february 25th
So Arsenal laid their Spanish hoodoo to rest last night with their first ever victory on Spanish soil. They had to work hard for it though. Twice we took the lead, twice they equalised from set pieces, before some training ground style one-touch passing between Henry and Pires sealed the 3-2 win in the last 10 minutes.
Man of the moment Edu got Arsenal’s first two goals though. The first a scrambled effort at the far post from a Pires free kick, the second a goal only a player in great form and full of confidence could score. He had the ball on the edge of their box, dragged it back onto his weaker right foot, and curled the ball in the top corer. A goal that Bergkamp or Henry would have been proud of.
He really has laid down the marker now. He’s got his chance now that Gilberto is out injured and he’s really taking it. I hope it’s not a situation that Gilberto goes straight back into the team once he’s fit though. Edu deserves to be in the team at the moment, and for my money the partnership between himself and Vieira is the best we’ve got.
After the game the typically modest Brazilian said “I’m really happy for the team, this is what is important for me,” while Thierry Henry said of our goal scoring hero “He’s been playing well for a long time now and he deserves to do well.”
I thought Gael Clichy did exceptionally well again at left back, and he had to. Celta targetted that area of the pitch when it became apparent Pires wasn’t interested in helping out the young defender. Time and again they went after him, and in general he did a great job on their Edu and Mostovoi. At one stage he was looking around as if to say ‘Why isn’t anyone helping me?’, which is a pretty good question. We gave away two goals from set-pieces, the first when Vieira’s poor challenge for a header let Edu (celta) in, the second when Sol and Kolo got in each others way a bit and it dropped down for them to score. I’m sure the boss will be looking for an improvement in this area.
Not a particularly good performance from us, but certainly a great result. The Spanish TV were going mental saying that Celta should have had two penalties, but Arsenal showed that even on an off night they’ve got too much for this Celta side. I expect a much more Arsenal performance at Highbury in 15 days time.
Arsene Wenger was happy with the result, but wasn’t counting any chickens before the second leg. He said “We are in a good position but it is far from over. One of the keys will be the mental approach for the second leg. It is important that we go into the game and try to win it.”
In other news, Jeremie Aliadiere made his comeback from injury by scoring the reserves, while there was bad news for rising star Ryan Smith who had his cruciate ligaments shattered in a reserve game by some triallist for the opposition and he faces at least 6 months out. Good luck to him.
It’s miserable, cold and rainy in Barcelona today.
