MrPing1000 said:
I fear for our midfield :/ I wish Henry was playing he's shit
:lol :lol :lol Even though he's scored against Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan and ****ing Brazil, he's shit against big teams...good call!
paul777 said:
Why in holy god's name is Gilberto Silva taking Arsenal's penalties?
To be fair the penalty he took midweek was outstanding. But er, yeah...I'd rather see Rosicky or Fabregas taking those.
Just like last year's Old Trafford clash, I thought the first half was about as good a spectacle as I've seen so far this year. Two teams just going right at each other. And not with the idea of kicking each other in the shins, cussing each other out on the sidelines and throwing elbows, but just playing smooth, beautiful, flowing football. It really was a treat to see.
The second half was weird though...Man U suddenly developed an alergy to the ball and kept giving it away all over the field, and half the time without any real pressure. Arsenal weren't as solid as they were in the second half as well with some giveaways of their own, but they seem better equipped to deal with the mistakes, having more quickness to get back and defend, while looking more dangerous on the counters.
Eventually twinkle toes (who was stunningly a non-factor today after owning our asses in previous games) coughed it up one time too many, giving Stud Fabregas a chance to get the ball back deep, make a few moves and slip a delightful ball into Abedebayor, who with those long legs of his did the rest. The funny thing is that at that point I was more then ready to settle for the draw, and figured that would've been good enough. To break our four year donut at Old Trafford with 5 minutes to go in regulation time was almost shocking, cause it seemed we were just snake bit.
And then Mad Jens proved once again why he's currently as good as any keeper on the planet. Nevermind the rocket he took in the melon from Ronaldo in the first half that I thought for sure had knocked him out of the game...the save he made on Sols shot not even two minutes after the Gunners strike was flat out ridiculous. The shocked look you see on both his and (I think) Fletcher's face said it all. Lehmann just seems to get better with age.
Overall I'm estatic with the result...the midfield was outstanding, Abedbayor played extremely well as the lone striker, and the team really fought hard. Man U's touch in the second half was defintely wanting...Ronaldo was surprisingly average. Rooney was below par too, but this is only his second match since early August so it'll take a few more games for him to get back up to speed. Saha was kept in check pretty well by the Gunners as well, though he had one header that barely missed the goal.
It's a funny thing about this young squad the last six months or so...seems when things are at their bleakest, and the opposition is at their strongest, and damn near everyone is writing them off, that's when they rise up to the fore. They did it against Real Madrid, did it against Juventus, damn near did it against Barca while a man down, and have now done it against a Man U team that (FA Cup final aside) has quite simply owned us in the last four years. It just shows all the more how completely and utterly absurd Cashley Mole's comments were regarding this team having no unity, being selfish and for themselves (yeah, they play the most unselfish brand of football on the planet but they're selfish...makes sense to me!), while Fabregas is somehow a featherweight (who only proceeded to own the entire Man U midfield at the Theatre of Dreams). Clearly much of that junk was said to unsettle the team, knowing he'd be at their newest arch rivals. Funny then how Arsenal's now won two on the trot since. :lol And both without Henry as well, for those who said they can't win without him. A whole lotta crow was served on Sunday.
I still think we're a year away from challenging from the title, unless we're able to avoid anymore serious injuries. But they're more then capable of challenging for the top four, and that's all I really care about...anything more is gravy.
Funny though...it took Arsenal until mid November to get their first road win of the season. It's rather amusing that their first road win came in their second Manchester trip of the season, and that it wasn't at City. :lol
