Saturday, March 14, 2009
For the sake of Yinn Jaye, who expects me to post the match reports, I shall do so now.
Arsenal 4 - 0 BlackburnAndrey Arshavin opened his Arsenal account as an attacking masterclass saw the Gunners to a handsome victory over Blackburn.
Theo Walcott, restored to the starting XI following a cameo against Roma in midweek, was in electric form all afternoon but the headlines will go to the #15million Russian and substitute Emmanuel Eboue, who scored twice at the end.
Arshavin netted a fine individual effort after 65 minutes and may yet be credited with a second after his heavily deflected shot gave Arsenal the after just 80 seconds, while Eboue benefited from a tap-in and a penalty.
Arsenal took inside two minutes to open their account for the afternoon, Arshavin trying, perhaps unsuccessfully, to claim his first strike for the club.
Nicklas Bendtner started things off from a deep position, neatly turning Morten Gamst Pedersen before rolling a defence-splitting pass to Walcott on the right.
Walcott raced to the byline and cut the ball into the six-yard box where both Song and Arshavin were waiting at the near post.
It was the Russian who got the first touch but a heavy deflection off Andre Oijer means it was surely an own goal.
El-Hadji Diouf, booked for lunging at Manuel Almunia, looked Rovers' most likely creator, twice finding space behind the attacking Bacary Sagna but lacking support in the final third.
There was a change after 13 minutes, Gael Givet giving way to David Dunn and Warnock dropping from midfield to left-back to make room.
But the shift in personnel did not bring Blackburn's defence to life, with Bendtner handed far too much room to test Paul Robinson from 20 yards.
Warnock himself was lucky to avoid censure when he barged the sprightly Walcott to the turf a yard outside the penalty box after he was released by Arshavin.
With half an hour gone, the Gunners on the attack again, Arshavin and Walcott dovetailing wonderfully to free Sagna on the overlap.
His cross found Bendtner at the far post but, after a moment of hesitation in the Blackburn defence, the danger was cleared.
With 10 minutes to play before the break Samir Nasri almost made it two, rattling the woodwork with a vicious free-kick.
The Frenchman went close again seconds later, striking a bouncing ball first time from eight yards and forcing an unconvincing save from Robinson.
Pedersen had a half chance to equalise with the last move of the first period but with two defenders and Almunia bearing down on him, he lost his footing at the key moment.
After the interval, the hosts came out in inspired form and Walcott, once more, was the key.
First he outpaced Warnock only a minute after the restart, getting himself into space but then dragging his shot well wide, then he handed Bendtner the simplest of scoring chances.
Speed was again the key, allowing the winger to measure his cutback after losing his marker.
With the goal gaping, the Danish striker got his feet in a tangle and made only the lightest of contacts.
And with just five minutes of the half gone Walcott made his third major impact, athletically volleying a loose ball in the area and drawing Robinson into a smart reaction save.
It was not long before Kolo Toure got in on the act, attracting a huge cheer for lobbing the ball over Pedersen's head as he moved up from defence.
But for all their dominance the lead remained at a single goal.
Indeed, it was fast becoming one of those days for the oft-criticised Bendtner, who missed a hat-trick of presentable chances in the space of three minutes and started to feel the fans' frustrations.
It was Arshavin who released the pressure.
Collecting the ball wide on the left, the January signing drove straight for goal. He ghosted past Danny Simpson, who offered little by way of a challenge, and lifted his ball expertly into the roof of the net.
This time there was no doubt over the ownership of the goal.
Bendtner, though, had one more miss left before being replaced by Carlos Vela.
A thrilling run by Walcott and a superb pass from Arshavin teed him up this time but a graceful move was denied a fitting end when the striker blazed into the stands.
To their credit, the Arsenal fans gave the misfiring Dane a loud show of support as the left the field.
Substitute Eboue, who has enjoyed less generosity from the crowd this season, poked home the third after Robinson pushed out another Arshavin effort with three minutes left.
The Ivorian then stroked home from the penalty spot after Vela was clumsily fouled by Martin Olsson.
Liverpool 4 - 1 Man URafael Benitez might end up having the last laugh after all as his Liverpool side hauled themselves back into the title fight.They proved themselves with a decisive crushing of 10-man Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The Merseyside giants battled back from a goal down to defeat the Premier League leaders in clinical fashion, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard turning the match on its head before the break, with Fabio Aurelio and Andrea Dossena easing Liverpool well clear before the end.
In contrast, it was an day to forget for Nemanja Vidic, who gifted Torres the equaliser before being sent off against Liverpool for second time this season as Benitez's side reduced United's lead at the top to four points, albeit having played a game more.
It represented Liverpool's biggest win at United since 1936 and could yet trigger an amazing championship revival.
Liverpool were the ones who needed the win and there appeared an extra sharpness about them from the start, especially Torres who gave the Red Devils defence a torrid time.
Once Jamie Carragher had recovered his composure after being unsettled by a late switch to right-back because of Alvaro Arbeloa's late withdrawal, they had the edge in vital areas, the hosts no better than their nervy first-half display against Inter Milan in midweek.
Indeed, it was a surprise when United went ahead.
Pepe Reina read Carlos Tevez's through ball for Park Ji-sung well enough but came out too quickly for his own good. When the South Korean nicked the ball away, the Liverpool keeper could not stop.
And though Reina pleaded for leniency, referee Alan Wiley correctly pointed to the spot.
Ronaldo is not the type of player to waste such opportunities and duly dispatched his 17th goal of the season.
Had Sir Alex Ferguson's men been able to hold their advantage for a decent length of time, the visitors might have panicked. But five minutes later Liverpool were level thanks to a rare mistake from Nemanja Vidic.
The Serbian has been virtually foot perfect this season, so much so that he is favourite to win the PFA player of the year award.
But first Vidic let Martin Skrtel's long punt forward bounce when he could have headed it back into the Liverpool half quite easily. Then, he failed to deal with the loose ball, allowing Torres to nip in and streak clear, beating Edwin van der Sar with clinical efficiency.
Conceding one goal was amazing enough for the Red Devils, yet before half-time Liverpool had scored again.
Hull were the last team to score more than once against United in Premier League combat - and that was four-and-a-half months ago.
But when Torres tried to send Gerrard racing into the box and Patrice Evra mis-timed his tackle, the Liverpool skipper found he converted his penalty with the same confidence Ronaldo had shown earlier.
Gerrard's glee was obvious. And Liverpool's lead was fully deserved, condemning Ferguson to his first interval rallying call in league combat at Old Trafford all season.
The Scot injected a greater sense of urgency into his team, even if there was no improvement in their retention of the ball.
Carrick in particular was having a pretty bad day, twice putting his side in danger with wayward passes.
United at least managed to generate some momentum, with Tevez almost getting on the end of a Wayne Rooney knock-back and then rolling a shot on the turn just wide.
Having expressed his 'hatred' of Liverpool earlier in the week, the last thing Rooney wanted was to suffer an immediate defeat and a chance for Gerrard - a long-time friend - to gloat.
Yet as time ticked by, that was the fate Rooney was condemned to, especially as Ferguson waited until less than 20 minutes remained before he made the introductions of Dimitar Berbatov, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.
It is the kind of strength Benitez does not have and one of the major reasons why Liverpool have found themselves on the wrong end of a 14-point swing in fortunes since United returned from their Club World Cup campaign in Japan just before Christmas.
What Liverpool have managed to do this season is beat Chelsea and United, against both of whom they have now registered 'doubles'.
Any hope United had, evaporated within a minute of Ferguson's spectacular triple substitution as another woeful first touch, again from Vidic, left the Serbian little alternative other than to haul down Gerrard.
For the second successive game against Liverpool, it brought Vidic a red card and he was still making his way down the tunnel when Aurelio curled home a superb free-kick.
And Liverpool were not finished as Andrea Dossena lobbed Van der Sar to complete a memorable win, whose significance remains unknown.
Arsenal fanatic,
Yee Hark
8:17 PM
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1 Comments:
Sianzzz... Another very long post, diehard soccer fans just read it please.
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