Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn Rovers: Stick Your Black Bag Up Your Arse
Sunday, 05 February 12, 01:34 AM · Comments (1)
Good morning from the middle of the Arctic Circle. Britain has once again felt the full force of what I'm sure a lot of countries would consider a trifling amount of snow, and everything is in
the process of grinding to a halt. Everyone's favourite excuse is here again and nobody will have to do anything because it can all be blamed on the semi-frozen water. Fortunately keeping us warm
as civilisation falls apart around our ears for a day or two is the glow of a 7-1 victory for the Arsenal.
All in all, that's not a bad way to end a run of four league games without a win, eh? The last time I recall us scoring seven goals was against Slavia Prague in the Champions League a couple of years ago, before that there were two against Everton and Middlesbrough in the last couple of seasons at Highbury. I wouldn't be surprised if Thierry Henry scored in those games as well!
Before we get to yesterday it's been a little while since my last blog so lets catch up a bit. Since my last blog we've had a very frustrating 0-0 draw with Bolton when we could have closed the gap to fourth by two points and indeed we'd really be putting the pressure on Chelsea now ahead of their game with Manchester United a little later on. It was just one of those games for us where the ball wouldn't go in. There were chances and lots of them, Theo Walcott probably the most culpable of those that wasted opportunities to win us the game but it clearly wasn't meant to be. Unfortunately we're really getting down to business in the season now and such results and such failures to take chances can be costly. We could stand to stay above Chelsea in the league today if they lost, instead we can only hope to remain two points behind them.
So it's with no small interest that I'll be watching the Chelsea/United game later. We did good work yesterday and played very well to get our points. Fair enough we were helped along by a Blackburn side who were, to be diplomatic, fucking terrible but you can only beat what's in front of you and after four games without winning in the league then a 7-1 win against any calibre of opposition will do very nicely thank you.
Even within a 7-1 win Arsenal still found time to frustrate us. We took a 1-0 lead through Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott's combination to outwit a Blackburn defence that seems to be to footballing intelligence what Chris Waddle is to the use of the English language as a native tongue. Subsequently we were in total control of the game, looked in no danger whatsoever and it seemed that it was simply a question of how many we would score. Naturally, Blackburn equalised.
Gamst-Pederson's free kick was, to be fair, straight out of the top draw. You might ask a question of Szczesny for getting his hand to it but not saving it but the truth is he did well even to manage that. On the replay's you see the ball is more or less in by the time Szczesny gets to it anyway, so I don't think it's fair to offer too much criticism of the goalkeeper. In any case, it hardly mattered in the final analysis. Walcott and Van Persie scored pretty much the same goal as the first after outwitting Dumb, Dumber, Dumberer and Dumbest in the Blackburn defence again.
Shortly afterwards it was 3-1 through the lad who can do nothing wrong at the moment. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was on the end of a magnificent pass from Van Persie with an equally intelligent run and after seeming to over-hit it he caught up before Robinson could get there, knocked it round him and then made the easy finish for his first Premier League goal. 3-1 then, and at that point it was difficult to see any way back for Blackburn.
It got harder before half time as well as Gael Givet was shown a red card for a reckless challenge on Robin Van Persie. It was a decision from the referee I think there can be little debate about, Givet was late and two footed and if Robin had not started to jump out of the way when Givet caught him then it could have been really nasty indeed. Givet in fairness realised his mistake immediately and appeared to apologise to Van Persie there and then, but it was really poor from him and I hope he reassesses how he goes into tackles in future.
Thus the stage was set for the rout that was the second half. First it was Mikel Arteta who smashed home a loose ball after an Arsenal corner and put the points beyond any doubt. Then it was Oxlade-Chamberlain again who was found by Walcott and his finish I have to say hasn't received the attention it deserves in my book because it was quite remarkable to hit it like he did in at the near post with almost effortless control. I have a feeling this young man is going to be a big part of the second half of our season.
From there it was on to the captain to complete his hat-trick with an even better finish as Coquelin found him in far too much space in the penalty area. As you'd expect he made no mistake and lashed it home. At this point Arsenal somewhat took their foot off the gas, understandably. It wasn't until added time that they found the final goal but it was one worth waiting for as Thierry Henry both created and scored the chance. Intercepting a loose pass inside the Blackburn half he and Van Persie broke forward. Robin went outside and Henry laid the ball of to him and moved in on the Blackburn penalty area. Robin found him with the return pass and Henry's shot took a deflection off the unfortunate Scott Dann and flashed in for Thierry Henry's 228th goal for the club.
So, 7-1. Not bad at all, a thoroughly enjoyable win which gets us back on the right track in the league. All eyes now turn to Chelsea to see what they do against Manchester United. Our next game is against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light which will not be easy at all, so we could do with some momentum going into that.
For now though, let's bask in the glow of seven goals and three points.
That's all then, talk to you again soon.
All in all, that's not a bad way to end a run of four league games without a win, eh? The last time I recall us scoring seven goals was against Slavia Prague in the Champions League a couple of years ago, before that there were two against Everton and Middlesbrough in the last couple of seasons at Highbury. I wouldn't be surprised if Thierry Henry scored in those games as well!
Before we get to yesterday it's been a little while since my last blog so lets catch up a bit. Since my last blog we've had a very frustrating 0-0 draw with Bolton when we could have closed the gap to fourth by two points and indeed we'd really be putting the pressure on Chelsea now ahead of their game with Manchester United a little later on. It was just one of those games for us where the ball wouldn't go in. There were chances and lots of them, Theo Walcott probably the most culpable of those that wasted opportunities to win us the game but it clearly wasn't meant to be. Unfortunately we're really getting down to business in the season now and such results and such failures to take chances can be costly. We could stand to stay above Chelsea in the league today if they lost, instead we can only hope to remain two points behind them.
So it's with no small interest that I'll be watching the Chelsea/United game later. We did good work yesterday and played very well to get our points. Fair enough we were helped along by a Blackburn side who were, to be diplomatic, fucking terrible but you can only beat what's in front of you and after four games without winning in the league then a 7-1 win against any calibre of opposition will do very nicely thank you.
Even within a 7-1 win Arsenal still found time to frustrate us. We took a 1-0 lead through Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott's combination to outwit a Blackburn defence that seems to be to footballing intelligence what Chris Waddle is to the use of the English language as a native tongue. Subsequently we were in total control of the game, looked in no danger whatsoever and it seemed that it was simply a question of how many we would score. Naturally, Blackburn equalised.
Gamst-Pederson's free kick was, to be fair, straight out of the top draw. You might ask a question of Szczesny for getting his hand to it but not saving it but the truth is he did well even to manage that. On the replay's you see the ball is more or less in by the time Szczesny gets to it anyway, so I don't think it's fair to offer too much criticism of the goalkeeper. In any case, it hardly mattered in the final analysis. Walcott and Van Persie scored pretty much the same goal as the first after outwitting Dumb, Dumber, Dumberer and Dumbest in the Blackburn defence again.
Shortly afterwards it was 3-1 through the lad who can do nothing wrong at the moment. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was on the end of a magnificent pass from Van Persie with an equally intelligent run and after seeming to over-hit it he caught up before Robinson could get there, knocked it round him and then made the easy finish for his first Premier League goal. 3-1 then, and at that point it was difficult to see any way back for Blackburn.
It got harder before half time as well as Gael Givet was shown a red card for a reckless challenge on Robin Van Persie. It was a decision from the referee I think there can be little debate about, Givet was late and two footed and if Robin had not started to jump out of the way when Givet caught him then it could have been really nasty indeed. Givet in fairness realised his mistake immediately and appeared to apologise to Van Persie there and then, but it was really poor from him and I hope he reassesses how he goes into tackles in future.
Thus the stage was set for the rout that was the second half. First it was Mikel Arteta who smashed home a loose ball after an Arsenal corner and put the points beyond any doubt. Then it was Oxlade-Chamberlain again who was found by Walcott and his finish I have to say hasn't received the attention it deserves in my book because it was quite remarkable to hit it like he did in at the near post with almost effortless control. I have a feeling this young man is going to be a big part of the second half of our season.
From there it was on to the captain to complete his hat-trick with an even better finish as Coquelin found him in far too much space in the penalty area. As you'd expect he made no mistake and lashed it home. At this point Arsenal somewhat took their foot off the gas, understandably. It wasn't until added time that they found the final goal but it was one worth waiting for as Thierry Henry both created and scored the chance. Intercepting a loose pass inside the Blackburn half he and Van Persie broke forward. Robin went outside and Henry laid the ball of to him and moved in on the Blackburn penalty area. Robin found him with the return pass and Henry's shot took a deflection off the unfortunate Scott Dann and flashed in for Thierry Henry's 228th goal for the club.
So, 7-1. Not bad at all, a thoroughly enjoyable win which gets us back on the right track in the league. All eyes now turn to Chelsea to see what they do against Manchester United. Our next game is against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light which will not be easy at all, so we could do with some momentum going into that.
For now though, let's bask in the glow of seven goals and three points.
That's all then, talk to you again soon.
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Posted by lepermessiah998
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lepermessiah998
Birmingham, GB
An Arsenal blog by some bloke calling himself Leper Messiah
1 Comments · Add yours
That Blackburn team went to Anfield and drew and won at Old Trafford over the last few weeks.