Without Robin\’s left boot, where would Arsenal be?
At Villa Park on Wednesday, Vermaelen gave away a stupid goal but Benayoun saved the game with a header from five yards.
The match was like a big FA Cup tie, very high-tempo with lots of action and mistakes.
When Walcott was pulled down in the box by Ciaran Clark after a neat bit of improvisation in 17, Van Persie smashed a high penalty past keeper Brad Guzon and it stayed 1-0 till half time.
In 54, Villa went Route 1.
Agbonlahor jumped into Koscielny a little bit, so neither touched a ball which bounced to Vermaelen at left back. He headed it infield to Mertesacker but not hard enough and winger Marc Albrighton nipped in and Szczesny advanced to beyond the penalty spot but Albrighton slotted for 1-1.
DON\’T PLAY TV5 AT LEFT BACK!
The contest stayed at 1-1 for the next 23 minutes and might have gone either way. On 87, Robin\’s mighty left boot produced a pinpoint corner which sub Benayoun headed in from five yards.
Aston Villa 1 Arsenal 2.
Wenger would have hoped Chelsea could get a draw at Spurs last night.
And they did.
A win would have put Chelsea above Spurs but I didn\’t see that happening, although Spurs missed Aaron Lennon hugely. His skills gives them balance as well as variety.
Gareth Bale was fit and played in a gutsy, energetic first half. Spurs dominated the first 25 and scored in 8 when Bale crossed low for Adebayor to touch home.
Petr Cech is not good on the deck with a player coming at him and he\’s not good in the air with a player coming at him.
Cech was once fantastic but he\’s never been the same goalkeeper since that fateful day in Reading when the Irishman left his knee in and put him into neurosurgery.
At their best, Spurs play a scything style of football at high speed, slicing up the field in fast, broad strokes which open up possibilites. They\’re an athletic momentum team whose power creates openings for a speedy but clumsy striker from Togo.
I was 100% sure that Drogba wouldn\’t do anything but I was wrong. He chested one ball and fired it against the post. The first time we saw Drogba was when he went off after 20 to change his boots.
After 23, some very amateurish play by Tottenham cost them a goal.
Preferring not to chase the overlapping Ashley Cole, Rafael van der Vaart slid in to clear but the ball hit Ashley Cole\’s trailing arm and broke into his stride and Cole hit a wonderful cross to the far post.
Ledley King had switched off momentarily and Assou-Ekotto had gone AWOL, allowing Sturridge to knock in the equaliser from two yards. A-E had a shocker, one of the worst games I\’ve seen him play.
Benoit, mate, wake up! What\’s wrong with you? Sturridge is Chelsea\’s main goalscorer. He\’s your man. You\’re marking him to make sure he doesn\’t do exactly that. That\’s your job! It was your man who scored the goal !
Does good full back play exist nowadays ?
Yes. Watch Jose Enrique of Liverpool. He has a decent right foot as well.
There was a lot of injury disruption at the Lane last night.
Second half, the game fizzled out as Spurs lost control of the midfield.
Redknapp made it worse by bringing on Pavyluchenko, which dismayed Adebayor. He should have brought on Kranjcar to play keep-ball in midfield.
When Modric went to wide right, Spurs lost their main middle man at the same time as Romeu came on for Mikel. Romeo is the lubricant, the oil in Chelsea’s engine.
And when Modric drifted infield, as he inevitably would, he gave Ashley Cole the freedom of that flank.
Ramires has four lungs. What an engine!
He missed two good chances and was lucky to stay on the pitch after a vicious two-footed tackle on Bale.
Mata was peripheral, Drogba invisible, Torres came on but should go back to Spain, if anybody will have him.
Sandro and Bale also had chances and JT cleared a weak Adabayor shot off the line at the death.
SO SPURS ARE STILL THIRD.
Like Arsenal, Spurs conceded a very stupid goal.
But Arsenal took three points and Spurs one.
My friend Ken Early enjoyed the Cesc Fabregas Pass Master video and says : “It was so funny – all those perfect passes and comedy misses – the first three minutes alone explain why he had to leave.”
Bernard Azulay emailed a snippet he forgot to include his report from Manchester on City v Arsenal : “When Na$ri’s face came up on the screens on the concourse, as the teams were being announced on Sunday, four full pints of lager went flying through the air at one of them and it promptly blew up.”
Horrible elbow from Clint Dempsey into cheekbone of Phil Jones when the score was 0-0. United won 6-0 at Fulham.
Danny Welbeck scored the first and Wayne Rooney’s 30-yard thunderbolt was maybe the pick of the six.
Ryan Giggs has now scored in 20 Premier League seasons.
In 2012, we’ll see the three London clubs compete for third and fourth.
Liverpool will stay sixth.
And one of the London clubs might manage a little run in the Champions League without getting to the final.
Sorted!