Bolton 1 – 3 Arsenal (aet): Size Matters
882 comments February 15th, 2007
As soon as I saw Arsene’s team selection for last night, I was confident. He had twigged it: against Bolton, you have to fight for the right to play. A back four that included Djourou, Gilberto, and Toure, along with the stature of Diaby, Baptista, and Adebayor further forward, ensured that we were able to win the physical battle against nasty old Bolton. And once we did, they didn’t stand a chance.
The fact that it even went to extra-time was quite remarkable. Adebayor’s deflected finish after great skill from Hleb and Denilson had given us a 13th minute lead, before Julio Baptista began a nightmarish night by missing several simple chances, before managing to win us a second half penalty. “Right”, I thought, “game in the bag”, but Gilberto blasted the ball a foot over the bar.
As if that wasn’t enough; a late break took Adebayor through and he calmly rounded the goalie, before side-footing the ball… onto the inside of the post. Some of us are still trying to work out how that one failed to go in.
When you miss chances like we did last night, an equaliser becomes an inevitability. And when it did arrive, it was in the cruellest of circumstances – a 92nd minute header from Abdoulaye Meite taking the tie to extra-time.
The last half-hour was fairly crazy, but Arsenal’s superior fitness levels showed as we were able to dominate. Substitutes Aliadiere and Ljungberg combined for Freddie to score a sweet second, Ben Haim was sent off for dragging down Baptista, before Anelka fouled Adebayor to give us another penalty. This time Julio Baptista stepped up, and having seen his mate Gilberto miss for the second time this season, he was determined not to be left out, smashing over the crossbar.
Fortunately, Adebayor put the seal on the victory by tapping home his 10th of the season after a late breakaway left he and Baptista two-on-Jussi.
It was a great victory and an impressive performance. Manuel Almunia again showed his potential with a string of excellent pieces of play. Gilberto filled in at centre-back fantastically well – it’s the position he began his career in, and it’s not impossible that he might end it there. In midfield, the youthful Denilson and Diaby were never overawed, whilst Tomas Rosicky and the welcome return of Alex Hleb gave us a genuine threat on the flanks.
Emmanuel Adebayor had another great game (glaring miss aside), but you have to feel for Julio Baptista. He obviously possesses quality, but nothing went right for him on the night. Had he been finished like he was at Anfield he could’ve had another four, but once he missed his first chance his confidence was shot. He kept working at it though, and deserves more opportunities.
From the bench, Jeremie Aliadiere was again impressive as the game opened up, and probably deserves to be picked ahead of Theo Walcott at the moment. Freddie Ljungberg, meanwhile, gave us a glimpse of his former excellence. The question remains whether or not he can do it over a sustained period.
Now we need to find some players to face Blackburn on Saturday…
