Carlos Vela took the first goal beautifully. Arshavin’s pass was early and precise and gave Vela the chance to twinkle into the box and chip the advancing Jensen for 1-0 in 25 minutes. A finish of Latin finesse by the twinkletoed Mexican Fred Astaire. Vela should be on Strictly.
The second goal was a flick-volley that was like a tennis shot.
When Diaby was tackled, the ball flew towards the corner flag, Arshavin retrieved it for re-cycling to Gibbs, then to Song, whose diagonal chip floated beyond the last defender to Eduardo, whose movement was as sweetly-timed as ever. Eduardo’s volley off the outside of his left heel was like an exquisite passing shot.
In football, the ball rarely comes exactly where you want it, unless you’re playing with Kaka, Bergkamp, Pires or Arshavin. It often comes a little bit behind you, so you have to improvise, which was what Eduardo did when he pinged that passing shot past Jensen for 2-0.
The Guardian’s perfect photo of the goal captures the ball 13 inches away from Eduardo’s heel, just after impact. You can see fragments of grass flying off his rear studs.
That was it. That was 2-0. Game over in 51 minutes.
Third goal : Gallas found Song’s right-to-left run with a raking pass, Song back-heeled into the run of Eboue, who took two touches and rifled a low shot across the keeper into the far corner. The coup de grace.
Eduardo da Silva, captain for the day, missed a running header when he had two-thirds of the goal to aim at. By then the whole event had got to him : the comeback from an injury that was the most horrific we’ve seen since WWII, the armband, the huge roar of the crowd when he scored. Eduardo is a natural who has something you can’t teach. But his emotions overtook him a little but, I think, and that’s why he missed that chance. If the score had been 1-1, I reckon he would have buried that header.
Van Persie for Vela didn’t improve the team but signalled that RVP will start in Rome.
Left back Gibbs showed what a good little player he is.
Ramsey came on for Diaby, Walcott for Eduardo, and Arshavin hit Walcott with a pass that was pure DB10, giving the Walcott a one-on-one with Jensen but he hit the keeper. Walcott crossed nicely for Robin van Persie, who swung his mighty left boot but scuffed the volley down and wide, a complete mis-kick.
Walcott can run as fast as Arshavin can see, so those two should be dynamite together.
At the death, Djourou clumsily felled McCann in the box. A clear penalty but the ref ignored it.
Any further thoughts? Only two.
This might have been the most agile and mobile team Wenger has ever fielded
Burnley boss Owen Coyle decided to lose this FA Cup tie. He pressed for the first 15 minutes, then stuck to his normal style of play. Coyle must be a Corinthian, a gentleman idealist who believes the game is more important than winning. He did nothing to pressurise Arsenal after that, as Hull and Fulham did, because he wanted to stick to his principles and play a passing game. By doing that, he gave Arsenal more time on the ball than they’ve had all season and made Burnley’s defeat inevitable. Tactically, Burnley were stupid, so the game was no contest. They gave Arsenal the space to score three fantastic goals. Owen Coyle thought : we will lose anyway, so why change it? When it rained at 1-0, and Arsenal lost some momentum, Burnley needed to score while it was raining
All four FA Cup results were predictable.
Everton beat Middlesbrough 2-1 in a game of three headers: Wheater, Fellaini and Saha.
Chelsea cruised to a 2-0 win at Coventry
Man United never cruise. They didn’t cruise at Fulham. They always go out and compete, playing with raw aggression, tackling their opponents in their rear third, around the edge of their box, which sickens them. It was pressure and more pressure, that’s what Sir Alex demands, that is what almost all his players do in all of their games.
Like Mourinho, he’s very demanding. That’s why Man United hammered Fulham 4-0 at Craven Cottage.
If Arsenal beat Hull, they will need Fabregas back for the Chelsea semi-final.