Arsenal 2 Liverpool 1
Merida 19, Insua 26, Bendtner 50
Craig Eastmond was superb last night.
A stylish holding midfielder, Eastmond played like a 24-year old. He nicked the ball, cruised forward, used it well. Once he broke free down the right but his cross was blocked.
Eastmond has pace, skill, strength, and, most important, the instinct that allows him to make the right decisions from moment to moment in a fast-moving team sport.
Last night he was doing things that Eboue can’t do, that Song can’t do, that Diaby won’t be able to do if he plays for another 20 years.Will this 18-year old from Wandsworth be given the same opportunities as a Frenchman or an African? Will Wenger support Eastmond and give him a real chance to make a career at Arsenal? Or will he loan him out and flog him off to QPR or Birmingham?
I know almost nothing about Arsenal’s kids, so I leave writing about them to people who know what they are talking about. Youngsters only come onto my radar screen when they play for the first team.
Eastmond made a big impact. But I wonder if I will ever see him again.
Entertaining game, same handball by Senderos would have been a penalty at Anfield..
Wenger’s 750th game was a 2-1 win and Arsenal reached the Carling Cup quarter-finals for the seventh consecutive year.
My son Michael was at the game with ten of his closest friends. This morning he said, “Dad, we were right behind the goal where Insua scored. That was a helluva shot that went half an inch under the bar and dipped down three more feet before it hit the back of the net. Keeper had no chance.”
That Insua goal equalised a thunderbolt by Fran Merida which flew in off the near post. Bendtner had a nightmare first half, mainly on the right. But he beat Skrtel and smashed in a left foot shot.
Benayoun came on, never got a kick, Aquilani got 20 minutes and looked world class, sprayed 30 yard passes around. It was Aquilani’s overhead kick that Senderos handled. Only Senderos could turn his back on a shot and still handle the ball with both arms. Goalkeeping, really. But he got away with it.
Really nice to see Kerrea Gilbert playing at right back again. He comes from my part of NW London and is a member of my gym, although I’ve never seen him there. He’s been in Cardiff.
Joe Cole laid on two goals in Chelsea’s 4-0 romp against Bolton, while Stephen Ireland scored a superb first goal in Man City’s 5-1 defeat of Scunthorpe, although some might say Michael Johnson’s left foot snorter was an even better goal
Seven of EPL’s top 8 clubs have qualified for the Carling Cup quarter-finals, plus Portsmouth, who beat Stoke 4-0 on Tuesday night.
Chelsea are favourites followed by Man United, Man City, Arsenal (6-1), Spurs (7-1), Aston Villa, with Blackburn & Portsmouth at 25-1.
The Times Football Correspondent Oliver Kay writes this: One game is no basis on which to predict great things for any young player, but, as well as his involvement in both Arsenal goals, Eastmond’s diligence and his composure in a midfield holding role — a role to which few English players, young or old, take naturally — was, along with the performances of Ramsey and Mérida and the return to action of Samir Nasri after a broken leg, the most encouraging aspect of the evening for Wenger.
ARSENAL (4-4-1-1): Fabianski; Gilbert, Senderos, Silvestre, Gibbs; Bendtner (Watt, 76), Ramsey, Eastmond (Randall, 76), Merida (Coquelin, 87); Nasri; Eduardo. Subs not used: Bartley, Frimpong, Sunu, Szczesny (gk).
LIVERPOOL (4-4-2): Cavalieri; Degen (Eccleston, 88), Skrtel, Kyrgiakos, Insua; Kuyt, Spearing, Plessis (Aquilani, 76), Babel; Voronin, Ngog (Benayoun, 75). Subs not used: Reina (gk), Darby, Dossena, Sanchez Ayala.
Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire).