Arsenal 1 Liverpool Reserves 1 was more of the same.
Another draw.
Arsenal have drawn 11 Prem games so far.
First half, a shambles.
After that Arsenal played OK but only scored once.
When Fabregas took an inswinging free kick from the left, Peter Crouch was marking Flamini at the near post.
Nicklas Bendtner ran diagonally for 12 yards and jumped well above Crouch and equalised with a header from four yards.Then Bendtner ran off towards the corner flag. He didn’t expect anyone to jump on his back. He didn’t expect anybody to hug him or kiss him. He didn’t turn round to welcome the embraces of his delighted teammates.
By contrast, when Adebayor scored with a header on Wednesday night, the whole team jumped on him and had a laugh.
Bendtner had just scored the goal that put Arsenal back in the game, and set up an exciting last 20 minutes. He headed the ball into the net and eight teammates turned their backs and walked back to the halfway line. As an afterthought, Theo Walcott trotted over and slapped Bendtner’s hand. Theo is a nice guy who realised how bad this must have looked, and felt sorry for Nik.
The body language following that goal tells us more than words ever will. It looks as if they all detest bighead Bendtner.
Crouch had put Arsenal 1-0 down.
Reina booted a goal kick 70 yards and Crouch nodded to Benayoun, took the return ball, and whacked it into the bottom corner from just outside the D. England’s best centre forward, excellent goal. What more do you want? A big striker who can control the ball, pass it, volley it, half-volley it, link with people, shoot from 35 yards, as we saw when Almunia tipped over. Doesn’t have Ade’s pace but football is not athletics and the Premier League isn’t the Olympic Games.
Some of the things Arsene says would be hilarious if they weren’t tragic, like when he said, of Bendtner and Adebayor, ” I don’t know if they like each other.”
Obviously, Bendtner will be sold in the summer and another striker signed.
Why not Peter Crouch ?
You wouldn’t have to give him six months to learn English. You wouldn’t have to bring over his Mum and Dad, his grannie, his brother and his dog. And Crouch would not need an interpreter to go with him to a DVD rental shop in Enfield.