Barcelona 3 Arsenal 1 (agg 4-3)

Alex Song’s presence in the Arsenal line-up was sorely missed as Arsenal crashed out of the Champions League away to Barcelona. As expected, Barcelona attacked relentlessly to try and overturn Arsenal’s slender 2-1 lead from the first leg, and for most part, the Gunner’s seemed to have things covered but missed Song’s ability to break play and effectively redistribute the ball to get us going forward. Even when Manuel Almunia was called upon to replace Wojciech Szczesny midway through the first half due Szczesny’s dislocated finger, the Arsenal defence did not waver with the stand out performer being Johan Djourou.

But then things took a turn for the worse just before halftime when an ill-timed back pass was pounced upon by Lionel Messi who gave Barcelona the lead. The match was still evenly poised with a full second half to play even though, if the scoreline was to remain the same, Barcelona would advance on the away goals rule.

The hosts then received a shock when Serjio Bousquets headed in a Nasri corner into his own net for an own goal to tie the match at 1-1, handing the advantage back to Arsenal.

But it wasn’t to be as Robin van Persie was sent off for a second bookable offence soon after in a farcical referee decision that was to have huge implications on the match.

Ten men Arsenal still held on bravely and Alumina was call upon several times to thwart Barcelona attackers and did so commendably every time only to be undone by some Xavi and Iniesta magic on the 68^th minute as Xavi tied the match on aggregate.

Two minutes later and Barcelona had the tie firmly in their grasp when Laurent Koscielny was judged to have fouled Pedro inside the Arsenal box and the ref awarded a penalty, from which Messi scored.

Arsenal though still had a chance if they were to get one more goal and that chance nearly fell to Nicklas Bendtner in the dying stages of the match when a through ball almost saw him get a free pass in on goal, but for the Dane to be let down by a poor first touch which Javier Macherano capitalised on to get a vital block in.

So the match finished with the home side celebrating and with Arsenal left with another long and lonesome journey back home as they try and regroup after another setback. No matter how ever much we were outplayed, the Gunners stood strong and one has to wonder why no Barca players even got a caution at any point in the match, a match which saw a Barca player grab Nasri by the throat, Erick Abidal grab van Persie by the throat and Fabregas being elbowed by Victor Valdes.

Still we march onwards and upwards. So long Barcelona, we nearly had ya!

Full match report can be found here if you’d like to pick at the pieces.

Up next, we have the perfect chance to respond as there is the matter of Manchester United at Old Trafford in the FA Cup Quarter finals. A win there will stand us in good stead for the league run-in, which features matches against United at home, Liverpool at home and Spurs away. Kick-off is 6:15 this Sunday morning.

Arsenal 0 Sunderland 0

Arsenal spurned a chance to close the gap at the top of the League table to just one solitary point with a goalless draw against Sunderland. Needless to say that the match officials somehow managed to disallow a genuine Arshavin goal and also denied Arshavin a stonewalled penalty much to Wenger’s fury. As disappointing as the result was, it was still a point gained on United and we have another chance to close the gap as Liverpool did us a massive favour, defeating United 3-1 at Anfield, which means that we are three points behind with a game in hand. Full match report can be found here.

There was another bit of good news which was the presence of Aaron Ramsey, albeit on the bench against Sunderland. We all know that the young Welshman has been out of action for some time now and now, having completed loan spells at Nottingham Forrest and Cardiff, some 13 months after that injury he sustained at Stoke, he is back in the fold for the first team. All the best to him and hope he does well for the rest of the season.

Up next, there’s the acid test that awaits us at the Camp Nou that is Barcelona. With Arsenal taking a 2-1 advantage into this return leg of the Champions League, another performance of epic proportions will be required if we are to be in the reckoning for the quarters. Kick off is at 8:45 this Wednesday morning and no-thanks to SKY NZ (who chose to show the Donetsk match instead), I will have to follow txt commentary!

Arsenal 5 Leyton Orient 0 (FA Cup 5th round replay)

Arsenal needed to respond to the cup disappointment earlier this week and with a bullish Orient side on the menu, this was a perfect match to get our confidence back. But with the likes of Robin van Persie (knee – 3 or more weeks), Cesc Fabregas (hamstring – up to 3 weeks), Theo Walcott (ankle – up to 3 weeks), Alex Song (knee – 1 week), Laurent Koscielny (rested) and long term absentees Thomas Vermaelen and Lukasz Fabianski all missing, the responsibility for ensuring progression into the FA Cup quarters was handed to some fringe players and reserve teamers.

And respond they did as a sublime Nicklas Bendtner hat-trick, sandwiched in between an early Marouane Chamakh goal and a rare Gael Clichy goal made sure of a quarter final showdown with Man United as Arsenal brushed aside their West End neighbours. The win and the performance in particular will surely boost confidence and raise some down spirits among the squad ahead of this Sunday morning’s clash with Sunderland as Arsenal try and reel in United and cut their lead down to just one solitary point at the top of the League table.

There were starts for Manuel Almunia (captain), Emanuel Eboue, Ignasi Miquel (dubbed the new Piquet but surprisingly ditched by Barcelona before he was picked up by Arsenal) Sebastian Squillaci while Kieran Gibbs completed and back four. Abou Diaby replaced Song wile Tomas Rosicky and Denilson completed the midfield. The attack was manned by Chamakh and Bendtner while young Irishman, Connor Henderson, was given his Arsenal first team debut and a chance to shine in place of Arshavin on the left.

Diaby looked in the mood to impress after missing more than a month of action due to injury and suspension and had an early attempt on goal charged down before an enterprising Rosicky run to the Orient by-line was met by Chamakh who shot Arsenal into the lead from Rosicky’s cut back.

Orient’s response was immediate as they showed the same commitment as they did to force this replay, only to be let down by some poor finishing. The Gunners, knowing that one goal was never going to be enough to seal the match, hit back on the half hour mark when Bendtner used his strength to rise above an Orient defender to head in Gibbs’ cross past Orient keeper Jamie Jones. The first two goals of the match would have done both goal scorers confidence a whole lot of good, which is timely as they will be in charge of getting most of the goals while van Persie is away.

Rosicky then robbed Orient’s Thomas Caroll and setup Bendtner for his brace as Arsenal cruised into half-time. That in all essence was the match all over but we are in the second half of a season where we have seen Arsenal surrender leads and our FA Cup run has been doggy at best but there was none of that in the second half as the players came out to prove a point…a point to their fans, team mates and management staff that we have character and stand united as within minutes of the restart, Denilson had Jones’ palms stinging and Diaby just shot wide after a mazy run and a brilliant one-two with Chamakh.

Arsenal were awarded a penalty on the hour mark when Gibbs’ run into the box was illegally halted by an Orient defender. Bendtner stepped up to the spot and grabbed his hat-trick without batting an eyelid.

With all due respect to a battling Orient side, the four goal lead allowed Wenger to make changes as Samir Nasri was brought on for Rosicky, who seemed to suffer concussion in an incident moments before Arsenal were awarded that penalty while Wilshere was brought on for Diaby and Clichy replaced Bendtner.

With 15 minutes to go, Chamakh dummied Eboue’s right wing cross and while the ball eluded Wilshere, Clichy was on hand to plant Arsenal’s fifth as the team’s (still young) elder statesman celebrated only his second goal in his Arsenal career.

Arsenal wrapped up the match in comfortable fashion and even though this replay (when it was forced by Orient) wasn’t really greeted with glee (as far as Arsenal were concerned), it was exactly what the doctor ordered to get us back on the horse in search of glory this season.

Man of the match will have to be Bendtner for finally taking his chance this season and showing us what he’s capable of and his experience, confidence and skills will come in handy as we fight for glory on three fronts. Bendtner’s hat-trick, according to SKY sports, was the first FA Cup hat-trick since Ian Wright’s way back in 93, when Arsenal incidentally won the cup…touch wood!

Up next, we have to deal with Sunderland as we get a chance to put some real pressure on United, who have a trip to Anfield. Kick off is 4 am this Sunday morning.

A moment of Madness 1 Birmingham City 2 (Carling Cup final)

Arsenal’s first pop at landing a trophy this season ended in gut wrenching fashion when a late mix up between inform defender Laurent Koscielny and current Arsenal number 1 Wojciech Szczesny presented a wide open goal for on-loan Birmingham forward, Obafemi Martins, to slot in the easiest of goals and bag Birmingham this season’s Carling Cup.

The match had been level pegging up until then as Birmingham’s giant center forward, Nikola Zigic, had given his team an unexpected lead in the 28^th minute from a towering header, a goal which was cancelled out by a clinical Robin van Persie strike just before half time. With both teams finding the woodwork during the match, Birmingham’s game plan seemed to be to leave it to the very late to try and catch us out but that plan backfired as it was the Gunners who piled the pressure on to try and avoid the match being played into extra time. Only some excellent saves from Birmingham keeper Ben Foster, who notably stopped three Samir Nasri screamers from ending into the back of the Birmingham net, kept Birmingham in the match.

But just as Arsenal searched for a vital breakthrough, an innocuous deflection off Zigic into the Arsenal box in the 89^th minute caused a catastrophe as Koscielny (for some peculiar reason) got in ahead of his goalkeeper and tried to intercept a ball which was destined into his keepers hands. The ball than bounced off Szczesny’s hands and the rest is history. Try as they might, the Gunners just could not get another goal in the final few minutes as Birmingham celebreated.

Full match report can be found here.

As painful as the defeat was, Arsenal are still fighting on three major fronts and the players need to pick up the pieces and get themselves back in the groove of things as up next, we have a match up against Leyton Orient, in the FA Cup 5^th round replay. Kick off is 8:45 this Thursday morning and the perfect reply will be to send Orient packing and get our confidence back. The Gunners though will do well to heed the warning that Orient will be coming to the Emirates to face a team that they think will be devoid of confidence so a strong performance is required to secure a quarter final match up against United.

Arsenal 1 Stoke City 0

Sebastian Squillaci’s first ever Arsenal goal helped the gunners close the gap at the top of the League table to just one point albeit having played one more game than table toppers Man. United. Arsenal’s approach to Stoke City’s visit to the Emirates was always going to be cautious with the Carling Cup final fast approaching and with Stoke having the tendency of kicking our players all around the park. Pre-match talk of Ryan Shawcross and his team’s return to face Arsenal for the first time since the Ramsey incident (that we don’t need reminding of) over shadowed the match itself and the opportunity Arsenal had to crank up the pressure on the top of the League table.

The Gunners started the match in sparkling form and should have been ahead in as early as the first minute when a glorious Cesc Fabregas ball found Theo Walcott on the edge of the Stoke box but the England international’s effort crashed back into play off the upright, though his attempt had Stoke City’s goal keeper Asmir Begovich well beaten.

Walcott slashed at another chance soon after before Arsenal took the lead. Jack Wilshere’s corner was only cleared as far as Nicklas Bendtner who duly sent a cross in for Squillaci to head in. It was 1-0 to the Arsenal in the eight minute as the verbal jousting between the two sets of supporters grew more in the favour of the home crowd.

Five minutes later came the moment Gooners across the globe would have been dreading, and that was an injury to one of the key players and that player just happened to be Fabregas himself who pulled up with a tight hamstring. Andrey Arshavin was brought on accordingly and Samir Nasri moved into Fabregas’ role and the Arsenal captain was taken off as a precautionary measure more than anything. Hope he recovers in time to start at Wembley.

Arsenal attacking edge seemed to leave the field with Fabregas as the Gunners struggled to get anything meaningful going in the Stoke third of the field.

Wojciech Szczesny had to be alert to save a stinging Jon Carew Shot just after the half hour mark and Arsenal’s number one saved brilliantly as Carew’s attempt was goal bound as Arsenal maintained their lead heading into half-time.

Stoke started the second-half with much more promise and purpose which resulted in a few corners and free-kicks, from one of which Shawcross nearly pulled Stoke level, only for a timely intervention by Johan Djourou.

The only time Szczesny failed to get on the end of one of those free-kicks and corners, Robert Huth header over while an enterprising Arshavin run and cut back into the Stoke box saw Walcott slice his shot wide in front of an open goal but under pressure from Huth.

Then another one of those moments which would have Gooner’s cringing when Walcott went down injured when challenged just outside the Stoke box by Dean Whitehead, a challenge which was unfortunate but the referee failed to award a free-kick. Walcott was stretchered off and will certainly miss the trip to Wembley. Bacary Sagna could have found himself on the Arsenal casualty  list as well midway through the match when he seemed to come off worse in a 50-50 challenge but managed to walk it off.

Despite late pressure from the visitors, Arsenal defenders stood strong and the only surprise of the night was when the fourth official added 5 excruciating minutes of time for Arsenal to protect their slender lead. Arsenal were determined and focused and did manage to hold on to the lead and three points and signs of relief greeted the final whistle.

Man of the match would have to be Squillaci, not only because of the importance of his goal but for putting in a solid defensive display against a team well known for their aerial abilities.

Up next, WEMBLEY, where Arsenal take on Birmingham City in the Carling Cup Final. There will no underestimating City and only an epic performance from the Gunners, the likes of which Chelsea and Barcelona have seen, will go someway in ensuring that we return home victorious. Kick-off is 5 am this Monday morning.

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