Beware the rule of three

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
03 Mar	3:00 PM	P	West Bromwich Albion (A)	3	1	Win

We crossed fingers, we crossed toes, we prayed to Gods we don't really believe in and some of us may even have sacrificed a goat or two. The result?

A result! 3-1 to the Arsenal! Hurray, huzzah, break out the champagne! Ok, so it was only West Brom, but at the weekend it was "only" Fulham, the week before, "only" Sunderland. A win, any win, is to be celebrated at this point in time. And three goals! Well, we're being spoilt there, aren't we?

Are you still reading? OK, cool, I'll get serious now.

Nicklas Bendtner bagged two very nice goals, the first kind of a Thierry Henry goal but from the other flank and with none of the effortless grace of the frenchman, whilst his second he took very well. He controlled a (collectors item) long ball from captain Kolo that actually found its' target, on his thigh before smashing it in on the run. A very nice goal indeed. And by all accounts, a very good performance from the Dane, who is now in double figures for the season. He might have had a hat trick, had he not taken over from RvP as the man who likes to hit the woodwork.

I suggested yesterday that Arshavin might be in need of a breather, but he didn't get one. He played the full ninety playing off Bendtner, and it was his expert delivery from a free kick that Kolo capitalised on to restore the lead obtained by Bendtner's first goal. That we lost the lead in the first place- irony of ironies the team that can't score doesn't concede, the team that does score ... well, it was inevitable, wasn't it?

Inevitable maybe, avoidable, definitely. Why anyone would put Emmanuel Eboue on the end of their wall is beyond me and it was his stepping out of the wall a fraction - yes, only a fraction, but why? - that led to the equalising goal for the home side. Thankfully, the captain's intervention meant that this mistake only proved a minor, irritating, footnote to a game that will have provided some relief to the manager, players and supporters of the Arsenal.

So relaxed did the manager feel that he could afford to continue Aaron Ramsey's integration into the first team set up by giving him the last quarter of the game in place of Eboue, whilst Fran Merida made what I make his Premier League debut for us, replacing Samir Nasri with seven minutes left.

Perhaps the more important susbstitution was Abou Diaby replacing Kolo Touré at half-time. Kolo has "moving pain" in a calf strain and, I imagine, is sharing a treatment table with William Gallas right now. So Song reverted to centre back with Djourou and it seems that after a period out of the side, the Swiss may get another run in the team now. Hopefully one of the two senior players will be back to play with him soon.

User Comments

Michael

Posted on 5 Mar, 2009 at 02:06 PM - Reply

Bendtner should have had four nets. Glad to see him get his confidence back though. He needs it.

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