Arsenal v. Bolton 1-0 10/Jan/08

We can remember Bolton's struggle with the Gunners last year for a place in the UCL, with that marvelous 3-2, and the tough away matches held at the Reebook Stadium. And as far as I am concerned (and if somebody can correct me I will be pleased) the FA Cup match against Plymouth would be the second match I haven't reviewed in this season. This due to transmission issues. I think that it was not even broadcasted in the UK. Being the other match the visit to Twente's ground due to ESPN's lack of broadcast it was this time that I had no chance to secure a review. I know that the delay of the reviews can often be irritating or even ignored but they are posted. Here the highlights along with some pictures for those of you who could not watch them.





Regarding the Bolton match Arsenal kept the tradition of no-home loss against the Wanderers. With a late show by Bendtner, Arsenal kept their fifth place and will face a visit to Hull next week.

Ofcourse it was not the thrilling five-goal match as the one of last season, but it had several good plays, starting with a wide van Persie shot at 13'. Up to the 15' Bolton had 30% of possession but even the statistic lied since the Wanderers could recover the ball immediately. Samir Nasri curiosly enough played more in the middle and with the creation of attack plays even with the zonal physical Bolton defense. This type of scenario would have been perfect for the Welshman Ramsey since the spaces were fair enough to create something interesting.
Not much was offered in this part of the match but Nasri's dribbling talent. Clichy wide shot at 30' and Arsenal box pressure were not enough to scare a strong visiting side. The period ended with nothing more interesting than Elmander's injury and a dull Arsenal that tried make an impression on a heavily defended Bolton.





Uninteresting resulted the next half, with Bolton gaining more possession by the minute but not really doing anything special. Nasri, at 59', played were he pleased and the ball began moving in several directions aside from the common side crosses. Nothing new for the home team reaching the 65', just the entrance of the favorite "Lanchero" Vela. Arsenal grew ambitious by the minute while the different passses from Samir ended in a wide Ade shot. Arsenal exasperation was evident and a brilliant play inside the box by van Persie hit the post, at 70'. Possession was a joke, with 77% for the home side. The rampages made by the defense and even a Toure shot were effortless. The inclussion of Ramsey promised good, when the late goal arrived at 84'. The so-much criticized 'Robosaur' Bendtner put the ball in the back of the net when van Persie crossed into the far right post. Bolton tried to use the last minutes to make a terrific return but the whistle blew first.


Jon Carter's latest column on ESPN was as boring and predicatbale that he is failing to impress even the less updated fan. In his latest list of the young prospects to watch, feature nearly a half of what an 'expert' would have predicted, but last year. Gourcuff and Rafael are not any more interesting regarding his list, they have proved to be excellent prospects. And that is the point of the "prospect", to look into the future, but the mistake with several picks in Carter's list is that it is yet another common place list. It is full of facts instead of the reasons to watch them. In any case Mr. Carter a little more effort could do us good. To me the only interesting and new picks are Chung-Yong and Annan. Mainly all of the players in the list feauttue in their respective awards young players list so a little more research and effort would be thanked.