Leyton Orient 1 Arsenal 1 (FA Cup 5th round)

For the second time this season, Arsenal have been forced into a FA Cup replay by lower league opposition. A Tomas Rosicky header eight minutes after halftime, his first goal in over a year, had given Arsenal the lead that their domination, in terms of possession, deserved. Some good goalkeeping from Orient keeper Jamie Jones and some poor finishing on our part and the lack of that cutting edge in the final third of play meant that the score remained at 1-0 for most part.

As is so often the result of a profligate performance in from of the opposition goal, the opposition equalised in the dying stages of the match when Orient substitute Jonathan Tehoue scored a brilliant goal to force this tie into a replay at the Emirates.

Full match commentary including the list of 10 changes made for the match can be found here and the BBC’s take on the match can be found through here.

The winner of the replay will expect a quarter final showdown with Man U.

Up next is a match that will be sure to have some lumps kicked out of us a Stoke come to the Emirates. Kickoff is at 8:45 this Thursday morning.

Arsenal 2 Barcelona 1 (Champions League – Last 16 – Emirates)

It was sixth time lucky (more hard graft, focus and commitment then luck) for Arsenal as they over roared their more illustrious Champions League opponents to take a lead into the return leg. Goals from Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin cancelled out David Villa’s strike as Arsenal achieved what, for so long in the match and going by past encounters, seemed unattainable.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger setup his starting line up with attacking intent as he wasn’t about to compromise his philosophy and attacking style of play, even for the visit of what is arguably the best team in the world right now. Wojciech Szczesny started in goal in what surely was the biggest night of his career. What a debut season the young Polish international is having where he has made his Premier League debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford and now his Champions League debut against Barcelona at the Emirates. Bacary Sagna’s suspension for a yellow card picked up against Partizan Belgrade meant that Emmanuel Eboue had to fill in. Not ideal but Eboue had to do. Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny partnered up at centre back again, in what has to be the first choice and most effective, in terms of clean sheets, while the ever improving Gael Clichy started at the back. Another man thrusted in the spotlight was 19-year-old Jack Wilshere, who just a week ago put in a sterling performance in the holding midfielder role for England in his full debut. Along side him was Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song. The Arsenal attack was headed by the mercurial van Persie who was flanked by Theo Walcott and Samir Nasri. Nasri’s return from injury a week earlier was major boost to Arsenal as they faced up to a team who are odds on favourites to win the Champions League.

The Gunners started at match in blistering pace as they pressed Barcelona all across that pitch. A quick Fabregas ball over the top to van Persie had the Barcelona defence reeling but van Persie fired his volley straight at the Barcelona Keeper, Victor Valdes. If Arsenal had any hope of winning this tie, they would has to make much better use of their chances, however few and far between they were, but things only got difficult as the Gunners seems to let off the pressing and mistakes started creeping in as the visitors started to find their own way back.

The magical Lionel Messi nearly gave Barcelona the in the 22^nd minute as he and David Villa combined to unlock the Arsenal defence but Szczesny came out quickly, stood his ground to put Messi off as he chipped just wide. Koscielny had the open goal covered anyway, had Messi managed to direct his attempt goal bound.

Just three minutes later, the same pair combined again as Barcelona took the lead. The visitors were awarded a free kick when Song fouled Sergio Busquets and Messi took charge and played Villa in who scored from just inside the penalty area, despite the best efforts of Szczesny. Calls for offside from the Arsenal backline were in vain as replays show that Clichy was the man playing Villa onside, just.

Arsenal’s response to going a goal down was amazing. They took things like a long distance runner would start during a marathon, slow, composed and focused. The Gunners picked themselves up and proceeded to snuff out any further danger that the visitors may pose and at the same time, try and get themselves back into the match, slowly working away, concentrating, finding new ways to get past the Barcelona midfield.

Messi however did have the ball in the back of the Arsenal net in the 38th minute but was rightly called for offside. That chance for Messi coming off a brilliant Szczesny save off Pedro.

However hard they tried, the Gunners ended the first half still trailing, leaving Wenger to get his players to focus and tell them that there was still all to play for.

The second half started pretty much in the same fashion the first ended, with Arsenal probing and the defenders standing strong.

Then in what seemed like a massive gamble, Wenger took off Song and brought in Arshavin. Surely Song’s skills were required to keep the Barcelona attackers at bay but Arshavin’s introduction changed the complexion of the match completely. Suddenly, the Gunners were finding more space going forward. Then came another one of these substitutions as Walcott was replaced by Nicklas Bendtner in the 77^th minute. Surely Walcott’s pace was a constant threat as the Barcelona defenders began to tire?

Just one minute later, Arsenal levelled! Clichy chipped into one of those pockets of space that kept appearing and van Persie was on hand to control possession but seemed to run out of space but showed excellent composure to somehow shoot past Valdes from the acutest of angles. That ironically was the hardest of chances van Persie had in the match but the Dutchman showed a dead-eye for goal, spotting Valdes just off his line anticipating a cross to Bendtner and as difficult an angle there was, van Persie made no mistake. The Emirates erupted as the Gunners gathered around to celebrate.

Just five minutes later and the Gunners took the lead from superb buildup play that involved brilliant defensive work from Koscielny, Bendtner and a fantastic pass from Wilshere. Another quick Fabregas ball over the top saw Nasri race away towards the right flank. Nasri though was closely attended to by up to three Barcelona defenders but with van Persie rushing into the box, the Barcelona defenders seemed distracted to miss Arshavin’s run into the box. Nasri picked his pass and Arshavin proceeded to curl his first time effort past stranded Barcelona defenders and Valdes, into the bottom corner, sending Gooners around the world in seventh heaven!

Arsenal’s persistence, determination and mental fortitude paid dividends but there was still the question of shutting the best attacking team in the world out for seven minutes plus stoppage time. Every time Messi, or any Barcelona player for that matter, had the ball, the Gunners pressed in numbers to hound the visitors out of possession, but Arshavin’s flimsy header back to his goalkeeper nearly undid all the hard work as Daniel Alves nearly stole in, but Szczesny was out off his line in a flash and covered well.

The Gunners proceeded to shut the visitors out to preserve a precious lead going into the return leg.

Man of the match would have to be Laurent Koscielny, not that any Gunner didn’t do enough to stand up and be counted. The young Frenchman had an absolutely amazing game and even hounded Messi as far up as the Barcelona last third of the field on more then one occasion. Koscielny has had his critics but picked the right match to show why his call up the French national team was justified. Special mention to the performances of Wilshere and Szczesny as neither looked out of place in what was one of the matches of the season and both are playing way beyond their years.

The job though is only half done as the return leg at Camp Nou will be twice is difficult but the Gunners will take heart and go into that match with confidence.

Up next, Arsenal travel to Leyton Orient in the FA Cup sixth round. Kick off is at 5:30 this Monday morning.

Arsenal 2 Wolves 0

A goal in each half from Robin van Persie helped Arsenal negotiate past a confident Wolves outfit, that just last week ended Man United’s unbeaten run.

Cesc Fabregas had the ball in the back of the Wolves net early in the first half but to the dismay of the home support, referee Chris Foy had already awarded Arsenal a free kick for a foul on Jack Wilshere, where letting play go on would have been the better option.

Andrey Arshavin completely miscued a van Persie corner, Wilshere chose to pass to Theo Walcott when the better option would have been to shoot from one of his many enterprising runs and van Persie fired a free kick over the bar before the Dutchman gave Arsenal the lead from an exquisite volley form inside the Wolves box. van Persie latched on to a Fabregas pass and before the Wolves defenders could react, he gave Arsenal the lead in the 16^th minute.

The Gunners proceeded to protect their lead and at the same time, grind the visitors out of the game all the while keeping an eye on the midweek Champions League fixture, which just happens to be against Barcelona and to conserve some energy for that massive task.

A quick Fabregas ball saw Walcott race away and catch Wolves on the counter and setup van Persie for his second of the match on the 56^th minute to effectively rest the issue, especially since the visitors hardly had a shot on target for most of the match. More reason for Gooners to be worried, not really as the rest of the match went to plan as Arsenal went into cruise control.

Full match report can be found on Arsenal.com.

The revenge Champions League match against Barcelona kicks off at 8:45 this Thursday.

Newcastle 4 Arsenal 4

The Gunners began the match like a team seeking revenge for that shock loss at home to Newcastle last November and they shot out like a greyhound out of the traps on race day.

It took Theo Walcott just 40 seconds to give Arsenal the lead when he controlled Andrey Arshavin’s through ball, raced past the Newcastle defence and slotted past Newcastle keeper, Steve Harper, to silence St. James’ Park. The Gunners were in the mood and just two minutes later, Johan Djourou ghosted past a non-existent Newcastle defence and headed Arshavin’s corner into the top corner, giving Harper no chance. The match had barely begun and Arsenal were up by two after Djourou’s first ever Arsenal goal.

Robin van Persie then got in on the action and grabbed Arsenals third with only 10 minutes on the clock as the Gunner’s carved Newcastle apart. The Newcastle defence went AWOL again as van Persie scored again on the 26^th minute to give Arsenal a 4-0 lead.

Some sharp goal keeping from Harper and not so sharp finishing from the Arsenal attackers before the end of the half meant that Arsenal would start the second-half only four goals to the good, which seems unassailable when you are playing a team that seemed devoid of confidence all across the pitch right? Wrong!

Incredibly, the second half began as if someone somewhere had turned off a switch as far as the Gunners were concerned as it all went down hill. Just a few minutes on and Djourou suffered a knee injury and was replaced by Sebastian Squillaci just a precaution.

That though was the lighter part of a pitch black second-half as just five minutes after the restart, Abou Diaby reacted angrily to a shocking Joey Barton tackle as he firstly shoved Barton and then Kevin Nolan around. Ref Phil Dowd brandished the red and Diaby walked. No excuses for how Diaby reacted but if you take things from his point of view, he has never been able to hit top form after his ankle was shattered by Dan Smith (then of Sunderland) in May 2006. Just this season alone, he has been in the receiving end of shocking tackles from Paul Robinson (Bolton at the Emirates), Essien (Chelsea at Stamford Bridge) and now Barton, so his reaction is understandable as he tries to make something out of a stop-start career that had so much potential. There are those out there that are still baying for Diaby’s blood but Darren Lewis from The Mirror puts things into perspective really well with this.

The sending off seemed to unsettle Arsenal and there was always the danger that if Newcastle were to get a goal back, then things can very quickly get from bad to worse, and it did as Dowd awarded Newcastle a penalty in the 68^th minute as he judged Laurent Koscielny to have fouled Newcastle forward Leon Best. Koscielny did make the tackle and the call seemed fair but Best seemed to have handled the ball before being fouled. Barton stepped up and grabbed a goal back for the hosts.

Things seemed to heat up as the home crowd responded and Wojciech Szczesny found himself on the receiving end of a Kevin Nolan headlock as he refused to give the ball back as both Nolan and Barton came looking for it to try ans hurry up an Arsenal restart. Dowd proceeded to caution the pair but how Nolan’s headlock is different from Diaby’s push is anybody’s guess. As controversial as the penalty was, the Gunners needed to pull themselves back together and fast but some defensive lapses allowed Best to grab another goal back for Newcastle on the 75^th minute.

Then out of nowhere, the most ridiculous penalty that I have ever seen was awarded as Dowd somehow had judged that Fabregas had fouled Jonas Guiterrez in the box and pointed to the spot. Barton again stepped up and despite the best efforts of Szczesny, pulled Newcastle’s third goal back on the 82^nd minute to the delight of the home crowd.

You just have to wonder if the shocking referee decisions were linked to comments Everton manager, David Moyes, made in the aftermath of the Everton game where he supposedly heard Fabregas say some things to the match referee that apparently warranted a ‘sending off’ and Fabregas’ comments were apparently so vile (according to a manager who has been in the sport for a few decades), that Moyes couldn’t bear ‘repeating them’. Spare us the B.S.

Then Cheik Tiote’s pile driver from just outside the penalty area evaded a whole host of bodies and most importantly, Szczesny, and ended in the back of the net in the 86^th minute. Newcastle’s shocking come back was complete and as Arsenal received the knock out blow, there was always that danger that the hosts may grab a fifth and all three, very unlikely (if you take the first 45 into account), points. But incredibly, van Persie gave Arsenal the lead after skilfully dispatching a Fabregas cross, but his strike was ruled out for offside. As much as I hate to say it, offside was the right call.

But 4-4 was as bad as it got for us as Newcastle celebrated an unlikely draw with the aid of some very suspect and inconsistent referee decisions but that’s not to say that our very own defending wasn’t to blame either. After Diaby’s dismissal, no one seemed sure of what exactly needed to be done as far as the defensive midfield role was concerned.

Well, definitely 2 points dropped from such a commanding position and we cannot blame Diaby’s sending off as the sole reason as we have been able to win from losing positions when down a man or two in the past, so dropping two points when 4-0 up is certainly no excuse whatsoever.

These four all draws seems to be a feature in our recent seasons, the match against Liverpool the season before last and against Spurs a few seasons back come to mind.

The only silver lining is that were weren’t the only shocks of this round as Man United’s unbeaten run came to a crashing halt against Wolves at the Molineux. So much for emulating the ‘Invincibles’ as most British pundits seemed to have been predicting and so, at the end of a rather disappointing weekend for Arsenal, we unbelievably find ourselves gaining a point on the League leaders, who looked infallible so far this season. Another lining (if there is such a thing) to the silver one that United’s defeat gave us is that Liverpool beat Chelsea, who now find themselves a good six points behind us.

Up next, the same pack of Wolves that mauled the almighty United, come to the Emirates. We will need to find our wits again and pick ourselves up fast to get the three required points as of course Barcelona are up in a few days after. The Wolves match kicks off at 4am this Sunday morning.

Arsenal 2 Everton 1

Arsenal came from behind to prove their title credentials, edging past Everton at the Emirates this morning. The visitors took the lead in the 24^th minute from a Louis Saha half-volley but the moments leading to the goal were highly controversial. Saha was clearly miles offside when played in on goal by Seamus Coleman but the linesman did not raise his flag and with the Arsenal defence protesting the offside call (or the lack of), Saha scored. Referee Lee Mason did stop play briefly in the aftermath to have a chat with the linesman, but proceeded to award the goal anyway. The only thing going against offside being called was that the last touch came off Laurent Koscielny but regardless, when Coleman passed the ball on, Saha was clearly offside, events after should be disregarded.

Things only seem to get worse as Alex Song and Johan Djourou both needed treatment during the match, which only raised more questions at the lack of cover in those two spots.

The second half began without Song, who was replaced by Abou Diaby (who himself is just finding his way back to fitness) as Arsenal looked to find a way back but things didn’t really start to go right for the Gunners until after the hour mark when the ineffective Tomas Rosicky was taken off for Arshavin. Now, Arshavin hasn’t really inspired confidence in recent matches but the Arsenal manager has stood by him and this game was just primed for the Russian to show his magic, and he did.

Just eight minutes after coming on, he latched onto a sublime Fabregas chip and pulled Arsenal level.

The Gunners knew that all three points were a must to keep up at the top of the League, lead by the still undefeated Manchester United, and went searching for a winner, which came six minutes later. Robin van Persie hadn’t been having a good night as far as free kicks were concerned but when he lined up to take one from about 20 yards away, you knew something special was about to happen and it very nearly did, as van Persie’s curling left footer was destined for the top corner, only to be denied by an equally good save from Everton keeper, Tim Howard. But Howard was a virtual spectator as some slack defending let Koscielny in to head Arsenal into the lead from the resulting corner. Koscielny’s header was emphatic as he grabbed his second goal on as many weeks.

This fixture has a tradition for late goals and there was always a danger of being caught on the counter as Arsenal went for a third goal to effectively kill the game off but Arsenal managed to shut the game out, earning the three points to stay within touching distance of Man. United, who won 3-1 against Aston Villa.

Man of the match would have to be shared between Koscielny and Arshavin for turning the game on its head when it all seemed lost and just as it seemed to be one of those matches were Arsenal fell behind just as they looked to seize the initiative in the match and then just couldn’t pull themselves level.

Up next, there is a trip to St. James Park where Newcastle await less their manager and Andy Carroll (who was sold to Liverpool) from the last time the two teams met. Kick off is at 4 am this Sunday morning.

Arsenal 2 Huddersfield 1 (FA Cup 4th round)

Arsenal survived another cup scare, narrowly beating lower league opposition Huddersfield Town at the Emirates. Bendtner’s deflected shot had given the Gunners the lead in the 21^st minute but then Squillaci was sent off for a professional foul just before half time.

The extra man advantage seemed to revitalise the visitors and they duly equalised through Alan Lee just after the hour mark, setting in motion a very nervy last third of the match. Captain Fabregas was brought on three minutes after Huddersfield’s equaliser to try and liven things up but it all seemed headed for a replay until the 85^th minute, when Bendtner was fouled inside the box. Fabregas stepped up and just as he did against Leeds, buried the penalty to make sure that Arsenal went through to the fifth round, where we now face Leyton Orient away on the weekend of the 21/22 February.

Full match report can be found on Arsenal.com.

Up next, Everton visit the Emirates and kick off is 8:45 this Wednesday morning.

Arsenal 3 Ipswich Town 0 (Carling Cup Semi’s second leg)

Arsenal are going to Wembley!!!!

Second half goals from Nicklas Bendtner, Laurent Koscielny and Fabregas dumped Ipswich out of the Carling Cup. The Gunners will now meet either Birmingham City or West Ham in the final.

Progression to the final didn’t come easy as Paul Jewell’s Ipswich defended and pressed well to keep Arsenal from scoring for the most part of an hour and the longer the match went on scoreless, the more the anxiety level rose. The only scant consolation was the United match against Blackpool, where they were down 2-0 for most part of the hour as well (which United won 2-3 by the way).

But Bendtner levelled the tie in the 61^st minute with a very smart finish and Koscielny doubled Arsenal’s lead a couple of minutes later when he headed in his first Arsenal goal.

Arsenal weren’t out of the woods yet as a goal form Ipswich and they would again have seized the upper hand (on away goal rules) in the tie, and it was Fabregas, who’d been trying to get things going all match long, who finally put the tie to rest with a goal of his own. Robin van Persie did also find the underside of the crossbar (in the first half) in what must now be the record for the number of times a player has managed to find the woodwork in a single season.

The only sour note of the match came early in the first 45 when Sagna and Szczesny collided and Sagna had to be taken off for treatment to be replaced by Eboue. Hope Sagna’s isn’t too badly hurt.

Up next, Arsenal welcome Huddersfield to the Emirates in the Fourth round of the FA Cup. Kick off is 1 am this Monday morning.

Arsenal 3 Wigan 0

Robin van Persie’s first ever Arsenal hat trick set the Gunners on their way to a comfortable win at the Emirates. The Dutchman gave Arsenal the lead in the 21^st minute from Song’s sublime pass. Van Persie was on hand to convert a Fabregas pass just before the hour mark to double Arsenal’s lead but also sky rocketed a penalty and hit the post soon after as Wigan struggled to keep pace with their hosts.

Some fine saves all through out the match from Wigan’s keeper Ali Al Habsi kept the scoreline at bay as Arsenal ran rampant.

With just a few minutes of regulation time left to play, van Persie completed his hat trick to lay claim to the match ball. One can only hope that Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry, has rubbed some of his goal scoring magic not just on van Persie but the rest of the squad and given them all the chin up as the fixtures pile up and the business end of the season fast approaches.

A full match report can be found here.

Up next, Ipswich Town come to the Emirates as the Gunners try and overturn the 1 nil deficit from the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-finals and as progress into the cup final is expected, nothing is guaranteed so another impressive performance, from all who take the field in the red and white, will be needed.

Leed 1 Arsenal 3 (FA Cup 3rd round replay)

Arsenal marched on into the fourth round of the FA cup after a comfortable victory away at Elland Road. If an epic performance was requested from the Gunners to overturn the disappointing third round result at home just under a fortnight ago, then this was as close as it could get bar another disappointing performance from Andrey Arshavin.

Nasri took just 5 minutes to silence Elland Road when he latched on to a Chamakh dummy and went past two Leeds defenders with consummate ease to bury the ball past Casper Schmeichel.

Schmeichel and Arshavin then proceeded to keep Leeds in the tie for much of the first half but then Sagna struck just after the half-hour mark with another one of his special thunderbolts to double Arsenal’s lead. Not to be outdone by Sagna, Leeds midfielder Bradley Johnson unleashed a cracker of his own that gave Szczesny no chance whatsoever, just three minutes after Sagna’s goal.

Both teams headed in for halftime with Leed’s knowing that they could still rescue this match and with Gooner’s over the world wondering if this was going to be one of those matches for Arsenal where their (more like Arshavin’s) profligacy in from of goal will haunt them in the latter stages of the match.

But with Arsenal defending commendably, Wenger brought on van Persie and Fabregas in the 71^st minute and the match was effectively over four minutes later when van Persie headed in Bendtner’s leftwing cross.

Full match report is available here and the Gunners will now meet Huddersfield Town at the Emirates on the 1^st f February.

Up next we welcome Wigan to the Emirates. Kickoff is 4 this Sunday morning.

West Ham 0 Arsenal 3

Arsenal put in a clinical attacking performance to ease past relegation threatened West Ham United at Upton Park.

The Gunners started with Szczesny in goal while Eboue, Djourou, Koscielny and Clichy started at the back. Song and Wilshere again dropped in deep while Nasri, Fabregas, van Persie, Walcott manned the attack.

West Ham looked a team devoid of confidence as pre-match speculation was rife that their manager, Avram Grant, was managing his last game for the club, and his players showed every bit of that on the pitch.

It took Arsenal only seven minutes to test out West Ham keeper, Robert Green, when Nasri tried his luck but it wasn’t long after that that the Gunners did take the lead. van Persie got his first goal of 2011 (from open play) when he blasted Walcott’s pass past Green from inside the penalty area as the West Ham defence failed pick up on the lurking Dutchman.

Walcott had an attempt of his own saved by Green before van Persie hit the post on the half hour mark. Ten minutes later and Walcott did put his name on the score sheet when he showed quick feet to get to van Persie’s cut back and rifle the ball past Green to double Arsenal’s advantage heading into the break but there was still time for Green to deny Djourou and Nasri as the half came to an end.

Zavon Hines was the first West Ham player to fire a shot in anger at the Arsenal goal early in the second half but Szczesny was switched on enough to make the save.

With the hosts barely threatening, the Gunners seemed content to keep the ball and take their chances without switching into second gear as they probed for that killer third goal, which did come with 15 minutes to spare. Walcott was fouled by West Ham debutant, Wayne Bridge, in the penalty area just as the Arsenal forward tried to race clear and shoot. Ref Andre Marriner did not hesitate to point to the spot, which van Persie stepped up to convert. That was essentially the match all over as Arsenal shook off their cup disappointments to keep pace with the League leaders from Manchester.

The Arsenal man of the match without a doubt would have been van Persie and one can only hope that the two goals have done his goal scoring form a whole world of good. A close second was Eboue, who managed to not fall over as if he had been shot by a sniper hidden in the crown every time he was tackled, as he has so often done in the past. He gets the get up and get on with it award.

West Ham played like a team distracted by supposed events off the field but all credit to the Gunners to not let themselves down and play like the title depended on it and for the most part they did, bar some wobbly moments from the defence.

Up next, I have a feeling that a performance of epic proportions will be needed from the starting 11 that Wenger puts out when we travel to Elland Road to take on Leeds in the third round FA Cup replay. Kick off is 9 am this Thursday morning. I’ll start praying now.

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