Blackburn Rovers 0 – 2 Arsenal: The good, the bad, and the ugly…
229 comments January 15th, 2007
If you’re wondering why there was no update yesterday, it’s because my 8000-word dissertation has to be handed it today. Last night was a long night. Anyway, Arsenal beat Blackburn on Saturday evening, which is always something that warrants a good few inches of blog:
The good
The result, for one. To go to the north-west and win three times inside a week shows that this side are maturing, fast. The likes of Pires and Reyes suffered badly away from home, and it’s important these youngsters mature away from that. Philippe Senderos was again excellent at the heart of the defence, whilst Kolo Toure alongside him notched the vital opening goal with a fantastic header.
Then onto Thierry and Cesc, arguably the best players of their kind in Europe. Fabregas was outstanding: when we went down to ten men, he, Rosicky and Hleb took on the responsibility of facing up to the remaining Blackburn midfielders, and did so with aplomb. Fabregas choreographed some stunning moves, with the three of them completely outplaying the bemused Savage (particularly amusing in the light of Gilberto’s sending off, which I’ll explain later).
It was Cesc who played a one-two with Henry to cap a fantastic second goal. Picking the ball up inside his own penalty area, Henry played a couple of swift passes and burst over the half-way line, the ball glued to his feet. Despite it being the last ten minutes of the game, Cesc had the energy to get ahead of the ball, recieve it, and touch off a perfectly waited through ball which Henry duly blasted into the corner from 20 yards: absolutely brilliant. Another dancing celebration with substitute Adebayor followed, with the whole team joining in this time.
The bad
After being sent off for a small but stupid kick out at Savage, Gilberto will now be suspended for three games. We won’t be appealing the decision, for fear it will become four: a reflection of just how strange the rules are. Savage committed the initial foul: although Gilberto had the ball, he made no attempt to play it. When Gilberto flicked out at him afterwards, he made very little contact, and Savage massively overreacted. The fact that this offence recieves the same punishment as headbutting someone seems to be slightly odd. We’ll miss Gilberto, particularly against Manchester United next week.
The ugly
Savage. Most of the Blackburn team. Whatever they say, they haven’t changed their ways: they still try and intimidate teams with overtly agressive displays. The problem for them was that we were much better at football than they were. With or without Gilberto. We taught them a lesson, and I hope we can take this form into future fixtures in the vicinity.
