Saturday 10 January 2009

Unlucky Bolton - my heart bleeds

The starting eleven was as expected, I had hoped to see Vela starting but as usual Emmanuel Eboue kept his place on the right side of midfield with Nasri kept on the left. The first half was not inspiring, RVP shooting over was the closest we came, the continual niggling Bolton fouling from Davies in particular was not unexpected.

The second half was one way traffic. Good chances came and went. RVP struck the foot of a post with a good effort as he lost his balance in the box, Bendtner came on for Eboue and really should have done better with his first touch as he headed straight at Jaaskelainen from a well delivered free kick. In the meantime Vela had come on for Diaby.

Bendtner had another good chance when his low shot was blocked, Toure had a good drill from distance that was well saved. Then the break through. Van Persie found space in the inside left position, his delightfully flighted cross was met perfectly by Bendtner at the back stick with his right boot, one nil to the Arsenal and thank the lord for that.

Then another extremely enjoyable moment, Davies found some space in the Arsenal box and it was laid back to him only ten yards from goal, he took aim and fired a tame shot that was easy for Almunia to save. I really enjoyed that miss, Davies sums up the filth that Bolton are, limited in talent and only gifted with an ability to foul, cheat and deliberately injure the opposition, what a great shame he will be thinking of that miss tonight on his way up to grim Bolton.

Some things are just plain obvious. Bolton deserved nothing for their defensive clogging and it was incredibly satisfying to beat them, even if it was only by the single goal. Carlos Vela must start on the left of midfield with Nasri on the right, Eboue is not good enough and Vela gives as some genuine width and directness that we often lack. The three points were much the needed, have that Megson, Davies et al, I hope you have a long painful journey back north tonight.

5 comments:

Si said...

A good result and nice to see us a grind out a game against the grinders.
Also, although it seems a little late to say it, nice to see the player that most Gooners wanted as skipper in the first place playing with the arm band. I truly hope the rumours are not true and that Toure stays. Him and the Joho are easily our best cebtral defensive partnership.

1979gooner said...

I have to agree.

Maybe Toure/Djourou can be the way forward.

I could never like Gallas the way i like Kolo.

Anonymous said...

funny how arsenal completely dominated the game and 2mins after we scored we gifted them a great goalscoring chance , why cant we concentrate anymore after scoring a goal ? this is the MAJOR fucked up problem with this average team, i pray arsene will sort it out yet defending seems to be a dying art at arsenal with 2 much effort going into attacking play

1979gooner said...

it's not just an Arsenal problem, it's a human problem, after scoring one is always the most vulnerable to conceding,

I do agree though it does seem to be a bit more of a problem for us, it's partly psychological, as the more you do it the more nervous you get of it happening again and then the more likely it becomes, a vicious cycle that is not good!

Anonymous said...

IT WAS A GOOD RESULT AND GOOD PERFORMANCE AND IT SHOWED WE CAN GRIND A RESULT OUT WHEN NEEDED.It shut up the so-called pundits who say we know only 1 way to play,yes the proper way.Our defence wasn't troubled until we scored and then there nearly let them score!!It seems we never learn?Nasri again took control and Vela coming on,again,caused problems.Really all the team played well how could there not when the opposition makes camp in it's own penalty box?.Bolton should refund there fans ticket money and travelling expenses as it was embrassing for them.Please answer following questions and enlighten me someone!
(1)How do bolton stay in the premiership?
(2)How the hell davies didn't get booked for 5-6 fouls when Diarby and djourou get booked for fouling twice?
(3)Is Adebayor tied to the wing instead of in the box when we get the ball out wide?
(4)Did bolton spend a lot at the ronaldo school of cheating?
finally is megson really a manager?