Arsenal vs Middlesbrough MOTD Highlights: 1-1
Posted by Arsenalist on December 13th, 2008
After a slow start, Arsenal score off their first corner. Some bad marking fro ‘M’Brough leaves Ade open who powers a downward header. Arsenal look shaky but get the lead.
Aliadiere comes back to haunt us again. This little runt is very annoying. The goal is the result of a failed Clichy clearing:
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We’re missing Walcott on the right side, the opportunities to carve them open were there but Denilson lacks the quality to take advantage. His passes into the box are usually lower than they need to be, lack pace and are generally of a poor quality. We didn’t have anybody who could run at Boro’s back four and they defended us rather comfortably.
Arsenal were in cruise control from the first minute of the game, almost expecting the goals to come and the 3 points to follow. Boro was the more motivated side and played with a zeal that the Gunners lacked. Wins against Chelsea and Man Utd are worth nothing if you can’t take care of business against lower table teams. The goal was the result of a bad clearance by Clichy and although he doesn’t make many mistakes, the ones he does make prove to be fatal.
Song makes me as nervous as Senderos used to and that’s no good thing. Him and Silvestre in the back line do not exude any kind of confidence in their play and they’re very touchy-feely in the way they deal with long-balls, runs down the middle and worst of all they leave their challenges rather late. January can’t come soon enough for us, we need to invest in our defense and midfield more than at any other time. Rosicky is out till 2046 and Samir Nasri is in and out of the lineup, leaving the talented by often anonymous Abou Diaby to fill the creative role and that’s not what he’s good at.
Eduardo is making good progress in training and could be part of our league fixtures late in the month so I’m not too concerned about our strike power, Walcott and Nasri’s absence makes them look poorer than they actually are. The game was low on chances for both sides and we have the lack of quality in midfield to blame for it.
Gunners drop two points, title chances keep fading. I have some match highlights but don’t feel like putting them up, what’s the point. MOTD Highlights will be posted later, check the Match Report.
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December 13th, 2008 at 8:06 am
we need suitable player for left and right of midfield….:(….denilson isnt good player for right…
i hope aston villa lose his game:(
tnx arsenalist
December 13th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
unbelivably man u and liverpool both tied, so although we did not make up any ground on them, at least we did not lose any.
December 14th, 2008 at 1:30 am
damn..:( ….now aston villa is in 4th place…:((
we need pace , something we always had with gleb , theo , and our match next week is liverpool….we showed this year that we can beat big teams , hope beating big teams continue…
December 14th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Wow. Chelski, Manure and Pool drew. And spuds lost HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAAAHHA!!!!
December 15th, 2008 at 8:38 am
[...] + Jérémie Aliadière returns to haunt the Gunners. [Arsenalist] [...]
December 16th, 2008 at 1:41 am
Really nice if we’re depending on other teams’ performances to improve our league position…..damn, another year no trophy
December 16th, 2008 at 1:43 am
just read a title from arsenal.com: ‘Wenger – There were positive signs at Boro’… probably meaning we didn’t lose…lol
December 17th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Now what is this?
http : // www . arsenal. com /news/news-archive/arsenal-holdings-plc-board-restructuring
“Ivan Gazidis, the incoming Chief Executive, will join the Boards of the Company and the Club with effect from 1 January 2009.
Richard Carr has announced his resignation from the Board of the Company having served as a director for twenty seven years. Richard will, however, remain a director of the Club.
Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith will be leaving the Boards of the Company and the Club with immediate effect.”
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