Eduardo da Silva is an artist, a miniaturist, a humming bird whose movements are subtle and tiny.
The detail of what he does is almost invisible to the naked eye, or even the first two action replays. An artful Brazilian from Croatia, he builds his shooting positions very cleverly
Eduardo is a bit like a Makelele sixty yards further down the pitch. Where anchorman Makelele is a master assassin, an always-balanced black belt of the invisible bodycheck, Eduardo is an assassin in the penalty area. Both decide games by tiny movements, Makelele outside the box, Eduardo inside.
Compared to Eduardo, most strikers are blunt instruments. Goalscoring by Adebayor is carpentry. Goalscoring by Alan Shearer, a soldier with a hammer, showed us the best of British carpentry. Goalscoring by Drogba is athletic carpentry by an African with a big hammer. Goalscoring by Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably, is flamboyant, high-speed carpentry
But goalscoring by Eduardo is more like marquetry, a discipline requiring surgical skill and accuracy. In marquetry, veneers are cut into small and tiny pieces and glued together on a board to make an picture. You don’t use a hammer, saw or chisel. You need a scalpel, patience, a very good eye.
Take Arsenal’s first goal, 80 seconds into the second half. A foul by Arteta, a free-kick by Almunia to Clichy, a Route 1 ball by Clichy, and Everton foolishly allow that ball bounce just outside the area. So Eduardo timed his run so that the ball bounced up and hit his chest and then, with a stiletto stab of his left foot, whisked it past keeper Tim Howard for 1-1. The lightning movement of his foot was exquisite, sudden, ultra-precise. More like judo, or table tennis, or some other sport. In theory, in a one-on-one situation between goalkeeper and striker, the keeper has a chance if he stays still and balanced and waits to use his reflexes. But Howard had no chance.
Then came the turning point in 57 and 58 minutes. A good Everton move on the left, a killer cross by left back Lescott found Yakubu unmarked seven yards out. But he headed wide and Clichy again fired a long diagonal ball, Bendtner jumped for the flick-on but missed, Eduardo let the bouncing ball hit his right wrist, without moving his arm towards the ball at all, then flicked the ball round Jagielka and buried it inside the near post. Almost impossible for an official or a defender to spot such a subtle handball.
It’s 2-1 to Arsenal and I’m thinking : Don’t play football, just score goals !
In 65, Eduardo got a yellow card for a much more obvious handball.
Then Bendtner got a second yellow card for a brutal foul on sub Andy Johnson. A disgraceful challenge and well worth a red card on its own but he will only miss one game. The Dane is lucky than Johnson was able to continue and doubly lucky that he will not be banned for three games.
Adebayor came on for Eduardo after Bendtner walked and a shocking error by the ditheringYobo allowed Adebayor to reach a long ball before Tim Howard, who was on the edge of the box and could not pick the ball up. Adebayor kicked the ball against Howard’s s leg and poked the rebound in for 3-1.
Arteta then slammed the back of his arm across the face of Fabregas, right in front of the referee, who gave him a straight red card. By now the game was frenzied and hysterical, Fabregas and Flamini were booked, and at the death, after slick play in the corner by Adebayor and Diaby, Rosicky buried a tidy shot between Howard and his near post for 4-1.
Remember : Bendtner is not the only 19-year old footballer to make a silly tackle.
He will learn not to do fouls like that. An eventful day for the lad. At 0-0 he cost them a goal and at 2-1 he got himself sent off and might have cost Arsenal three points. But, as it worked out, Arsenal only played 10 versus 11 for ten minutes before Arteta levelled it. His red card was the second equaliser in the game.
Bendtner was caught out on the early goal that Arsenal conceded, a corner than should never have reached the far post hit the striker on the thigh and popped up. Cahill’s studs got to the ball just before Yakubu’s head and stabbed in from two yards and Arsenal were 1-0 down after 19 minutes
Obviously, the first half at was ghastly. Arsenal did nothing and got nothing and deserved nothing. They didn’t play at all.
Defending is now a lost art in the EPL, with the eight games producing 31 goals.
After last week’s 4-4 between Chelsea and Aston Villa, we now saw Spurs thump Reading 6-4. Chelsea beat Newcastle 2-1 with an offside goal by Kalou. West Ham came from behind to beat Manchester United 2-1, so Arsenal are top again.
Arsenal’s next game is West Ham on Tuesday night