october 3rd
Saw the game in The Philharmonic on c/Mallorca in Barcelona which is fast becoming the home for Arsenal fans to see the games. There seems to be a regular crew up there every week with the weekend visitors thrown in.
And it was back to business for the lads as we put Euro hangovers and bus-bashing behind to us to give Charlton a bit of a spanking.
Charlton looked like they didn’t quite know which way to play and the defensive stlye they tried out was obviously pretty alien to most of their players.
There was only one goal in the first half, despite us having most of the ball and creating chances, and that came when Dennis Bergkamp chased an Henry pass, cut back inside and crossed it low for the onrushing Freddie Ljungberg to finish in lethal style.
Minutes into the second half Arsenal got their second. Henry got the ball in the box and with his back to goal and the defender climbing all over the back of him he backheeled it past Dean Kiely from just outside the 6 yard box. When I tell you the pub exploded with a mixture of cheers and laughter I’m not doing it justice. There were howls of laughter as the replays were shown and even the Spanish commentators were chuckling away at the sheer cheek of it.
We had to wait 20 minutes to make the game really safe when Henry and José had a game of pass the ball to each other on the edge of the Charlton box and as their defenders stood off Henry cracked one in under the crossbar to make it 3-0. Then just a minunte later Dennis put José through and he drilled a low shot first time past Kiely to make it 4-0. He could have had another a bit later but skied a right foot shot from 8 yard with only the keeper to beat. So it finished 4-0, we go 5 clear at the top for now and it was the kind of performance we needed.
Some observations – we’re very lucky to have two classy left backs. Gael Clichy is so good that we don’t miss Ashley Cole when he’s out, and that’s saying something. Cesc Fabregas is just awesome, his passing is superb, not just in terms of accuracy but the weight he puts on the ball is almost always perfect and for a 17 year old that’s not par for the course. He always wants the ball, he has great vision and I don’t think it’s any coincidence that our form picked up when he was back in the team. Finally, Patrick Vieira had his best game for us in a long time which is another reason we played so well. Keep it up please, Paddy.
Second funniest moment of the game was when Robin van Persie thought he’d scored although Dennis Bergkamp had been given offside in the build up. He got pushed over by a Charlton defender and when Dean Kiely bent over to have a word the young Dutchling didn’t hold back with his ‘FUCK YOU!’, did he? I like his style I have to say. Finally, Thierry Henry in Observer Sports Monthly.
Sundays after winning 4-0 make the Sunday papers more excellent, so I’m off to get some brekkie and bask in the 4-0y goodness and warm October sunshine. Later.
