2-1, Premier League, Ewood Park, 28/8 -10
Walcott 20,
Arshavin 51
As you expected going to Ewood Park was extremely tough, but in the end I'm thrilled that we got away with the three points, that doesn't happen too often.
Walcott continued with his fine form and was once again the man of the match for us, not only did he score an amazing goal (he actually scored two more, but was deemed to be offside on both occasions), he provided great passes and made top class runs throughout the game.
Fabregas and van Persie were both handed their first starts of the season, but with mixed result, van Persie got injured and was replaced in the 34th minute by Chamakh, while Cesc had a good game with some amazing passes but didn't have quite enough strength yet to last the entire 90 minutes.
We had a great start to the game with lots of possession and fine chances, and eventually van Persie played Walcott and the young winger didn't let us down, he got past the entire defense and finished it all off in style by placing the ball in the far corner (and it was quite a powerful shot as well, enough to pierce part of the net), he sure is looking good so far this season.
But it didn't take too long for Blackburn to equalize when one Diouf managed to get away from Koscielny and played the ball in so that another Diouf could easily tap it in.
After that Blackburn were building up pressure but we managed to keep the score-line even through the first half, and in the second half we played much better, Blackburn hardly got a taste of the ball until the final minutes, and in the 50th minute that possession paid off when Sagna made a great run on the right side and provided with a great cross that reached Fabregas, his shot was blocked but the ball reached Arshavin who managed to get a shot away and it went straight in the net.
We managed to hold on to that lead and what an important win it was.
Yesterday it was confirmed that we managed to sign the thirty year old defender Sebastien Squillaci, so now we have some more depth in central defence!
He was not quite ready for this game but soon enough we shall see him play, he will be wearing number 18.
Injury Update;
-No news have yet reached me about van Persie's injury, but hopefully it's nothing serious.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Champions League Group Draw
Today the draw for the group stages of the Champions League took place, and Arsenal has been drawn against Shaktar Donetsk (Ukraine), Braga (Portugal) and Partizan (Serbia).
It will be a rather hard draw, since we have to travel to both Ukraine and Serbia, but we should of course manage to qualify from this group, but you can never take anything for granted in the Champions League!
Interesting is that this will mean that we will meet up with Eduardo who left us this summer for Shaktar, in an interview just after he left us he said that the one team he didn't want to face was Arsenal, due to his time with us (not because he didn't enjoy his time in London, simply just because he still has warm feelings for the club), but his wish didn't come true..
Injury Update;
-Nasri (who recently went through a knee operation) and Bendtner (hamstring problem since last spring) are expected to be back in three to four weeks.
-Denilson (abdominal injury) will be back for the Blacburn clash.
-Ramsey is expected to return in November, he's made a great recovery from that horrific fracture against Stoke last season.
It will be a rather hard draw, since we have to travel to both Ukraine and Serbia, but we should of course manage to qualify from this group, but you can never take anything for granted in the Champions League!
Interesting is that this will mean that we will meet up with Eduardo who left us this summer for Shaktar, in an interview just after he left us he said that the one team he didn't want to face was Arsenal, due to his time with us (not because he didn't enjoy his time in London, simply just because he still has warm feelings for the club), but his wish didn't come true..
Injury Update;
-Nasri (who recently went through a knee operation) and Bendtner (hamstring problem since last spring) are expected to be back in three to four weeks.
-Denilson (abdominal injury) will be back for the Blacburn clash.
-Ramsey is expected to return in November, he's made a great recovery from that horrific fracture against Stoke last season.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Arsenal vs. Blackpool
6-0, Premier League, Emirates, 21/8 -10
Walcott 12, 40, 58,
Arshavin 32 (pen),
Diaby 49,
Chamakh 83
What an amazing game! Not least of all for Theo Walcott, a hat-trick and a man of the match performance for the young winger, and I hope that this will be the season when things really take off for him, but Rosicky deserves a lot of the credit after this game as well, he pulled the strings in the midfield and was really influential in this win.
In the first thirty minutes Blackpool were actually playing rather nice, but not as good as us, Walcott pretty much ran loose on the right wing and he has now showed for real that he can make the right decisions at the right time, to take his game to the next level, past the part were people just considered him as the fast guy.
The opener was a real beauty, after some nice passing Walcott got the perfect opportunity to shoot, and like he took it, a very good finish at the far post!
At the half hour mark Arshavin made it two from the penalty spot as Chamakh was brought down (in which has to be said probably was just outside the box), and the defender was shown red.
Before half-time Walcott added one more to the score line, Wilshere passed low to Theo who was inside the box and turned away from Dekel Keinan to score once again.
After the break we kept going strong and it didn't take too long for us to start scoring again, Sagna made a great run down the right and provided a great cross for Diaby to shoot from, and it was quite a shot.
Theo completed his hat-trick just before the hour-mark with another low shot at the far corner, very well placed.
Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie both came in after 63 minutes, a good opportunity for them to get into match fitness, no pressure or anything, just cruising towards a win, and in the 83rd minute Chamakh got to score on his debut, a strong header from a van Persie corner.
A very comfortable win, it always feels nice when the team are playing well and scoring loads of goals!
Today the club officially welcomed a new clock into the Emirates Stadium, it is a bigger version of the old clock that was positioned at Highbury for over 70 years.
The stands has also been renamed, so now it is once again Clock End, North Bank, West Stand and East Stand.
Walcott 12, 40, 58,
Arshavin 32 (pen),
Diaby 49,
Chamakh 83
What an amazing game! Not least of all for Theo Walcott, a hat-trick and a man of the match performance for the young winger, and I hope that this will be the season when things really take off for him, but Rosicky deserves a lot of the credit after this game as well, he pulled the strings in the midfield and was really influential in this win.
In the first thirty minutes Blackpool were actually playing rather nice, but not as good as us, Walcott pretty much ran loose on the right wing and he has now showed for real that he can make the right decisions at the right time, to take his game to the next level, past the part were people just considered him as the fast guy.
The opener was a real beauty, after some nice passing Walcott got the perfect opportunity to shoot, and like he took it, a very good finish at the far post!
At the half hour mark Arshavin made it two from the penalty spot as Chamakh was brought down (in which has to be said probably was just outside the box), and the defender was shown red.
Before half-time Walcott added one more to the score line, Wilshere passed low to Theo who was inside the box and turned away from Dekel Keinan to score once again.
After the break we kept going strong and it didn't take too long for us to start scoring again, Sagna made a great run down the right and provided a great cross for Diaby to shoot from, and it was quite a shot.
Theo completed his hat-trick just before the hour-mark with another low shot at the far corner, very well placed.
Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie both came in after 63 minutes, a good opportunity for them to get into match fitness, no pressure or anything, just cruising towards a win, and in the 83rd minute Chamakh got to score on his debut, a strong header from a van Persie corner.
A very comfortable win, it always feels nice when the team are playing well and scoring loads of goals!
Today the club officially welcomed a new clock into the Emirates Stadium, it is a bigger version of the old clock that was positioned at Highbury for over 70 years.
The stands has also been renamed, so now it is once again Clock End, North Bank, West Stand and East Stand.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Liverpool vs. Arsenal
1-1, Premier League, Anfield, 15/8 -10
Reina 90 (og)
The Premier League campaign for the 10/11 season has started for Arsenal, and what a start to the season it was!
It was a little bit disappointing ahead of the game as Fabregas wasn't included in the squad due to a throat infection, but at least van Persie started on the bench.
We played some really good football in the first half, and had most of the possession, but not too many chances and the first half ended without any goals.
But just before half-time, as Koscielny was clearing the ball down by the corner flag, Joe Cole made a harsh tackle on him, and was shown the red card while Koscielny was carried out on a stretcher, it felt like a typical Arsenal situation, We've got like three central defenders, and when one (Djourou) is out injured, someone else has to join him, but fortunately for us, Koscielny came in to play the second half! And what a game he had, he played absolutely superb.
Just at the start of the second half Liverpool scored, it was so disappointing as we had played so well in the second half and were 11 against 10.
After that we could hardly get a pass to the right address and we were really poor to watch, but when the introduction of Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky took place, we slowly turned the game around and began to build up some pressure.
But with the goal we got really lucky, Rosicky provided with a good cross that Chamakh forced himself towards, but the ball hit the post and bounced back into the box, Reina then intended to catch it with his hands, but he misjudged it and dropped it into his own net.
The last minutes provided with chances for both teams, and in the last minute of the game Koscielny was showed a second yellow when he accidently got a hand on the ball, really harsh of the referee to book for it, earlier in this game Ngog had accidently touched the ball with his hand, but he wasn't booked for it, so for me it should not have been a second yellow, but even though he wasn't allowed to finish the game, Koscielny was my man of the match (but Rosicky came close as well) for really proving that he can put up with the pressure of the Premier League, I can only recall one mistake he did throughout the game and that was when he misjudged a situation and got the player instead of the ball (his first yellow) but otherwise he looked really solid.
So in the end we have to be pleased to get a point out of the game, and we really deserved it.
Reina 90 (og)
The Premier League campaign for the 10/11 season has started for Arsenal, and what a start to the season it was!
It was a little bit disappointing ahead of the game as Fabregas wasn't included in the squad due to a throat infection, but at least van Persie started on the bench.
We played some really good football in the first half, and had most of the possession, but not too many chances and the first half ended without any goals.
But just before half-time, as Koscielny was clearing the ball down by the corner flag, Joe Cole made a harsh tackle on him, and was shown the red card while Koscielny was carried out on a stretcher, it felt like a typical Arsenal situation, We've got like three central defenders, and when one (Djourou) is out injured, someone else has to join him, but fortunately for us, Koscielny came in to play the second half! And what a game he had, he played absolutely superb.
Just at the start of the second half Liverpool scored, it was so disappointing as we had played so well in the second half and were 11 against 10.
After that we could hardly get a pass to the right address and we were really poor to watch, but when the introduction of Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky took place, we slowly turned the game around and began to build up some pressure.
But with the goal we got really lucky, Rosicky provided with a good cross that Chamakh forced himself towards, but the ball hit the post and bounced back into the box, Reina then intended to catch it with his hands, but he misjudged it and dropped it into his own net.
The last minutes provided with chances for both teams, and in the last minute of the game Koscielny was showed a second yellow when he accidently got a hand on the ball, really harsh of the referee to book for it, earlier in this game Ngog had accidently touched the ball with his hand, but he wasn't booked for it, so for me it should not have been a second yellow, but even though he wasn't allowed to finish the game, Koscielny was my man of the match (but Rosicky came close as well) for really proving that he can put up with the pressure of the Premier League, I can only recall one mistake he did throughout the game and that was when he misjudged a situation and got the player instead of the ball (his first yellow) but otherwise he looked really solid.
So in the end we have to be pleased to get a point out of the game, and we really deserved it.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Arsenal vs. Celtic
3-2, Emirates Cup, Emirates Stadium, 1/8 -10
Vela 3,
Sagna 45,
Nasri 51
Ahead of the game we knew that a win would be enough to win the cup, as Milan and Lyon played out another draw, but it didn't go as easy as you first could have thought when we were 3-0 up, because of Celtic's late fight-back.
First they missed a penalty and then got really lucky when the ball bounced just about everywhere after a corner, and eventually played two Celtic players free, ten minutes later they made it 2 but after that we managed to keep tight.
We started the game brilliantly, scoring after just three minutes when Walcott broke through and played it into the box, where Vela could smash it in.
Just before half-time Sagna, of all people, increased the lead, a corner had just been played back and he picked up the ball from Rosicky and his 20-yard effort went straight in, a really beautiful goal, with his left foot! His celebrations were amongst the happiest I have ever seen (in an interview just after the game he simply said 'I didn't know what to do when I scored!'), which is not so strange as that strike was his second ever in the Arsenal shirt (the other one a header against Chelsea in 2008).
A couple of substitutions were made before the game got underway once again, but it didn't affect the goal-scoring, about six minutes into the second-half Clichy took a Celtic player by surprise and managed to win the ball high up on the pitch, he played to Chamakh, who quickly passed it back to Nasri, and Nasri spotted that Walcott had an opening ahead of him, but when Theo couldn't quite get through he played the ball back to Nasri, who's shot went past the goalkeeper and into the net!
As mentioned we didn't exactly cruise from there, but in the end it was a good win as it was enough to retain the Emirates cup trophy!
Vela 3,
Sagna 45,
Nasri 51
Ahead of the game we knew that a win would be enough to win the cup, as Milan and Lyon played out another draw, but it didn't go as easy as you first could have thought when we were 3-0 up, because of Celtic's late fight-back.
First they missed a penalty and then got really lucky when the ball bounced just about everywhere after a corner, and eventually played two Celtic players free, ten minutes later they made it 2 but after that we managed to keep tight.
We started the game brilliantly, scoring after just three minutes when Walcott broke through and played it into the box, where Vela could smash it in.
Just before half-time Sagna, of all people, increased the lead, a corner had just been played back and he picked up the ball from Rosicky and his 20-yard effort went straight in, a really beautiful goal, with his left foot! His celebrations were amongst the happiest I have ever seen (in an interview just after the game he simply said 'I didn't know what to do when I scored!'), which is not so strange as that strike was his second ever in the Arsenal shirt (the other one a header against Chelsea in 2008).
A couple of substitutions were made before the game got underway once again, but it didn't affect the goal-scoring, about six minutes into the second-half Clichy took a Celtic player by surprise and managed to win the ball high up on the pitch, he played to Chamakh, who quickly passed it back to Nasri, and Nasri spotted that Walcott had an opening ahead of him, but when Theo couldn't quite get through he played the ball back to Nasri, who's shot went past the goalkeeper and into the net!
As mentioned we didn't exactly cruise from there, but in the end it was a good win as it was enough to retain the Emirates cup trophy!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Arsenal vs. AC Milan
1-1, Emirates Cup, Emirates Stadium, 31/7 -10
Chamakh 36
A bit disappointing in the end as we conceded a goal after taking the lead, but we played really well so it was a successful pre-season game if you ask me.
It was the first time I got to see Chamakh and Koscielny play (found a site that showed the game on the computer) and they looked really great! Chamakh scored on his debut at the Emirates, and he played really good during the entire game, and Koscielny hardly made any mistake at all, he looked spotless.
The opening goal came when Arshavin shrugged off Gattuso before spotting Chamakh and provided a perfect pass for the moroccan striker to finish off in style.
We started the second period really well, but the ball just wouldn't go in and in the end that proved costly for us.
But now it is soon for the Celtic game, which we obviously have to win if we are to retain the Emirates Cup this year.
Chamakh 36
A bit disappointing in the end as we conceded a goal after taking the lead, but we played really well so it was a successful pre-season game if you ask me.
It was the first time I got to see Chamakh and Koscielny play (found a site that showed the game on the computer) and they looked really great! Chamakh scored on his debut at the Emirates, and he played really good during the entire game, and Koscielny hardly made any mistake at all, he looked spotless.
The opening goal came when Arshavin shrugged off Gattuso before spotting Chamakh and provided a perfect pass for the moroccan striker to finish off in style.
We started the second period really well, but the ball just wouldn't go in and in the end that proved costly for us.
But now it is soon for the Celtic game, which we obviously have to win if we are to retain the Emirates Cup this year.
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