Fads in November 2007

1. Spurs got their 7th manager since 1996. Arsenal had the same one since that year.

2. It’s the 25th anniversary of Wacko Jacko’s best selling album, Thriller.

3. It was the Yao-Yi NBA “China Derby”.

4. Norman Mailer passed on. He is 84.

5. England lost 2-3 to Croatia at Wembley and failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

6. Arsenal’s unbeaten 28 ended at Sevilla.

Lost the battle, not the war

My colleague was asking me yesterday…should he punt for an Arsenal away victory? Somehow, I told him not to….it was an under strength Arsenal team playing away in Spain. Gosh, the Gunners tasted defeat this time round.

I still feel the decision to rest the established first team players was just. There are tough games ahead… however, the gamble did not pay off. Sevilla isn’t that easy meat after all.

Eduardo scored the only goal for Arsenal after out muscling Daniel Alves. It was undone by two superb goals from the home team in the first half. Damn, there was even time for Sevilla to score a third through an injury-time penalty.

Hope they rebound fast enough. This weekend’s trip to Villa Park could be tricky.

Bruce's not almighty

Another Arsenal victory, but not till the last 10 minutes… Wigan provided stubborn resistance and some rough play in this match. Finally, two late goals saw off Wigan. Captain Gallas scored the first with a superb header. Sagna’s cross from the right was pin point. Rosicky added the second to seal the win.

Not a bad result for the home side with a depleted midfield… the Gunners were without Fabregas, Flamini, Gilberto and Hleb. It is now an unbeaten 28 in all competitions.

Halfway through the second half, I was actually worried about the Gunners not winning this match…why? Titus Bramble was doing the defending! Luckily, all well’s end well. While Wigan put up quite a fight in this fixture, those blardy tackles on Denilson and Walcott should be straight red cards.

Gallas was perfect in this match. Okay…I am slowly beginning to accept the fact that he is the One to inherit DB’s No. 10 jersey. Bendtner was good too…he was Dangerous Dane the moment he came on. The roll continues.

Goal #1001

Adebayor hit goal 1,000th with a curling shot and Hleb twist and turn in front of the Reading keeper before scoring the third. Arsenal were simply gloriously classy.

Reading took a defensive approach right from the beginning. The first goal came when Eboué, Adebayor and Hleb inter-played effectively for Flamini to score.

Three points were never in doubt. It could have been a rout… at times, the gunners over-elaborated with their passing. Anyway, it was quite a strolling breeze… the gunners are back on top. Yipppeee!

To the knockout stage

Not gonna write much… the Gunners just got the point they needed with this away 0-0 draw against Slavia Prague to get to the 2nd round.

I hate to admit it… it was agonizing and the match was quite a yawn. Who cares… the Gunners stay undefeated and are through to the knockout stage. That matters.

Though the whole thingie was far from beautiful...there was a message to Liverpool. Qualify then rotate. Don't rotate and try to qualify.

Old fogey's webb of distraction

The injury time equalizer brought much joy to my house. Luckily, my ah girl was asleep, if not, I might had toss her up in the air as well.

The midfield contest between Man Utd’s Anderson and Arsenal’s Fabregas was intriguing. Man Utd’s teenage Brazilian was like a young Edgar Davids, snapping at every gunner’s heels. He didn’t really snuff out the Arsenal play but he was dastardly irritating. My, I think this duel could soon replace the Vieira vs Keane or even the Wright vs Schmeichel feuds of the yesteryears.

I think Arsenal were the slightly better team on Saturday. Yup, even though they had to come from behind twice. When Fab4 calmly rolled the ball to made it 1-1, it was sensational. When Gallas made it 2-2 right at the death, I felt like it was …. like better than getting laid.

It now stands at a club record run of 25 fixtures unbeaten in all competitions. Sure, Man Utd did sort of prevent the Arsenal from doing their sleek passing game. So, this new found resilience and steel have prevented any dreaded results. We saw remarkable comebacks against the likes of Liverpool and Man Utd.

A draw was a fair result… and yes, Gallas gave everything… more such stellar performances from our captain. It was euphoric when captain Gallas hooked in the equalizing goal. This Arsenal team’s got character and they just doesn’t want to lose.

My initial blog title was "Stoppage time joy"...I've since change to this current title. Ha ha.

Dudu on the double

Eduardo Da Silva fired his warning shots last night with two superb goals. Le Boss even insisted there is much more to come from the Croatian.

Dudu’s double was enough to sent the Gunners to the fifth round. The first was a swerving strike and the second, a sweet left foot shot after feinting past the keeper. Denilson added the third off a deflection.

Oh yes… it was simply Arsenal from start to finish or, Arsenal all the way. The Blades were clearly out-passed by this set of younger Gunners. Though it was 3-0 victory, it clearly could have been more…. without breaking a sweat.