Porto 2 Arsenal 0 - Nothing much to make of it

After the win against Wigan, Wenger was clearly planning to rest most of the players for this final fixture in the group stage. Toure, Clichy, Sagna, Nasri, Fabregas, Walcott, Adebayor and VanPersie were missing. I wasn't expecting much when Arsenal.com announced the squad. It was a clear ploy to rest some players. 

Some will go on about how we finished second and that we'll have to face top teams in the next round. But in the end if we have to win the cup, we'll have to play the top teams anyway! If you look carefully at the standings, you'll see that there isn't much difference between the sides that finished first and second. 

It's back to the league on saturday and it's Boro away. A fixture which has clearly not been our favorite for some time. Last time around we lost 2-1. It would hvae been 2-0 if it was not for the last minute consolation. In many ways it was similar to our performance against Stoke this season. One of the worst. With key players rested, there shouldn't be a factor of tiredness this time around. Boro will play an open game and if we're in the right mindset, we can win. One - nil to the Arsenal? Hopefully.!

Carling Cup jolly ride over

I was expecting this. A tie away from home is always tough and poses a whole different challenge. It was too much for the kids and they just flunked. Burnley had the hunger to win the game more and that was clear during the game. We could have done better, especially Randall and Bendtner. Their goalkeeper had a nifty game and thwarted our forward line on several occasions. It's over anyway, no point arguing.

Now it's back to the league where we have to carry over the grit that we showed at the bridge. Wigan won't be an easy fixture. I hope the team has learned that from the past defeats. An immaculate record in December is needed to catch up with the leaders and the team needs to take it one game at a time.

PS: 21 of the 30 goals which Ronaldo scored in premiership was at Old Trafford. That doesn't mean he was spectacular away from home if some people think that was the reason. Ronaldo deserved it, i'll never question that. But Henry deserved it too. But the fact that he was not recognized is an anomaly.

Much needed win finally arrives

Phew. Finally. We needed a break and there it is. A win. Against Chelsea at the Bridge. I can't think of a better 'break' that we could've got.!

It was a strange game. Both teams were never at their best, Arsenal were never at their passing best and Chelsea was never close the what they used to be at the Bridge. Chelsea dominated the first half where a silly mistake from Almunia saw us go behind after Bosingwa picked up the throw by the goalkeeper and whipped it in into the 6 yard box and a hapless Djourou turned it into his own net. There were no clear cut chances in that half and i never imagined that the fortunes would turn in the second half.

Up stepped Van Persie in the second half and scored a quickfire double to put us in the lead. The first was a clear offside, but the second was perfectly legal and an awesome finish too. I wasn't confident of a win even after that as Chelsea are known to batter the opposition hard in such cases. But the battering never came. In fact they didn't even manage a shot on goal after that.

It was a great feeling which would have been even great if we were the ones to end their run. This was a win which put a sigh of relief on the faces of all the gooners and most importantly, the players and Manager. I won't say that this will the turning point of our season until i see a winning run, which is exactly what we need now.

Meanwhile we have the Carling cup tie against Burnley away today. Again it will be the kids and it will be a tougher test for them as this is a tie away from home and Burnley are high on confidence after beating Chelsea at the bridge.

PS: Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or by a comprehensive margin. Which makes me ask this question yet again. Why was Henry overlooked during his prime years when he scored near 30 goals every season and created many. Does this award always go to the media darling? things certainly look so.