Blackburn v. Arsenal 0-4 13/Sep/08

After the thirteen-day international break the Gunners returned with a torment visit to Paul Ince's side. Arsenal smashed their opposition when needed and even had the luxury of debuting the youngest of the young guns; Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere. Although the peculiar hat-trick by Adebayor stole the day, there were several arrivals by the home side that through the first half deserved the equalizer. Jolly, as always, delivers a quality account of the match, mostly fixed on Theo's deliveries.


First half began with a tremendous rhythm by both sides. Van Persie's wide free kick and Roque Santa Cruz's headers were amongst the many arrivals both teams had. But the early lead arrived when Theo, in a very Brazilian play, got rid of three players and put a thorough pass on van Persie who neatly finished on Robinson's goal. Walcott was a pacy demon in the left side creating opportunities, and it may seem that Arsene's words in the beginning of pre-season encourage him to make the final step. As minutes passed the Rovers pushed, with the help of our clumsy captain ofcourse, against a permissive midfield. This type of pressure is the one that Arsenal is most likely to face throughout the season. Nasri's absence was noted particularly in the right side, although Eboue's performance have rose above level.
Van Persie's arrival only went to the side-netting while at 30' a very troubled Arsenal managed to cope with the overwhelming crosses in search of "Ich Roque." Another opportunity came to the Dutchman at 41' when the match was almost at the equalizer. Then when the Londoners could not find any solutions, Fabregas understood what was happening. Then leaded by them a 26-touch play ended in the head of the Togolese earning his first goal of the season.





The following 45 minutes saw a rather dismal Rover side, and the troubles that the put in the first half were fancies of another age. Until the 70' Blackburn did not pose any threat although the match still moved fast. In one of his attack rampages Eboue was knocked by the mediocre Warnock. At first sight it did not seem like a penalty but he arrived too late for the ball. Adebayor finished it perfectly and the Gunners had a comfortable lead. The Ivorian left the pitch and Ramsey came in.
Then it happened. Jack Wilshere substituted Theo Walcott. The 16 year-old kid made his debut, being the youngest Gunner in the history. He proposed several crosses and made some runs, but he can not expect more than that. HE IS SIXTEEN FOR CHRIST SAKE! Cesc seemed an old captain against this youngies and the match ended with the hat-trick of Manu Adebayor.
One thing that I have noted is the current way of corner-taking by the Gunners. Surely this order is given from the bench but one characteristic of the two-touch corner is the slow bend and high pull it takes.