Arsenal 3 – 1 Man City: Cesc Bomb takes Arsenal to 3rd
434 comments April 18th, 2007
Well, Myles Palmer got it right. After Cesc and Rosicky finally grabbed a couple of Premiership goals on Saturday, they repeated the trick last night – Rosicky’s was a replica of his Bolton effort, whilst Cesc’s was a dipping volley of absolute perfection – what a way to score Arsenal’s 50th goal at the Emirates Stadium.
It’s amazing what a bit of confidence can do. Following his goal on Saturday, Rosicky had the same drive and belief to get in the box, and when he did, finished powerfully. Cesc, meanwhile, looked reinvigorated – there’s every chance he could add to his tally before the season is out.
Their goals came either side of a DaMarcus Beasley equaliser – a poor kick from an out-of-sorts Jens Lehmann was punished by a slick through ball from Somebody Johnson and a neat finish from Beasley. It was a real shock – Arsenal had completely dominated the first-half in spite of not creating many chances. When Abou Diaby had come off with blurred vision for Julio Baptista, we’d lost a lot of momentum.
Which doesn’t surprise me at all – it strikes me that, whatever position he plays, we’re a better team when Diaby’s on the field. He again played just off the striker, and showed tough tackling as well as very quick feet indeed.
His replacement, Baptista, added a third late on, sidefooting home after good work from a much-improved Aleksandr Hleb.
One man who couldn’t get a goal was Emmanuel Adebayor, who is now without a goal since February. You have to say he’s been unlucky – firstly with the Carling Cup Final suspension, and latterly with his finishing. He hit the post twice at Liverpool, had a close-range header miraculously saved at West Ham, and yesterday had an effort blocked almost on the goal line. You get the feeling that like Cesc and Rosicky, once one goes in, he’ll reap the rewards.
Well, if there’s one thing we know about Adebayor, it’s that he relishes the big games. White Hart Lane on Saturday wouldn’t be a bad place to start getting the goals again.
