KOLO TOURE rocked Blackburn with a superb header after Rob Styles had sent off Gilberto in 12 minutes.
Peroxide mongrel Robbie Savage fouled Gilberto twice in the same incident and when Gilberto flicked a tiny kick at his assailant, the Welsh thespian dived up in the air as if he had been shot in the ankle.
A small crowd had turned up to see Blackburn take on Arsenal in a monsoon and it was shaping up as an interesting game when Styles spoiled the spectacle with his overstrict interpretation of the rules. A yellow card for both players was all that was needed. Giving Gilberto a red, and Savage a yellow, was absurd.
Pedersen had a cross-shot tipped over by Lehmann, which was Blackburn’s best chance since local boy Matt Derbyshire had headed over from three yards after ten minutes.
A lot now depended on Fabregas, who was playing brilliantly, racing forward into the last third again and again, playing with real urgency and flair. A lot of football is about initiative, about doing it first, and Fabregas is the kind of guy who instinctively wants to equalise before the other team scores. And if Arsenal did score, you expected him to give a masterclass in keep-ball from the re-start to the final whistle.
Blackburn sometimes play as if it’s ice-hockey, bruisers looking for bodychecks.One of their biggest thugs is Warren Neill, who fouled Robin van Persie as he broke away down the middle.
From that long free-kick in 37 minutes, expertly taken by Thierry Henry, Toure headed the goal that separated the teams at half-time.
Mark Hughes brought Tugay on for Mokoena, a playmaker for an enforcer, at the start of the second half and when that didn’t make much difference he replaced centreback Ooijer with striker Nonda.
When Pedersen’s left wing cross found Nonda in space six minutes later, Nonda’s header was amateurish and yards wide. A good chance, a bad miss.
Another bad miss soon followed when Derbyshire hit Neill’s cross against his own leg !!!!
Then Arsenal broke away on the left in a classic counter-attack and Henry exchanged passes with Fabregas before curving his shot into the far corner, with Friedel getting a touch.
So it was 2-0 after 71 minutes.
When Rosicky’s cross found the unmarked Henry, he chested the ball sweetly but blazed over. Adebayor then replaced Henry and northing much happened after that except a shocking X-certificate assault by Tugay on Fabregas.
The Turk stamped viciously into the kid’s right ankle, a wild, crunching foul that deserved a red card. Styles, two yards away, allowed advantage and booked Tugay later.
Blackburn were outclassed by ten men and saw Rosicky playing a dummy in the last third, letting the ball run square to Hleb, in the 92nd minute.
Senderos, Fabregas and Hleb were outstanding. Hoyte improves with every game and combined well with Hleb three times.He is still learning and could make the position his own, since the fans have taken against Eboue for his cheating theatrics.
So a big week ended with a third win in the north-west. Nine goals at Anfield, two at Ewood Park.
Remarkably, this 2-0 win by 10 men was a more comprehensive victory that the 6-2 win at the Emirates twenty days ago.
But spare a thought for Gilberto Silva, the most even-tempered midfielder in the Premiership, who now faces a three-match ban after a cruel red card.
Which Premiership midfielder has as few yellow cards per game as Gilberto?
In the TV interview, Fabregas, the man of the match, said, “I think after the Sheffield United game we realised we had to play a different way.”