Celtic 0 – 2 Arsenal: Boys triumph against Bhoys
Add comment August 19th, 2009
Celtic 0 – 2 Arsenal (Gallas 43, Caldwell og 71)
Highlights here; Arsene’s reaction here
Well, this is all going rather swimmingly, isn’t it?
Whilst a club with fans as hysterical as ours are only ever really one game away from disaster, it feels like it’s a million miles off at the moment. The opening day thumping of Everton was last night followed by a dispatching of Celtic that, whilst less dramatic, seemed to demonstrate a growing maturity in the side.
The crowd were raucous and the Celtic players were, at times, equally rowdy. Lacking the required technical ability to take the game to us, they instead sought to contain our passing flow with increasingly cynical fouls. The quality gap between the two sides was visible throughout: the differing resources above and below the border now mean that spirit and atmosphere are no longer enough to compensate.
We fielded the same XI that came through at Goodison Park with such distinction, and although the performance was less fluid the result is just as valuable. People will talk about our goals being lucky, but I’m with Goodplaya: one the first one really counts as fortunate – a Cesc free-kick deflecting of William Gallas and bamboozling Artur Boruc.
The second goal would almost certainly have ended up in the net whether Caldwell had intervened or not. A great turn by the now be-haired sub Diaby allowed Gael Clichy in on the left, and his cut-back would have found RVP just a few yards out had Caldwell not prodded it into his own net.
There were other half-chances, but for the most part we were very comfortable. I’m a huge fan of our new system, especially when the front three of Arshavin, RVP, and Bendtner work as hard as they did last night to close down the space and apply pressure high up the pitch. Arsene reveals in this fascinating interview that he has been known to nick tactics from other sides, and this one is plucked right out of Josep Guardiola’s Catalan manual.
Thomas Vermaelen looks like a classy addition to the defence, and Alex Song’s performances in midfield continue to surprise and impress in equal measure. However, we’re still desperately short of cover in both areas.
We now have one foot firmly in the Champions League, and bar an absolute disaster in the second leg we’ll have the group stage money on top of all the cash we picked up in sales. Will we spent it? Probably not on Marouane Chamakh, with Arsene Wenger informing Bordeaux that he has ended his interest in the player (can’t find the link now, but the Bordeaux chairman has confirmed it).
Portsmouth, and the first home game of the season, are now on our immediate horizon. Another win there and the solid start to the season we all desired will be stronger still.
Note: Aleksandr Hleb moves to Stuttgart – Jens Lehmann announces retirement. Coincidence? I think not. Jens always was a man of impeccable taste.
