Arsenal v. Aston Villa 1-1 (1/Mar/08)

A miraculous tie against the other Birgmingham team gave the London side the lead on the title race again, even though Man Utd had won 3-0 against another London side, Fulham. The match seemed paired due to the good work of Martin O'Neill. The young northern side had in its lines players of the quality of John Carew, as well as English youngsters Luke Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Scott Carson, on loan. All of these players resulted quite a challenge for the home team, each making enormous contributions to the late tie.
The mood of the game was undoubtedly set on the injury of Eduardo, earlier commented in this blog. Many messages in the stands and even in the electronic publicity showed the support of the Club and Fans towards him.
The game started quite clean and calmed. The new additions to the squad were Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott, who both made a quite impressive beginning, but in the case of Walcott fading after. The first approach towards goal was made by the latter. The Gunners were in complete dominion and possession, and were creating opportunities, all unclear. The good thing was the finishing of the playings. The first great danger option for the visiting side was the clash of Agbonlahor and Gallas. The Frenchman did an excellent save, while the English youngster
was already making his movement to shot. The game, at 21', was more balanced with approaches by Villa mainly on the flanks. This was seen when Young did the cross after an unsettled Arsenal defense, that made Phillippe Senderos hesitate and putting the ball in the wrong back of the net. Certainly he was very upset about it, trying to mend his error making advances forward every time possible. On the other hand Agbonlahor made tremendous efforts, showing the talent that has earned him a call in the senior squad. On this attempts by Young, Carew, and
the previously mentioned Englishman unbalanced the sides of the home side. The London side was target of many "sieges" by the Birmingham side. After a natural period of overwhelming pressure by the Gunners, the northern side applied the conversion-reconversion tactic previously postedon this blog. Although O'Neill was forced to make substitutions due to injuries their game style did not diminished but slowed down. In the final minutes of the first half Villa intensified their attacks reaching thrice the goal, although Almunia was very careful not conceding any restrictions.
For the broadcast of the game, I have previously mentioned the emotive and entertaining that a match narrated by Juan Manuel Pons can be. But the fact that their 'footballistical vocabulary' extends to certain amounts of words that tend to repeat talks very bad a bout them. The adjective "prolijo" [tidy, neat, fastidious, prolix, tedious] was used at least five to seven times in a space of fifteen minutes. And what are Thesaurus for?
Second half was purely electric, with both sides struggling to take advantage. The Londoners were becoming quite desperate, and as the previous season syndrome, they began to hesitate and the crosses towards the goal became more evident when Sagna or Clichy made any attempts to reach the final line. The overuse of tandems and walls by Diaby and Hleb were a sign of the unclearness of the match by the Londoners. The substitutions implied a clear tactical change in the squad performance and made Theo sway on the wing, again.Since his attempts in the first half he clearly faded, like many games this season. The home side showed a very balanced positioning on Villa counterattacks. Nicklas 'Robosaur' Bendtner was what Adebayor were not in this match. He was fully compromised in helping defense and midfield, supporting the sides and showing his true talent as a 'complete' forward. Adebayor showed the exhaust of 19 goals. He was different from another matches, maybe more focused on Tuesday's game. The changes involved the already common releasing of Cesc. This movement proved Villa's defenses, that were perfect in the final third part of the pitch. The away defense was really involved and did not made a mistake, until the final minutes. Concerning the Garreth Barry's fowl on Denilson the decision was very clumsy, a red card was obvious. The crowd in the stands completely shocked, due to the previous injury of Eduardo, and it was an imprudent clash. The final minutes were the result of the desperate home side trying to get the equalizer. This pressure was showed in the series of corner kicks, five, that lead to the late equalizer. The cross by Clichy was headed by Adebayor towards 'Robosaur' Bendtner who killed the game, nearly reaching the 94'. It was deserved, although many complains on not getting the ball right in the back are in the air. Bendtner has the instinct of a true '9'. In the right place at the right time. A nerve-ending match showed that the Gunners did have their minds in San Siro for hext Tuesday.
The good news is that Arsene can count on Van Persie and Rosicky after lengthy spells. David Young defined in a master way the situation of the Dutchman; irritating. I have to say that not seeing such a delighting talent that could help the team progress is very stressful. We will see if he features in Tuesday's bench.
On the Carling Cup Final I have to say that Tottenham deserved the title, due to the work of Juande Ramos. It was a thrilling game, both sides struggled for the superiority, and the injury time definition was delightful. Of course it will be the only silverware that the London side will get for at least a cople of season, if not more, so they better enjoy their little cup meantime top flight teams struggle to earn "Continental" silverware.
The quote of the week (in a 'Toño' Moreno style) is Arsene Wenger's. Nothing more to add.:
"on the reported 'Eduardo' chants by Villa fans ...
'You expect better from people who come to football stadiums. It looks that intelligence and stupidity can have no limits. Unfortunately stupidity has won.'" Here the quote.