Burnley 0 - 2 Arsenal: Eduardo the Icing on our Christmas Cake
65 guns January 7th, 2008
When Arsene Wenger said in late November that Eduardo could be our ’secret weapon’, not everyone was convinced. Despite a few goals in the cups, the Croatian had looked way off the pace, particularly in domestic fixtures. However, in a Christmas period that brought a hefty haul of success, perhaps the biggest bonus was the emergence of Eduardo as a bonda fide match-winner.
Such was the case yesterday in a tricky cup tie at Burnley, who gave everything they had, but simply lacked a finisher in Da Silva’s class. As it was, Eduardo scored the first and, after Burnley had a man harshly sent off, made the second for Nicklas Bendtner. In his current form, the biggest surprise was that he didn’t grab a second, side-footing a one-one-one wide of the near post. So he is human after all…
Well, no-one is perfect. But Eduardo’s finishing is pretty close. The way he is able to take his first touch and get a shot away almost in the same motion, with no backlift, is remarkable. He is a percentage player who does the minimum neccessary to score - I don’t think we’ve had one of those since Ian Wright.
Our side didn’t perform especially well. Gilberto got a surprising start, but there was no sign of Lassana Diarra, who may be on the verge of a move. Jens Lehmann may also have played his last game for Arsenal. As I watched the match I did feel slightly sentimental about poor old Jens. Whatever’s gone on, he was always a great character, and often a great ‘keeper. Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue both played their final games before departing for the African Cup of Nations: Kolo showed why we’ll miss him with a storming performance; Eboue showed why we won’t with a dreadful display.
So it’s into the fourth round and a home tie against Newcastle or Stoke, who will battle it out in a replay next week. I can’t really preview this as, considering Newcastle’s recent form, I haven’t the faintest idea who will go through.
Spurs up next. I couldn’t bear to see them win. Let’s make sure they don’t.
3 Comments
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