A Point Gained Or Two Lost? Time Will Tell

Burnley 1 – 1 Arsenal

0 – 1 Fabregas (7)
1 – 1 Alexander (28 pen)

The weight of expectation followed by the second half performance at Anfield was high. This is a match that title contenders do not lose, the perceived wisdom went, despite the fact that Manchester United lost in August at Turf Moor.

As it turned out, Arsenal played more in line with the first half at Anfield, pressurised constantly by the hosts, determined to repeat their Carling Cup victory last season. Events transpired that make this a point gained this morning rather than two lost.

The match itself was open with chances at either end. The tone for the evening’s defending was set early on with a lack of communication between Vermaelen and Almunia as the Belgian dropped a header back to where he expected the goalkeeper to be; no-one had told Almunia this as he was more advanced towards the ball and arched his back to tip the ball onto the bar. It was the sort of goalkeeping for which Cech has been lambasted in recent weeks. Almunia has not escaped such chastisement either.

Within minutes, the incident seemed irrelevant. Bikey dithered; Cesc with the nimbleness of a cat burglar in books of yesteryear, smuggled the ball away, leaving it nestling in the net an instant later. One-nil to the Arsenal and shortly after it should have been two. The Spaniard lifted ball over the defence, chested the ball into space and lashed the ball into the sidenetting. It seemed his toes were twinkling like the stars in a crisp winter’s night and Burnley were reeling from the weight of the Arsenal attack.

As the quarter hour mark passed, the woodwork intervened in Burnley’s favour, Arshavin striking a fierce drive against Jensen’s post. Arsenal were in control, containing Burnley but being pressed themselves. The breakthrough for the hosts came from the penalty spot. Vermaelen was deceived by the sloppiness of Bikey’s control as he ventured forward, the Belgian diving in with a rash challenge, the outcome of which cannot be argued with. Alexander has missed five penalties throughout his 2o-year career. There was no danger of last night seeing the sixth.

As the half drew to a close, Fabregas was replaced, apparently a hamstring injury suffered, keeping him out of the coming match against Hull City as a minimum. Ramsey replaced him and chances were spurned, Arshavin denied by Jensen, Vermaelen likewise as the giant keeper pushed a header over the bar.

In the second half, Arsenal became more reticent in their attacking. Walcott suffered a lack of composure having latched onto Song’s pass, blazing high and wide when a cooler head or more in-tune international would have surely buried the opportunity?

Eagles rattled the woodwork from an acute angle having skipped past Silvestre before Fletcher had a goal disallowed, dubiously, at the end. It denied Burnley a win but an undeserved one.

There is a lot of talk this morning of how they were denied but evidentially, they only managed two shots on target all night, Arsenal seven. Presumably whoever thought that stat up at the Daily Telegraph does not count Almunia pushing Vermaelen’s effort onto the bar. Burnley do deserve a lot of credit however for the level of the performance, pressing without descending into the physicality that sides lower down the Premier League often resort to.

The Arsenal performance was disappointing given the finish at Anfield. It seems that Jekyll and Hyde will be used to describe our performances. Some solace though can be taken from the fact that a month ago, we would probably have been bemoaning a defeat such was the manner in which November transpired.

The gap to Chelsea remains as it was prior to last weekend’s fixtures. Win the game in hand and it is down to five points. Win twice as Chelsea draw and the gap closes further. That is not the problem; consistently winning afterwards is an issue that needs to be addressed.

In the end though, whether this is a lost opportunity will be decided when the League title finds a home at the end of the season. Otherwise, we move forward and look to bury the ghost of 2008/09 with a victory over Hull on Saturday.

’til Tomorrow.

Burnley Preview: Don’t Get Turfed Out At The Moor

Having clawed their way back into the title race, this evening’s trip to Turf Moor is a tricky fixture but not one that contenders should lose. The halcyon days of the Lancashire club may have long passed but they are setting about retaining their Premier League status following the path trodden by Stoke City last season; impressive at home adding in a point here and there on their travels. The paucity of the performance at The Britannia Stadium in 2008/09 should serve as a useful deterrent to any complacency which might set in ahead of this fixture.

Not having played a match there in the top flight for thirty five years, it is hardly surprising to find Arsenal has not emerged victorious in a league match at Burnley since the double winning season. The hosts have already claimed the scalp of Manchester United in the early season fixtures, the history books forget that it may not have been the fair result based on the performances that night but it was the final scoreline and that is all that counts in retrospect.

With all due respect to the hosts, it is condescending to say it is a fixture Arsenal has made a habit of losing over the years, even with squad’s that were supposedly far better than this one. The win at Anfield has reignited belief with a lot of talk coming from the players in recent days, acknowledging that the performance in the second half merited the result. Tonight a slack first half performance may not be forgiven so readily by their opponents.

The list of walking wounded visiting the London Colney medical rooms grew following the victory at Anfield with left back proving to be a rather cursed position, reminiscent of the way it was in 2005/06 season. Armand Traore has tweaked a hamstring and misses this evening whilst Denilson has a back injury although Arsene was unable to say if it was a recurrence of the Brazilian’s recent fracture. They will have to make their own amusement since renowned comedian, Emmanuel Eboue, has been passed fit for this evening.

With Denilson out, Diaby will slot back into the midfield following his return on Sunday, presumably Silvestre dropping into left back although Arsene could switch Sagna to there with Eboue on the right. It is up front that Wenger has choices to make. The second half performance on Sunday does not warrant any changes but Eduardo is now fit and Wenger has to decide if he is more effective as a centre forward than Arshavin? Likewise, Walcott was ineffective on Sunday so does Nasri retain his place with the Russian shifting to the left to accommodate a central change. I suspect that the latter trio is how Wenger will line-up this evening:

Almunia; Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Silvestre; Diaby, Fabregas, Song; Nasri, Eduardo, Arshavin

A win is vital. Pressure was applied at the top of the table with United winning last night. The home game against Everton should have been routine for Chelsea; the fixture against Portsmouth will be. Three points is necessary to keep the gap closed at six points, especially as the coming league fixtures allow Arsenal to take advantage of any further slips with the Christmas fixture against Villa an opportunity to increase the gap to fourth.

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ’til Tomorrow.

Arsene Goes Violet Elizabeth To Inspire Arsenal Win

Liverpool 1 – 2 Arsenal

1 – 0 Kuyt (41)
1 – 1 Johnson (50 o.g.)
1 – 2 Arshavin (57)

“I’ll sthcweam and sthcweam and sthcweam“

Arsene’s urbane manner has long been known to hide a seething volcano of intensity, a desire to win that has brought him considerable success at Arsenal during his reign as manager. Cesc observed yesterday that Wenger had been furious with the first half performance, rightly so for it was truly moribund, apparently questioning whether or not the players deserved to wear an Arsenal shirt. If the Spaniard had never seen Wenger react so emotionally, I would question why, for there have been worse performances.

Whatever was said, the desire effect was induced for as lacklustre as the first half was, the second was dominated with Liverpool rarely threatening to extend their lead or equalise once they had fallen behind. That they were in front at the interval was of little surprise, although Almunia was rarely called upon. When he was, Torres clean through following Gerrard’s swift break down the right, the shot was comfortably saved, aimed at the ‘keeper’s midrift when it should have been buried.

Defensively, much work was done blocking shots, intercepting shots. Five minutes before the break, the hard work that had gone before was undone. Denilson conceded a freekick midway in the Arsenal half. The lofted delivery appeared to be comfortable for Almunia but the Spaniard neither punched or caught the ball, laxly shifting the ball into Kuyt’s path, his shot beating the retreating Gallas on the goal line. Questions can be asked as to whether or not Lucas was offside, his presence possibly distracting the Frenchman but to have ruled the goal out would have been another dubious decision by the referee.

Liverpool are aggrieved with Howard Webb, a not entirely unfamiliar feeling for anyone connected with football. Gerrard apppeared to be tripped by Gallas as he tried to weave his way into the area. It is hard to see why a penalty was not given when Gallas brought Gerrard down. It was a foul and the laws of the game state quite simply that the punishment for tripping an opponent in the penalty area is a penalty kick, irrespective of the position of the ball.

Possibly the only doubt he could have had is whether or not the ball was actually still in play when Gallas fouled Gerrard. Either that or the Liverpool captain is now finding that diving may win you points at the time but the payback when it comes, costs you as many as you have won.

As much as the Arsenal performance in the first half was poor, the second was very good. Liverpool were contained for the whole period, Almunia had nothing but crosses to deal with. The midfield supported Arshavin much better, the opening period saw him chasing, running but seeing little of the ball in productive areas.

Five minutes in and Fabregas released Nasri on the right. The Frenchman crossed aiming for Walcott in the centre; Carragher stumbled, trying to clear the ball, Johnson ambled into the ball’s path and put it in the net. Keystone Cops defending, a simple cross that should have been cleared into the stands. Not that Arsenal were complaining for Liverpool visibly wilted.

Seven minutes later and Arshavin proved his worth. Under pressure, Fabregas dinked a cross in, Arshavin controlled, took the ball around Johnson and fired an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net via the near post. The celebration almost cried out that the player sought Wenger’s approval, a naughty schoolboy asking his favourite teacher, “Was that better, Sir?“.

Thereafter, Liverpool were stifled. Few as the clear cut chances were in the first half, non-existent once a lead had been gained. Apparently, it was the first time since Pires fired in a glorious winner at Anfield that a Premier League side had come from behind to win at the once impregnable fortress, reduced to a post-Reformation monastic ruin in footballing terms.

The performance ought to put to bed the lies that Arsenal cannot play badly and win; shut out games and defend a one goal lead. Vermaelen was key to that, a bedrock upon which the defensive strength was built. I do not recall him losing a tackle but bringing calm assuredness to the team in the second, evidenced by one moment of sublime control under pressure, flicking the ball nonchalently over an opponents head before controlling it with his chest.

Fabregas, Song and Denilson were far improved in the second period, rendering Mascherano impotent in the middle by passing at tempo. The first 45 had seen them too deep, controlled by the Argentine midfielder, even allowing Lucas to look good. The second half saw them pass with pace and move forwards rather than standing still. Walcott was isolated on the wing in the first half, pressurised when in possession, starved of the ball, forced inwards to come looking for involvement and duly harrassed into mistakes. Once the midfield and Sagna supported him, the game opened up. Coming through the match, back to full fitness is key.

One of the cheerier notes for the match was the return on the bench of Eduardo. It would be no surprise to see him lead the line on Wednesday at Turf Moor. The next 48 hours will decide who accompanies him but Diaby will probably fill in one of those spots. I suspect Wenger will be hoping that Traore recovers from his ills. Having been targetted by Liverpool in the first half as a potential weak link, he grew into the game in the second before being substituted.

Three points were vital, three were delivered. Now to maintain the winning run ahead of the Christmas / New Year period where the encounter with Aston Villa is going to be interesting, given they have beaten all of the ‘Big Four’ either home or away.

’til Tomorrow.

Liverpool Preview: Gaps Are There To Be Closed

The pressure was expected to be on Arsenal to win this afternoon at Anfield to retain an eight point gap on Chelsea. Now the opportunity has presented itself to close that gap to six points, with a home game in hand, potentially three points.

Not content with that, reports this morning suggest Arsene is on the verge of protesting about Michael Essien’s involvement in Chelsea’s home win over Wolves, FIFAs regulations meaning that he should have missed the game for refusing to play for his country. A three point deduction the likeliest outcome. Then goal difference comes into play.

For the trip to Liverpool, Arsene has no new injury worries and Abou Diaby may apparently make the bench. Eduardo is apparently nearly ready to return but will not make the game. Whilst his impending return is excellent, there must be some concern that his fitness may not be up to playing three games in a week so perhaps better to leave that to Wednesday and Saturday.

That suggests that Andrey Arshavin will hope to give the Liverpool centre backs a similiar runaround to those experienced by their Stoke counterparts last week. With Theo Walcott coming through the Champions League unscathed, some sort of semblance of normality is beginning to return to the squad. All it requires is Bendtner to return and whisper it, Arsenal have fit forwards to choose from.

Defensively, there are no fresh worries with the partnership of Gallas and Vermaelen crucial to containing Fernando Torres. The Spaniard may not be totally fit but the pairing will need to be on top of their game. And to think the Belgian almost went to Tottenham three years ago. A man of suitably good taste to avoid that career-wrecking move.

Vermaelen is confident that the current Arsenal squad is capable of winning trophies:

The main reason I like playing for Arsenal is the vision of the boss. The way he wants us to play. I believe we CAN win trophies playing this way. What is the vision? The vision is basically for a young team who all share the same philosophy to play good football, to grow and eventually win a big trophy. I know there are many critics who say that playing a certain way then good things can’t happen.

But maybe they should just think for a while and look at how a team like Barcelona has grown and how they play. Look around at THEIR side. They don’t have many strong players but they have been winning BIG trophies.

There are plenty who doubt that the players can deliver, including most of the media. This morning sees reports that Arsenal have apparently asked Real Madrid how much they want for Rafael van der Vaart whilst Dzeko’s name appears regularly alongside the misinformation that he has a release clause in his contract. He does but that applies only to any offer from AC Milan, who by coincidence are about to offer £5m for…well, it’s the silly season so you get the drift that the transfer merry-go-round is picking up speed.

Vermaelen’s stock is still high with few criticisms of him emerging on a regular basis, a novelty of sorts for Arsenal centre backs since Sol Campbell was at his peak. Since then, each player in that position has been too slow, too small, too cumbersome or just plain useless so those who know tell us. To certain degrees those critiques have not been entirely wrong but lack of patience with defenders is founded in the knowledge of those who have gone before. Vermaelen is making strides into the list of great central defenders to wear the red and white.

Back to this afternoon. Liverpool are in a poor run of form this season, capable of playing in the big games but stumbling in matches that they should win. Rarely have we gone to Anfield with the hosts so defensively incontinent. Fortunate perhaps given our own attacking woes on the injury front. Crucial to winning will be stifling the Liverpool midfield, they will seek to do the same with Mascherano sitting tight on Fabregas.

The onus in those circumstances will fall on others to provide. Denilson still has his critics but may revel in the added responsibility, especially if marked by Lucas whose form is very much hit and miss. Certainly, any combination of Arshavin, Walcott, Nasri has the pace to undo the expected back four of Carragher, Agger, Insua and Johnson. The Arsenal left in particular may like to expose the England right back, excellent going forward but suspect when carrying out his defensive duties.

I would expect the line-up to be:

Almunia; Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Traore; Fabregas, Song, Denilson; Arshavin, Walcott, Nasri

Three points is vital this afternoon to take advantage of the unexpected slips by those around us yesterday, Aston Villa being the only team in the top 6 to win. Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ’til Tomorrow.

A Chat With A Liverpool Blogger

Ahead of tomorrow’s visit to Anfield, a quick chat with Red Floyd from Have You Ever Been To Liverpool, a Liverpool blog.

A disappointing season so far, very much a mixture of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. What has gone wrong compared to last season?

Sadly it’s been more “bad” and “ugly” than “good”. I know it sounds like an excuse but the injuries we’ve had have been horrendous. No squad, no matter what their strength in depth, would be able to cope with that – at one point we have eleven players out.

Because of that continuity and consistency has suffered, especially in defence. Although things have picked up a little in this part of the pitch we’ve let in some really poor goals and the old problem, of not being able to deal with set pieces, remains.

I am at a loss as why we continually fall foul of this. Even when players have come back from injury they’ve taken time to find their feet. Clearly that happens when you come back from injury but it doesn’t help if the rest of the side is patched up!

How much of a loss was Alonso? Has it been the key difference?

People also hark on about the selling of Alonso and although one player doesn’t make a team Aquilani’s longer than expected spell in the treatment room hasn’t helped make up for his loss. Babel continues to misfire and although Ngog has done well, we don’t have a recognized top class striker to complement/replace Torres.

I guess one also has to bear in mind that our rivals are also stronger compared to last season Chelsea are more settled under Ancelloti; I thought you had improved until recently and the Mancs well, they are the Mancs -  Spurs, City and Villa have began well.

Each season Arsenal fans face a transfer window barrage of stories about Cesc Fabregas’ future. How long before the big two Spanish clubs come knocking, through the press, for Fernando Torres or Pepe Reina?

If you’ve decent foreign player it goes with the territory. Both our players seem happy with us and life in the North West. Torres has signed a new contract and Reina is about to.

Inevitably both will move on at some stage, probably when Rafa does. However, I’m confident they will be with us for a few more years yet. The major condition is that we need to keep improving the squad, keep qualifying for the Champions League and win some silver or it won’t be just Reina and Torres who want out

The media tell us that the owners of Liverpool are hawking the club around or at the very least, seeking to sever their partnership. Would the Americans selling be a good thing for the club?

No doubt the Americans will point to locking down key players with new contracts, a shiny new shirt sponsorship deal and the signing of players such as Torres, Mascherano etc as evidence that they are improving the club.

However, most Liverpool fans, including me, would be very, very glad to see the back of them. I can understand the delay with the stadium given the current economic climate but they are clearly floundering. Ultimately no one is fooled, Hicks and Gillett bought the club by placing it into debt and will probably sell as soon as they can realise a decent profit. That won’t be done until the new ground is built and other leveraging, mainly on the commercial side, is done.

Is there any illusion about why they bought Liverpool in the first place?

In short we are nothing but an investment opportunity, they are shafting us big style? Buying into an English football club isn’t the same as ice hockey or “rounders” teams in the US and I certainly don’t think they anticipated the depth of feeling there is at the club and how precious to is to the fans.

Hicks in particularly came up with some nauseating, ill judged nonsense when he first joined which rubbed everyone’s back up. I suspect it’s been an eye opener for them. Although they had little idea about what they are taking on, both are hardened businessman and I’m sure they will not let this, and the resulting unpopularity, distract them from their main financial goal.

With Everton failing to get planning permission for their new ground in Kirby, is there any merit in the two clubs sharing a new stadium? Is there any will at Liverpool to make this work?

I can’t see it happening however, if it did we’d have a great stadium that the whole city could be proud of, who knows everyone in time might get used to it? Financially a joint building project would make sense but I guess the owners want their own stadium to maximize revenue and the fans and club will feel a slight loss of identity if they have to share? 

How long do you think Rafa Benitez has left should this season end trophyless, especially if the league title looks nothing but a distant dream come next May?

On the practical side it would cost the owners too much to sack Rafa, in terms of paying off his contract and then recruiting a successor. More importantly I don’t think we should follow the knee jerk reactions of other clubs and ditch mangers at the first sign of things going wrong.

Rafa’s been unlucky this season and, as a result, I would be prepared to give him more time. Partly because some of things that have happened this season are been clearly out of his control and because quite simply I like him even though he’s cantankerous, bloody minded old get at times!

The more flack he receives the more I want him to stay and prove them wrong. Overall there is still a great deal of goodwill towards him, as result of the Champions League win and because of the way he was treated by the owners a few years back when they talked to Klinsmann behind his back. I suspect all the recent media flack strengthens these ties.

In short Rafa will remain in post as long as the fans want him there.

’til Tomorrow.

Stone Cold Friday: Between The Sticks

Darius wants to chat goalkeepers…

This week, I thought I’d tackle a contentious topic that seems to split Arsenal fans the world over. Everyone has an opinion about our goalkeeping, an area of our game that some observers consider to be the weak link on our road to success.

For around 6 weeks earlier this season, the official line of “chest infection” was filed in the physician’s office at London Colney under the name of Manuel Almunia. For what it was worth, most of us took Almunia’s chest infection to be the garden variety bug that hits us once in a while. We now know that Almunia was dealing with a lot of mental anguish following a family tragedy and Wenger chose to give him the space to regroup.

On his return, the sight of Almunia sitting on the Arsenal bench in the encounter with Birmingham City told its own tale. It reminded me of the thunderous face of Jens Lehmann some 2 years ago when he was confined to the bench as Almunia was preferred as the No. 1 for the game against Spurs at the Emirates.

Lehmann had recovered from his mysterious and long term elbow injury that magically disappeared on the occasions that he kept the gloves for the German national team. In that game against Spurs, Almunia saved a Robbie Keane penalty to keep us in the game and as the Arsenal bench erupted in jubilation, Lehmann could only muster a clenched fist in his tracksuit pocket as if to say, “Damn you, I could have saved that one too”.

At the beginning of the 2007/08 season, Lehmann cost us unnecessary goals. In the first game against Fulham, his attempted agricultural clearance gifted a goal to Fulham’s David Healy; against Blackburn he gifted Sparky’s team an undeserved equaliser. Soon after, Lehmann developed a mysterious elbow injury that started his long journey out of the Arsenal.

Wenger has form in dropping players who are not playing well. At the beginning of this season, it was unthinkable that Almunia wouldn’t be the No. 1, let alone Don Vito being preferred to him. Lukasz Fabianski was keeping Colin Lewin gainfully employed; Wenger had no choice but to field Don Vito of Colney. To his credit, Don Vito surpassed all expectation and gave Wenger what you can call a very good headache. You can never suffer from having too many options in football.

Now that Almunia has reacquainted himself with his duties in goal, it seems an appropriate time to debate the issue of our goalkeeping performance. His recent run of games in my view is enough time to get over the mental anguish and stress that his family has faced in recent times. Manuel himself proclaimed only a few days ago that he is now mentally and physically fit, while acknowledging that he has not had the best of starts this season.

Unfortunately for goalkeepers, a dip in form, individual errors or poor judgement results in a goal. We seem to have suffered from all of the above at different points over the last few seasons – so it’s not surprising that this is an emotive subject.

There are two schools of thought that seem to have emerged over this issue. Firstly, there are those that are adamant that as one of the elite clubs in the world, Arsenal deserves a ’world class’ keeper of the ilk of Seaman. For this group of fans or commentators, Manuel Almunia is never going to be good enough – nor is his under-studies Fabianski, Don Vito and Szczesny.

From this group, it is imperative that Wenger cuts his losses and invests in a proven ’world class’ keeper. When the question is posed about who Wenger should get – they invariably default to the ”he should have got Shay Given in January” mode; or you get names like Rob Green, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Hugo Lloris and Igor Akinfeev bandied about in desperate hope.

The second school of thought subscribes to the notion that we do indeed have good enough goal keepers, and perhaps our bigger problem is an overall defensive one. Whilst it’s accepted generally that Fabianski, Don Vito and Szczesny are not yet ready; Almunia can and should hold his own against his peers in the premier league.

The goals we’ve conceded so far suggest that there is an issue when it comes to our ability to keep things tight at the back. Many will say that when the chips are down, games are won by the individual heroics of quality goalkeepers and that Almunia hasn’t shown this as one of his qualities. I’m sure if I tried, I’d find the statistics to make a case for or against Almunia’s contribution in parallel with comparing him to his peers. I’ll sidestep that today. Suffice to say that no individual goalkeeper in the premiership so far, has stood head and shoulders above the rest so it does put things in perspective.

I believe Almunia is a good enough keeper for the Arsenal. He might not be all ’Hollywood’ as some would expect of the superstar goalkeeper sought by all and sundry, but he is effective enough to do the required job. The issue for me is more of his mental attitude and application – and I fail to see how a summary decision to replace him resolves the issue outright.

What the team needs most is defensive discipline and mental strength to be able to do the basic bread and butter things when the chips are down and we need to close a game out or fight for a draw or win. We need to be more consistent in maintaining our defensive nous and reigning in the attacking instincts when the game dictates that we do so. The game last week against Stoke City showed we can do this. Stoke didn’t get anywhere near our box for most part and when they did, the ball was given its due attention. Once is not enough, we have to do it more often.

We already know that Almunia is an excellent shot stopper. I’d like to see him be more of a marauding menace in the 18 yard box. Shot stopping by itself isn’t good enough and he needs to own that box and bully everyone like he owns the title deed to that area of the pitch.

’til Tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Night In Greece Ruined

UEFA Champions League, Group Phase
Olympiakos 1 – 0 Arsenal

Leonardo (47)

The Champions League group stage fizzled out last night as the youthful exuberance succumbed to a sucker punch, Olympiakos playing the footballing equivalent of rope-a-dope, undeservedly winning to ensure their progress to the next phase.

Those on display last night showed that there is a promising future; some are more ready than others, Cruise and Bartley for example would benefit hugely from a Carling Cup campaign or two. Others such as Ramsey and Merida put forward strong arguments that they are capable of handling the step up to a regular first team berth. Fitting them in is another matter but a decision that will please Arsene to have to make.

Chances were created and spurned, Walcott stung Nikopolidis’ hands with an early strike as Arsenal enjoyed much of the possession. An air of familiarity abounded though as the net failed to bulge, the prospect of a goal for the hosts increased briefly, Galletti and Dudu perhaps the most culpable as the balance of the match swang back into parity rather than Arsenal dominating possession.

The evening’s decisive goal came barely two minutes into the second half. Bartley put in a strong tackle in the midfield, Leonardo picked the ball up and ran through empty space, chased forlornly by Song, finishing calmly past Fabianski. The goal was a poor one to concede, Gilbert had pushed too far forward on the right and there was an absence of cover whilst Bartley challenged in midfield.

Even so, Arsenal can feel aggrieved that poor finishing deprived them of a creditable point. Vela had two opportunities to boost his confidence, deprived by Nikopolidis after a square pass by Ramsey, the Welshman surging forwards on the left, evading two defenders before finding the Mexican. Fran Merida then freed Vela who scooped the ball over the bar. A harsh lesson in finishing for Vela but in Europe, missing those sorts of chances is costly.

Just before the final whistle, Aaron Ramsey had an effort cleared off the line which would have given his performance the reward it richly deserved. His passing was excellent all night, suggesting that he could be the fulcrum around which the first team is built in future years. It has been in keeping with recent outings for club and country, a run of form that became noticeable when he led the Scottish midfield a merry dance for an hour recently. Particularly impressive was his choice and range of passing. Often promising youngsters will constantly seek to find a defence-splitting pass; Arsenal has instilled in Ramsey and Merida that choosing your moment is as important as delivering.

Theo Walcott left the pitch with a minor knock but will apparently be fine for the weekend. The suggestion has to be that his hamstring injury was minor indeed for his fitness levels seemed fine, judged on the standards of someone who has been missing for a short while.

Defensively, the performances of Bartley and Cruise were heartening. The latter continued the production line of left backs whilst Bartley showed good promise in the centre. It is too soon for them to tackle the Premier League but should they continue their development, there is no reason why that cannot begin to happen within the next two seasons. Wilshire was slightly disappointing yet that is because much is expected of him.

Progress made already into the next round and looking at the qualifiers whom we could face, there is no-one outstanding to be afraid of. Pretty much the groups went as expected with one or two exceptions – Fiorentina and Bordeaux might not have expected to win their groups – but I guess Wenger will be looking to avoid the necessity of a winter trip to Moscow given the choice.

’til Tomorrow.