Arsenal vs. Aston Villa

3-0, Premier League, Emirates, 27/12 -09
Fabregas 65, 81,
Diaby 91

Well, there isn't really much to say than one name, Cesc Fabregas.. We didn't look too good in the first half (Cesc was in the bench due to the hamstring problem he picked up against Burnley), but when the captain came in (minute 56), there was a new Arsenal on the pitch!
I don't think it was merely his touch and pass that made the difference, the presence did a lot if you ask me, but of course, without his shooting and passing things wouldn't have taken off.

As mentioned earlier, there isn't much to write about from the first half, but in the second it was all Arsenal, and when Cesc earned us a great free kick opportunity, no one had much to say about who was going to take it.
My dad said just before he struck it that it felt as though it would be a goal, and it was one of the finest free kicks I have ever witnessed, beautifully curved and with great speed.
I just flew up the couch in pure joy, and it was more to come...
After that first goal it felt as though the game were slowly slipping out of our hands, until Walcott led a counter-attack with Cesc by his side, and the pass was superb, almost as good as the amazingly brilliant finish from Fabregas, and that's how this one player turned a game around.. But I'm afraid that was as good as it got, cause during that run (I think it was a 70 yard sprint or something) he must have worsed the hamstring or something, he hobbled off not long after that goal and went straight down the tunnel for treatment, so you could say, brought in - scored a brace - hobbled off, All that in 27 minutes ..

Diaby managed to fire a great shot at the dying minutes, and got a well deserved goal to round things up with.

Injury Update;
-I have no news from Cesc's injury yet, hopefully I can bring some good news on Wednesday.
-Traore was back for this game and did really well.
-Denilson appears to have picked up a back problem again, the same that kept him out for a while earlier in the season.

And I just have to add that I got an Arsenal Membership for Christmas! So now it hopefully won't be long until I can get to Emirates!!

Arsenal vs. Hull

3-0, Premier League, Emirates, 19/12 -09
Denilson 45 +3,
Eduardo 59,
Diaby 80

Now I'll finally have some peace ahead of Christmas, we have been struggling lately but now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! We could pass United in the league table if we win our game in hand now, since they lost 3-0 to Fulham earlier in this afternoon.

But we were struggling in the first half, luckily Denilson scored from a freekick, a great shot indeed, but in the second half things didn't really flow at the start...
Hull got a penalty after Silvestre basically just touched Craig Fagan, but the referee wasn't in a good position to see what really happened, so Hull got their penalty, Almunia saved Geovanni's shot, and the rebound was headed off target!
After that we didn't look back and it didn't take long for Eduardo to get his first goal for a while, and after that Hull didn't produce much.
Diaby got one in the end as well, richly deserved since he had a great second half, playing as an offensive midfielder.

So in the end we got ourselves a comfortable victory, a clean sheet as well, so I can say that Boxing Day will look brigher than it did last year, but with incredibly hard opponents, Aston Villa who recently won at Old Trafford.

THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW !!
The draw was on Friday, and I can say that I was basically shaking of anxiety, especially when in the end it was only Arsenal and United left, and one of them were going to get Milan, and the other Porto.
As I have mentioned my dad is a United fan, and we were both hoping desperately that when Porto came up, our team would be the next one to go, and thank the lord it was Arsenal!! So we have an away game on the 17th of February and the home game on the 9th of March!! And United got Milan, mohahaha...
Porto is really good, but I'd much rather face them than Milan!

Injury Update;
-Cesc will only be gone for eight to ten days(he got injured on Wednesday against Burnley), so if everthing goes right he should be back for the Villa clash on boxing day
-Denilson (clearly) was back for this clash, so it wasn't a particulary hard injury!
-Clichy won't be back this year, but he will hopefully be back after New Year's Eve.
-Traore might be back for the Villa game, uncertain though.




(this clip is really hilarious!)

Burnley vs. Arsenal

1-1, Premier League, Turfmoor, 16/12 -09
Fabregas 7

Disappointing to loose two points, since everybody else in the title race won their games, so after these two tough away games we have gained 1 point on United, and we are currently sharing third place with Aston Villa, but we still got a game in hand..
Fabregas looked completely awesome, until he got replaced, he was feeling a hamstring injury and will be out for Saturday when we host Burnley.

As I said, Fabregas was brilliant, he stole the ball, made the passes among other things, like his goal, a well placed shot in the bottom corner of Burnley's goal.
And that was our first goal in the first fifteen minutes of the season, so let's just keep them coming!!
But Burnley was given a penalty 21 minutes later, and Graham Alexander converted from the spot, we looked really dangerous afterwards though, but according to me we lost a lot of our offensive when Fabregas left the field, he was the one that kept us running and Ramsey didn't have the best of days, like Walcott who unfortunately weren't at his best..

Injury Update:
-As said Fabregas has picked up a hamstring and will miss Saturdays game for sure, but it is uncertain how long he will be out..
-Denilson and Traore was out of this game, don't know when they'll be back..
-Eboue was back, but an unused substitute, and Diaby started his first game after his injury, so they'll be back.

Liverpool vs. Arsenal

2-1, Premier League, Anfield, 13/12 -09
Johnson (og) 50,
Arshavin 58

What is the shit between Liverpool and Andrey!? He's made the difference once again, with a bloody brilliant shot as well!!
I can't put the feelings to words.. This one little Russian has now kept us in the title-race!! And the reason I say this is cause Chelsea only managed a draw at home against Everton while United lost at home against Villa (who we'll be facing the 27th), so we're back in it!!
To be more precise we are 3 points behind United, with one game in hand, and 6 points behind Chelsea, so with this one game in hand, we are looking strong in the title-race even though there has been a dip in form recently, but now we're back strongly! This was quite some moral booster!!

Back to this one game though, we weren't good in the first, and Dirk Kuyt was able to make it 1-0 in the 41st minute, after a bad clearing from Almunia.
But in the second half (after some shouting from Wenger according to Cesc and Thomas Vermaelen, they said it in a interview just after the game) we really responded with great attitude and Walcott caused the equaliser, he made a great run, causing trouble for Johnson who got a leg in the ball and it slowly rolled in! Talk about luck!! (but I think it was totally fair for us to get some luck since we haven't had much luck in the past weeks).

The second, though, was pure sheer class from a certain Andrey Arshavin, he collected Fabregas' cross and just went for it, and the ball hit the post and went in!! Since it was in the 58th minute and Arsenal aren't the ideal defensive team, so I can hardly say that I expected us to keep it at 2-1! But we did, and now things are looking bright!!

Injury Update:
-Traore hobbled off in the 87th minute, don't know yet if it is serious though.. Hopefully not..
-Eduardo was back, but an unused substitute since we didn't really need a striker after the 58th..
-Diaby was also back and he got his chance in the 70th minute, replacing Theo for some physical presence.

Olympiacos vs. Arsenal

0-1, Champions League, Karaiskakis Stadium, 9/12 -09

Disappointing for the youngsters as they played really well and actually had a pretty collected defence with Bartley and Silvestre in the centre, Tom Cruise started for the first time as a full back on the left side (he was really great actually!) and Gilbert took the right side.
The midfield were filled with Wilshere, Ramsey, Merida and Song, and Walcott were back to handle the attack with Vela!!
After we conceded we had some great chances to score, but so far this young side haven't been able to tuck the final ball home, but hopefully they will take the positives from this game instead of the fact that we conceded one goal.

But we do have the top spot in the group, and next Friday (18th December) the draw for the knockout stages will be made, and here's a list of the teams we could be up against;
-Bayern Munich
-CSKA Moscow
-AC Milan
-Inter Milan
-Porto
-Lyon
-Stuttgart
Personally I'd like to avoid Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Lyon.. So the chances are slim that the draw will be made to my liking..

Injury Update;
-Gallas, Traore, Fabregas and Arshavin have all picked upp knocks and bruises from the game against Stoke, but they are all likely to feature against Liverpool on Sunday.
-Rosicky will be out for a couple of weeks after the injury he picked up against Stoke.
-Bendtner will not be back until 2010, really disappointing since we don't have so many forwards (especially not tall ones) at the moment.
-Eduardo and Diaby might be back for Liverpool, but Eboue has been ruled out.

Arsenal vs. Stoke

2-0, Premier League, Emirates, 5/12 -09
Arshavin 26,
Ramsey 80

A priceless win, perhaps not the most convincing win, but a priceless win nonetheless..
Arshavin was playing in the central role, since Eduardo picked up a muscular injury in training, and he was good in the role, perhaps not his ideal role, but he had lot's of good chances and earned a penalty for us! Of course he scored as well, but Fabregas took the penalty, and Sorensen made a good block, but it was Arsenal from beginning to end.

It really wasn't the skippers' day though.. Apart from the penalty that was blocked, he had a shot that was cleared off the goal-line, by Eboue! It was just pure, sheer unluck for us.. But at least Fabregas got the assist for Arshavins' goal, and he did some great stuff, so it wasn't all doom and gloom, but the entire team hasn't found the smooth lately.. I certainly hope that they will for the Liverpool game, we can't afford any more losses.. But some good news is that Chelsea lost against Man City last night!
Ramsey finished it up for us, with a great solo performance!

So next team up is Olympiacos, for the youngsters probably, since we're already done for the first place.

Injury Update;
-Like i said, Eduardo has picked up a thigh problem, he might be back for the Liverpool game though.
-Rosicky picked up a groin problem in the first half of the game, and the boss says he will be out for a while, so more trouble on the injury front..
-Gallas also picked up a injury, but it doesn't look to serious, the same thing goes to Traore and Eboue, there's a big chance that the three of them will be back for Liverpool though..

Manchester City vs. Arsenal

0-3, Carling Cup, City of Manchester Stadium, 2/12 -09

Like the last game, I don't really think that the score reflected the game, the youngsters played quite well and kept City at bay for 60 minutes or something, but they couldn't keep it up for the entire 90 minutes, but you didn't really expect them to either against City's full squad!
There were nine changes in the squad, and the likes of Vela, Wilshere, Merida, Ramsey & Eastmond replaced players like Arshavin, Fabregas, Denilson, Eduardo and so on.. xD

In the end we lacked a bit of power and efficiency to score and scoring is the only way to win! But they are still young and are mainly playing to mature and get some experience, so next year they'll be back !!
But we were a little unlucky with the goals as well, two distance shots made the difference, and perhaps we passed a bit too much and finished a bit too little, but let's just hope that they'll learn from this game since some of these players will play against Olympiacos next week since we already got the first place in group H!

Injury Update;
-Sagna is back in the squad after picking up a little knock against Chelsea
-Walcott is out for the Stoke game, he has picked up a small hamstring problem, but it is short term
-According to the boss Gibbs and van Persie is recovering fine after their surgeries.
-Neither Clichy, Bendtner or Diaby will be back in the squad.

Arsenal vs. Chelsea

0-3, Premier League, Emirates, 29/11 -09

To be honest I really don't feel like writing, but I expect that won't be to hard to understand, I'm trying to enjoy some football though, El Clasico is on and I got the channel on my own TV, so don't have to endure company.
But we played great in the first 45, even though we were 0-2 down we played the best, but were unlucky as shit.. I can't help but feeling that that has happened before...
Some say that we are definitely out of the title race now, and to be honest at this moment I can't see how we possibly could be in it, right now we are 11 points after Chelsea, even if we win the game in hand we would still be 8 points behind, and I can't see Chelsea dropping 8 points, and I definitely can't see us winning all the remaining fixtures.. So I put my faith in the FA or the CL (by the way, the draw for the FA cup was today, we got away at West Ham! I can't fucking believe it...).

The only good news that I can come up with is that no one got injured, and hopefully we raised lots of money for GOSH, this was the dedicated game to the Charity of the Season.
We didn't have the referee on our side either, at the beginning of the second half we had great pressure on Chelsea, and when the ball just bounced around in the area and eventually Arshavin slammed it in, the referee blew the whistle and said that we had kicked the ball out of Cech's hands, but the replay showed that it was himself who dropped it...
We had like three penalty situations as well, but this was clearly not our game, and let's just hope for more luck in the cups...

Injury Update;
Real bad news, van Persies injury is a lot worse than first thought, he will be out for approximately 5 months.. That's he's season then...
Bendtner closing in on return though, and so is Clichy..

Arsenal vs. Standard Liege

2-0, Champions League, Emirates, 25/11 -09
Nasri 35,
Denilson 47

We have now secured the top spot in group H, as the boss would say, job done.
The first half was all Arsenal, and we had some amazing chances! Song, Fabregas and Vela all finished well, but not well enough, and we were sooooo close in the 15' minute...
Fabregas takes a corner;
-Arshavin's shot is blocked
-Vela hits the post
-Gallas' two shots are blocked
-And Vermaelen's finish goes past everyone, but hits Arshavins head on the goal-line and goes wide...
That pretty much sums up 1 corner, but 5 shots on goal...

After that another amazing chance pops up for Standard(!?) when Mbokani hits the post!
Then another Fabregas corner, but this one was all trouble when Gallas and Arshavin clashed heads and both got off for treatment.
So Arsenal was down to nine men and that made us move, when Vermaelen passed towards Nasri and the defender misses the ball so that Nasri cooly can finish into goal!
When Gallas got on again his eye was really swollen and he was hobbling a bit, Arshavin had a bald patch on his head where he probably had some stitches made before coming back on.

Two minutes into added-time from the first half Denilson, back from injury for his 100th game, settled things when he received the ball from Gibbs and took a typical brazilian shot, straight for goal!! It really was great to see him back in business!!

In the second half we eased off a bit and just played for fun, but it didn't really end so funny...
Fabregas was harshly tackled by Carcela-Gonzalez, and when they got a little bit too close to each other Gonzalez couldn't stop himself and headbutted Fabregas, he was sent-off, but incredibly Fabregas got booked!! If he get's one more he will be unavailable for one game..
And in the dying seconds Gibbs got a injury and hobbled off...

Injury Update;
Since I write this a day after the game I have both good and bad news, the good ones is that Gallas is most likely to return for the Chelsea game, but Gibbs will be out for three months since he has a hole in his leg, and a fractured metatarsal..
But Denilson and Walcott is back, and they mean business... (;



Cesc, Theo, Bac and Andrey starred in an advert for GOSH, and it is quite funny...

Sunderland vs. Arsenal

0-1, Premier League, Stadium of Light, 21/11 -09

What is it with Arsenal after International Breaks?
Our third defeat this season, and it feels like shit, we really shouldn't drop points, certainly not three, in these games..
So now we're eight points after Chelsea but it is far from over, you should keep in mind that we were eight points behind Aston Villa last year, and we got that fourth place with ease! We even got one game in hand, but of course I don't reckon that it will be the same, Villa basically did the damage themselves last year, unfortunally it doesn't feel like Chelsea will drop so many points, therefore it is important to win next weekend!

We really looked in control in the game, and had lots of chances, but we just couldn't deliver properly.. And now we have gone one game without scoring.. Pray that it won't be anymore..

And I'm doing a replay of late August, alone in the dark, but I'm actually getting better, I have turned on the TV and I'm watching last seasons review dvd.

Internationals 18/11 -09

This was a pretty nervous round! As the last play-offs were finished..

France vs. Ireland, 1-1(agg. 2-1), Play-off, France
This was without a doubt the most exciting game of them all, France won the last game 1-0 away, and ahead of the game you thought that France easily would qualify, but Ireland took the lead and kept it until the end, but in the extra halfhour France could finish it off.
Henry got the ball on the hand in the box, but the the referee(who ironically is from Sweden) didn't blow and Henry played it to Gallas who scored from close-range.

Slovenia vs. Russia, 1-0(agg. 2-2, Slovenia qualify on away goals), Play-off, Slovenia
You didn't see that coming, really disappointing for the Russians, who have played some great football and dominated the game, but Slovenia scored and they couldn't match it.
So we won't see Andrey in next years World Cup, I personally think that it is sad because I think that Russia plays great football, and they were really great to watch in Euro 2008.

Germany vs. Ivory Coast, 2-2, Friendly, Germany
Eboue scores for Ivory Coast!! But I can't really say that it was a strong indvidual performance.. Just look below;


Austria vs. Spain, 1-5, Friendly, Austria
Cesc was on target for Spain with the equalizer 2 minutes after Austria surprisingly took the lead, but Spain proved why they are World Cup favourites with a thrilling display.
Fabregas played the entire game and was a vital part in Spains attack play.

Injury Update;
-Denilson is fit again and will travel with the squad to Sunderland on Saturday!
-van Persie will be away for about six weeks.
-Gibbs has picked up a knock playing for the England U21, he will be out for the Sunderland clash, but could be back against Standard Liege on Tuesday next week.

Internationals 14/11-09

This week the play-offs began, and the rest had some friendlies going on, not all so friendly though...

Wales vs. Scotland, 3-0, Friendly, Cardiff Stadium, Wales
This game was Ramsey's game, with two assists and one goal he claimed the man of the match award! It feels so great that he is doing well for his country, the game wasn't showed here but I have read some about the game now afterwards, and it seems like he was the most influential player on the pitch, even though he only played for about an hour!

Russia vs. Slovenia, 2-1, Play-off, Russia
A bit disappointing for the russians as Slovenia grabs a late goal to even things out a bit for the return game on Wednesday.
Arshavin captained Russia and assisted to the second goal, after being booked at the end of the first half.

Republic of Ireland vs. France, 0-1, Play-off, Croke Park, Ireland
An important win for France in this play-off, and we had both Sagna and Gallas in action for this game, keeping it clean for France while Anelka scored a priceless away-goal.
Ireland seemed very much up to it but in the end that wasn't enough, and now they have to score in France if they are to make it to South Africa.

Spain vs. Argentina, 2-1, Friendly, Vicente Calderón, Spain
What a game! If you didn't know better you would think that it was a World Cup Final! I think that half of the Argentina team was booked! But fortunately no injuries.
Xabi Alonso gave Spain the lead after some amazing playing by the European Champions! Spain was in total control of the game when Argentina got a penalty 15 minutes inte the second half, and Messi cooly converted from the spot and it was 1-1, but Spain kept up their good work and Fabregas came in a bit into the half and got a harsh tackle by Tevéz after his first touch of ball, but after that he started to work his magic, and when his corner was nodded away and Alonso took a shot, the ball touched a hand and Spain had a penalty!
Alonso converted from the spot and Spain had their win.

Italy vs. the Netherlands, 0-0, Friendly, Italy
I have saved the worst for you, van Persie started this Friendly against Italy, but only got to play for 10 minutes, Giorgio Chiellini harshly tackled RvP, and it seems to be a serious ankle injury.
He could be away for the entire season if there is a fracture in the ankle, so things aren't looking to good, but if it isn't a fracture he could be away for 2-3 months, he was going to get a proper scan today, so hopefully I can bring some good news on Wednesday..

Cameroon won away against Morocco, and they have now booked their place to South Africa, Song played the entire Game.
Croatia won 5-0 in their friendly against Liechtenstein, Eduardo scored twice.
Vermaelen grabbed a goal in Belgiums friendly against Hungary, which the Belgians won 3-0.

Wolverhampton vs. Arsenal

4-1, Premier League, Molineux Stadium, 7/11 -09
Zubar 28 (og),
Eduardo* 35,
Fabregas 45,
Arshavin 65

This was a really tricky game, in the first 15-20 minutes Wolves kept up a great pace and we didn't come anywhere, everyones focus lay on Wolves set-pieces, but it was actually we who took the lead on a set-piece, Fabregas' corner went for Eduardo, who fought against Zubar, and Zubar got the ball on his thigh and it bounced into goal!
7 minutes later Eduardo was in action again when he got the ball from Ramsey on a counter-attack, his shot bounced off Craddocks head, and into goal!
And just before half-time we punctured the game when Sagna led another counter-attack, he found van Persie who passed it on to Fabregas and he scored easily on close-target.

In the second-half things quieted down a bit, we had 81% of the ball and began to chase a fourth, and it came, once again on a set-piece when Hennessey boxed Fabregas' corner out to Arshavin who took a shot and it went in!
So in the end it was a comfortable victory, but it was quite interesting, in half time, we were 3-0 up, but it said 3-2 on shots on target for Wolves! Of course it was because of the own goal, but still! xD

*Everybody classes the goal as a Craddock own goal, but I really don't think that it was an own goal, merely just a deflection.

Arsenal vs. AZ Alkmaar

4-1, Champions League, Emirates, 4/11 -09

Fabregas 26, 53,

Nasri 43,
Diaby 72

'A brillant performance' was the boss' reaction to this win, and who would be stupid enough to say that he's wrong!

Really a great game and some amazing football (as usual) from us, but we never looked like conceding until we were like 4-0 up, then they had 2 chances or something.

And Nasri got a great goal at his debut back from injury! And our very own Captain Fantastic seems to have found his goalscoring form!

The first from Fabregas was a very well placed shot that rolled in just by the post, and we just kept on playing as brilliant as i'm starting to belive only we can do! the second wasn't long to come and it was a great pass by Arshavin to Nasri who fooled the defence and fired it home!

In the second half we just kept doing our business, and after some great running and passing, Arshavin found Fabregas basically free from his defender, and he cooly fired it home.

Fabregas and van Persie were replaced by, respectively, Ramsey and Eduardo in the 67th minute.

The fourth came when Eduardo brilliantly backheeled the ball to Arshavin who passed to Diaby, and he could easily finish with style.

Ahead of the game though, there was some bad news, Clichy has picked up a similiar injury like the one that kept him sidelined for the end of last season, it isn't a bad replacer though, now Gibbs will have a lot of playing time for Capello to watch.

Arsenal vs. Tottenham

3-0, Premier League, Emirates, 31/10 -09
Van Persie 43, 60,
Fabregas 43

To you who wonders, I haven't written it wrong on the score, Van Persie and Fabregas did score in the same minute, 11 seconds playing time between the two goals, but I will get to that..
Just such a great win in a tense North London Derby, Arsenal were ahead in the league on goaldifference(but with one game less played, by the way, the Bolton game has been rearranged again since we advanced in the Carling Cup, where we are going to travel to the City of Manchester Stadium in the next round), now we could be 6 points ahead of Spurs in the league, I honestly don't think that they will be challenging for a top 4 finish this season.
The atmosphere at Emirates was absolutely brilliant! You could hear all Gunners at all times, and at the end you could hear everybody cheer everytime Arsenal had the ball, and boo each time Tottenham had it.

It looked as though it would be a goal-less first half, but Tottenham didn't have that luck with them, and when Sagna clipped in the ball from his right side, van Persie were sharp and slammed it home! And that was the goal that started a situation that probably is a new record! Cause when Tottenham started the game from the center circle, van Persie got in the way of a Spur pass, the ball bounced to Cesc Fabregas who ran pass the entire Tottenham squad with some amazing tricks and flicks, and he slammed in 2-0!
Two amazing goals in the same minute, you can say that we won the game in 11 seconds!! But Bendtner got a injury in the first half and was replaced by Eduardo, not really a bad replacer but still sad for Bendtner who started the game really well.

After the halftime we slowed things down and had some great chances, Tottenham were really slow and I belive they only got one shot at goal during the entire game, while we were extremely dangerous.
And 3-0 wasn't far away, and that was a pretty interesting one, Eduardo went down on the right side with the ball, and Sagna picked the ball up to keep the attack alive, but everybody stopped playing, looking at the referee, but Mark Clattenburg chose to play advantage and then the pace was back on, Sagna played in to van Persie, who received and delivered!

And after this win we really are the top dogs in North London!

Arsenal vs. Liverpool

2-1, Carling Cup, Emirates, 28/10 -09
Merida 19,
Bendtner 50

A very strong perfomance from a mixed Arsenal side, everyone was great at their position and it was some great individual attacks that brought the goals.
Merida opened the scoring with an amazing strike, the shot from just outside the box bounced in off one of the posts, quite an astonishing first strike for the club!
And on the bench you could see that Cesc Fabregas, a fellow Catalan, was the first on his feet.
A couple of minutes later on Liverpool equalized with another stunning strike, but we remained in firm control of the game, and 5 minutes into the second half they got their richly deserved lead, Merida passed the ball into the box, where Bendtner and Ramsey exchanged ball to give Bendtner the space he needed to finish hard and high.

It was a great game and we got to see some comeback players, Nasri and Fabianski returned, but unfortunately Fabianski will be out for three more weeks after picking up a new thigh injury in the game.
Bendtner and Eduardo also returned, but they hadn't been sidelined for quite as long as Nasri(broken leg) and Fabianski(thigh injury).

West Ham vs. Arsenal

2-2, Premier League, Upton Park, 25/10 -09
van Persie 16,
Gallas 37

I'm a bit disappointed right now, since we were 2-0 up and didn't seem to look back, but i think that the referee didn't make many right decisions this game!!
In a while though I know that the disappointment will disappear since a draw away against the Hammers aint bad and we advanced to 3rd place, passing Tottenham!
While mentioning it, next game is going to be a fiery one! North London Derby at Emirates, I began thinking about the game last week, as soon as it crossed my mind, and that happened quite many times I can tell you!

Anyway, back to the game, West Ham did things well, we didn't come to the point where we score 6 goals or something (obviously..), but we fought well and got our two goals, the first one came when Sagna produced a good cross for Robin, and Robert Green got a touch to it, which only made the ball fall right on the foot of van Persie, and you really can't make a mistake in that position!!
With about 5 minutes to go Gallas made it two after some great work in the box! We had a corner and Gallas somehow managed to zigzag through the box and headed it home!

In the second half things looked pretty much the same, Fabregas got awfully close with a long range effort, but it was a quite even, and then West Ham made some changes and got some new energy in, and when they had a freekick a metre or two outside our box, Diamanti had a great shot that Mannone saved but he couldn't keep it in his hands so Carlton Cole could put it in the net.
Ten minutes after that the same man got a cheap freekick and Diamanti (diamant means diamond in Swedish) took the penalty with force.
After that we had some great chances, but I belivie that Eduardo should have come in earlier than in the 88th minute or something...

After all it was a pretty fair result considering the way that West Ham fought for the point, and we could be second at the moment, since united only are 3 points ahead with one more played game, and we have a much better goal difference.

AZ Alkmaar vs. Arsenal

1-1, Champions League, DSB Stadion, 20/10 -09
Fabregas 36

I'm sorry that this update is quite late, but there has been a lot of things in school and so on, but I got time again since it is 1 week of holiday now!

It was pretty disappointing to concede in the last minute but we are still first in the group and besides, a draw away against Holland's champions aint bad!
Fabregas got his first champions league goal of the season and so far has 5, which makes him the top scorer at Arsenal at the moment!
We were'nt on top of our game but the goal was really beautiful, Arshavin led an attack after thieving the ball from AZ's right back, he had van Persie and Fabregas with him, he slipped the ball to van Persie who generously set up Cesc at the far post, and he slotted it home!

After that AZ kept battling and to honest perhaps they earned one point in this game, but they had to wait until the 93rd minute until it came, perhaps a little bit sloppy of us to concede so late from a freekick at the middle of the field, but in the end you can say that it was a fair result.



PS. I got VG or MVG in all the subjects except P.E(I got G there)!! (VG is equivalent to B or C in England, and MVG is equivalent to A!! MVG stands for Mycket Väl Godkänd, Very Much Passed, and VG stands for Väl Godkänd, Well Passed, and G stands for Passed, Approximately)

Arsenal vs. Birmingham

3-1, Premier League, Emirates, 17/10 -09
Van Persie 16,
Diaby 18,
Arshavin 85

It may not have been our best performance of the season, but we got the 3 points and were playing great football, at least in the first half.
We were in control the entire game, even when Birmingham made it 2-1 we were the ones that looked like scoring and had the best chances.
Van Persie opened the scoring with a similiar situation like the one against Blackburn, with a very well placed shot, Song provided the assist.
And Diaby followed up 2 minutes later with a delicious strike, Rosicky's cross came behind van Persie and too far in front of Walcott, but it found Diaby.

Then Arsenal had a defensive error that resolved in 2-1, Sebastian Larsson (former Arsenal player) prevented Mannone from reaching out to collect the ball and then it bounced to Lee Bowyer, who put the ball in the net.
And after that we losed our game a bit, but we managed to keep the score and with 5 minutes to go Cesc led the breakaway, he passed to Andrey who teased the defender and the shot us to 3-1.


Goals and some Highlights;

Internationals

Now the European qualifying is over, and here's a list of every gunner who already have made it to South Africa next summer!

Cesc Fabregas
Robin van Persie
Nicklas Bendtner
Theo Walcott
Philippe Senderos
Carlos Vela
Emmanuel Eboue

And things are looking brightly for Alex Songs' Cameroon, they are one win away from South Africa.

And here's the one's that have reached play-offs;

Bacary Sagna
William Gallas
Gael Clichy
Abou Diaby
Andrey Arshavin

There were not so many goals from the squad in this last round, but Ramsey netted from a freekick, his first senior goal for Wales, and Andrey scored for Russia as well.

Internationals

Denmark vs. Sweden, 1-0, 10/10 -09
A really good game, and i'm pleased that Bendtner at least grabbed an assist in the game, he's pretty much criticized by the family and Sweden in general, he had a point to prove.
Denmark were the ones that started best, but their tactic seemed to be to take a lot of shots from just outside the box, and that was how the goal was made by Jakob Poulsen.
Sweden had two goals ruled out so it simply wasn't their day, but I must say I wouldn't have had anything against a Swedish goal, since I had my money on 1-1 in this game, but I won the bet last game, when Denmark won 1-0 as well, so this time it was the neighbour wife's time.
Now it is up for grabs for Portugal, who are right now leading 1-0 home against Hungary, and they don't seem to slip up on those points.
We had the neighbourd over and my dad's friend Tony for the game, and everyone basically looked for mistakes in Bendtner ! xD

Armenia vs. Spain, 1-2, 10/10 -09
I couldn't watch the game since it wasn't on TV, but Cesc scored in the 33rd minute! I don't know what it looked like, but i can bet it was another breath-taking one.
Armenia equalized in the second half, but Mata finished it off on the penalty spot.

Luxembourg vs. Switzerland, 0-3, 10/10 -09
I felt like I had to mention that Philippe Senderos scored twice in this fixture! in the 6th and 7th minute, not bad for a defender!
I don't know exactly how it happened, but I'd think it was on the head, perhaps corners or free-kicks...

France vs. Faroe Islands, 5-0(88'), 10/10 -09
Finally things are looking bright for 'les Bleus', and Gallas scored the third! I wouldn't be surprised if it was a header! 'Bac' is playing as well, but neither Clichy or Diaby were on the bench, a bit disappointing perhaps, but the good news is that Nasri perhaps will be back in the Arsenal shirt after this International break!

Arsenal vs. Chelsea

2-0, Reserves League, Underhill, 5/10 -09
Eastmond 22,
Watt 66

The first reserve game I have ever watched on the tv! And what better way to start than to watch the team outplay Chelsea at Underhill!
Eastmond's goal was one that I never have witnessed before, he got passed the keeper and was just outside the post, and somehow he managed to score from no angle and a keeper and players between, really nice.
Watt scored the second nicely between the keepers legs, and I must honestly say that we were in control almost the entire game, Chelsea didn't create that much! And we were playing some kick ass football! The future looks bright (;

Arsenal vs. Blackburn Rovers

6-2, Premier League, Emirates, 4/10 -09
Vermaelen 17,
Van Persie 33,
Arshavin 37,
Fabregas 57,
Walcott 75,
Bendtner 89

6 goals, 6 different goalscorers, it kinda' feels like a review of Arsenal so far this season, we are actually the team that has the greatest variety in goalscorers, but also a not so big variety in assists, Fabregas passed to every goal but one this game, and scored one himself! We are indeed lucky to have him.

It all started quite unbelievable, with Blackburn scoring in the 4th minute or something, we were in control of the game, Fabregas headed in the crossbar minutes before Vermaelen showed us some more of his great goalscoring form with a shot that shows that the last one wasn't a once in a lifetime shot, Fabregas provided the first of four in the evening.
Then we looked firmly in control and had some great chances, when a shot bounced off Gallas and went in for Blackburn, and we were somehow back were we started, but the great thing to remember is that we never played bad or got desperate, it was as if we just thougt, 'okay, they score one, we score two', or something each time Blackburn scored.

But of course we couldn't allow the Rovers a lead into half-time, so van Persie made it 9 goals against Blackburn on 8 games, when Fabregas slipped the ball in great for van Persie to finish with style and class.
We weren't done yet though, Fabregas created a situation similiar to RvP's goal, but this time it was Arshavin who was basically free in the box and he didn't let us down.

So we were 3-2 up when the second half started, and it was a pretty troublesome start, David Dunn went down in our box, we were lucky to get away without having a penalty against us, but then we turned the game around, Fabregas had just passed the ball just outside the area, but he got it back, looked up and took his chance, and what a shot he managed! It was a perfectly put ball with hardly anything more than a light touch to it, and it went straight up in the top corner.
It was great for the skipper who had taken a lot of shots and obviously passed a lot of match winning balls.

And then it was time for Walcott to join the game, Rosicky got off after a great first start in the Premier League, and I am absolutely thrilled to see Walcott back in action after his back injury!
And it didn't take long for the young winger to open his Premier League account, Clichy put the ball towards Fabregas who extended it to Walcott, and the shot proved just what a great forward he will become.
With the game sealed, Wenger chose to exchange Fabregas and Arshavin for Ramsey and Bendtner, the great dane also opened his Premier League account with a stunning shot that bounced on the post.

And now Arsenal is the team that has scored the most goals in the Prem this season!

Arsenal vs. Olympiacos

2-0, Champions League, Emirates, 29/9 -09
Van Persie 78,
Arshavin 86

It was a great game, I was litteraly standing in front of the couch basically the entire game, that's a funny thing, when it is going great for the team and they have like thousands of chances, then you jump up the couch all the time, but when it goes like very bad, you just sit down dead silent and just want to die! (a)
But back to the game, I really enjoyed it, but it would have been preferably if we would have broken the deadlock a bit earlier than after 78 minutes.. But you can't have it all!

It was totally a game against one goal, you could call it Arsenal vs. Antonis Nikopolidis, great goalkeeping from the greek, but he couldn't keep it out forever, Fabregas passed to Eduardo who made a great run so he easilt could slid it in for van Persie to finish from close-range.
The second was completely brilliant, Fabregas passed in a great ball to Arshavin, who simply just heeled the ball in.

The reserves played the Olympiacos reserves at 11 o'clock the same day, and won 3-1, but the news I'm getting to is that Walcott played 60 minutes for them! He'll be back for Sunday's game against Blackburn, and Bendtner will also be back from his car crash a couple of days ago, he swung out of the way from another car and drove off the rode, he was extremely lucky to have survived, the police says that he would have died if he didn't have his seat belt on, and if the car wouldn't have been so safe..

Goals and some Highlights;

I'm sorry this one is a little late, I usually do it the day after the game on these weekend games, but I was out riding Campino yesterday, Stina showed me and Malin were we can ride in the woods.

Fulham vs. Arsenal

1-0, Premier League, Craven Cottage, 26/9 -09
Van Persie 52

That was quite some game! I was so nervous at the end, we didn't really play good but at the time being i'm just glad that we got the three points!
It was defintitely Vito Mannone, third keeper, that kept us in it! He made a lot of astonishing saves, and he's just 21 years yet!
Fabregas made the different this time, last year he was injured during this game when Fulham won 1-0, but this time he clipped a beautiful pass to a right turned van Persie who basically never let's you down when he has that sort of position, and he didn't do it this time either, a perfect roller past Tim Howard.

It was a extremely even game, It was hard in the end, but we pulled through! Something that the youngsters are gonna have to do since we are facing Liverpool at the Emirates next round in the Carling Cup, I hope they will make it, we all have big faith in them!
I'm just sitting watching Malaga - Barcelona, and guess who has scored, Ibrahimovic, the new swedish pride, I'm honestly so sick of always seeing his big nose on the front of the sport pages, like Sweden has become some sort of dump where only one person is big within sports.

van Persie on action;

Arsenal vs. West Bromwich Albion

2-0, Carling Cup, 3rd Round, Emirates, 22/9 -09
Watt 68,
Vela 75

A good start for the youngsters, which I unfortunately couldn't see firstly because it wasn't showed on the tv, and secondly because I was riding in Rosersberg, Me and Malin have finally found a new stable where we each have an own horse to ride and care for once a week (I don't know what it is called in english, but in Swedish it is called 'medryttare' which basically means 'withrider'), 'my' horse is called Campino, and is a very nice and cuddly guy.

Back to the game, since I didn't watch the game I don't know too much about how things looked, but with Arsenal, I can say that it must have been a nice show.
It was basically the youth team who played, with two or three more experienced players, and it was Philippe Senderos first game for the team in a great while!

Watt started the goalscoring when he fired the ball in after a Carlos Vela shot, and he would get one himself just a little while later, when Mark Randall's shot hit the bar and Vela picked the ball up from the bounced and put it behind the keeper.

Arsenal vs. Wigan

4-0, Premier League, Emirates, 19/9 -09
Vermaelen 25, 47,
Eboue 59,
Fabregas 90

What a brilliant win! But it should have been like 8-0 or something for all the chances that we created.
I saw the game some hour after the game, since I had a riding lesson, like all Saturdays, but I just sat in the bed and enjoyed it with my little doggy.
All the credit to Vermaelen, what a footballer! I mean, two goals, one header and one really classy finish with his left-foot, I think we all are starting to count on him as a world class centre-half.

It must have felt great for Eboue to get a goal in his return, even though it was more of a deflection, it was indeed a goal.
And before the game was up we got to see some real good footballing between Cesc and Tomas Rosicky, and a nice goal from the skipper, but he did seem to be in some pain with about 10 minutes left.

Overall it was a very nice display, and Wigan didn't create so much, and it was so nice to get a clean sheet, let's hope there will be many more similiar games like this one to come!!

Goals ;;

Standard Liege vs. Arsenal

3-2, Champions League, Stade Maurice Dufrasne Liège, 16/9 -09
Bendtner 45,
Vermaelen 77,
Eduardo 81

I was sitting in the couch and had just started listening to the game through BBC Radio (since the game wasn't on TV), when suddenly everything went completely wrong, all of a sudden it was 1-0 , followed by a penalty for the Belgian team, and before it had gone 5 minutes, we were down with 2 goals.
My first thought when I heard that they were given a penalty was that it was an old recorded game or something like that, since I didn't belive that the BBC Radio shit was going to work in Sweden (I tried it last year, and then it didn't work), but unfortunately, or not, it wasn't so I got to listen to the entire game while sitting with dad and his buddy Johan watching Inter-Barcelona, but listening to Arsenal.
I believe it was my first time listening to a game on the radio, so I didn't really follow on everything, I had quite late reactions to the wonderful Arsenal goals, and sometimes I cheered when the other team was attacking, but in the end everything worked out great.

Bendtners goal just before halftime was absolutely crucial, even though it was a game against one goal, he somehow managed to score from a very difficult angle and it was a bloody brilliant goal as well, there he got to show some of his technical skills.
Vermaelen levelled thing up from a Fabregas freekick, and the ball bounced off the lines a couple of times before the goal was given, Song flicked it to the Belgian defender.
And at last Eduardo got to set thing right when he put it in with his knee from a Fabregas corner this time (a), and as a celebration he kissed his knee, and started running.

That's all from this great game, and unfortunately it seems as Denilson will be out for a couple of weeks, but van Persie will perhaps be back for the Wigan clash, Almunia is still sick, so it will be Mannone for another game.

All the salvation goals;

Manchester City vs. Arsenal

2-4, Premier League, City of Manchester Stadium, 12/9 -09
van Persie 62,
Rosicky 87

Another game where we should have taken at least 1 point, but we have to go home empty handed from Manchester again.
But I'd like to think that the positives can get the better of this defeat, Rosicky is back in business!! He definitely was Arsenals man of the match, with one assist and one goal.
And it was great to have a van Persie goal again, he's first for the season, and what a goal it was, how he got to the point of a shot is amazing, but the goal was just pure brilliance! Besides, Rosicky delivered great.
It was great for Rosicky to score on his debut back (Fabregas and his brilliant passes), but I can't wait to see the reception he'll get once we head back to Emirates for the Wigan clash next Saturday, but we have to take one game at the time, and it is Belgium next, were we hopefully can get a comfortable win.

The Arsenal Goals;

By the way, I have just finished reading 'Fever Pitch' and what an amazing book! We are just about to watch the movie, I might just put in a little piece, we'll see...

Internationals

Albania vs. Denmark, 1-1, 9/9 -09
Bendtner scored in the first half to give Denmark the lead, was basically alone with the goalkeeper and he headed the ball over the keeper who were running out, and the ball went straight for goal.
But Albania equalized and the first place is up for grabs, it seems like the Sweden game is going to be important, for both of the teams..

England vs. Croatia, 5-1, Wembley, 9/9 -09
England totally ruled the game, but it is worth saying that it was Eduardo who scored Croatia's consolation in a superb way, it was some good play in the England box, first Eduardo headed great, but the keeper saved, and since he didn't hold the ball, and a Croatian played the ball back to Eduardo, who didn't let them down, he also had a penalty situation, but I think he didn't get the penalty because of the one at Celtic, cause this one was definitely a penalty.
And that ended Croatia's hope of first place, because now England has secured the first place in their group, so it looks like play offs for Croatia.

Spain vs. Estonia, 3-0, 9/9 -09
Cesc scored and set another up in this great display from Spain, it was in the 32 minute that he started the scoring, it was a beatuiful shot just inside the box.
Within the last ten minutes of the game, Spain killed the game with two goals, the first came from Santi Cazorla, Cesc flicked in a ball and Cazorla finished low and hard.
And that meant that Spain is now as well finished for top place in their group, so now the fight is all up for second.

And of course things just can't end on the good sida, Arshavin is going to miss at least 3 games since he played for Russia even though his groin injury wasn't fully healed, and Djourou is set to miss 6 - 8 months after the operation on his knee.

Some of the Goals;

Internationals

Denmark - Portugal, 1-1, 'Parken Stadium', 5/9 -09

Bendtner scored a really nice one in the end of the first half, the ball was delivered into the box, and Bendtner shrugged off his defender, took the ball down on his chest, and just slammed it into the roof of the goal! Really beautiful play there!
The debutant in Portugal, Liedson, scored a header when the game was getting to an end, but Portugal didn't manage to score a second, even though Denmark was pressed hard.
But from this game I'd like to pick out Bendtners goal as the highlight of the match, perhaps not a particularly big surprise.

Spain - Belgium, (3-0), 5/9 -09

Firstly, I just want to say that this was a very late game, I kinda' fell asleep somewhere after the third goal..
All I can remember is wastching the game, and then suddenly mom put her hand on my shoulder and asked me if I was watching thai-boxing, and I just said, 'no, i'm watching Spain vs Belgium', but then I looked at the TV and saw two guys hopping around in a weird way.
I then saw the clock, and realized the game was finished fifteen minutes ago.
And that's the story of how I fell asleep watching the European Champions.

But now, let's get back to the game, I can tell you how things happened before I fell asleep, I don't know yet if Fabregas played at the end, he started on the bench because of the injury he's had, but Vermaelen started, and I can say that he didn't do much wrong, because he was on Torres's heels, and Torres didn't participate in any of the goals as far as I know.
Villa missed a penalty about 20 minutes into the first half, but if anything, that was a turning point, cause a little while after the penalty, Silva had a great shot that went all the way back in the net and Villa wasn't far behind when in the second half, his amazing shot went straight to goal, and minutes after that Pique found himself in the penalty area, slamming in 3-0.

I have just read that the match ended 5-0, but I still don't know if Fabregas played or not, but atleast Torres didn't score, so Vermaelen did his job well (a)

Ps. I have just read that Johan Djourou will be gone for six months, he's just had a knee surgery, and it is really bad obviously.

Manchester United vs. Arsenal

1-2, Premier League, Old Trafford, 29/8 -09
Arshavin 40

I don't quite know where to start, i'm sitting in my room, alone in the dark, and just reflecting on the game, a big cloud of sorrow is all around me (I know, i'm being melodramatic), but it just isn't easy, being alone in a Manchester family in days like this, in the end, all I have is myself, that is why I think it is good for me to do these reports or whatever you call them..

It all started so well, we were actually dominating the game for most parts of the first half, and the first really screwed up thing was when Fletcher did a careless tackle on Arshavin in the box, he was just about to shoot, but the referee just waved on the game.
But Andrey would have quick revenge when he scored one of the most beautiful strikes I have witnessed, we could certainly do with some more of those..
Robin was like millimetres from doubling out tally, but Foster did a fucking monkey save! His foot came just in time to save the shit.

In the second half we lost the decisive stuff, like when Rooney went after the ball and Almunia went out to take it, and woops, there you have a penalty against you, and I wouldn't go as far and say that Rooney misses lots of those.
After the penalty we tried to stabalize, and I think we did quite a good job, since Robin hit the crossbar from a freekick, but as I said, the game wasn't ours to win..
Diaby, one of the best in the team by far, was todays black sheep, he converted Giggs freekick into his own net, and after that we never really had that great chance, except once.

When it was like 2 minutes left, Gallas nodded down a freekick and Robin smashed it into the goal, I flew up the couch, thinking it was too good to be true, which it of course was, Gallas came from offside when he nodded the ball down, so it wasn't a goal and I felt worse than I had before, it was definitely because of the joy(it was almost unbearable) and I thought I would die, but know that I have been given time to think some, it wasn't like The game, it was just a game, it is certainly not the end of the world that we lost, but in the heat of the moment I could of course not see that.

The Positives is at least that the defence looked strong, it wasn't like the back four did anything out of order, so we remain stabil there, and there is still a lot of time for a comeback, and isn't that what Arsenal do best?

Champions League Draw

Champions League Draw for the Group Stages;
Arsenal
AZ Alkmaar (Champions from the Netherlands)
Olympiacos (Champions from Greece)
Standard Liege (Champions from Belgium)

I belive we got a very good draw, thinking that we could have got Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter among others.
We will start the season away from home against Standard Liege, followed by a home match against Olympiacos, and then we are off to the Netherlands before it is time for reverse, when Alkmaar comes to Emirates, followed by Standard Liege and Olympiacos, and then it is (hopefully) time for the knock-out stages!


Yesterday evening me and my sister watched a great movie, it is called 'The Covenant' I really liked it, I would definitely recommend it for anyone interest in good movies (a)
And tonight Ylva will sleep over, mom and dad are off to a wedding, so it is just me, sis' and Ylva!

Arsenal vs. Celtic

3-1, Champions League Qualification Game 2, Emirates, 26/8 -09
Eduardo 28 (pen),
Eboue 53,
Arshavin 74

Another thrilling display for the Gunners as they get into the Champions League group stage for the 12th year in a row!
We had control during the entire game, and it was only a matter of time before we would break the deadlock, which Eduardo did from a penalty which he caused himself, but it was a very uncertain penalty.
This is my opinion of what happened; Eduardo was running after the ball in the box, when the goalkeeper slided out to cover up so a shot wouldn't come, but he got a bit too close and to avoid the 'keeper, Eduardo took a short step, but couldn't keep his balance, så he fell, and the referee made it a penalty, not much that Eduardo had to say on the occasion anyway.

Well, so after the great penalty things slowed down, but about 8 minutes into the second half Eboue was about to change things, Bendtner made a clever backheel, and found Diaby(Fabregas' replacer, Fabregas is most likely to miss the United game) and Diaby passed to Eboue, who fired home low to seal the game.

In the 71st minute Andrey and Wilshere came on for the goalscorers(Diaby was replaced by Ramsey in the 61st) and made immediate inpact, in fact, just 3 minutes into the Russians European Debut for Arsenal, he scored! Andrey and Ramsey was exchanging ball a couple of times before Andrey took a great shot and that meant Arsenal 3 Celtic 0.
But unfortunately it didn't end there, in the last minute Donati shot a very tricky shot, that went off the post and in, but it was hardly anything more than a little consolation for the Scottish giants, who will be playing Europa League next.


And I just have to add the GREATEST thing that just happened to me, when I got home about an hour ago, I went into the kitchen, and I saw a package from London addressed to me, I got in a sort of trance, because the first thing I think of when I hear London, is Arsenal, but then I realized that I also order books from England, but I hadn't bought any books as far as I knew, so then it was just too quickly open the package, and in there I saw the ARSENAL REVIEW 08/09, and got like a heart attack or something!! I took up a paper that was beside the DVD, and here's what it said;

Dear Jenny, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
Many thanks for entering the Gunners Giveaway competition in the August 2009 edition of Arsenal - The Magazine.
I'm Delighted to tell you that you answered the question to Giveaway 3 correctly(How many games Arsenal went unbeaten in the league run, 21 if you all recall), were chosen as one of our lucky winners and your prize is herewith enclosed.
In closing, many thanks for entering and may I send you best wishes from everyone at Arsenal FC.
Yours Sincerely
Joanne Harney, Publications Office Manager.

PS. I bought a new Fabregas Poster yesterday aswell (; DS.

Arsenal vs. Portsmouth

4-1, Premier League, Emirates, 22/8 -09
Diaby 18, 22,
Gallas 51,
Ramsey 69

Arsenal kick off the first home game of the season with a great 4-1 win! Abou Diaby gave us a brace in the first half and the second was no disappointment, with goals from Gallas and a first Premier League goal for young Aaron Ramsey.
The first one started from midfield where Cesc Fabregas delivered a beautiful ball to Eduardo, who put the ball on one side and runned the other past Wilson, and slipped the ball back to Diaby, who thundered in 1-0.
Once again Fabregas delivered well to Eboue, who runned great and slipped it to Diaby who could easily put it to the left of David James, just at the penalty mark.

The second started quite calm, Ramsey got in instead of Fabregas at halftime(the skipper felt his hamstring tighten), but again, from an Arsenal set-piece, the third goal came, Arshavin swept the free-kick in, the ball got past everyone, but Vermaelen threw himself towards the ball, but could only find Gallas, who got it on his feet and it went up to his forehead and then in through the post.
And at last, the Gunners finished the game off from some beutiful play, Robin van Persie got the ball a bit outside the box, and he spotted Ramsey running through the crowd of defenders, and he slid it through everyone to Ramsey, who didn't let the crowd down, and finished with taste.

All Goals;

Celtic vs. Arsenal

2-0, Champions League Qualification Game 1, Celtic Park, 18/8 -09
Gallas 43,
Caldwell 71 (og)

I have just finished watching the game, and what a thriller! I litterally flew up from the sofa after the first goal, which was worth it's weight in gold.
And that was indeed a quite different one, Fabregas shoots from a freekick, and Gallas then tries to get out of the way by bowing down, but the ball takes a deflection off his back, and into goal!
The second one came a bit later, Clichy got loose on his side and his cross was slammed in by no one else than Caldwell, the Celtic skipper.

This gives us a head start at Emirates, and we will certainly not lose by 2-0 there, so i'd say Celtic, European League next!
Song and Denilson were totally awesome this evening, like they were against Everton as well, they didn't stop running for nothing! I belive we will have a good partnership there for the future.

The Goals;

Everton vs. Arsenal

6-1, Premier League, Goodison Park, 15/8 -09
Denilson 26,
Vermaelen 37,
Gallas 41,
Fabregas 48, 70,
Eduardo 89

It started quite even, until Bendtner showed his technical skills and got past some defenders, then slid the ball to Fabregas, who already knew where to put it, and Denilson answered with delight, a great shot in the upper corner of the goal.
The second came a little over ten minutes later, van Persie took a freekick that found Vermaelen who beautifully nodded in 2-0.
With four minutes from half-time, Fabregas stroke in a freekick towards Gallas who easily jumped for it, and that meant 3-0.

After half time Arsenal answered in the same style that they left with, just two minutes into the second half they did a beautiful counter attack after an Everton corner, Arshavin won the ball and passed to Denilson, who slid the ball to van Persie, and the Dutchman passed to Fabregas who shot Arsenal 4-0 ahead.
After that the game slowed down a bit, until Almunia kicked the ball out to Fabregas, who runned past the midfield and got an incredible shot in the low corner, and when he scored this one, he runned to the bench and picked up a shirt with the name and number of the spanish Espanyol captain who died last week, only 26 years old.

And at last, Eduardo got the chance to round things up, which he did, first he passed to Arshavin, who took a shot that bounced off the post, but Eduardo was there to press it in, 6-0.
Everton got an consolation goal in the 91st minute, but that didn't stop the Arsenal fans to cheer and mockingly singing Boring, Boring Arsenal!

The Goals!

Arsenal vs. Rangers

3-0, Emirates Cup, Pre-season, Emirates, 2/8 -09
Wilshere 2, 72,
Eduardo 11

Arsenal has finally taken the trophy back, after a year at Hamburg's, it has found it's way back on familiar grounds, back to Emirates.
Wilshere has been radiant during the entire weekend, and recieved both man of the match awards, and who could have thought of a better start towards a season that may be his breakthrough? Well, not to many I can say.
Arsenal looked comfortable throughout the entire game, the central midfield being entirely Spanish with Cesc and Fran Merida, after gaining a 2 goal lead after just eleven minutes, nothing was going to stop them.
After two minutes Wilshere found Fabregas with a lot of space, and when the Spaniard played in to Andrey, who easily slipped the ball back to the young Englishman who scored from 12 yards.

A couple of minutes later Eduardo got his chance, and took it gladly, Merida gave him a nice pass inside the area, and Eduardo, cool as you like, stroke the ball home.
After that Arsenal settled back a bit and just enjoyed the ride for a while, before Wilshere thought he would have a go at it again, with 18 minutes left Aaron Ramsey crossed a ball into the way of Jack Wilshere, who proudly could volley a third home.

And that's how Captain Cesc Fabregas could lift the trophy for Arsenal !

Arsenal vs. Atletico Madrid

2-1, Emirates Cup, Pre-season, Emirates, 1/8 -09
Arshavin 86, 90

Arsenal began this year's Emirates Cup with a tough win over Atletico, but much deserved.
It was Tomas Rosicky's first game at Emirates for quite som time, so it felt nice to make it with a win, even if the credit shall go to Andrey.
The first 45 minutes was not very eventful, but at halftime young Wilshere was brought on, and he started to crack the spanish defence open starting with some great passes.

But the kick that Arsenal needed came when Bendtner, van Persie and Ramsey was replaced by Fabregas, Eduardo and Arshavin in the 66th minute.
Twenty minutes after the change Fabregas sent a great ball over to Andrey, who thundered in 1-0, and since it was only 4 minutes + injury time left, everybody thought it was pretty much over, but that isn't really what happened.
With 1 minute + injury time left German Pacheco got the equalizer, and everbody started to settle for a draw, except one little Russian, who picked up a bad header and runned past the goalkeeper, and managed to give Arsenal the winner in injury time.

After this game Arsenal was leading the table with 5 points over Rangers 4 points they got after their 1-0 win over PSG.

The Goals;

Hannover 96 vs. Arsenal

1-0, Pre-season, AWD-Arena, Germany, 29/7 -09
Fabregas 8

Arsenal were in good control the entire game, but they were up against the hardest side they have faced so far during the pre-season games.
The Germans were the first to get a good chans after seven minutes, but Arsenal responded brilliant, van Persie slid in a perfect pass for Cesc to pick up and go past the goalkeeper before easily place the ball back in the net.
Arshavin was close to double the tally just after the goal, but his shot was blocked by the Hannover 'keeper.

Just before the game the sad news arrived of Toure's depature, he went to Manchester City like Ade, after some times speculations, we are all gonna' miss him, but this will of course open up for Vermaelen.

Szombathelyi Haladás vs. Arsenal

5-0, Pre-season, Hungary, 27/7 -09
Bendtner 17, 43,
Eduardo 24, 40,
Van Persie 66 (pen)

Arsenal continued their goal frenzy, with Eduardo marking his first pre-season appearence with a stunning brace.
Bendtner started the celebrations with a header, and Eduardo wasn't far behind with a classy low shot before completing the brace with a real free-kick screamer.
Just before halftime the Dane put Arsenal 4-0 up after he recieved a great pass from Jack Wilshere, who really played well.
About fifteen minutes after the break, Robin van Persie rounded things up after Bendtner was tackled in the box, another superb penalty from the Dutchman.

Highlights and Goals;

SC Columbia vs. Arsenal

7-1, Pre-season, Schwarzlackenau Stadium, Austria, 21/7 -09
Bendtner 36, 44,
Ramsey 39, 83,
Van Persie 56 (pen), 73,
Gallas 77

Arsenal really took things to the next level after a pretty calm half hour, they were dominating the entire game, but they were unlucky when Almunias first touch from a back pass was a bit heavy, and as Lehner slid in, the attempted clearance bounced back from Lehner into goal.

But that was just the wake up call Arsenal needed, cause then things started to change, a minute after the back goal, Bendtner got his first when Diaby found him and the Dane fired up in the top of the net.

And after just three minutes Ramsey got his first when he evaded a challenge on the edge of the box, and shot Arsenal forward in the bottom corner.
Four minutes later the Dane broke loose, running from the deep, he passed the ball to Ramsey who gave it back to him just in time for Bendtner to get pass the Columbian 'keeper and roll the ball into 3-1.

And after halftime, Arsenal showed no signs to slow down, with eight changes in the team, including van Persie in, things was just getting started.
Armand Traore, back from loan spell at Portsmouth, delivered a cross into the box, which led to van Persie's first penalty for the season (;

The Dutchman nearly set up Denilson for a fifth, but the Columbian keeper did well, running out to block Denilsons low shot.
Wilshere and Ramsey returned with 20 minutes to go, which meant that Arshavin and Eboue was given a well deserved breather.
Sagna delivered a cross in for van Persie to head home and Gallas did likewise with fourteen minutes to go, lastly Ramsey rounded tings up with a remarkable shot that went from the post and in.

But it wasn't all good with this game either, sad news where received during build-up, Samir Nasri will be out for three months with a fracture on his right fibula.
At least Rosicky is back to fill up his place, but it is still a hard blow for the team to lose Nasri for three entire months.

First Half Highlights;

Barnet vs. Arsenal

2-2, Pre-Season, Underhill Stadium, 18/7 -09
Arshavin 43, Barazite 51

Today Arsenal played their first pre-season game, not so many players from the first team featured in the game because the game is quite early on, but it was a nice chance for the youngsters and of course Vermaelen to play(he was really good), but highlight this Tomas Rosicky played his first game in like 18 months in front of 5065 fans, there where a lot of cheering i can tell ya !

The starting eleven included Almunia, Djourou, Gallas(finally back), Vermaelen, Silvestre, Wilshere, Randall, Frimpong, Rosicky, Arshavin & Watt.
The Barnet goalkeeper had a busy first half, with lots of Arsenal chances which were created by Rosicky, it just proves what an assess he will be this season.
In the 43rd minute Sanchez Watt set up Arshavin by the far corner and the russian finished high on close range, 1-0 to the gunners.
But just before half-time Barnet got a free-kick that unfortunately Yakubu climbed highest on, and could head home 1-1 to Barnet.

As expected there were lots of changes in half-time, in fact, the only Arsenal player left on pitch was Vermaelen, who played the entire 90 minutes.
So the changes was as follows; Vito Mannone, Craig Eastmond, Luke Ayling, Thomas Cruise, Conor Henderson, Francis Coquelin, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Nacer Barazite and Jay Simpson.

Arsenal regained the lead after just 4 minutes, and they did it in style, or should I say Nacer Barazite did it in style for the third time in a row in just these pre-seasons against Barnet.
He was forced out of the penalty area, but found little air and took a shot from 20 yards, up in the top corner of the target.
After that Arsenal seemed to be in control, but unfortunately with 8 minutes of original time to go, when Charles popped up in the box and found the bottom corner of Mannones goal.

'But that was not the story of today. Welcome back, Tomas Rosicky!'

Unfortunately it wasn't all good news for today, this evening Ade signed for Man City, so i guess we won't be seeing him around on Tuesday when the team heads to Austria for training camp.
But he hasn't been all that commited to the club, and I think that I'm not the only one to say that, the boss has been looking over Chamakh from Bordeaux, but says that he is not close to signing anyone yet since we got a quite big squad, but he will assess the situation in the next couple of games.

So as we say Welcome back Tomas Rosicky, we also say Goodbye to Emmanuel Adebayor.

Summer Update

It's been a while since i wrote something, so I thought that a little update in the middle of the summer could be good (;


Silly Season;

Arsenal signed Thomas Vermaelen in the beginning of summer, he is a belgian defender from Ajax, where he was team captain.
Right now they are trying to sign Felipe Melo from Fiorentina, he is a brasilian who has been working a lot with Gilberto Silva in the national team, it looks like it will be some money and a swap with Eboue..
There has been some rumors about Adebayor, some saying that Milan will offer lots of money and Flamini for the togolese striker.


Some Players have extended their contracts;

Robin van Persie, he turned down Inter, Juventus, Chelsea and Manchester City before extending the contract (;
Kieran Gibbs
Jack Wilshere
Lukasz Fabianski
Aaron Ramsey
Theo Walcott


That's pretty much it for the time being, some signings that doesn't really but are quite interesting still, is that Real Madrid has signed Kaka, Ronaldo and Benzema, so far!
United signed Michael Owen! As a replacement for Ronaldo perhaps.. But then signing an old has-been isn't really what i'd have in mind, but well shall see and judge from that instead.

Arsenal have so far 10 pre-season games, and is as always hosting Emirates Cup, which this year will make room for Paris Saint-Germain, Rangers and Atletico Madrid.


I have not gone through my summer non-footballing way, so I can take the chance now;

In the beginning of summer I went to Ylva's place in the country, and was there for a week, we had a really good time, here's a picture of the house and some freaky frogs that her cousins brought with them;;



After that I was home a couple of days before I went to Rome!

We saw Colosseum, The Vatican State, Pantheon, 'Forum Romano' and much more, we were there for three days, Annas friend Elin joined us for this one.
Here is a picture of Colosseum;;

England vs. Germany

0-4, U21 EM, Final, Sweden, 30/6 -09

I can bitterly say that it wasn't Englands night, but i'd like to praise Kieran Gibbs, who only let in 2 balls during the entire game from his side, and of course he didn't let in any goals from his left side, and he was definitely Englands man of the match.
And then I will go on to poor Theo, he didn't get many balls during the game, and perhaps 75% of the balls that he got was aerial balls, which isn't really his strenght.

And I don't think I have to mention have disappointed I was that Germany should win the tournament, especially against England, but Walcott never really got inte the game except the one good ball he got when he could do the really good run some matches ago.
That is because of the difference in passing from Arsenal to the England U21, if you ask me, and that is my opinon.

But really, hat's up for Gibbs, who really could be the tournaments best player (;

Spain vs. South Africa

2-2, Confederations Cup, Bronze Match, South Africa, 29/6 -09
3-2 after addition time.

From now on, i'm gonna write in my blog on english, so this will be the first of those 'new' blogs that i will publish (;
I will also broadcast this game live from the tv, since i have been in Rome this game is a little late, but what difference does it make? Here goes then;

Cesc starts the game on the bench, it isn't many of the original spainiards who will start this game, they will go for a little more youthful side or something.
We can expect quite many goals, if you would listen to previous records that is to say, and with that, South Africa kicks off the game.
It is quite funny how everyone at the arena shouts 'booth' as soon as he get's the ball, it sounds like they are booing him.

The first couple of minutes where a lot up and down, but in the fourth minute Villa takes on a good shot which the African goalkeeper is forced to box out to a corner.
Many times over in the African corners the spainiards have skipped the marking of Booth, which sooner or later is gonna cost them, since he already has been free in the box two times from corners or free kicks.
Cazorla has been making a lot of wrong passes already in the game, so it would be a possible place for Fabregas to enter, since it is his usual place in the squad.
South Africa has been having a lot of good counter attack possibilities, but they just haven't been clinical enough, while Spain is getting closer and closer to a break through, when Torres get's a good chance on goal, but didn't get his foot right on that one in the 22nd minute.

And after another corner in the 31st minute, an African shoots, Casillas gives return on the ball, and an unmarked Booth shoots just outside one of Casillas posts.
In the 35th minute Spain get's a fast counter-attack which Riera shoots wide across the African goal.
Busquets makes an unnecessary tackling and get's the first booking of the match, another possible place for Fabregas to take on, which I definitely hope for.
And with that the referee finish the first half of the game, and I can sum up the first half as a very even game, and no team has had a really good chance to score, and I hope for some changes in the Spain team to the next half.

When the players are coming in for the second half, Cesc is sitting alone on the bench with a shirt in his lap, hopefully, he will now join the game!
But it seems like he is gonna have to wait a while more, but I belive he will come in soon, rather than later, and with that Spain kicks the second half to life.
And when Spain's Xabi Alonso is taking a freekick, Steven Pienaar from Everton is running forward too early to cover the shot, and get's the games second booking.
And then comes the action, Alonso puts the freekick to Villa this time, and Villas shot got really nice pressure in it, so when the african goalkeeper is giving a return on the ball, three spainiards is right in front of it and Sergio Busquets scores, unfortunate for Spain, the referee is blowing for offside, which was very right judged.

But when Spain makes two changes in the team in the 57th minute, it is both Villa and Torres, who goes out and it is Silva and Guiza that enters the field! And after this change, I seriously doubts that Cesc will enter the field today.. But now it is just to wait and see..
Directly when the two new guys has entered, they feature in a nice cooperation, Silva passes the ball towards Guiza, who isn't fast enough this time.
And in the 62nd minute Guiza passes the ball very nice to Riera who is running perfectly but doesn't really get the ball right, and now Spain takes over the game.

And the offside guy Mphela, who stood at the wrong sida at least five times during his nine minutes playing time gets a perfect ball and can just slowly poke in 1-0 for South Africa, now the pressure is laying on Spain, will they go for 1-1 now?
Minutes after the goal Gerard Pique talks himself to a booking, the third of the game, and I start to wonder wether Del Bosque should make his last change soon.
And in minute 80, Llorente the Villareal forward comes in instead of Busquets, and now it isn't much time left for Spain, but it could be expected when Spain chose not to play with so many of their greatest stars.

And as Spain starts to get pressed by time, Raúl Albiol makes a hard tackle and recieves another Spain booking.
But Daniel Guiza, another substitute, gets a perfect ball by Cazorla, and shoots for goal!! That happened in the 88th minute, and just a minute after that, Guiza gets a ball on the end of the box, and lobs it into the goal, legend!
So Spain turned the game around in less than 2 minutes! That really proves that you shall never give up in football, and clearly, Spain never did.
But then again, South Africa never gave up either, Mphela shoots a freekick from very far away, and it goes straight in the net! And that happened in the 93rd minute.

That means that we got another half hour to look forward to.

And so, South Africa kicks the addition time to life (;
Spain starts with a great chance, but Llorentes shot is blocked by at least five africans, who is determined now that they got the late addition goal.
After 7 minutes South Africa gets an excellent freekick spot, but they couldn't make it good enough, so Spain could easily get it away.
Mphela got another free position, but Casillas made an excellent save, so the chance died away, and then it was time for Spain to get som chances.
And that pretty much sums up the first half of addition time.

Then Spain can kick forward another 15 minutes in this highly exciting bronze match, and as soon as Spain gets a very good position for a freekick, Xabi Alonso manages to curve it perfectly which means, 3-2 Spain.
Llorente earned himself a booking as well with 5 minutes to go, but South Africa didn't manage to bounce back this time.

And that's how Spain managed to win the bronze match without their numer 10, who they would definitely have needed.
And the winners of Confederations Cup were Brazil, and second place did go to USA.

Sverige vs. England

3-3, Semifinal, U21 EM, Sverige, 26/6 -09

England ägde hela första halvlek, tyvärr så kom inte Walcott in så mycket som man kunde hoppas, men förändring i andra halvlek kan finnas.
Gibbs gjorde ett strålande jobb i försvaret, och i halvlek så hörde man svenske coachen säga att de flyttar över Elm till vänster istället, för att få in honom mer i matchen, vilket betyder att en viss Kieran har gjort ett bra jobb med att stänga honom.
Walcott såg iallafall till att tredje målet blev till genom att plocka upp en hörna och lägga in bollen som Cattermole nickade på Bjärsmyrs ben till självmål, de andra målen kom från hörnor, som Onuoha & Cranie fick in.

Walcott började komma in mer i andra halvlek och fick till mer och mer löpningar & dribblingar, i och med att han fick mer bollar att jobba med, och Gibbs fick också komma till avslut.
Med ca 25 minuter kvar kunde Marcus Berg stå hyfsat fritt och faktiskt få in 3-1 till Sverige, och då tändes hoppet hos svenskarna direkt.
Och med 15 minuter kvar så kom faktiskt 3-2, otroligt förvånande, Ola Toivonen slog in en frispark åt Sverige, som inte hade långt kvar då.
Och med 10 minuter kvar så kom det otroliga, 3-3 tack vare Berg igen, nu var det upp till Walcott, en utmaning värdig honom.

Gibbs fortsatte säkert att stänga sin vänster sida, som gav England iallafall lite säkerhet, det behövde dem för precis innan slutet av första halvlek av förlägningen så blev Frazier Campell utvisad, vilket betydde att Walcott fick gå upp på ensam topp när England skulle kämpa sig mot finalen med 10 man.
Det blev mycket skott och chanser i resten av tillägget, men inget mål blev det, och otroligt nervöst inför straffarna...

Här kmr Straffarna;

Ordinarie Straffar;

England; Milner [Missar]
Sverige; Berg [Missar]
England; Hart [Sätter]
Sverige; R.Elm [Sätter]
England; Cattermole [Sätter]
Sverige; Bjärsmyr [Sätter]
England; A.Johnson [Sätter]
Sverige; Lustig [Sätter]
England; Walcott [Sätter]
Sverige; R.Bengtsson [Sätter]

England; Gibbs [Sätter]
Sverige; Molins [Missar]

OCH ENGLAND ÄR VIDARE TILL FINAL TACK VARE BÅDE GIBBS & WALCOTT !!

England vs. Tyskland

1-1, U21 EM, Sverige, 22/6 -09

Varken Gibbs eller Walcott startade matchen, eftersom England redan var klara var det bara en match om första platsen, som England tog med ett lika resultat här.
Men det började inte vackert för engelsmännen, efter redan 5 minuter gjorde tyskarna 1-0, men det ska väl också nämnas att det var 10 ändringar i Englands startelva, de körde inte direkt med sitt bästa lag, de fick vila så de inte skulle dra på sig kort eller skador.

I minut 29 så gjorde iallafall Jack Rodwell, Everton mittfältaren, 1-1, som höll i sig för resten av matchen, det roliga med målet var att kommentatorerna precis innan hörnan sa 'om Tyskland fortsätter ge bort hörnor så kommer det att straffas'
Men både Walcott & Gibbs kom in i andra halvlek, så jag kan lägga in lite mer om det istället för första halvlek som var väldigt jämn.

I minut 58 så jublade engelsmännen igen, Walcott fick göra entré, och kommentatorerna drar upp snacket om U21's stora stjärna igen.
Och så fort som Walcott har fått fart på anfallet lite mer, så blir Gibbs inbytt i minut 71, och Gibbs täppte till rejält åt England, vilket man alltid blir lika glad av att se (;
Dessutom fick Gibbs gå in på det centrala mittfältet, vilket han gjorde när hans debutmål för England kom i kvalet.
De tyska backarna fick lägga sig över Walcott för att stoppa honom i de flesta lägen, och mer än en gång blev Walcott klämd och fälld.
I matchen fick man också se några fina sammarbeten mellan Walcott & Gibbs i offensiven, och Walcott fortsatte verkligen att öppna upp Tysklands försvar.

Tyvärr blev det inget mer för England i den här matchen, och Walcott får vänta längre innan han får sitt debutmål i U21 slutspelet.

Spanien vs. USA

0-2, Semifinal, Confederations Cup, Sydafrika, 24/6 -09

Cesc var helt klart en av Spaniens bästa i denna match, han jobbade stenhårt och tog bra skott, otroliga löpningar & fina passningar, som tyvärr inte kunde hjälpa Spanien denna kväll.
Spanien var helt klart det bästa laget, men otur såg till att i minut 27 så kom en boll mot straffområdet, Puyol halkade eller något sådant och Altidore kom fri och kunde få in 1-0 till USA även om Spanien ändå har varit det bästa laget.

Spanien fortsatte att mala på, de hade hur många skit bra lägen som helst, men lyckades inte sätta dit den på ett bra tag.
Det måste ju nämnas att Hammarby forwarden Charlie Davies spelade matchen, samt att keepern' Tim Howard från Everton hade en otroligt bra match.
Fabregas satte in hur många bra passningar som helst, vilket ledde till ett straffläge som skulle varit straff när Fabregas satte in en perfekt boll till Xavi som blev nedknuffad, men domaren blåste ej, så det var bara att fortsätta mata på för spanjorerna.

Fabregas tog ett bra skott mot Howard ända ute från straffområdet, som Howard släppte retur på, men ingen hann dit i tid!
Tyvärr så blev Fabregas utbytt för Cazorla i minut 68, men han var ändå helt klart en av Spaniens bäst spelare som jobbade bäst av alla i Spanien denna kväll.
Strax efter det bytet så blev också Charlie Davies utbytt för en annan amerikanare, men Davies gjorde inte speciellt mycket i den här matchen.
5 minuter efter att Fabregas blev utbytt så gjorde USA det igen, 2-0 kom i ungefär minut 75, och jag kan ju bara upprepa hur idiotiskt det var att byta ut den killen som balanserade anfall med försvar.
Michael Bradley, son till coachen, fick rött med fem minuter kvar av ordinarie tid, men det räckte inte för spanjorerna.

Spanien fortsatte kämpa, men det ville sig inte för Europa mästarna denna match.

Fabregas i Matchen;

England vs. Spanien

2-0, U21 EM, Sverige, 18/6 - 09

Gibbs hade fullt upp fram mot slutet av denna kväll, Spanien startade bäst, England hade inte mycket att säga framåt faktiskt, men det kan ju bero på att Walcott inte fick starta, men jag kan säga att det känns lite skönt, man vill ju inte att Walcott ska komma helt sliten till Emirates i Juli.
Däremot så hade ju Gibbs en hel del tid, och han jobbade riktigt bra i defensiven, hans snabbhet var viktig för England mot de snabba spanjorerna, men han är ju som alltid lika fräsch offensivt med fina inlägg och löpningar.
Det var en väldigt passiv start på matchen, och när man hör kommentatorerna säga 'han är absolut en av Englands bästa spelare och har öppnat starkt, han stressar verkligen aldrig bort en boll och är otroligt lovande' om Kieran Gibbs, som förresten ev. går på lån till Ipswich (där han har varit förut) för att få mer speltid.

Det var en först bra spansk inledning, men det jämnades ut efter ca 10 minuter, men det vart en jämn och mållös första halvlek.
Andra halvlek vart intressantare, men Englands bäste, som inte släppt en boll förbi sin kant på hela matchen, Gibbs, fick in stämpling samtidigt som han vrickade till foten, han fick någon minuts vård utanför planen, men fick inte en sekunds vila när han kom in av sina lagkamrater, och han haltade ett tag, men lät inte bollen förbi hans kant en enda gång trots det.

Spanien fick en otrolig chans när Joe Hart sprang ut på en liten utflykt, men kunde inte utnyttja det eftersom Gibbs snabbt stängde alla vägar, jag hoppas att han snart kommer med i Englands, och såklart Arsenals, A trupp snart! (så fort Clichy antingen byter klubb eller slutar med fotbollen såklart, jag tänker ju inte peta Clichy i första taget) ((;

I minut 62 lyftes hela stadion när alla Engelsmän jublade som om de gjort mål, när Walcott kom in!!
Och genast blev det fart i anfallet när nummer 14 tog sats..
1-0 kom i ca 66 minuten, en felpass från Suarez ledde till att Campell blev imprincip fri och kunde slå in det första målet.
2-0 kom från den yngste a-landslag spelaren någonsin, namn? Walcott! Han plockade fram sina snabbare växlar och sprang i säkert 110 km/h om alla spanjorer och la in bollen perfekt till Milner som kunde peta in den snyggt och säkert.

Walcott hjälpte även bra till i försvaret och täppte faktiskt till högersidan ett antal gånger, inte dåligt av en anfallare (;
Med 10 minuter kvar blev en ny högerytter inbytt från Spaniens sida, med hopp från Spaniens sida att kunna rubba Kieran, men det kan de ju bara drömma om (a)
Walcott fortsatte att dribbla bort spelare och springa förbi resten, han och Gibbs hade ett bra sammarbete, vilket två gunners såklart ska ha.
Och kommentatorerna forsatte att ösa beröm över Gibbs, som verkligen, gjorde allt rätt denna kväll, han börjar verkligen komma upp i a-lags nivå nu, och han lär sig mycket ännu av bl.a Clichy! ((;