Two Three-goal Wins Pile Pressure onto Spurs
172 comments May 6th, 2006
It would’ve been nice if I’d been able to write up individual reports of these two matches. It would also be nice if my new house wasn’t in the 1% of UK homes where broadband is genuinely impossible. However, due to the latter, the write-ups never happened. So here they are.
Sunderland was a genuinely appalling game. We really didn’t play particularly well, but it says a lot about Sunderland that we still beat them by three clear goals. The first was an own-goal, the second a clipped finish from Cesc, and the last a brilliant free-kick from Thierry Henry. All three came in the first half. Cesc and Henry, indeed, would prove to be the key players over these two fixtures in quick succession.
The win was marred, however, by an inury to Abou Diaby. Sunderland youngster Daniel Smith landed a truly dreadful tackle, dislocating and fracturing Diaby’s ankle – an area where he suffered with injuries earlier in his career. He could now face a 9-month lay-off, and Arsene is rightfully considering legal action. A poor tackle, and a real shame for Diaby to miss the Champions League Final in his home city, Paris.
So onto Thursday night, and Man City away. I didn’t see most of the game as I was otherwise engaged, but from all accounts it was a solid performance. Ashley Cole played the full 90 minutes, and Sol Campbell managed to fall over a lot less frequently than against Sunderland. We took the lead when Henry slid in Freddie Ljungberg for his first Premiership goal in a year. However, David Sommeil equalised before half-time, and it took the introduction of Fabregas and Reyes to swing the match Arsenal’s way – the latter twice finishing brilliantly after passes from Eboue and later Henry.
So the 6 points we needed have been achieved, and now Spurs know that they have to beat West Ham. Arsene has rather cleverly suggested that the Hammers too must win, and Alan Pardew has insisted he will field a strong side.
Now what we must do is go out and beat Wigan, hoping that Spurs simultaneously slip up. Coming fourth would take the pressure off us ahead of the Champions League final, and maybe even persuade Henry to stay. The importance of it cannot be underestimated.
Let’s just home that tomorrow, we’re blowing bubbles.
