Barcelona 3 Arsenal 1 - Match Review



"ARE YOU SENDING ME OFF? SORRY I CAN'T HEAR WHAT YOU'RE
SAYING BECAUSE OF THE 95,000 PEOPLE SCREAMING AROUND US"

     Well. Where do I begin. So many points I want to deliver, but my thoughts are swirling around in a chaotic maelstrom. Brilliant. I'll just do this in cronilogical order I suppose.

     Pre-match, we Arsenal fans were given brilliant news. Van Persie was fit to start. Along with him Cesc, and other than that the only surprise inclusion was that of Rosicky. So we started out like this.

                      van Persie

   Nasri            Fabregas       Rosicky

               Wilshere      Diaby

Clichy     Koscielny    Djourou    Sagna

                       Szczesny

     Then kick off came and as one would imagine, we sat back in our half. We continued with the tactic of keeping a fairly high line, and it seemed to work. But with Barca in our half, and with them controlling so much of the ball, our lineup mutated to something like this:

                      van Persie

                      Fabregas
  Nasri    Wilshere     Diaby   Rosicky

Clichy    Koscielny    Djourou    Sagna

                       Szczesny

     To be honest, we defended well. Nasri was doing decently to keep Dani Alves shut up, but Clichy looked confused at times with the movement of the Barcelona players. Even so, we were doing alright.
     Although our defense looked assured, I still got a little twinge in my throat/heart (I'm not sure) whenever I'd see Villa/Messi/Pedro make a run through our back line, just waiting for Xavi or Iniesta to play the perfect pass. Luckily, they didn't find it, and the first half was fairly scarce of very clear cut chances. There were some times when a last ditch tackle saved us, via Djourou and Koscielny's great play. Koscielny did slip up at one time though, when he made a poor challenge Messi in the box, and we got away with it. We were riding our luck.

     In the 16th minute I wanted to cry. Koscielny was booked for a foul on Dani Alves which was a soft card, and the Brazilian took the resulting free kick. The stinging shot was saved by Szczesny but with a price tag attached. Szczesny was forced to go off with a dislocated finger (so what I have heard so far). That led to Almunia coming on, and I feared the worst.

     Offensively, we were poor. When we got the ball we failed to keep it for more than four passes and van Persie must have been frustrated. I think there were a couple reasons to why we couldn't go forward well:

• Once we would win the ball back, we would try and find van Persie to hold the ball up so we could push forward. However, our passes weren't on the same wave length of van Persie's movement.
• Barca pressed us very well and we weren't quick enough to find feet; they snuffed us out.
• Cesc, the man that links up everyone on the field, was having a poor match. His passes were sloppy, and part of the reason for that was his lack of fitness and also he said he felt a twinge in his hamstring after 15 minutes, but played through it.

     The half seemed to fly by from my point of view, because I looked at how much time had passed and saw it had already been 40 minutes. Then it hit me: I think we can do this. We've already defended for one half of the match, why not two?
     In response, Messi popped his head through the teli said to me: "You're real thick mate" and scored. I was crushed. Usually when a tiny little greasy man insults you, you'd be infuriated, but the fact that his goal came just a minute before half time made it so much worse, and put me in a shocked, depressed state.

     We did go forward on some occasions, but none of our attacks posed any real threats. While we were in their end, prior to the goal, a scuffle was induced because Wilshere went down and stayed down after a rough tackle where his ankle turned over. Clearly he was hurt, and once the referee stopped play the Barcelona players went mad. Soon enough the majority of the two sides surrounded the 19 year old, and on the side of the chaos, Abidal grabbed van Persie and shoved him by the neck.
     This to me, is a clear red card. You simply cannot do that.

Abidal mad that Dani Alves is a cunt

     Not only that, but Dani Alves grabbed Nasri by the neck as well. In the picture below, it is clear that the referee did see this incident, and still  did not hand out even a yellow card. The referee was shit, in simple terms.

Meanwhile Jack is lying on the ground, unnoticed.

     Van Persie was clearly riled up because of this incident, and it took some time to calm him down. Once play resumed, RvP crossed paths with Dani Alves and picked his nose I believe, it all happened fairly quickly through tangled hands.
     Alves did what he does best, and rolled around on the ground, writhing in nonexistent pain. None the less, it was a yellow card offense, and Robin was booked. UEFA regulations states that shit referees are given to Arsenal's most important matches, and that picking the noses of the opposing team is unacceptable.
     I expected more from him, being a professional like himself. His experience would lead you in the direction that he would be above that kind of immaturity, but I suppose the frustration of being up top alone for an entire half and struggling got to him.

     So half time came, and I was very pleased with our performance despite Messi's goal. I thought we were defending well enough and could grind out a 0-0 draw, of course until they scored.
     But Messi's goal meant we would have to attack, and I was very worried about having to commit numbers forward in the second period. I was afraid of being caught on the break. But we couldn't do nothing. We had to attack.

     In contrast to the first half, I thought we started well. The ball was at their end more than it had been previously, and while we never mustered anything near a serious threat, it was a start. Nasri won a corner for us, and I thought dead balls were our best chance of scoring.
     Funny isn't it, in the Premier League it's our weak point, and against Barca it's our best form of attack.
So Nasri swung the corner in, Diaby made a run into the box and leaped like a fucking kangaroo but couldn't quite reach it. But his hard work wouldn't go in vein. Because of his jump, it put Busquets off and the ball went off his head and into the goal. Haha.

     When that went in, I was confused. It took me about ten seconds to realize we had scored. The ball was in the net, but I thought Diaby missed the ball? I didn't hear the referee blow his whistle?* Is it a foul because all those Barca players are on the ground?
     Then the cameras turned to Arsenal celebrating, and I was overjoyed. At 1-1, we could go through! We defended well for 42 minutes of the first half, why not 40 of the second? And we were going forward better than before!
*I should've seen the foreshadowing

     Oh, wait. The incident.
     Fabregas played a ball over the top for van Persie, he controlled the ball, but his shot was wide. It didn't matter though, because he was offside. However, the referee thought Robin was time wasting and gave him his second yellow of the night.

     What kind of bullshit is that? In a stadium of 95,000 fans, how is van Persie supposed to hear one man's whistle. Not only that, he never looked over to the linesman, nor the referee. He controlled the ball, and immediately And not only that, it was only one second between the whistle being blown and RvP shot it. I could understand being the yellow card (being a player myself) if Robin had performed a chip shot of some sort, but his shot was full of intent and he looked frustrated with himself that he missed his chance. But still, a red card offense? Is it really worth it to knock Arsenal out of the Champions League with that call? Utter horse shit.
     Congratulations Busacca, brilliant play.

Oh, sorry. I guess you don't like it
when I congratulate your proffesionalism.

     So now we were really screwed. How we were going to get back into the match, I had no idea.
     We were forced played without a striker for 20 minutes, Wenger not willing to take the risk so early on to take a midfielder of for Bendtner or Chamakh. And when we were able to go forward it was Nasri vs. Barcelona.
    
     Now the objective was just to hold onto our aggregate lead and hope for the best.
But because of the red card, Barca really pressed, and they found the breakthrough in the 69th minute.
     Credit to Barcelona, it was a brilliant goal. Iniesta drove into our defense, gave it to Messi, who's first touch slipped Xavi through and you couldn't ask any more from Almunia. He did brilliantly from when he came on to keep the scoreline low, but this time the finish was perfect.

     So 2-1. If we could hold onto that scoreline and not let them score again it would go to extra time, and maybe penalties. I for one did not want that. I honestly thought there was no way we could stop Barcelona for an extra 30 minute with 10 men.
     Luckily for us, Barcelona hushed that idea. Messi drove into the box, and Koscielny's fairly rash challenge wasn't going to be unnoticed twice. Definite penalty. Messi stepped up and made it 3-1. The match was over at that time in my eyes, and even a super sub couldn't save us.

     Arshavin and Bendtner came on to try and save the match for us, and Nik could've. Late on, we caught them on the break, Wilshere put a ball right into Bendnter's path, his first touch let him down, and Mascherano smothered. Had his touch been better, or had he taken the shot first time, he would've sent us through to the quarter finals. I'm sure of it. Football really is a game of "If only", isn't it?

     Once we were into stoppage time, Barca flexed their muscles and played the possession game. When we did win the ball back, it seemed our players didn't know we only needed one goal to go through. They were simply jogging, with no urgency. Only in the last 15 seconds did we finally boot the ball up field and hope for the best. But by that time it was too late. We were knocked out of the Champions League.

     First of all, credit to Barca. We were dominated in the first half, and they out played us. Second half - I think it was a different story. From kick off of the second period, the game looked as if it would be more open; we were going forward better, and it was a corner that got us a goal. I really was confident we could get a result, as was Wenger, who said that he was confident we would have won the match (whether he was referring to the tie or the match itself, I'm not sure, but i believe he meant the match). Then van Persie's sending off.

     Fuck that shit. As Arsene said, the referee could not have played professional football in a match of that importance to make a decision like that. He completely spoiled what looked to be a very exciting second half between the two best sides in the world (when Arsenal isn't being fucked over by a referee). To those who were unbiased and just wanted to see some good, exciting football, I'm sorry. For a referee to spoil a match of such importance is just atrocious.
     I am fully confident that if we didn't lose van Persie, we would've gone through. For the time in the second half that RvP was on the field, we were a much more of an attacking force. I think we could've grinded out a draw or even gotten a win.

     One thing I don't approve of is that some people are trying to use the sending off as too much of an excuse. Yes, it did spoil the match, but some are choosing to neglect that fact the Barcelona out played us with 11 v 11. The stats proved that. We had no shots at all last night. They are the best team in the world without a doubt, but it's not always the best team that wins. As Nasri says, "Football is like that sometimes".

     I have also heard about some of our fans at the Nou Camp, and their naughty behavior. Shame on you. You embarrassed the club, and when you're going to complain about the class of Barcelona, don't be a hypocrite. To those of you that made the trip to Barcelona and supported the team as a fan should, thank you for your support.

     Lastly on my rant, I pity those that are very upset with the fact we haven't gone through. I think those people need to realize that we were going up against the best side in the world, and that if Arsenal is to be knocked out of any cup, going out at the hands of Barcelona is no embarrassment. Not only that, we are still in contention for the league and FA Cup.
     And I'm not even going to mention or argue with the comments asking for Wenger's dismissal.


     Player ratings now...

• Szczesny - 8 - It's hard to judge him, since he was never really tested and he went off the pitch so early. He dealt with Barca's early shots well none the less.

• Sagna - 6.5 - Adriano made a fool of him on occasions and I don't think his communication with the rest of our defense was very good. Also, when we had the ball he didn't make the best decisions with his passes.

• Djourou - 8 - Without him, the scoreline would have been much different. He made some important last ditch tackles and the offside trap worked well.

• Koscielny - 7 - Yes, he gave up two penalties and got away with one, but along with Djourou he snuffed out danger and kept the scoreline lower than it could've been. The communication between he and Djourou was very good, except for the second goal perhaps.

• Clichy - 6 - At times he looked confused and did not stay tight enough to Dani Alves/Pedro. He was beaten many times and he did not give us the width required when we were defending.

• Diaby - 5 - I didn't want him to play, and his positional play was terrible. His physical dominance did not show and I think it is clear that Denilson would've been the better choice. Diaby took much too long on the ball and the last thing we needed last night was a lack of pace in our attacks.

• Wilshere - 7.5 - The consistency of this 19 year old is astounding. However, just one man can't turn a match against Barcelona around. he almost did though when he sent Nik up perfectly in the closing moments of the match but the Big Dane couldn't finish.

• Fabregas - 5.5 - Very disappointing. His poor play was partly due to his injury he felt at 15 minutes, and he really should have requested a sub. Being the captain of our squad, he should be the pinnacle of professionalism. His naive back heel led to their first goal, and his overall passing was shambolic. The worst match I've ever seen him play.

• Rosicky - 6.5 - A surprise inclusion to the squad, but I think it was a smart, tactical one. He played decently, but gave Adriano too much space on the flank.

• Nasri - 8 - For playing in such a defensive role he did very well. Like Rosicky, he gave Alves a little bit too much space but Nasri obviously isn't a defensive minded player. Going forward he was alone at times, but did manage to win the corner that set up "our" goal.

• Van Persie - 6 - He couldn't get into good areas to pick p the ball, and when he was in those areas, his passes weren't up to par. His first yellow was stupid on his part, but he was unlucky for the second.

• Almunia - 8.5 - My man of the match. Without his brilliant saves, we would've lost by much more than just two goals. He made himself big on many occasions, and while he let up three goals, he was not to blame for any of them. Now we can go to Old Trafford with at least a little bit of confidence in our keeper.

• Arshavin - 6.5 - He was forced to play on the right side so that Nasri could help defend against Alves, and it is clear that the Russian isn't the best at attacking from the right side. Never the less, he strung passes together and did decently.

• Bendtner - 5.5 - His rating is really based on his missed chance. His poor touch took the ball into traffic, and he should've proved to the world how good he is, but he didn't. His hold up play was better than van Persies, but van Persie would've finished the chance Bendnter had.

• Wenger - 6 - He did very well with his medical team to get van Persie fit, but I thought his team selection wasn't the best. I would have liked to see Denilson in place for Diaby, and Abou proved me right. Also, poor to put RvP in when it was clear he wasn't fully fit. Another complaint was that he waited so long to put Bendtner on. We needed a central striker to hold the ball up, and Arshavin wasn't going to be able to make a huge impact without a central striker.

     Going back to the sending off, Wenger naturally had very strong words regarding the referee and his decision. As a result, he has been charged by UEFA for his actions. The punishment will be decided on Thursday, along with a punishment for Nasri, for his comments. Nasri tweeted:

"Thank you for your support once again u were amazing sorry for the result now we have to think about Man utd game and we still have a league to win and by the way bussaca is the best....pff"

     Haha. I mean, to be absolutely brutally honest, Nasri said nothing wrong. You can't assume he was being sarcastic. None the less, I could care less. If he's handed a ban it will be for the group stage of next year.
     And if you're wondering about van Persie's charge, UEFA hasn't handed one out yet for van Persie's strong but true comments about the red card.

     So an injury update and Szczesny has suffered from a disloacted finger and won't make the trip to Old Trafford this Saturday. In his place will be Almunia, and Arsenal has recalled James Shea from his loan to Southampton. Rumors are going around that Cesc won't be able to make the trip either. Brilliant. On the other hand, we'll have van Persie back, but more on that with my preview.

     Speaking of Cesc, he tweeted this which is heart breaking:

"Great support from the arsenal fans. I take full blame for the result tonight. One of the worst moments of my life. I apologise."

     Perhaps this is a little early, but Benik Afobe scored for Huddersfield in his last match. I can't wait to see him back in our squad. Screw Diaby and Denilson.

     Well I think I'll end this post on that positive note. Another year out of the Champions League, but all the more reason to do the League and Cup double.
    Cheers.

Barcelona Preview - Come On You Gunners, It's Our Time!

ARSENAL DNA

     Well well well. The match we've all been waiting for. We travel to the Camp Nou on Tuesday to take Barcelona on for the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. Because of our win at the Emirates of 2-1, a draw is acceptable, but defeat is not unless it is by one goal and we score more than one.
Ex:
3-2 ~ We're through.
1-0 ~ We're out.
1-1 ~ We're through.
0-0 ~ We're through.

4-1 ~ We're out.

     But this side is very different from the one that lost last season.

     While we are currently suffering from injuries, it's not as bad as last year. This year, we're only missing Theo and Song. Oh, and what's that you say? I've forgotten to put van Persie on the injury list? Nope! Wenger included van Persie last minute into the squad that's flying to Barcelona. While I doubt that RvP we will start, including him on the bench means Arsene probably intends to play the Dutchman.
     Not only that, but when a player is injured, Wenger usually has that player stay in London to get their fitness back. Still a little strange, though, because Wenger said six weeks out. There was some speculation that Wenger did this on purpose as a mind game, but he silenced the rumors.
     Therefore, I think this will be our starting lineup:

                        Bendtner

     Arshavin                             Nasri

                        Fabregas

               Wilshere        Diaby

Clichy     Koscielny     Djourou     Sagna

                        Szczesny

     While this is a fairly strong lineup (without RvP as a starter), I don't think it's the best we could do against Barca. I suggest this lineup:

                      Chamakh

     Nasri                              Bendtner

                       Fabregas

               Wilshere      Denilson

Clichy     Koscielny     Djourou     Sagna

                       Szczesny



     Yes, I know Arhsavin isn't there. But here's why I picked this lineup-

• Busquets will play center back for Barca in the absence of Puyol. The aerial presence of Chamakh would be hard to deal with.

• I feel that Bendtner is much more of a threat on the wing. Not only that, Maxwell doesn't go forward too often and when he does he isn't very effective. Therefore having Bendtner on the wing wouldn't leave us too vulnerable.

• Nasri has played on both flanks for us, but when I watch him play on the left I feel he is much more effective because he can turn onto his right foot. Also, he would protect Clichy better from the threat of Alves and if Arshavin played there we wouldn't have much defensive cover on Alves. Barca fans say Alves is just as dangerous as Messi, so let's not underestimate him.

• Bendtner and Chamakh could together get into the box and we could put crosses in. Good luck Busquets.

     One of the cons to having this lineup is that Maxwell is their weak link (compared to Alves) and Bendtner wouldn't test him as much as Nasri would. Anyway, on to the squad that is suspect Wenger will play.

     I see it as good and bad. Bad because Arshavin will not cover Dani Alves well, but good because Arshavin is very direct and the Russian can catch Barca on the break. Another thing I disagree with is if Diaby were to start. Diaby's height compared to Iniesta, Xavi, and basically the entire Barcelona attack is notable. Therefore, when in a one versus one situation, he would be much slower and and simply would not be effective. Also, another problem with having Diaby play is that he takes too long on the ball which slows our play down.
    
     On the other hand, Denilson's passing is sloppy, defensively he is weak, and going forward he rarely makes an impact. However, I say Denilson, because his style of play is more for the Spanish game than the English. His height means his tackles would have a higher succes rate (I believe) compared to Diaby's. Hopefully his passing won't be as sloppy as it usually is if he does play.

     So that's done. I'd rather have Denilson than Diaby. In any other match I'd pick Diaby, but Denilson gets the o.k. from me for this one.

     From Barcelona's standpoint, it's not too much of a worry that Busquets plays center back, because he's played their before. Abidal meanwhile isn't a worry for them either because he regularily fills in for Pique or Puyol.
     Because Busquets drops back to defense, either Keita or Mascherano will play the holding role. My guess is Keita, because Barcelona payed 17 million to have Mascherano warm the bench. If Mascherano does play, it's good and bad. Mascherano is an annoying niggling little cunt, and I don't like that. On the contrary, his passing isn't very good so if he were to play he may disrupt Xavi and Iniesta's midfield dictatorship.

     Up top, the usual for Barca. Sagna will have to deal with David Villa, and I think he will deal with him fairly well, since Eboue did alright. However, communication between Sagna and the rest of the defense will be key tonight when Villa drifts inward.
     Then there is Clichy vs. Pedro and Dani Alves. Last time out we didn't see much of Pedro, but we did see a lot of Alves, especially when Arshavin came on in the first leg and pushed Nasri over to the right flank. Not only that, but when Alves came far up the pitch, Clichy seemed unaware and therefore his positioning was poor. I think the difficulty of Clichy's job depends on who plays in front of him.
     And then there's Messi. Last time out Koscielny had a brilliant match, and quite oddly kept Messi fairly quiet. Hopefully Koscielny can replicate his performance, but it's hard to replicate perfection.

     There are some people that will try to make comments about Fabregas's 'faithfulness' and his 'dedication'. Thankfully the skipper has silenced all of the stupid, beaten to deat comments by saying this:

“I am not here to shut up comments or to beat anyone specifically, I am just here to win for Arsenal Football Club. Sometimes I don’t understand these reactions or comments about people saying I want this or I feel this. I want to win for Arsenal and that’s it. I don’t put anything extra in my head because I play against Barcelona in the Nou Camp. It is a special game for everyone because it is a special stadium and we play against a good team. That’s it. It's one more game that we want to win. I don't like people talking about what I feel. Only I know what I feel. I want to do my best for Arsenal, and that is it. "I just want to do well tomorrow, to keep improving myself and for the team. That is all."

     Very well put, and I must say I am more than pleased with that quote. He shows hom much Arsenal means to him, and despite the fact he wants to one day play for Barcelona, he will let that moment wait.

     But I don't want this match to be about Cesc; we need to focus on earning a draw or defeating Barcelona. My predicted scoreline is 1-1, and I usually like to name the scorer, but I have no clue. What do you think the scoreline will be? Comment and tell me.

     So now let's talk some tactics.
     As we all know, we are no Inter Milan side that can go to the Nou Camp and simply defend for an entire match. We are by defintion an attacking side, so that's what we'll do. When we have the ball, I expect we will try our best to play the possesion game, and that we won't commit many players forward, especially Clichy and Sagna.
     As we did in the Emirtaes, I also expect that we will keep a high line to try and stop Barca from possesing the ball in our third to the best of our ablity. There is no doubt they will do so, and what's most important is that we don't lose our shape, to not get distracted by the fluid movement of Barca's forwards.
     When we can, we will counter attack, and I think it's our best chance of scoring. Arshavin scored the winning goal two weeks ago via a counter attack, and with the pace of our wing players we should be a real threat. Therefore, I doubt Keita/Mascherano will venture too far forward, along with Maxwell. I'm sure Alves will not restrain himeslf from going forward though, and that's why I think the player chosen for left wing will have a hugely important part to play in the match.
     It's our time tomorrow. We have come so far with such a young squad, and I think we deserve to adavnce past Barcelona.
     Have yourself a good Tuesday, and hopefully a good Wednesday (night) as well.

Arsenal 0 Sunderland 0 - A Golden Chance Wasted

When Arshavin WASN'T offside and scored.

 
     So, as you may have noticed, Arsenal has once again dropped points at home to a side that we shouldn't have had too much trouble with, even with some important players injured.
     Of those players, Cesc, RvP, Theo, and Song. As a result, Bendtner was put up top with Nasri and     Arshavin.
     In defense, we were back to the normal line-up; it was good to see Koscielny back, and he will definitely be fit for Barcelona.
     In the midfield, Wilshere took up Cesc's spot and Denilson and Diaby were the two holding players. Personally, I was not happy with that. I can't remember the last time I've been happy with a Denilson performance. Defensively he is poor, and going forward he is nonexistent. At times I feel he just sits at the center circle and picks his nose. Just a theory, though. None the less, I was happy to see Wilshere in the central attacking midfield role. It's his future position, and I looked forward to seeing how he would do.

     I was disappointed. In the first 20 or so minutes, we didn't create much going forward, and I think that was down to Jack. He didn't check to the ball enough, he didn't drop back far enough to pick up the ball, and simply did not get involved with the play. Some say that this was down to the players around him. I think not. Wenger put him in his "natural" position, but I believe that Jack left his "comfort zone" and therefore wasn't exactly sure on how to play this position, believe it or not. I understand that his natural position is central attacking midfield, but he didn't really show it.

     For nearly the entire first half, we created little and never had tempo to our play. A Nasri shot here and a Bendtner shot there was all that we managed to muster, really. Late in the first half though, we finally seemed to find our feet. A nice ball from Wilshere sent Nik into the penalty area and his tight angled shot was saved by Mignelot. Lovely.

     So half time came and I was worried. It was poor on our part and we needed a goal fast to get rid of the nerves.
     One of the main reasons why I think we didn't attack well was a result of the partnership of Diaby and Denilson. Diaby can go forward well, but he didn't do so that often. When we have our regular midfield partnership of Cesc-Wilshere-Song, and we go forward, Song sits deepest, Wilshere joins the attack and Cesc does his thing. So, it kind of looks like this:

                         Cesc
Wilshere

                Song

     When we do defend, Song and Wilshere are square. Wilshere is good defensively, despite his physical stature.
     What we as Arsenal fans like most about Wilshere is how good he is at going forward. He effects our attack so much not only because of his creativity, but also because the timing of his runs forward. He knows when to join the attack and when to play the simple pass or to take a risk to play the defense splitting ball.
     Diaby meanwhile is a different story. Defensively, he is better than Wilshere solely because of his physicality, not because of his tactical awareness. But when Diaby goes forward, his runs are sporadic and his timing is off. I felt that against Sunderland he upset our attack and because of his runs forward we had trouble finding fluency. As a result, we didn't upset Sunderland's defense, and distort their shape. Poor decision from Wenger I feel.
     Anyway, onto the second half.

     We seemed to continue with the shit play we had from the opening minutes of the first half. Sloppy in possession, and unable to hold onto the ball to create an organized attack.

    Therefore, Wenger unsurprisingly replaced Denilson with Chamakh. Hence, Chamakh went up to the central striker role, Bendtner went to the wide right, and Nasri took up his most natural position as the central attacking midfielder.
     Immediately, we created a chance. Chamakh squared the ball into the box for Arshavin, and his shot was straight at Mignelot. Had Chamakh's pass been better (lighter and not bobbing off the ground like a fucking rabbit) Arshavin may have been able to get a better shot off and scored.

     Koscielny was then fouled by Sessegnon right outside their penalty box, Nasri took it and once again Mingelot was there with a fantastic save. Bollocks. To respond, Wilshere put a beautiful ball into the box which Chamakh headed onto the bar. In all honesty, he should have buried that. It was a somewhat simple chance and being a player with his heading ability, there aren't many excuses.

     Then was the first moment of real controversy. Nasri played Arshavin through, and the Russian was away. Bramble was holding Arshavin back, but he shrugged the challenge off. THEN, Bramble fell to the ground and in a last ditch effort pushed Arshavin in the back right when he took his shot. The shot went wide naturally, and the referee gave no penalty. Is that a fucking joke? How can you be a Premier League official and miss a straight push in the back? Absolute nonsense.

     As a sympathy gift, Arsenal went under real pressure. Welbeck had a brilliant volley that was miraculously turned behind for a corner by Szczesny. On the resulting corner, Henderson found himself completely unmarked and his volley was somehow saved again by Szczesny. It was very, very poor marking from Arsenal, and I don't think Szczesny knew much about Henderson's shot. It hit him square in the chest. If that had gone in, we would have been screwed.

     Immediately after that, we got fucked over AGAIN. The second moment of controversy. Bendtner played an brilliant ball to accompany a PERFECT run by Arshavin, which the Russian took past Mignolet and put in the back of the net. But the goal was never to be. Right from when the pass to Arshavin was made, the linesman put his damn flag up, and he put it up like a rocket. Why, I don't know, because Arshavin was clearly onside. For Christ's sake.

     We applied some late pressure still, with a free kick played in and Nik had a very, very tame header that he really should have done better with. Big Game Bendtner? The name lives in vein.
     After that, a last minute corner which came to Koscielny was headed wide, and the match ended. Two points dropped, and again Arsenal was unable to take advantage of United slipping up.

     As I said previously, we cannot continuously rely on United to drop points. WE need to be in control of this league for once. If we are to win the title this year, I don't want it to be in the fashion where I sit with a radio next to me while I watch Arsenal play and bank on United dropping points. That just shows Arsenal won the title via a last minute Manchester United slip up, not a prestigious Arsenal-underdog-comeback-win.

     The refereeing today was horrendous. I didn't mention it in the second half review, but Anthony Taylor made a lot of poor calls other than the two Arshavin incidents. He handed out a yellow card to Nasri for a nonexistent challenge, while Sunderland continued to make late tackles and on some occasions they got away without a booking. For example: There was an incident where Djourou was up-field and sandwiched between two Sunderland players, one of them Silly Muntari. Muntari challenged for the ball but lead with his elbow. You can't do that! Whether there was any intent or not, as a match official you cannot allow players on "your" pitch to go around elbowing the opposition and getting away with it! God bless me.

     But even with the poor officiating and our poor first half midfield trifecta, you'd have to say we've blown another chance to make up real ground on United. When United lost at Molineux, the "Newcastle Incident" occurred. When they lose to Chelsea, we come up short against Blunderland.
     We CANNOT make a stupid slip up like we did today to side that we should've taken three points off of easily.
     But Dirk Kuyt has given us another bite of the apple. United lost at Anfield earlier today to give us hope. The goal difference between us and the Mancs is just three goals now, and just three points divide us, with a game in hand to the Arsenal.
     Our next match in the league is against West Brom, a side you would expect us to take the three points. This time we have to, and if not, I'm afraid to say it will be much, much more difficult to win this league.
     But we never do things the easy way, do we?

     Anywho, on to player ratings:

• Szczesny - 8.5 - He had a very good game. Although he wasn't called upon often at all, when he was late in the match he made two brilliant saves to keep us in the match, and you could say the title race as well.

• Sagna - 6.5 -  Defensively, he did alright. Early in the match he had some very good chances to put a good cross in, but they were shit. He didn't go forward very well.

• Djourou - 8 - What a rock he was. He too saved us from defeat, and quite simply had a very good match.

• Koscielny - 7.5 - It seems he shrugged off all the nerves we expected him to have from the cup final. Defensively he was slightly above par, but he went forward on many occasions and it seemed very effective because it distorted Sunderland's defensive shape.

• Clichy - 7.5 - I thought he had a good and bad game. Defensively, I thought he was very poor. He let Sessegnon get the better of him on a few occasions, but when he went forward he looked very confident.

• Denilson - 6 - I want him out this summer, and I think he will be once Benik Afobe, Henri Lansbury, and others come back. Defensively he was poor and he didn't go forward enough. He just slows us down I feel. He gave the ball away in our own half far too many times to be an Arsenal player.

• Diaby - 6.5 - He too was poor. I was expecting a good performance based on what he did on Wednesday night, but he let me down. His runs forward weren't productive, and he took too long to get rid of the ball.

• Wilshere - 7.5 - A good but slightly disappointing performance. I expected more from him when he played in Cesc's position, but he looked uncomfortable and confused. However, when he dropped back to his normal position once Denilson went off, we really applied pressure on Sunderland. Hardly a coincidence.

• Nasri - 8 - What a waste to have him play wide. When he drifted inside he was deadly, and looked our most likely to score. When he played in the central role we were dangerous.

• Bendtner - 7 - Big Game Bendtner? Not as I hoped. He had some half chances, and didn't take them.

• Arshavin - 7.5 - In the first half he was very quiet, credit to Anton Ferdinand. In the second period he was pushed in the penalty area which should have resulted in a penalty. Not only that but he scored a legitimate goal that was wrongly ruled offside.

• Chamakh - 7.5 - When he came off the bench he had an immediate impact. We were a different side when he came on, but he really should have scored his chance instead of hitting the woodwork. If he scored, he would be a hero.

• Rosicky - 7 - Hard to judge. When he came on our passing was better, but you could say that was due to Wilshere and Nasri.

• Wenger - 7 - Dissapointing. His side failed to win the match, and his half time team talk seemed to have little effect. He shouldn't have started Denilson and Diaby together, but his substitutions were smart and we immediately pressed Sunderland for a goal. But in Arsene We Trust.

     Speaking of Wenger, after the match he was interviewed by BBC and asked about the two controversial calls. He said that he was too disgusted to speak about them. He didn't say anything offensive towards the FA or the match officials, unlike "Sir" Alex. That just shows the class of Wenger and Arsenal as a whole once again.

     Also, those of you that were worried about Jack, he is fine, and will be fit to play against Barcelona. on the other side of the pond, Puyol is injured and will miss the match. Why? Because they rushed him back into the fray. We took an extra precaution with Cesc, and now he's fit to play. Stupid Barca.

     In other news, Kyle Bartley scored for Rangers to earn them three points. He starts and has played in the Old Firm derby and against Sporting Lisbon. It looks like his development is coming along nicely. I can't wait to have him back next year.

     That's that I think. We now have Barcelona on Tuesday, which I feel may be why we dropped points. Perhaps the players had one eye on Camp Nou, when both of their eyes needed to be on defeating Sunderland. All the same, let's put the game behind us, move on, and prepare for Barca.
     Be sure to check back for a preview of that match, and don't forget to comment and tell me your thoughts on the match, or the post. Or both! Your choice.
     'Till then.