Quote: Originally posted by tracyr on 2/21/2010FYI, that was the Henry ref in the Porto gamenever seen anything like that quick kick - within the rules sure - but who does it so clearly to give a team a huge advantagei broke a lamp on the first goal - and walked out after the 2nd - not good i did not see the Sunderland game - but i saw the Man United-Everton game - Donovan was again very good - some great setup passes throughout the game - clearly he shines when he has teammates that know what to do with what he gives them - he works greatly with Pienaar - they must feel a kinship given they are the only gifted players on their respective national teams!

The Everton midfield was far too nimble and quick-witted for United, who looked ponderous. Carrick was MIA. While Park and Fletcher really laboured, they looked very average. Pienaar has turned into another low-cost gem for Moyes. Adding Arteta’s vision and class is going to help and Donovan had a good game and probably should have scored when he snatched at a ball that had bounced off Brown in the box. The American has really settled in nicely at Goodison Park.

Valencia had the beating of Baines all game and delivered several devilish, testing crosses into the box, including the ball that led to Berbatov’s opener. So I can’t understand why Fergie lifted him for Owen. And anybody that moots Baines as a replacement for Ashley Cole is out of their mind. He looked like he had cement in his shoes and looked bereft of ideas against the Ecuador international.

Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha did not score but both were hugely impressive. Rooney’s one-two with Berbatov should have led for a goal but for Phil Neville’s quick thinking. He stood up a beautiful ball at the back stick that Berbatov should have converted. His work rate, vision and, above all, composure in a white-hot environment stood out for me. Berbatov, though, looks too slow to lead the line for United. He just doesn’t play at the same tempo as Rooney, Valencia, Giggs or Evra.

Saha reminds me of a smallish version of Drogba with the complete package of spring, power, pace, smarts and technique. His hold-up play was outstanding, helping link Bilyaletdinov, Donovan, Pienaar and Arteta with the attack. He really made life miserable for both Evans and Brown and contributed directly to the first goal, forcing Evans to nod weakly straight to Bilyaletdinov, who scored a smashing goal.

Speaking of fantastic bits of business, Sylvan Distin joins the growing pantheon of smart buys by Moyes. Watching Mikael Silvestre fumble his way through another error-strewn performance against Sunderland, the question that comes to mind is what did Distin’s agent do to **** off Arsene Wenger. Let’s run through the checklist — French? Check. Pacy? Check. Poised with the ball? Check. On the other hand, he’s tall and good in the air so I suppose he’s not the ideal Arsenal defender. He does, though, understand how an offside trap works, something that clearly eluded Silvestre, who played Kenwyne Jones on side long enough to gift a great chance spurned by the Black Cats front man.

Saha's always been really talented, he just gets hurt constantly.

Quote: Originally posted by breum on 2/22/2010Saha's always been really talented, he just gets hurt constantly.

When he was healthy at Fulham, he was a starter with Henry on the French national team. Everton re-signed him for two years so I guess they figure his luck/fitness will improve.

Quote: Originally posted by willgibson on 2/21/2010A few random thoughts on Arsenal’s nervy win over Sunderland.

I made the unfortunate decision to leave the volume up on the television and was punished with Lou Macari’s moaning throughout the match. The former United man seems to loathe his job at Setanta and managed to balls it up royally by naming Cesc Fabregas as MOTM. Wrong again, sunshine, that would be Emmanuel Eboue, whose surges forward constantly and sizzling crosses into the ball unsettled Sunderland’s back line and set up Nicklas Bendnter’s tap in.

Fabregas showed some nice touches and vision in the middle of park, but these were generally wasted by finding Theo Walcott in space only for the winger to shank the ball back to Sunderland with his first touch or balloon his final ball well beyond the nonexistent Arsenal attackers in the box. While his pace petrified George McCartney, his end product never really troubled Craig Gordon.

Even Wenger appeared unnerved as his side fannied about in the midfield, hogging possession but not producing much remotely in the way of danger until after the hour mark, when the home side began to up the tempo.

Wenger’s subs eventually converted a chance in the form of a dodgy penalty — it was clearly a foul but probably just outside the result. The assistant was brave enough to make the call that Steve Bennett passed on and was in keeping with one of the worst performances by a match official I’ve seen in the English top flight in a good long time.

How Lorik Cana did not see a red card for his studs-up lunge to catch Eboue is beyond me. Bennett also chose to ignore a clear foul in the D on Bendnter by Mensah before inexplicably awarding a free kick to Sunderland in the closing minutes after Vermaelen lost his footing and had a Sunderland attacker fall over him. Just pathetic. Thankfully, justice was done in that case and the kick sailed into the wall.

All in all, not a terribly convincing performance and the Gunners will have to step up their game considerably in order to get all three points at Stoke. We better hope that William Gallas is fit enough to return because I cringe at the thought of Silvestre in the heart of the Arsenal back line. On the other hand, Arsenal won without playing well, which is a whole lot better than playing well and losing so I suppose that’s progress of a sort.

I agree, I was watching that match and I wondered why Lou had picked Cesc for MOTM, I was thining Eboué too. He had a great game until that knock that he picked up from Canas clattering tackle.

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Agreed on the keeper and a replacement for van Persie, but Song has looked pretty good in the holding role.

Same old rubbish at the start of today's game, though, as both Song and Eboue fell asleep on Delap's long throw and Pugh had an easy second ball to nod in for the opener. But the Gunners appear to have gotten a real grip on the game after the opening 15 minutes and Bendnter's header from a classy Fabregas cross has knotted it up.

I have to laugh at the commentators who always accuse Arsenal of being fragile. Campbell, Song and Vermaelen have gotten pretty physical and the Stoke City fans are moaning after every single bloody challenge. What a joke.

If Arsenal want to win the league, they need three points from this game to capitalize on Chelsea's collapse in the early match.

should have been a penalty on the Ramsey challenge - ref letting a ton go now

Karma again for the Eduardo dive against Celtic -- we've had the fewest penalties awarded in the Premier League.

It was a joke yellow on Song, too. Now he misses two games.

Ramsey's injury looks really bad -- shades of Eduardo. They've got to gather themselves and get composed.

Well we collapsed two years ago so this group appears to be made of sterner stuff, at least mentally. It looks like Shawcross went to hoof the ball and Ramsey nudged it out of the way and his standing leg took the kick. Which is probably doesn't make it a dirty challenge. I'm quite sure the red tops will work overtime to absolve the kid, but it was reckless play.

Another clear penalty denied when Collins shoved over Bendnter in the box. The officiating was just a joke. Walton should be dropped.

jesus, they put the Ramsey photo with his snapped leg on the front page on ESPN's soccer section

ugh

Arsene Wenger has often boasted this season about how his young side have matured. And after a tumultuous affair in a hostile venue against one of their bogey teams, they proved their manager’s words weren’t honeyed, empty bragging with a performance that should send a clear message about their title challenge.

If Arsenal fail to claim the title, they can probably look to Stoke City’s opener for why. It was the obligatory switching off of a set piece that had probably been worked through hundreds of times in training. Ryan Shawcross nodded on Rory Delap’s arrowing long throw. Emmanuel Eboue was sitting at the far post. He might have been daydreaming. He might as well have been picking his nose. He wasn’t, though, checking behind him, which would have been a good idea as Danny Pugh was waiting for the second ball after Shawcross misdirected header. Eboue wandered off. Alex Song just sort of stood there, ball watching. He didn’t fill the space by Eboue’s inexplicable decision to edge forward and Pugh was able to nod in unchallenged from about, oh, two yards out. Great defensive instincts shown by two players, one of whom is a second choice right back and the other being mooted by Wenger as a future colossus in the centre of the Arsenal defence. If Wenger doesn’t fine one or both of them for what can be kindly described as a brain cramped, half-witted defending, he certainly should have them running gassers at training for the next week until they puke their guts out. Just inexcusable, even for u-12 defenders.

Once Arsenal had properly hindered itself, they began to respond. Apparently we cannot go into hostile environments without handicapping ourselves. After a wobbly first 15 minutes, we began to pick up the tempo and string together the passes with Aaron Ramsey, in particular, impressing. It also bears noting that big Sol Campbell, Thomas Vermaelen and Gael Clichy didn’t shrink from the physical challenges posed by Ricardo Fuller and Mamady Sidibe and each clash was accompanied by shrieks from the home supporters calling for fouls. It never ceases to amaze how Arsenal are a soft side but the moment a Gunner puts in a meaty challenge, the peanut gallery seems keen to resurrect the red card count compiled by Arsene’s North London commandos. Campbell moves like a 1965 Massey Ferguson tractor in a F1 race but he well and truly had the physical measure of both Stoke forwards, neither of whom are small men. Maybe Wenger actually knew what he was doing bringing him back to the club.

Anyway, prolonged Arsenal pressure eventually reaped dividends through Cesc Fabregas, who arrowed a lovely cross into the box to Bendnter who rose in between the two Stoke centre halves to nod into the far corner. A classy finish from a beautiful, direct ball into the box. Arsenal finished the half on the ascendancy, circling the Stoke City penalty area like sharks circling chum.

This continued into the second half, when Fabregas sliced open the Potters back line, who were defending in depth, with an incisive pass controlled in the area by Ramsey. Before he could shift to shoot, defender Abdoulaye Faye decided to stick his leg into Ramsey’s rear end. Referee Peter Walton, apparently distracted or annoyed by being asked to make a clear decision, watched Ramsey collapse to the ground (a touch theatrically, I’ll admit) and waved play on.

Jesus wept. Apparently, karma is not done paying back Arsenal for the Eduardo dive against Celtic. For good measure, Walton studiously ignored James Collins shove Nicklas Bendnter in the back during added time. He did, however, chose to award a penalty for a much harsher handball call that Fabregas converted with aplomb. Walton also distinguished himself by awarding a very soft yellow card to Alex Song, which will see the holding midfielder for two matches. Wenger will, I’m quite certain, have a lot to say about that and hopefully in private.

But I digress and might as well address the big moment of the game, where Shawcross was sent off after breaking Ramsey’s leg. It must be said that Shawcross appeared to be attempting to play the ball and Ramsey nudged it out of the way. Shawcross took a healthy kick that connect with the Welsh teenager’s standing leg and snapped it.
Shawcross the field in tears and his challenge wasn’t malicious. It was, however, very reckless and is sure to reignite the anger in the Arsenal camp, which has seen Abu Diaby and Eduardo lost for prolonged stretches due to horror tackles. Even more nauseasting than the pictures of the tackle that show Ramsey’s leg bent at an unnatural angle (classily put up on the homepage of ESPN Soccernet, normally a sort of unofficial Manchester United fanzine) will be the inevitable rush to absolve Shawcross for the tackle by red tops, who will feel dutybound to defend a “honest” young white British player. I’m equally sure they’ll indict Wenger for attempting to “demonize” Shawcross or paint him as a whinger who wants to pussify football.

I’m not sure Wenger will care given how his side responded. Because the brittleness shown in wake of Eduardo’s injury at Birmingham City wasn’t there. They went about breaking down 10-man Stoke City with a lot of composure. Perhaps the presence of a grizzled graybeard like Campbell was a comfort, but Fabregas seemed to seize the opportunity of more time and space in midfield, demanding the ball and driving his team forward.

The breakthrough eventually came through a soft penalty for a handball and was polished off by Thomas Vermaelen, whose rasping drive was fumbled by Thomas Sorenson. Fabregas pounced on the rebound and rather than thump it into the keeper or side netting, cooly slotted the ball in front for the defender to sidefoot home.

The response was magnificent although it will be tempered by losing Ramsey for the rest of the season.

MOTM – Fabregas. Both classy and spiky all at once. Took the penalty with aplomb before showing composure to turn the ball across the box for Vermaelen to seal the match. He also got stuck well into Glen Whelan and then engaged in a little profane back and forth with Tony Pulis and the Stoke City bench. When Eduardo went down at Birmingham, Gallas wilted. Cesc stood up and was counted along with Campbell and Clichy, who played his best match in recent memory.

Equal parts of awesome and awful served up today by Arsenal. Cesc opened the scoring with a cool finish after an exquisite chip by Nasri took out about seven Burnley defenders. The goal was a just reward for some sustained pressure that saw the Gunners spurn several chances, including Nicklas Bendnter shank a shot with his shin into row Z after being one-on-one with the keeper.

Cesc was subbed off after 40 minutes and walked off without a hobble or limp, although the match commentators suggested it was an injury or a precaution. Shorn of their best player didn't seem to affect the Gunners, who continued to carve open the Burnley back our and miss chances.

Just after the open of the second half, Bendnter nodded a header wide after an outstanding cross from Walcott before Burnley equalized after another example of witless defending that will kill us against a better side. After Eboue hoofed a ball up the middle to clear after some rare Burnley pressure, he sat on the edge of the six-yard box. Both Vermaelen and Silvestre pushed up when the ball was knocked back in quickly. Eboue must have been picking his nose or daydreaming, didn't react fast enough and Kevin Doyle chipped Manuel Almunia.

To be fair to the Gunners and Eboue, they responded well. Bendnter missed a couple more chances before Walcott tucked home the second goal after more sustained pressure. Bendnter and Arshavin took over shanking a couple easy chances.

From about the 10-minute mark, Arsenal completely took their foot off the gas. They didn't seem particularly tired and perhaps Wenger wanted them to slow down and not exert themselves with Porto awaiting mid-week. They decided to invite pressure and Burnley really could have equalized. It was the worst single period I've seen Arsenal play since last year's away game to Man City and was inexcusable. They did right the ship after a couple of wobbles and Arshavin iced the match by tucking a shot inside the near post in injury time, but it was not a performance to inspire confidence ahead of Porto or in the title run-in.

Hopefully Fabregas is OK and Alex Song enjoyed his rest. We'll need both to be at their best to turn over the Portugese.

MOTM - Walcott. Simply petrified Danny Fox and, but for Bendnter's wastefulness, would have had a hand in about five goals.

the arse scored some sweet goals yesterday....nasri especially.

That went better than I expected but I’m not prepared to talk about winnning a double yet given that:

1. Porto were awful outside of a spell of sustained pressure in the second half when they looked certain to level the tie.

2. Our back line continues to have wobbles that go unpunished. As in the World Cup, the quarterfinals is where the wheat separates from the chaff. That’s why England generally exit at that stage and Arsenal will not move any farther in the Champions League with either Sol Campbell or Mikael Silvestre at the centre of their defence. Billy Gallas needs to heal up fast.

Moving to the positives, Nicklas Bendnter bounced back nicely. Nasri and Arshavin shouldered the creative duties with aplomb. Nasri’s goal will get replayed many, many times, but Arshavin’s close control and vision were just superb. It’s the best seen from the little Russian, who was back to his nimble-footed, quick-witted best from last spring.

Just behind them, Diaby and Song were thoroughly in control and help Arsenal dictate the tempo for long stretches of the match.

Sagna looked useful going forward, a welcome change, even if he appeared to be affected by Campbell’s jitters at the back. Almunia didn't cost us a goal for a change.

The score probably didn’t reflect the balance play, but that’s usually the case when Arsenal have played Champagne football and squandered that virtuosity with poor finishing and defensive lapses in past campaigns. The inflated margin of victory is another sure sign of maturity, particularly shorn of Gallas, Fabregas and van Persie. That trio weren’t missed against Porto. They will, most assuredly, be needed against whichever club is drawn in the quaterfinals.