This time no ridiculous eight-goal match took place at the Lane today. Not with a stunning ninety-minutes perfomance. This time the Gunenrs saved themselves of what could have become an achievement in Spurs history. Even the famous and controversial new Arsenal Russian signing did not come in, and waited in the sideline for his chance due to the lack of match fitness. Even though with the strange 4-4 draw earlier this season the Gunners wanted to reivindicate after the loss of points that may relegate them to the Europa League next season. Derbies are always special and the common cliché comment that no matter how the team is in the season as-long-as-they-win is far from being a lie. And today's match proved it so with a scintillating performance by Tottenham and a depleted ten-men, injury-prone visiting side.
There were so many tuners for the game such as Keane comeback, Arshavin's arrival, Cardiff city match rescheduled and injury news that I will talk about in the course of the post.
At last I can say it to you dear reader, we can forget about European elite football next season unless something extraordinary happens.
Just as if it were not enough for the Gunners, Aaron Lennon began the match with a shot at 8'. Along the other side was Nasri's inclussions from the left. Reaching the fifteen minute mark the game was moved with both sides attempting twice on both goals; to me it should have been a 1-1 after a disallowed goal and a disallowed penalty. More and more pressure was coming from the home side reaching a 77% possession in the five-minute statistic.
Now as you know that it is a tradition from the blog, dear reader, it is time for the digression on the TV transmission. I really ignore the names of the commentator and the analyst, this is that they were not provided in the two-and-a-half hour transmission. I assume, since one was calling the other several times. The commentator could have the name of José Luis Ciro and the analyst, that I am sure, Carlos López. In any case I will do my research and correct this if I am wrong. What brought my attention was, obviously, their commentaries:
"Toure, unos de los tres Cameruneses que tiene el Arsenal junto con Song y Eboue." [Toure, one of the three Arsenal players from Cameroon, among Song and Eboue.]
"El jugador más inteligente [Nasri] después de Zidane, quien solo está detrás de Platini." [The most intelligent player [Nasri] after Zidane, whose just behind Platini.]
Now, I ignore where these two amusing pricks got out of, but these utterances, among others I did not write, were among the funniest things I have ever heard in a football broadcast. First because they are completely mistaken in both observations, and second, because many of these "journalists" do not have a real formation. Even though stupid narrators such as Mendoza and Gabriel have such a disquieting talent for spoiling a match, these two rookies [the oness of the current match] were amusing enough not to choke the viewer.
In any case the match went on fast and moving, with all the attacks coming from the Spurs. The centerback was great and I admit that William Gallas performances have at least showed a vast improvement over his overall condition. And then a typical idiocy had to arise, this time by the boots, or rather by the mind of Emmanuel Eboue. He was sent off after two stupid bookings. Then a minute later Adebayor limped out from hte pitch due to a muscular injury. Now the Gunners seemed lost. Ten-men, dispossessed and with no midfield. Palacios' shot, at 48' warmed thing up too late.
The half time talk by Wenger had an immediate impact on the young Gunners as they began to do their best; one-touch plays. Even with Pavlyuchenko's attempts and a Keane header, Arsenal looked sharp, especially with Nasri in the middle of the park. With approaches from van Persie and Song, the only hope for the Gunners, after an outstanding display by the Spurs, was that the newly acquired Russian could jump in to bring something on. Eventually he did not, and everybody knew that this would have to wait at least fot another two weeks. And disgracefully enough for the Spurs the Arsenal equalled them in possession and play. The final minutes of the match were dramatic as any of the previous last derbies, each side had the chance to score; one through a Modric and the other trhough Bendtner. After all Tottenham has not been able to win at the Grove in Premier League, that is something that many Gooners can be, at least, thankful of.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment