Morning all, a beautiful morning it is in Dublin too. I have coffee, no hangover and Arsenal have three points.
The final score was 2-0 but it doesn’t really reflect Arsenal’s domination of the game, particularly in the second half. The first was a more open affair with chances on both sides. We opened the scoring early, a nice habit to start getting into, when Cesc’s free kick floated over everybody and landed on the head of Adebayor who powered home the header from a standing position.
Welcome back, chaps. We had other chances too. Kolo Toure forced a decent save from Given after a mazy run and Andrei Arshavin, who was quiet for most of the first half, combined well with Alex Song (sweet backheel) to test the keeper once again.
At the other end though City caused us a few problems. Shaun Wright-Phillips skinned Gael Clichy in the City half before setting up Micah Richards – Almunia made an excellent save. Another SWP cross deflected off Clichy and tested Manuel and the keeper was quick and brave to make a stop at the feet of Craig Bellamy.
And City should have equalised when SWP again played a fine ball into Gelson Fernandes who found himself alone, unmarked, solitary and with all the space and time in the world in the middle of our box. Thankfully his shot hit the outside of the post. A lucky escape.
But while the first half was a relatively even affair the second was all Arsenal. I don’t remember a City attack or shot of any menace whatsoever. We made life easier for ourselves by scoring the second early in the half. Again it was a Cesc ball, over the top this time, to Adebayor, who took it down, went round the keeper and rolled it home.
I know I don’t need to point out how valuable a goal is but going through that second half at 1-0, knowing that just one error would let them back into the game, makes for a much more nerve-wracking experience.
Not long afterwards Cesc tried to set up Adebayor for his hat-trick but the big striker couldn’t quite get his shot away. It would have been remarkable though, a hat-trick of assists for the captain and goals for Adebayor.
What a fantastic return they both made. Cesc showed what that bit of extra craft and quality in midfield can bring to the side and Adebayor looked like the Adebayor of old. Working hard, harrying defenders, chasing back and he got the goals his performance deserved.
We also saw Theo’s return and he took a fair battering. At least twice he needed physio treatment for knocks and ended the game sitting on the bench with a giant ice-pack on his knee. Hopefully he’ll be all right for Tuesday because he was positive and dangerous yesterday, although obviously he hasn’t quite got his sights trained yet as his shooting was a little off. Again though it’s good to have him back.
You can read the manager’s thoughts on the game here.
It was important to get ourselves up and running again and there are a lot of positives to be taken from the performance yesterday. Obviously we need to look at the way the defence was opened up in the first half but thankfully we didn’t suffer the consequences yesterday.
It means we travel to Spain in good shape and in good spirits to face a Villarreal side who got a pasting last night. They lost 3-0 to Almeria and had Robert Pires sent off. More on that game in the days ahead.
Looking around the other stories making the headlines this morning. First off, Cesc has reaffirmed his commitment to the Arsenal, saying:
Once more, there have been stories in the media recently talking about my future. I’m very happy at Arsenal and have said it many times – but I cannot control what the newspapers say or stop the press.
I’ve said many times I’m proud to be captain of this club and I see my future with Arsenal.
Top. Man. Of course the stories that appear in the press are often placed there by those with a vested interest in seeing such stories appear. Barcelona will ‘leak’ reports of a potential £45m bid to El Mundo or Sport and start their ball rolling there, but as I said yesterday such tactics are beyond transparent. Arsenal fans, in particular, know exactly how the Spanish clubs operate, but with those words Cesc has rendered any such fiction useless.
It won’t stop it, nothing can stop it, it’s like a newsprint Terminator, but at least we’ll all know they’re talking out of their holes.
Elsewhere the News of the World says Tomas Rosicky is set to make his comeback in a reserve game on Thursday, while the People says Barcelona (ZZZzzzzz) want Robin van Persie and Arsene Wenger is set to spend £12m on Everton’s Jack Rodwell. You may attach as much credibility to each of those stories as you like.
And that’s about it. Sundays are so much more cheery when the sun is shining and Arsenal have won. Mrs Blogs is off to do a 10k race around the Phoenix Park, so good luck to her, I’ll just sit around and eat a bacon sandwich, I think.
Till tomorrow.
