Newcastle United 0 Arsenal 4

By Aashish Siwan

Arsenal made it to the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup, comfortably dispatching Newcastle United at St. James Park. A brace from Walcott (53`, 88`), an own goal from Newcastle keeper Tim Krul (45`) and a goal from Bendtner (82`) secured Arsenal’s passage to the next round where they will now face Wigan at the Emirates. This quarterfinal fixture is to be played on the 30^th of November.

A full match report can be found here and goals and highlights can be found here.

Up next, we welcome West Ham United to the Emirates. Kickoff is at 3 am this coming Sunday.

Man. City 0 Arsenal 3

By Aashish Siwan

Arsenal travelled to the blue half of Manchester looking to exorcise ghosts of last seasons defeat and won 3-0. A stern test was expected from a team against which the Gunners haven’t had too much luck in recent seasons but goals from Nasri 20`, Song 65` and Bendtner 88` made sure of the result and helped keep Arsenal within 5 points of leaders Chelsea.

Chelsea’s win earlier on meant that there was no underestimating this fixture but injuries again meant that the preferred first 11 would not be available.

The Gunners featured the increasingly confident Fabianski in goal, Sagna at right back and Clichy at left and Squillaci and Djourou at centre half. Song and Denilson (filling in for Wilshere who is serving a 3 match ban) were flanked by Arshavin (left) and Nasri (right) while Fabregas started in just behind lone forward Chamakh.

An epic encounter was expected and City nearly took the lead in the first minute as Carlos Tevez raced past Djourou and cut back for David Silva, whose attempt looked to be heading for the back of the net only for Fabianski to make a stunning save. Arshavin was caught off side before Micah Richards broke down the left, but his cross failed to find Gareth Barry or James Milner, both of whom were waiting in the box to pull the trigger and the Gunners survived. The match had barely begun and already it had a feeling of two heavy weight boxers slugging it out.

Man. City were then dealt a heavy blow when 19 year of defender, Dedryck Boyata, was rightly sent off by ref Mark Clattenburg for bringing down Chamakh, who was put through by Fabregas. Boyata’s instant red meant that City has to reshuffle at the back. Much will be made of the brilliant Arsenal win was more to do with City being down to 10 men, for 90 minutes (including stoppage time) but if you have just spent a 100 million odd dollars in buying up a squad, the least you could expect would be for those players to make a fist of things when they are down to 10.

Denilson picked up a caution in trying to prevent Tevez from breaking before the infamous Nigel de Jong pulled one of his trademark hefty challenges on Fabregas, which was not cautioned. Barry then also tried to pull a de Jong on Fabregas, but was cautioned, as the match became really scrappy, before Fabianski was again called to action, saving a toe poke from Tevez.

Djourou then should have put Arsenal ahead, latching onto a cross, but he fired his header over from six yards. Step up Samir Nasri in the 20^th minute. Nasri found himself free in the City box after a neat 1-2 with Arshavin and proceeded to evade City defender, Vincent Kompany, to shoot past Joe Hart. 1-0 to the Arsenal! Nasri was caught offside soon after as he found himself free again before Arshavin got back well to tackle Tevez.

Arshavin had a shot blocked where he could have played Nasri in again before Fabregas got revenge on de Jong on the 26^th minute, picking up a caution in the process. City defender, Richards, then showed great pace and power to evade the Arsenal defence and fired in a curling shot that looked to be heading in, but went wide, fortunately.

City brought forward all their defenders for a fee kick on the 30^th minute, in an attempt to unsettle the Arsenal defence and hoping for an error from Fabianski, who wasn’t having a bar of it as he come out and dominantly gathered. Song and Djourou then found themselves in the ref’s book for their respective challenges on Silva within a space of 5 minutes before Arsenal were handed a golden opportunity to double their lead when Fabregas was brought down by Kompany in the City box. Clattenburg had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Fabregas stepped up to the spot, lined his attempt, did his calculations as I thought (going by his penalty against Donetsk) a goal was a sure thing but it wasn’t to be as the skipper failed to put enough power behind his spot kick and Hart save comfortably. You just has a feeling that this miss would come back to bite and Kompany nearly obliged, when he met a City corner with a powerful header, only of it to sail agonisingly (for City) over the bar.

Kompany did well to block a Denilson fizzer just before the first half ended with Arsenal still leading by a goal but heading into the breather thinking of what could have been (if the penalty had been scored).

The second half started and Chamakh presented Arsenal with a great chance to build on the lead. He eased past Kompany and squared off to Fabregas, who was reluctant to shoot and instead passed onto Nasri, who too was reluctant to shoot and hot potatoed the ball back to Fabregas, whose tame shot was easy for Hart to save. This was all reminiscent of the Birmingham game where the Gunners seemed reluctant to shoot, electing to pass when they found themselves in shooting positions. I am sure Wenger will have a few quiet words and remind some players that the ball is there to be struck and to learn from Eboue, who seems to shoot from wherever, whenever. Eboue does not need an invitation to shoot and neither does Clichy. Pity that neither seem to get their shots on target.

The Gooners present at he City of Manchester Stadium then belted out the Arshavin song, not in appreciation of the Russian (as he was looking a bit off pace again) but to despise Thatguyabayor, who was warming up on the touchline and was introduced for Tevez on the 52^nd minute, to spice things up a bit (oh van Persie, where art thou?).

Sagna’s cross found Nasri left a bit short before Arsenal hot potatoed another chance before Djourou made a robust but fair challenge on Thatguyabayor (and Gooners across the globe rejoiced). Not for the first time in the match, Fabianski again saved Arsenal with great reflexes as he diverted Silva’s attempt wide. All of a sudden, those missed chances and dilly dallying around the box were put into perspective for Arsenal.

Fabianski again came to the rescue as Kompany and Thatguyabayor combined to nearly equalise for City before Hart saved Arshavin’s attempt.

Arsenal looked to force the issue and secure the three away points and it was Song, who grabbed the all important goal that gave the Gunners some breathing space. Song was alert enough to pounce on a defensive mistake by Wayne Bridge, who stuck a toe out to intercept as Nasri and Fabregas looked to link up, and Song didn’t need a second invitation to fire in past Hart. It was 2-0 to Arsenal with 25 minutes of regular time remaining.

Arshavin made way for Rosicky on the 69^th minute before Kompany was cautioned for a foul on Sagna.

Fabianski pulled off another brilliant save form Thatguyabayor’s header from six yards, athletically tipping over but not realising that Thatguyabayor has been called offside. All credit to Fabianski who looked determined to keep a clean sheet. The Gunners again failed to have a crack at Hart’s goal, with Rosicky the guilty party this time, choosing to find Chamakh when he could have taken the shot on.

The Gunners switched on the exhibition football with ten minutes to go as Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott came on for Chamakh and Fabregas. Bendtner had only been on the pitch for six minutes when he got his first goal of the season and Arsenal’s third. In all fairness, Nasri seemed to have run the ball out of play, but the officials did not call it and he slid a delightful pass to Bendtner who finished with aplomb. Not too shabby for a player who has only played a grand total or 20 minutes this season.

Fabianski added another brilliant save to his tally of saves (he would have been going home with the match ball, were it the custom to award goalkeepers who made a hat trick of top class saves) when he tipped Kompany’s late effort over.

The match ended soon after but not before Sagna shot agonisingly wide. Arsenal, though tempting fate on a few occasions, came away with three vital points from a fixture that has seen the Gunners drop points in the past.

Man of the match has to be without a doubt Lukasz Fabianski, who earned Arsenal their first clean sheet in seven matches. He was commanding in the box and pulled off a string of brilliant saves and may see Almunia find it a bit hard to make his way back keeping goal for Arsenal. Needless to say that the Fabianski we have seen in the last few matches is totally unrecognisable from the keeper who looked devoid of confidence and any goalkeeping skills last season and for a couple of match early on this season too. Touch wood that Fabianski continues his meteoric rise to prominence and repays Wenger’s faith in him.

Up next, Arsenal travel to St. James Park where Newcastle await in the Carling Cup, where some of the Young Guns and senior players (who are on their way back from injury) may get a start.

Arsenal 5 Shakhtar Donetsk 1

By Aashish Siwan

The Gunners put in a clinical performance to negotiate their way past what could have been a tricky Group H Champions League tie against Ukrainian Champions Shakhtar Donetsk. Goals from Song, Nasri, Fabregas, Wilshere and Chamakh ensured that the free-scoring (well at least in the Champions League) Arsenal have now taken a major step towards qualifying top of their group. But make no mistake, there are still tricky away trips to Ukraine (Donetsk) and Portugal (SC Braga) to come, but today’s victory was a big step nonetheless.

Heading into the match, only goal difference separated the two teams and much of the team talk revolved around whether or not Cesc Fabregas would start. With a trip to Manchester City this long weekend and the mercurial Jack Wilshere suspended (for the next three League matches) captain Fabregas was surely to be given a part to play in this match. So it was no surprise to see Fabregas start while Fabianski retained the goalkeeping spot. With neither Koscielny nor Vermaelen available, Djourou and Squillaci started their second game in a row following on from last weekend’s victory against Birmingham City while Eboue started in place of Sagna (who is still nursing an ankle injury) and Clichy started at left back. Wilshere accompanied Song in the deep midfield role while Tomas Rosicky and Nasri started on the flanks as Fabregas started in just behind lone forward Chamakh (who has scored two goals in two Champions League starts this season).

Of course the other player the home supporters and Gooners watching all across the globe would have been eagerly awaiting would have been Eduardo. The Croatian was sold to Donetsk 3 months ago and one can only wonder what he would have been able to achieve at Arsenal had his season not been cut short by that tackle from Birmingham’s Martin Taylor in 2008. Still, Eduardo seems a firm favourite at the Emirates and the home supporters belted out his name to show their appreciation and let Eduardo know what his service meant to the Arsenal. The feeling was mutual as he promised not to celebrate IF he scored on what was surely an emotional night for all.

When the match did get under way, Donetsk looked well organised defensively and looked to catch Arsenal out on the counter. Their plan seemed to be working until the Donetsk keeper, Andriy Pyatov, fumbled a corner when he seemed to have it all under control. Djourou was quick to pounce to and his presence unsettled Pyatov, but Song was on hand to sneak in a goal from a clever flick. It was 1-0 to the Arsenal with only 20 minutes played but the visitors did not seem fazed. Chamakh then used his height advantage to provide Nasri with a golden chance to double Arsenal’s lead with a headed back pass but Nasri’s attempt was well saved by Pyatov, who was doing his best to put his gaffe behind him.

Nasri did redeem himself just before halftime when he rifled in Arsenal’s second. Song’s cross deflected to Nasri who made his way past a couple of Donetsk defenders to double Arsenal’s lead, giving Pyatov no chance to save.

Arsenal’s defence remained untroubled for most part of the first half but so nearly conceded early on in the second when Luiz Adriano found himself free with only Fabianski to beat. Fabianski though, having none of it and again showed why Wenger was right to show so much faith in him. Fabianski managed a critical save to keep Arsenal 2 nil ahead as who knows who sort of a confidence boost the visitors might have received pulling a goal back so early in the second half.

Arsenal were then awarded a penalty on the hour mark when Adriano fouled Djourou in the Donetsk box as Arsenal prepared to take a free-kick just outside the box. It was a very stupid penalty to concede as the ref had just a few moments before the incident pulled two Donetsk defenders (one of whom was Adriano) and warned them against illegally impeding any Arsenal player trying to attack the free-kick. This penalty, by the way, was the third penalty in as many Champions League matches awarded to the Gunners and up stepped Fabregas to fire his spot kick into the top corner as Pyatov again had no chance as Arsenal lead 3-0.

Fabregas was replaced by Denilson soon after and Eduardo made his much awaited return to the Emirates (for Donetsk, replacing Adriano). Eduardo was serenaded with cheers as he made his way on the field to face the Arsenal.

Eduardo’s introduction failed to inspire the visitors as it was Arsenal who increased their lead when Wilshere (who had been making the headlines across the world for one moment of indiscretion against Birmingham and had everything good he did against Birmingham forgotten by a lot in the media) then grabbed himself the goal of the match. Wilshere played a sublime one two with Rosicky who put Wilshere through one on one with Pyatov and a couple of his defenders. Wilshere, playing way beyond his age, then finished with a mark of a seasoned forward, coolly chipping a ball over Pyatov to grab Arsenal’s fourth of the night on the 66^th minute.

Chamakh, who had been relatively quiet in terms of goal scoring opportunities up until now, was then afforded a chance at goal as the Donetsk defence and their goalkeeper all were caught out waiting for the linesman to flag Chamakh offside, not realising that their right-back was playing the Arsenal forward onside all the time. Chamakh duly obliged to tap in Arsenal’s fifth and final goal of the match with 20 minutes still to play.

Wenger brought in Walcott and Arshavin but there was still time for the man of the hour, Eduardo, to grab a consolation goal for Donetsk, when he volleyed in from just inside the box. Not a Gooner was left sitting in their seat as the Emirates erupted as if one of their own had just scored.

The match finished with a rout and a night to remember to Eduardo and Arsenal fans alike.

Man on the match will have to be Jack Wilshere for his sterling performance not only attacking but defending as well. Let’s hope that the media focus on the good part of his performance from this match.

Up next, the Gunners travel to Manchester where we will not doubt be facing THATGUY-abayor and his Manchester City team. Kickoff is 5 am on Labour Day.

Arsenal 2 Birmingham 1

By Aashish Siwan

Arsenal got back to winning ways by defeating Birmingham City. Goals from Samir Nasri (41st minute penalty) and Marouane Chamakh (47^th minute) cancelled out Nikola Zigic’s header (33^rd minute) and made sure that Arsene Wenger had a reason to smile in his 800^th match in charge. A detailed match report is available here.

Wenger had another reason to smile in the from of the solid performance put in by goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who seems to be growing in confidence and deputising well in the continued absence of Manuel Almunia. Fabianski looked assured and stepped in to bail his defenders out (Eboue in particular) on a couple of occasions. Fabianski looked like a man who is trying to put behind his past misadventures where he hasn’t done well especially when facing tall opposition, but all credit to Fabianski as there was nothing he could do to stop Zigic’s header from creeping in. Zigic is arguably one of the tallest players in the League and even dwarfs Chamakh, at a whopping 6ft 8 ins, and had no issues meeting Fahey’s left wing cross, putting the visitors ahead. 

Also missing from the match were Vermaelen (whose Achilles is yet to heal), Koscielny (back), van Persie (ankle) and Sagna (ankle), which meant that Arsenal were starting with a new centre back paring of Squillaci and Djourou for the first time this season and Eboue started at right back. 

Another reason for Wenger to smile would have been to see Nicklas Bendtner make his first appearance of the season, coming on for the industrious Chamakh and nearly making a scoring return within seconds. This fixture was supposed to be return of skipper Cesc Fabregas from injury but Wenger announced in the pre-match conference that Fabregas is still short in fitness and is still about ten days away, giving another chance for Jack Wilshere to shine. And shine he did. Young Wilshere again put in a barnstorming performance, by running himself ragged while playing all over the pitch. Wilshere defended well and was impressive as usual going forward and most importantly, setup Chamakh’s winner.

Arsenal’s equaliser was shrouded in controversy as there was a hint of a dive from Chamakh in the Birmingham box to earn a penalty. Queue chaos as the Birmingham defender, Scott Dann, protested his innocence while his team mates took their frustration on Chamakh. Replays showed that there was enough of a contact for Chamakh (who was in control of the ball) to go down and the Birmingham defender should have known better, trying to tackle in the box when Chamakh had fashioned himself a clear cut shooting opportunity. No to be distracted by all that was going on around him, Nasri stepped up and slotted home from the spot with another beautifully taken penalty.

It wasn’t all smiles however as Wilshere was sent off in the dying stages of the match for a crude challenge on Zigic, which was mistimed but was unfairly compared to Martin Taylor’s tackle on Eduardo from a couple of years ago. Yes, the tackle was rash and mistimed and worthy of the red, but no, it wasn’t the type of tackle Taylor made on Eduardo to break his leg in two places, putting Eduardo put of commission for a good part of the year. Neither Wilshere or his manager disputed the card but expect a lot more to be made of Wilshere’s tackle in the coming days.

Wilshere’s sending off meant that the remainder of the match (two more minutes of injury time) were nerve wrecking but the Gunners managed to hang on to gain three extremely valuable points, in a week where Man. United and Chelsea both dropped 2 points (another reason to smile) and made sure that former Gunner’s Alex Hleb, Keith Fahey and Sebastian Larsson did not enjoy their return to the home of the Arsenal.

Up next, we welcome back Eduardo to the Emirates as Arsenal take on Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. Kick off is a 8:45 this Wednesday.

 

Wenger has allies…well, atleast some!

By Aashish Siwan

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has long been on a one man crusade to ban reckless tackles (not tacking altogether as most would have you believe), not just against his team, but form football altogether. He recently reiterated his stance on this matter stating the video technology should be used to rid the game of potentially career ending tackles and those found guilty should face lengthier bans.

Case in point, we all know that emerging Welsh talent, Aaron Ramsey, had his tibia and fibula brutally broken in February this year in a sickening tackle by Ryan Shawcross of Stoke City. Well, Ramsey, thanks to the state of the art medical facilities available to him, will start full training on November, which is some nine months out of action, rehab, ops and medical treatment. What did the perpetrator get for his tackle get? Well, Shawcross got straight red during the game (which equates to a three match automatic ban) and a call up the England international squad (to play just a few days after the incident). Oh and not to forget, a ride home from his mommy dearest (funnily enough). Doesn’t seem fair does it? Ramsey may start full training in a month’s time, but we all know from experience (sadly enough) in the cases of Abou Diaby (when he had his leg broken by Dan Smith of Sunderland and faced a few months in rehab) and Eduardo, (who also had his leg broken by Martin Taylor of Birmingham City and also faced several months out of action as a result) that it could take a few more months for the young Welshman to settle down from the niggling follow on injuries and he will endures a stop-start season. We do wish him all the best and hope that he will come back better than ever and carry on with the marvelous football he had started to play just before the tackle.

The tackle on Ramsey was earlier this year, but the unfortunate Diaby (who mind you can dish these tackles out himself as well) has been at the end of two horrendous challenges already this season (in the space of a month). The first tackle was from Paul Robinson in the home fixture against Bolton (which went unpunished) and the second was when Michael Essien laid into him with a shocker last week at Stamford Bridge. Diaby may seem like to have the target painted on his legs but has been extremely lucky to survive so far this season.  

One would think that having three players from the same club finding themselves at the end of horrific career ending injuries at the carelessness of others would give enough reason for someone other than the club manager to raise their voice against this madness. Nope!

All it took was for this and suddenly, everyone has something to say about the issue, but more importantly more have now come up and backed what Wenger has been saying all along. Michel D’Hooghe, chairman of FIFA’s medical committee, claims that some plays do have ‘intent’ and deliberately set out to hurt other players. Newcastle United, have officially lodged a complaint with the English F.A, which was subsequently unsuccessful.

Current Fulham midfielder, Danny Murphy, has laid the blame with the managers and club captains where as Samir Nasri has a very interesting point. 

So, is anything going to change anytime soon? Don’t hold your breath, as for everyone that speaks of getting rid of reckless, career ending tackles, there are a hundred that don’t see anything wrong with it and will carry to mock Wenger every time he stands his ground for his club, his profession, his players and more importantly for the sport itself.

 

 

 

 

 

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0

By Aashish Siwan

Arsenal succumbed to their second League defeat of the season, going down 2-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this morning. It was a chance for Arsenal to climb up the league ladder and reduce the points deficit to just one, but by the end of the match in which Didier Drogba got his 13^th goal against Arsenal in as many starts, the Gunners found themselves 7 points behind in 4^th spot.

Keeping in mind the massive task at hand and with first team regulars like Almunia, Walcott, Vermaelen, Fabregas, van Persie and Bendtner still unavailable, Arsenal started with Fabianski in goal, Koscielny, Squillaci, Sagna and Clichy at the back while Song and Wilshere dropped in deep to cover. Nasri, Arshavin, Diaby and Chamakh spearheaded the attack.

Chelsea haven’t conceded at home for a good six games or so, but Chamakh managed to get to the end to Sagna’s inviting cross and nearly managing to break that record in the first minute of play, only for his header to be deflected  agonisingly wide. If Chamakh crafted his opportunity by sheer endeavour, Koscielny had the easier of chances to give Arsenal the lead a few seconds later from the resulting corner. Arshavin floated the corner in and with the Chelsea defence caught ball watching, Koscielny ghosted in but seemed to mis-time his run as the ball bounced off the back of his head and, again, agonisingly, over. A brilliant start for Arsenal as they meant business while the host’s played with danger.

Drogba then outmuscled Sagna at the edge of the Arsenal area but Squillaci cleared only for Song to foul Drogba. The resulting free kick was sent high and wide by Drogba, thankfully. The game then settled down a bit after a frantic opening only for the Arsenal defence to get a bad case of jitters as Malouda narrowly missed trying to lob Fabianski after wrong footing Koscielny.

Arshavin then tried to exploit Chelsea’s ball watching-ness as he went right through Ivanovic but fired straight at Cech before Sagna was left sprawling on the pitch after colliding with Drogba.

The end-to-end football continued with Chamakh being foiled by Alex one second and Squillaci having to turn Drogba’s cross behind for a corner the other (which in fact was judged as a goal kick as Malouda seemed to get a touch in before Squillaci). Sagna was alert enough to clear a quick Chelsea break for a corner, which the Gunners defended amicably. Anelka’s 25 yarder had the Gunners rushing to get a block in in the 16^th minute and eventually lead to a corner that Essien headed just wide before Nasri earner a corner himself, which resulted in an effortless catch from Cech from a disappointing delivery.

Fabianski then came up with one of his mandatory gaffes as he fumbled the ball, under pressure from Anelka, from Ashley Cole’s cross. Clichy was on hand to spare the Pole any misfortune.                

Arshavin then unleashed a vicious shot from 25 yards out, which was destined for the top corner, only for Cech to make a timely intervention and turn the ball behind for a corner, which again was wasted as it failed to get past the first Chelsea defender.

Arshavin escaped a caution for a deliberate handball before Nasri shot agonisingly wide just before the half hour mark. Fabianski then made up for his error earlier in tipping over an effort from Drogba, who got the better to Clichy before Malouda’s claims for a penalty for a handball by Koscielny were rightly turned down.

Ramires steered Anelka’s lay off wide before Chelsea took the lead. The scourge of Arsenal, Drogba awoke from slumber to turn Cole’s low cross in from the tightest of angles, giving Fabianski no chance.

Chamakh was let down by his poor touch as Arsenal searched for a way back into the match before Diaby was felled by an awful challenge from Essien. Diaby looked in real discomfort and looked unlikely to carry on as replays showed that Essien’s mistimed challenge was around his ankle and was very luck to not have had it broken. Diaby though, did manage to get back on the pitch but was sure to be assessed further during halftime, which was just around the corner.

The Gunner’s headed in at the stroke of halftime wondering exactly what they had to do to stop Drogba and how they would unlock the Chelsea defence.

Whatever Arsenal’s game plan for the second half was, was tested just a couple of minutes after the restart as Drogba was away after dispossessing Nasri but Song was on hand to try and win possession back, managing to concede a free kick in the process. Making amends for conceding the set piece, Song cleared the danger before Chamakh headed a corner just wide. Diaby seemed to have shaken away his injury worries and was put in on goal by Arshavin only for a poor touch to rob him of a shot at goal.

Diaby was setup again, this time by Wilshere, and managed to get his shot away but his attempt was deflected for a corner, which was wasted again. One would think that we would have at least tried to use Chamakh’s attributes and aerial abilities from these corners but most failed to even clear the first Chelsea defender.

Koscielny then found himself one on one with Drogba and did really well with his sliding challenge to turn the ball behind for a corner. Fabianski was quick to claim the resulting corner to set Arsenal on the way for a counter attack from which Arshavin crossed for Wilshere who managed to evade Cech and setup Chamakh to shoot, but Ramires tackled Chamakh just as he was about to let fly.

Stand in skipper Squillaci then seemed to switch off as he let Anelka in just before the hour mark, but Fabianski was quick off his line and managed to do enough to put Anelka off as he shot into the side netting, with the goal wide open. Lucky escape for Arsenal and Squillaci as that would have been a horrible goal to concede with only half an hour more to go.

Arsenal piled the pressure on their hosts in search for an equaliser and were presented with a good opportunity as Arshavin was fouled by Ramires close the Chelsea corner flag, but the resulting free kick was cleared by Mikel only for Clichy to try an outrageous attempt from 30 yards. Needless to say but Clichy’s attempt was wasteful and more could have come from it if he played the pass instead. Nasri almost slipped Chamakh in only to be put off by the Chelsea defence before Cole’s goal for Chelsea was ruled offside correctly, despite his protests.

Rosicky replaced Diaby on the 70^th minute as Arsenal tried to search for that all important breakthrough and he was in amongst the action straight away, firstly earning a corner (which did manage to find it’s way to Chamakh but the Chelsea defenders were alert enough to clear) and then having a curling attempt saved by Cech. Fabianski continued to grow in confidence and pulled off a brilliant save from Drogba’s effort before Paulo Ferreira was cautioned to intentionally fouling Rosicky as he tried to mount a counter attack.

Rosicky looked to repay his manager’s faith in him and nearly found a way through via a delightful cross which was met but steered wide by Chamakh. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was given his Premier League debut by Arsenal with ten minutes remaining, replacing Wilshere, and Emmanuel-Thomas’ first contribution was to force Ferreira to concede a corner, which was duly cleared by Chelsea.

Koscielny picked up a caution for a foul on Anelka and Chelsea doubled their lead from the resulting free kick when Alex fired in to the top corner, and that was the match over with 5 minutes to spare.

Not to be deterred by the scoreline, a switched on Fabianski foiled Essien’s advances on goal with a superb save. Fabianski did well again to save from Cole as the match ended.

Arsenal came away from Stamford Bridge empty handed after playing well for most part for the match and were undone by two lapses in concentration. It is still early on in the season to make up the 7 point gap on League leaders Chelsea so anything can happen.

Up next, we have an international break, here’s to hoping that our injury list is not added to and the players we have unavailable now and the ones who have slugged it out in playing five matches in 16 days, are spared any further time out of action.

When football resumes, we will welcome Birmingham City to the Emirates on Sunday, 17^th October.

Partizan Belgrade 1 Arsenal 3

By Aashish Siwan

Arsenal put the disappointments of the weekend behind them to march on in the Champions League. A tough trip away to Serbia beckoned, but goals from Arshavin, Chamakh and Squillaci and a penalty save from Fabianski helped the Gunners ease past ten men Partizan Belgrade.

An elbow injury to Almunia in the match against West Brom meant that Fabianski started in goal. Sagna, Gibbs, Squillaci and Djourou started across the back while Denilson, Song, Wilshere, Rosicky, and Arshavin provided ammunition to loan forward Chamakh, from the midfield.

As expected, the hosts started brightly, albeit under some dodgy stadium lighting. Arsenal could have found themselves a goal behind in as early as the eighth minute as Belgrade’s Brazilian striker Cleo tried to combine with Nemanja Tomic close to the Arsenal 6 yard box but a combination of Squillaci and Denilson did well to clear the danger, Denilson in particular, putting in a marvellous last ditch challenge to dispossess Tomic.

A minute later, Djourou, still looking a bit rusty having come back from a long injury lay off, failed to put enough power behind his header back to Fabianski, which lead for some nervy moments for the Arsenal defence as Pierre Boya almost nicked in on goal. All credit to Fabianski who was alert enough and put his body on the line to rescue his defender.     

The Gunners then came back with the perfect reply after being under the cosh for a good part of 15 minutes as Arshavin gave Arsenal an unexpected lead. The diminutive Russian picked up Song’s pass, drove at the Belgrade defence and played in Wilshere who did brilliantly in attracting four defenders in, only to then back heel the ball to an onrushing Arshavin to hammer home. 1-0 to the Arsenal from a goal that would have calmed a few nerves as the travelling Gooners celebrated.

Arshavin and Wilshere combined again in the 24^th minute to nearly double Arsenal’s lead but Arshavin’s attempt was saved by Vladimir Stojkovic, in goal for Belgrade. Stojkovic was on hand to save Rosicky’s attempt on the 26^th minute before Medo shot over for Belgrade. Chamakh then harried the Belgrade defenders and won possession back just outside the Belgrade box, but Arshavin’s lob into an empty net was cleared by Marko Jovanovic.

Denilson then handled the ball inside the Arsenal box as he defended a cross. Match referee did not hesitate to point to the spot, from which Cleo sent Fabianski the wrong way. It was 1-1 at the break.

Rosicky and Sagna missed attempts for Arsenal while Cleo missed for Belgrade (in the second-half) just before Belgrade were reduced to ten men. Jovanovic was shown a straight red for bringing Chamakh down in the box as Stark pointed to the spot. With Samir Nasri, the last successful penalty taker, on the bench, Arshavin stepped up but saw his spot kick saved by Stojkovic. In all fairness, Arshavin went for power but his penalty lacked any direction and rebounded off Stojkovic’s legs for the Belgrade defenders to clear.

Arshavin had another attempt saved in the 70^th minute as Arsenal looked to unlock the Belgrade defence but as has been the case so far this season, Chamakh proved to be the answer as he rose highest to meet Rosicky’s beautifully weighted cross only to see his header pushed onto the bar by Stojkovic but he was quickest to react to the rebound to plant his header past Stojkovic to give Arsenal the lead.

Arshavin missed the target before substitute Vela had his attempt blocked with about ten minutes remaining before Squillaci headed in substitute Nasri’s corner into the back of the net with a firm header to put the result beyond doubt with his first goal in the red and white of Arsenal.

Young Kieran Gibbs seemed to have given Belgrade a life line when his clumsy challenge in the Arsenal box resulted in a Belgrade penalty in the 84^th minute. Cleo stepped up to the task again to try to pull his team back into the contest but Fabianski was having none of it, showing his counterpart how to really save a penalty, diving down low to save. To his credit, the Pole showed signs of paying back some of his manager’s faith in him and was a man relieved to have come in to rescue his defenders, not for the first time in this match.

Fabianski finished the match with another brilliant save, this time saving off Ivica Iliev and would have given his confidence a massive boost in the process.

The match finished with Arsenal walking away with all three points and a pass mark for their test of character. Although, one impressive match does not vindicate Fabianski from his previous error prone displays, he has certainly given us a glimpse of what he can provide in the goal for the Arsenal.

Up next, it’s Arsenal’s second London derby in a week and a half as we travel away to Stamford Bridge to take on League Leaders Chelsea.

Come on the Arsenal!!

Indoor Football – calling all Gooners

Interested in playing some indoor football and representing the Arsenal in New Zealand?

Well, this is the chance for you then.

There is a social indoor league starting on Sunday, the 31^st of October.

Venue: Avondale College (Victor Street, Avondale)

Fees: $10 per person per game (as charged by the tournament organisers)

 

The NZ Liverpool supporters club has already entered a team. Interested in representing the Arsenal in New Zealand, then email club president Bill on info@arsenalnewzealand.co.nz

 

The tournament organisers have confirmed that there will be an indoor football premier league starting from next year as well.  

 

Indoor Football Rulebook (as provided by the organisers)

 

Introductions and definitions:

 

We have written the rulebook to provide the basis for a good competition and a safe and enjoyable experience for all players and spectators. The following explanations of some common terms are general, not technical; they are intended to be helpful to players and spectators. After you finish reading, have a great match!

 

Boarding: is pushing, crowding or charging an opponent into a wall.

 

Double Touch: Is the violation that occurs when a player is taking a kickoff or free kick and plays the ball a second time before it is touched by another player.

 

Misconduct: Is any inappropriate behavior by a player or spectator, on or off the field as determined by the referee, scorekeeper, or facility staff. Examples of misconduct include: inappropriate remarks toward any individual, aggressive play, or violent behavior.

 

Shadowing the Goalkeeper: Is a foul that occurs when a player follows the opposing goalkeeper and obstructs the goalkeeper from reentering the ball into play.

 

Violent Conduct: Is physical force that injures or abuses any individual or arena property, or is verbally or physically threatening actions

 

1-      Team Registration

 

The maximum number of players per team is unlimited. Players may be added to the roster at any time throughout the season, with the exception of playoff or championship games. Every player in the play offs or championship game must have played in at least two prior games for the team, in that season.

 

 

 

2-      Next Season Registration

 

Teams currently playing in the league, will have first priority to re-registraring before a set deadline.

 

3-      League Formats.

 

Seasons are ten weeks in duration. The next season starts the following week after the last game. There are four seasons played in a calendar year. Formats may change from season to season, depending on the number of teams entered in a league.

 

4-      Forfeits

 

A team will forfeit if there are not at least 3 players ready to play within 5 minutes of the scheduled start. A team will forfeit if any player has broken any rules regarding eligibility. A team will forfeit if $ 10. per player team fees, are not paid by kick off time, ( min $ 60. per team, per game. )

Forfeits are recorded as a 9-0 score line. 

If a team forfeits two games during a season, they may be expelled from the league without refund and replaced with another team.

If your team is forfeiting due to lack of players, please tell the league manager, who will try to arrange additional players to join your team.

 

5-      Standings.

 

Leagues are set up on a best record system, which is 3 points for a win, one point for a draw, and o points for a loss. Winners of the league are normally found through league format. In the case of teams being equal in the standings, the higher placed team will be decided by: 1- Head to head result, 2- Most goals scored, 3- Best goal difference.

For league or tournament formats in which playoff games cannot end in a draw, and must have a winner, the game will be decided by a penalty shootout. i.e. winners advances or winner takes all.

 

6-Scheduling Request

 

If your team has a scheduling request, make sure it is on your team registration form before the draw is made, and we will try to accommodate your request. After the draw is made it is almost impossible to make changes.

 

7-Players

 

Each team plays with 5 players, which consist of 4 outfield players and a goalkeeper. A team may play with a minimum of 3 players.

 

8- Coed League number of players

 

In Coed Leagues there are two variations of the rule governing the number of players, depending on the facility you are playing at. Please check with the league manager to see which rule applies to your facility:

1-     Each team must have a max of three male players and two female players on the field at one time.

2-      Each team must have a max of two male players and three female players on the field at one time.

3-     The min number of players on the field is three, which a max must be two female players.

 

9-Substitutions

 

During the game teams may make unlimited substitutions. A player must leave the field before the substitution can take place.

 

10- GoalKeeper   Substitutions

 

Teams must advise the referee in advance of making a goalkeeper substitution.

 

11- Injuries

 

The referee shall send any player off the field who requires treatment for injury or blood. For treatments for blood, a player must obtain the referees approval, before returning to the field of play.

 

12- No High Ball rule.

 

There is no limit to the high ball rule, except for when the ball hits the roof.

 

13- No Goalkeeper Pass back Rule.

Teams are allowed to play the ball back to the goalkeeper, who is allowed to play the ball with his hands.

 

14- Direct Free Kicks.

 

All free kicks are direct from which a goal can be scored. A player has 5 seconds to restart play once the referee has blown his whistle. If a players fails to take the freekick within this time, his opponents are awarded a freekick. Players must be 2 meters back from the ball when a freekick is awarded.

 

15- No slide Tackling.

 

All players, except the goalkeeper must stay on their feet at all times.

 

16- No Off side

 

17- Goalkeeper Area.

 

If  a defender enters the goal area a penalty is awarded. If an attacking player enters the goal area a free kick is awarded to the defending team. 

A goalkeeper can leave the goal area without punishment, as this is considered a part of game play, but a GK, cannot use his hands, outside of the GKs area.

 

18- No Physical Contact.

 

Any physical contact is a misconduct offence. Physical contact is discouraged and skill is encouraged.

 

19- Players Equipment.

 

All the field players must wear the same colour jersey, or the teams must wear bibs. Shin guards at the moment are not mandatory.

No jewelry or watches allowed. Players must wear indoor football court shoes, not sneakers.

 

20- Referees Powers

 

The referees power to access penalties and maintain control of the game includes violations committed during play, during stoppages, and as the players proceed on and off the field. The referee has the power to:

A)    warn/Penalize/Caution/Eject- From the time the referee enters the building he has authority over any player or spectator.

B)     There is no advantage rule in indoor soocer. ( this is an outdoor football rule ). therefore all fouls are called straight away.

C)    Stop, suspend or terminate the game

D)    Prohibit entry on to the field for any unauthorized person,

E)     Stop play due to injury

F)     Signal restarts.

G)    The referees decisions regarding interpretation of the rules are final.

 

21- Yellow Cards

 

Fouls include tripping, kicking, holding, pushing, charging, jumping, at, handling the ball, obstruction and violent play or dissent.

Behavior which warrants a minimum of a yellow card includes:

Fouls which the referee considers reckless, physical contact, a tackle from behind, persistent infringement of the rules.

 

A yellow card means a player is sin binned for a four minute period. He must sit next to the scorekeeper who will keep the time and allow the player to reenter the field of play. When a player receives a time penalty, the time begins with the referee whistle to restart play and the team plays short until the time penalty expires.If a team has only a min of three players on the field, due to yellow card time penalties, the match continues, and they must play short of players, untill the yellow carded players return to the field of play.

When a team plays short it is called a power play.

 

22- Red Cards

 

Include: Elbowing, striking, fighting or violent conduct,  spitting, abusive language, or two yellow cards.

 

A red card means a player must leave the field.

 

23- Suspensions

 

1 Red card is a min one match suspension. Depending on the offence.

 

Fighting, or violent conduct means a player or team will be ejected from playing in all competitions, without refund.

 

24 Coed unique rules

 

Female goals are worth two points, male goals are worth one point.

 

 

25- Start of the Game

 

A team must have a min of three registered players to start a match.  If the team is unable to play after five minutes the opponents will win by forfeit 9-0.

 

26- No Alcohol

 

If you have any questions please see your league manager.

 

Now lets Play IFL.