the boys done ok!
kojodinho - talkingOfArsenal.com
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We could have nicked it in the end, but still, we mustn’t complain.
Sunday’s game against Chelsea was always going to be either tight or tetchy - in the end, it was a bit of both. Chelsea in the past have seen Arsenal as a bogey team, and Arsenal to all intents and purposes have probably been less accepting of the new reality of the new champions especially considering that most Gunners don’t appreciate the way the current champions ply their trade.
Considering that key Arsenal first-teamers were injured (Rosicky, Gallas, Henry) or suspended (Toure) I watched the game half-expecting us to lose by a slim margin. As the game wore on however, I begun to half-suspect that we might just go on to nick it in the end as we did at Old Trafford.
During the game, I had the misfortune of watching the game with a cocky Chelsea supporter, and he spent an inordinate amount of time making fun of Adebayor’s plaited hair-do. I found that funny, and pointed out that I’d rather have Adebayor’s braids, than Monsieur Drogba’s “wet look” - a look that even dodgy Michael Jackson had ditched some time in the late eighties.
Still, there was a game to watch, and we got on with it.
At some point halfway during the second half, the chav said something along the lines of..” I don’t understand why we haven’t scored yet, we should be beating Arsenal 2-0 by now..”.
That statement brought a wry smile to my face.
Most Chelsea fans I know, are somewhat punch drunk by success and periodically come out with cr*p like that. Frankly, a few of them have lost all respect for other teams in the premiership. As I pointed out to him that the away team at Stamford Bridge was similar to the one that got to the Champions League final, he brushed that fact aside mumbling “..yes but this is the Premiership..”, as though the league is one of the many yatchs owned by Mr Abramovitch. Still, Arsenal were lucky not to be one or two goals down, as Chelsea pressed and hit the post and cross-bar. You just sensed that Chelsea were not going to have it all their way.
And then Mourinho brought on Robbin and Wright-Phillips on together, and I mused aloud that I hoped that this would open the game up more, and suit Arsenal. The chav looked at me as though I’d lost my mind - I smiled back at him.
True enough, as I’d predicted, we duly went 1-0 up as Chelsea had committed themselves forward, and allowed Arsenal to pass the ball between themselves until Flamini popped up and passed the ball past Hilario into the bottom corner of the goal.
The Chelsea supporter was stunned.
In truth, I thought the game wasn’t yet over, and in the end, a stunning goal from Michael Essien drew Chelsea level. It was rather unfortunate that the goal came on the back of a foul by Ashley Cole on Hleb - who knows how the game would’ve turned out if that foul had stood. The chance for Hleb in the dying minutes could easily have made it 2-1, but the lack of composure on the Belarussian’s part was more to do with him being a midfielder as opposed to a striker. To be fair, the same could be said of both Essien and Lampard attempts that hit cross-bar and post respectively. No derby game of any repute would be without its theatrics, and Drogba and Lehamn duly provided a Laurel and Hardy sketch that will forever be played and replayed on many a Football Season DVD.
Finally the referee blew the whistle, and the London derby had ended in a 1-1 draw. Fair result, considering both teams could have won it in the last few minutes methinks.
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