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.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Arsenal vs. AZ Alkmaar
4-1, Champions League, Emirates, 4/11 -09
Fabregas 26, 53,
Nasri 43,
Diaby 72
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.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
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).
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).
Sunday, October 25, 2009
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.
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.
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