Arsenal’s big-little giant awoke to put Arsenal in the lead. The opportunity afforded to Arshavin might have been a bit fortunate as Sagna’s cross found Fabregas whose attempt found the back to Walcott and found its way to Arshavin. Arshavin then proceeded to thread the ball past a sea of legs (mostly Blackburn’s) and also a pair of gloves to send the ball behind Robinson and give Arsenal in the lead.

Chamakh had a shot blocked soon after as Blackburn brought on attacking options to try and level matters. Fabregas, Walcott and even Koscielny had unsuccessful attempts on the Blackburn goal before Arsenal brought on Rosicky for a rusty looking Fabregas. The first caution of the match was handed to Gael Givet for a challenge on Walcott in th 74th minute.

Blackburn, along with the usual aerial bombardment, tried using Samba as an attacker out front to try and unsettle and intimidate the Arsenal backline but the Gunners were having none of it. As the final whistle drew closer, desperation crept in as a couple of Blackburn players were correctly denied penalty claims as ref Chris Foy left them floundering in the Arsenal box. Jack Wilshere, 83^rd minute replacement for Arshavin, nearly extended Arsenal’s lead as he worked himself some space in the Blackburn box only to be foiled by Robinson.

The match officials then signalled 3 minutes of added time, which seemed like an eternity but Arsenal remained resilient and defended as a team to see the match out and celebrate a well earned 3 points and a first away win since March.

Up next, we welcome one of Allardyce’s former teams to the Emirates where we take on Bolton Wanderers. Kick-off is at 3am Sunday morning (12/09).

Goals can be found on Arsenalist.com as usual.