Well we’ve certainly found our shooting boots again and not only did we score another three goals we scored three very, very good goals.
The first came from Carlos Vela who broke through the Burnley defence, held off their attempts to pull him back and finished with a beautiful chip to make it 1-0. He does like that kind of finish, doesn’t he?
The second goal was truly a thing of beauty. Alex Song clipped a ball over the defence and Eduardo quite deliberately finished with the heel of his left foot and put it in the top corner to make it 2-0. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a finish quite like that, amazing. It’s fantastic to see how quickly he’s got back into the goalscoring groove since his return from the injury.
Arsene Wenger called it a ‘beach goal’. That he even thought about doing that, let alone actually being able to pull it off, was just incredible. Certainly our goal of the season so far, and up there with anything that’s been scored by anyone else. The manager also praised the character of the Crozilian, saying:
I didn’t expect him to come back like that, it’s a tribute to his personality. He’s never complained and that is a big example in our world.
I know you can’t pin everything on one player but it’s hard not to think we’d have at least kept the fight for the title alive much longer last season had he been fit. You think of that series of draws and his ability to pop up with a goal might have been decisive. Oh well. It’s good to have him back now.
The third goal was like being in some magic-reverso land. An Alex Song back-heel into the path of Emmanuel Eboue who rifled it into the bottom corner. 3-0 Arsenal and the goal coming from a most unlikely combination. I’m not sure about the dancing celebration but the goal won’t do him any harm at all.
There should have been more goals too. Off the top of my head I remember a great chance for van Persie when Theo (welcome back!) clipped it to the far post but he completely missed the ball. Eduardo showed he’s fallible by heading one wide when right in front of goal, Theo had a one on one saved and the linesman gave Theo offside when he clearly wasn’t in a move that should have resulted in a goal.
So overall we can be happy with the way we played, they really didn’t offer much as an attacking threat and in terms of a warm-up for Roma on Wednesday it’s sure to be a good confidence boost. There were some positive individual performances. That was probably the best game Alex Song has ever had for Arsenal and it’s good to see. All the same I’d like to see more of that from him and against better opposition.
He deserves credit for the fine shift he put in yesterday but let’s remember it’s just one game. It was good to see Theo Walcott back too. I’m not sure about his Carlton from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air moustache but he set up a chance for van Persie and could have scored himself. A positive return.
So we go into the 6th round where we’ll face Hull at home. Win that and we’ll play Chelsea in the semi-final at Wembley. Tasty.
Afterwards Arsene Wenger said:
We did the job in a serious way. Before going to Roma it is good that we didn’t concede and we scored.
Tue dat. And while Burnley were poor, surprisingly poor I have to say, you can only beat what’s in front of you. We scored goals, made plenty of chances, and the confidence will continue to grow on the back of that, I’m sure.
However, it almost goes without saying that Roma is going to be a much more difficult task on Wednesday night. They obviously have better players, they’re at home, and while they do have some injuries they’re going to be a lot better than Burnley were.
Anyway, there’s plenty of time in the next few days to preview that game. Today is a day for watching replays of Eduardo’s goal over and over.
Till tomorrow.
