Arsenal hosted the blue half of Manchester today at Highbury in a game which will be remembered for two penalties by Robert Pires. The first of which was a well taken spot kick which left David James with no chance. The second however was a completely different story as it did not even produce a shot on goal!
Prior to the first penalty Henry has whispered something to Pires when the second spot kick arrived Pires dummied his penalty, and in an attempt to square the ball to Henry ala Cruyff, he miscued and the referee awarded a freekick to Manchester City. What the offence was is still uncertain.
Prior to kickoff Man City, occupying a Champions League spot, came to Highbury in confident mood looking to inflict Arsenal’s first back to back Premiership defeats in 111 games after the Gunners loss to West Bromwich Albion.
On his first game at Highbury following his record breaking achievements in Prague, Theirry Henry was given a special presentation. 53 of the clubs Young Gunners lined up in the centre circle representing each club Henry has scored against for Arsenal since his arrival in ’99. Ian Wright was on cue to hand Henry a solid silver cannon to the man who broke his record in midweek.
With Jose Antonio Reyes joining the already overcrowded treatment room, Dennis Bergkamp was restored to the starting lineup. Robin van Persie was dropped to the bench for Henry to make his first start for Arsenal in over 6 weeks. Aleksander Hleb and Ashley Cole were still two months away from returns, while Freddie Ljungberg and Sol Campbell are still a week or two away with hamstring injuries.
Highbury was quietly confident of victory before kickoff. Last week’s defeat to West Brom will have been at the back of peoples minds as Henry’s antics in midweek still fresh in their memories.
With Man United hosting Sp**s and Chelsea away to Everton, Arsenal knew any more dropped point would effectively end any chance they had of winning the premiership. Indeed in the Champions of last two Premiership seasons had only lost a combined total of two games, with Arsenal themselves going unbeaten.
The game started with a slow tempo with neither side creating any chances. The first chance of the game arrived on 13 minutes. Lauren sent a long ball to Henry who killed the ball with one touch before dummying the onrushing Distin. He then went on to feed Pires who somehow, with the whole goal gaping, managed to fire over from 10 yards. It has been a stop start season for the mercurial Frenchman and this game summed up his season so far.
Man City began to push forward but rarely threatened Jens Lehmann. The German has been having the season of his life so far and rightly so considering he is vying with Oliver Kahn for Germany’s number 1 shirt at this summer’s World Cup year.
Antione Sibierski had a freekick deflected wide for City, while Darius Vassel looked lively and was causing problems with his pace. Kiki Musampa was fed by the former Aston Villa man but he failed to really test Lehmann.
To be fair Arsenal may have had the lion’s share of the possession but were not really creating any clear opportunities. Lauren came as close as any to scoring when he found room to fire in a shot, but he only managed to shoot straight at James.
Indeed it was Man City who had carved out the best chance of the half as Vassel darted down the right wing before pulling the ball back for Musampa who dragged his shot wide of the post.
Arsenal were clearly not at their best but fortunately for the home fans neither were Man City. The game continued to drag on and threatened to be a goalless affair.
The fans were getting distraught as the game wore on, and just as Man City were getting into the game Arsenal were awarded chance to take the lead through a penalty. Kolo Toure sent a long ball downfield and Henry chased down the ball and was rewarded for his persistence by being brought down for a penalty on 61 minutes.
In typical fashion, Henry, as he always does when felled in the box, stepped aside for Robert Pires to fire in. 1-0 to the Arsenal and relief for the fans.
The visitors responded immediately as Sibierski beat Lauren on the left and found Musampa who only managed to fire at Lehmann from a central position. Opportunity wasted.
What had threatened to be a largely forgettable afternoon burst into life as Dennis Bergkamp’s quick feet fooled Jordan into felling him in the box. Mike Riley pointed to the spot for the second time.
Pires stepped up to take the second but astonishingly he decided to pass the ball for Henry to run onto. In attempting this he only managed to graze the top of the ball.
Confusion reigned as City's players, unperturbed by Pires's almost unprecedented decision, stole in and cleared the ball from the spot, and referee Mike Riley opted to hand the visitors a free kick as he deemed the Frenchman’s play not permissible.
Just minutes later Pires was almost left ruing his missed chance as Vassel netted from Musampa’s cross, but the linesman had already waved for offside to Lehmann’s relief.
Francesc Fabregas nearly made sure of the points after being put through by Henry and attempting to round James, who this time made the right decision and robbed the young Spaniard. Mathieu Flamini failed to score from a tight angle after being set up by Henry.
Substitute Richards, who was making his debut out of position as a makeshift striker, shot wide late on as the Gunners held on to record their second win in 5 days. This coupled with the return of talismanic skipper Henry is hopefully a sign of things to come.
Arsenal head into the Carling Cup away to Sunderland in midweek high on confidence and it will be great to see the young ones on show again.
Prior to the first penalty Henry has whispered something to Pires when the second spot kick arrived Pires dummied his penalty, and in an attempt to square the ball to Henry ala Cruyff, he miscued and the referee awarded a freekick to Manchester City. What the offence was is still uncertain.
Prior to kickoff Man City, occupying a Champions League spot, came to Highbury in confident mood looking to inflict Arsenal’s first back to back Premiership defeats in 111 games after the Gunners loss to West Bromwich Albion.
On his first game at Highbury following his record breaking achievements in Prague, Theirry Henry was given a special presentation. 53 of the clubs Young Gunners lined up in the centre circle representing each club Henry has scored against for Arsenal since his arrival in ’99. Ian Wright was on cue to hand Henry a solid silver cannon to the man who broke his record in midweek.
With Jose Antonio Reyes joining the already overcrowded treatment room, Dennis Bergkamp was restored to the starting lineup. Robin van Persie was dropped to the bench for Henry to make his first start for Arsenal in over 6 weeks. Aleksander Hleb and Ashley Cole were still two months away from returns, while Freddie Ljungberg and Sol Campbell are still a week or two away with hamstring injuries.
Highbury was quietly confident of victory before kickoff. Last week’s defeat to West Brom will have been at the back of peoples minds as Henry’s antics in midweek still fresh in their memories.
With Man United hosting Sp**s and Chelsea away to Everton, Arsenal knew any more dropped point would effectively end any chance they had of winning the premiership. Indeed in the Champions of last two Premiership seasons had only lost a combined total of two games, with Arsenal themselves going unbeaten.
The game started with a slow tempo with neither side creating any chances. The first chance of the game arrived on 13 minutes. Lauren sent a long ball to Henry who killed the ball with one touch before dummying the onrushing Distin. He then went on to feed Pires who somehow, with the whole goal gaping, managed to fire over from 10 yards. It has been a stop start season for the mercurial Frenchman and this game summed up his season so far.
Man City began to push forward but rarely threatened Jens Lehmann. The German has been having the season of his life so far and rightly so considering he is vying with Oliver Kahn for Germany’s number 1 shirt at this summer’s World Cup year.
Antione Sibierski had a freekick deflected wide for City, while Darius Vassel looked lively and was causing problems with his pace. Kiki Musampa was fed by the former Aston Villa man but he failed to really test Lehmann.
To be fair Arsenal may have had the lion’s share of the possession but were not really creating any clear opportunities. Lauren came as close as any to scoring when he found room to fire in a shot, but he only managed to shoot straight at James.
Indeed it was Man City who had carved out the best chance of the half as Vassel darted down the right wing before pulling the ball back for Musampa who dragged his shot wide of the post.
Arsenal were clearly not at their best but fortunately for the home fans neither were Man City. The game continued to drag on and threatened to be a goalless affair.
The fans were getting distraught as the game wore on, and just as Man City were getting into the game Arsenal were awarded chance to take the lead through a penalty. Kolo Toure sent a long ball downfield and Henry chased down the ball and was rewarded for his persistence by being brought down for a penalty on 61 minutes.
In typical fashion, Henry, as he always does when felled in the box, stepped aside for Robert Pires to fire in. 1-0 to the Arsenal and relief for the fans.
The visitors responded immediately as Sibierski beat Lauren on the left and found Musampa who only managed to fire at Lehmann from a central position. Opportunity wasted.
What had threatened to be a largely forgettable afternoon burst into life as Dennis Bergkamp’s quick feet fooled Jordan into felling him in the box. Mike Riley pointed to the spot for the second time.
Pires stepped up to take the second but astonishingly he decided to pass the ball for Henry to run onto. In attempting this he only managed to graze the top of the ball.
Confusion reigned as City's players, unperturbed by Pires's almost unprecedented decision, stole in and cleared the ball from the spot, and referee Mike Riley opted to hand the visitors a free kick as he deemed the Frenchman’s play not permissible.
Just minutes later Pires was almost left ruing his missed chance as Vassel netted from Musampa’s cross, but the linesman had already waved for offside to Lehmann’s relief.
Francesc Fabregas nearly made sure of the points after being put through by Henry and attempting to round James, who this time made the right decision and robbed the young Spaniard. Mathieu Flamini failed to score from a tight angle after being set up by Henry.
Substitute Richards, who was making his debut out of position as a makeshift striker, shot wide late on as the Gunners held on to record their second win in 5 days. This coupled with the return of talismanic skipper Henry is hopefully a sign of things to come.
Arsenal head into the Carling Cup away to Sunderland in midweek high on confidence and it will be great to see the young ones on show again.
