About the Blackburn game... the two teams had already met twice this year and accounted for 14 yellow cards and 2 red ones, an amazing record of competitive churlishness. Fabregas had been mildly reprimanded by the Boss for publicly suggesting that Mark Hughes' team philosophy was actually tarnishing the memory of his playing career at Barcelona. Point being there is no love lost between these two teams.
This game was different though, mainly because both sides were short-staffed due to injury. Fabregas started the game on the wing having been in bed for three days, and we were also without a whole host of others including Toure, Eboue, and Rosicky. But Blackburn were even worse off, playing without their central defenders Samba and Nelson in addition to two of their better attacking players Gamst Pedersen and Dunn. With the departure of Robbie Savage, they are not nearly as intimidating in the middle of the field. For all of his ridiculousness, he did manage to polarize a game in a way that made it more violent and ultimately more difficult for the better team.
Arsenal began the game perfectly, mounting attacks and winning corners and Senderos' goal was an unlikely gift. Benni McCarthy failed to mark him on a corner and he rose alone to bury a header past Brad Friedel in the 4th minute of the match. Poor old Senderos always looks so put-upon with his double-folded brow and his look of hapless confusion after he has clattered it into the stands after being exposed in the middle. His celebration was more like the primal cry of a tortured soul, but the goal was a happy occasion for the Gunners, who must have felt the pressure to capitalize on Manchester United's derby loss acutely.
Things looked great at that point, up a goal at home against an opposing team with the aged Tugay operating as field general. For the next twenty minutes or so Arsenal maintained solid possession. Fabregas, Adebayor, and Flamini were out of synch, but Sagna and Hleb were destroying Blackburn down the right and Gilberto looked Brazilian for the first time this season.
Blackburn stayed disciplined in defense, though, and Friedel made a few of the saves that make him the best position keeper in England. And then Arsenal began to overpass. Adebayor could not get his feet right and we seemed over-intent on finding him, the way we sometimes did with Henry. Eduardo in particular was guilty of passing on a couple of shooting chances and I think most Gooners would agree that he should just shoot, shoot, shoot when he is near enough, his accuracy, like Rosicky's, setting him apart.
We went into halftime with a one-goal lead and then came out in the second half with less rhythm. Blackburn moved the ball nicely, with Bentley and Emerton providing some impetus and Santa Cruz lurking dangerously. Benni McCarthy was horrible and having conceded us our goal also wasted Blackburn's best chance in the first half. Senderos and Gallas are still a scary pair but they really didn't have to deal with any pace on the other side and mainly looked in control. Blackburn rarely threatened.
Hleb was fantastic throughout the match and it took him getting more aggressive in the middle of the second half to change the balance of the game. He banged a shot off the post and forced a good save on another, before finally setting the table for Adebayor's 90th minute strike.
Arsenal were in fantastic form over the last ten minutes and the goal was totally deserved. Wenger used no substitutes, choosing to rest legs for the upcoming contests with Man U in the FA Cup and AC Milan in the Champs.
What a crazy week coming up... Most folks I've spoken to say they want the Premiership and would be willing to sacrifice FA Cup and Champs Leagues runs to that purpose. I mostly agree given the injury situation, but think we are in such good form that we should go out to have fun, play well, and avoid getting kicked. With that said, I don't want to lose to Man U in any competition and concede them any edge or belief. Hopefully Toure and Eboue will be available and we can stack Eboue and Sagna on C. Ronaldo and make him miserable.
Man of the match was Hleb without question. Adebayor deserves praise for finding goals in 9 straight EPL matches. Much has been made of Henry's mentorship of the young Togo striker but I have to say that Wenger's response to Adebayor's success was much more convincing: it's no secret why our forwards score goals because they are supported by the entire team and get open looks. Still, at the start of the season Adebayor rarely ran by his markers and now he does so regularly. He is good in possession and he is starting to develop a special awareness that allows him to get shots away in tight spaces.
If you remember, earlier in the season I made a goal-scoring formula for Arsenal's success, and we are pretty near to accomplishing it, though Adebayor has carried a much bigger proportion of the load thus far.
My fears are these: we still need Toure and Gallas together in the middle against good teams and if Toure is out we are very vulnerable; Gilberto is struggling and Flamini and Fabregas will get tired if Rosicky and Diaby cannot play bigger roles in building the attack.
Still, we are clear five points and have Birmingham next. Our attack looks good. Our outside backs are phenomenal.
On Monday Arsenal defeated their staunch northwest rivals Blackburn Rovers 2-0 to take a 5-point lead in the title race. That's the sort of success that takes a Gooner's breath away and allows the first twinge of unbridled hope to burst through the crusty protective layer of cynicism that has characterized many of my reports thus far. Still, a twinge is only a twinge, and while I experienced elation after Adebayor's goal, I almost immediately looked ahead to the prospect of real disappointment should we lose the title to Manchester Fucking United...