IT WAS REYES up front with skipper Bergkamp – and Reyes almost scored three goals in the first six minutes.
Dispossessing Ehiogu in 27 seconds, he fired a shot that Schwarzer did well to get down on.
Then Reyes hit the post in 4 minutes and volleyed over the bar in 6.
Arsenal were playing sparkling football and Boro had two players booked in a minute for fouls on Helb, who was outstanding.
After half an hour it looked as if Arsenal would score with a counter -attack, rather than an attack.
If Boro, in red, could move down the field in some numbers, Arsenal, in yellow, would break and score.
Reyes nutmegged Xavier and found Bergkamp, but his sidefoot volley was too ambitious and too high.
On 40, Kolo Toure got mugged for the second time in a week.
Last month I said that Kolo has been found out, that he gets too tight, and here we saw that again.
Toure got far too tight on Yakubu, who turned him, but miscontrolled the ball, which broke for the striker to fire low into the net.
First of all, playing centreback is not judo, not wrestling, not rugby. You can’t grab a bustling centre forward round the waist and throw him on the ground.
Secondly, Yakubu is not Pele. He is more like Jose Frazier.
Poor old Kolo made Yakubu look better than he is – and Arsenal went a goal down.
After 53, Maccarone tussled with Cygan, the ball broke for Yakubu and his low shot was going in when Lehmann made a very good low save.
In 59, Hleb was pushed by Xavier as he went for one-two, Schwarzer booted long, Cygan headed out to Yakubu and he played it through to Maccarone as Cygan idiotically stepped out, trying to play the Italian offside.
Maccarone scored low to Lehmann’ s left.
Fabregas immediately came on for Flamini, but van Persie was also needed by now.
He replaced Pires in 72.
In the last half hour, Arsenal created nothing and got a few yellow cards.
By now I was thinking two things : Van Persie is a big lad who can work in small spaces. He can kill the ball, hold defenders off, and create. He is strong and resourceful.
Also : The Riverside is a bit like Windsor Park. Give credit to the team that has won. Give credit to Northern Ireland and Middlesbrough.
Second half, Boro improved, played well.
On 90, Reyes had a shot saved and the loose ball just eluded Van Persie.
On 93, Hleb’s pass was cleverly flicked through by van Persie (who was just offside) and Reyes (onside) raced through and slalomed round the keeper and slotted a gutsy goal with great composure.
This 2-1 defeat left Arsenal 8th, just above Wigan, who won 2-1 at WBA..
Verdict?
Arsene rested two of his best players – Ljungberg and Fabregas – so that they will be fresh for Thun on Wednesday night.
Without Freddie and Thierry, it was always likely that they would struggle to score.
In the Manchester derby at Old Trafford, City got a 1-1 draw.
A while back I wondered : What if Chelsea win their first 8 games?
Chelsea have won their first five without conceding a goal, beating Sunderland today by 2-0. Sunderland have lost their five games so far.
Arsenal have lost two of their four Premiership games so far.
Arsene has said Henry will NOT play against Thun. So the Reyes late goal is important to Reyes,who will be important to Arsenal on Wednesday night.
Maybe they can amaze us all by doing well in the Champions League.
I don’t think they can win it. I don’t know anybody who thinks they can win it. I don’t even know anybody who thinks they can go close.
BUT YOU NEVER KNOW .
Football lives on hope and a journey of a thousand miles starts with a 1-0 win over tiny Thun.
MARIA SHARAPOVA fought like a wounded lioness in last night’s US Open semi-final against Kim Clijsters in New York.
Clijsters won the first set and then led 6-5.
But Sharapova, playing astounding tennis, saved three match points and then saved a fourth and fifth to make it 6-6 – and then won the tie-break to take the second set.
Clijsters raced to a 4-0 lead in the third and then Sharapova produced a superhuman burst of energy to pull back to 4-2.
There were several electric rallies and Clijsters hit some scorching crosscourt shots, really sensational stuff, as good as anything I’ve ever seen.
As Clijsters served for the match at 5-2, I asked myself : Is this over?
But Sharapova produced some electrifying shots to take it to love-30 and love-40 and broke back to 5-3.
What bottle! What a competitor !
Clijsters, who won the third set 6-3, has never won a grand slam. In the final she plays Mary Pierce of France.