january 5th
A Shaun Wright-Phillips screamer and a Freddie Ljungberg header meant a 1-1 draw at Highbury last night. SWP shot across Almunia into the far top corner from 25 yards after Patrick Vieira was caught in possession after half an hour. Thierry Henry’s overhead kick back into the area found Freddie being played onside by Jon Macken on the far side in the second half.
Admittedly I only watched the game on a patchy internet feed and saw the highlights on Match of the Day but I don’t think we played too badly and to City’s credit they played well – as they did against Chelsea. They’ve had a draw at Old Trafford this season as well. We were a bit unlucky – we could have won if van Pershie had got his shot across James instead of straight at him or his free-kick had gone in and not hit the bar/post, Pires had put his half-volley either side of the goal or Thierry had managed to get slightly less on his header at the end. The result is hardly the end of the world – its obviously not ideal – but seven points at this stage of the season is far from the end.
Positives from last night – Senderos showed promise, Pennant made a difference when he came on, Almunia made a couple of good saves and Fabregas was great – again – until he was taken off, knackered. I thought Hoyte did okay as well, despite the criticism he’s been getting over on the forums.
In other news, Sp*rs missed out on one of the most obvious goals in history after the linesman refused to give this at Old Trafford.
Absolutely incredible.