Arsenal vs Chelsea Highlights and Goals: FA Cup Semi-Final 2-1
Posted by Arsenalist on April 18th, 2009
Click Sponsor to keep site going.
Nothing beats hunting for a goal with two of your best strikers subbed off. Wenger hamstringed this one for us, didn’t understand RVP being taken off, thought it should’ve been Denilson who was poor. At the end of the day it was injuries that cost us this one, Fabianksi was terrible and unsure of himself from start to finish and Eboue got turned around for no reason on their first goal. This was going to be a very tough game with three of our four backs and our first-choice goalkeeper out with injury and so it was. I have to say that with Sagna and Almunia in there this could’ve very easily been Arsenal’s game. I also couldn’t understand the reasoning behind Arshavin not playing and Song not starting in the back four instead of Eboue.
Arsene Wenger says we gave up ‘cheap goals’.
Good play from Gibbs and Adebayor leads to Walcott deflecting one of Cuntley’s hand:
Eboue Terrible, Fabianski, even worse:
Fabianski screws up again:
Click Sponsor to keep site going.
April 18th, 2009 at 9:49 am
When I click it, it is not available.
Is Youtube blocking it?
Bravo! Walcott, keep going…
Originally I thought Arsene is crazy to leave Arshavin out…
now it seems that he reserves Arshavin for sub impact…
April 18th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Fabianski is too inconsistent. It drives me crazy
April 18th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Just hope this defeat hasn’t crushed the lad’s resolve for the Champions league. First time Chelski have beaten us in the FA cup since 1947!
April 18th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Why were Diaby and Denilson playing more than half a game?
So many casual runs and passes.
Maybe Hiddink knows Arshavin too well, but we should’ve gambled still. There were some Walcott’s crosses that missed the middle yet no one was there to recover on the left…. Oh well. It was over.
April 18th, 2009 at 11:21 am
i feel horrible for Fabianski because this was his chance to show that he was ready to be number 1 and wow, boy did he fuck that up. but no arshavin, arguably the main reason for a domestic upswing and no nasri? then you partner cesc with denilson? what???? if song isn’t in the back 4 why isn’t he in midfield? frustrating.
April 18th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Fabianski’s completely messed up. They say today is his birthday…Oh! Boy! he will never forget this day then…
He has come out quite a few times in the first half and misses the ball. The post and Gibbs saved him twice, but still he runs out against Drogba like this. I will even prefer Jens Lehman who came out to hack out Eto’o in the 2006 Champions League Final. At least there is a purpose in his running out, instead of Fab’s stretching a leg and being made a fool. Arsene needs to strengthen the defence next season–get a decent substitute goalkeeper, a quick centreback. The gamble on Silvestre backfires at such a vital moment.
April 18th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Ouch…. another one bites the dust! come on the gunners Champions League this year!!! dont let me down again!
April 18th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Terrible way to lose such a game. I agree with the previous comments, we were far too casual in possession and lost it too easily. Gibb’s goal was well taken, but Denilson looked way too lightweight against ballack and essien. Injuries have truly killed this season, but then again, which team does not get any injuries?
The team I wouldve picked was:
Fabianski
Gibbs Syverstre Toure Eboue
Song
Walcott Fabregas Arshavin
Nasri
Adebayor
With arshavin and nasri interlinking. Song had a great game midweek, why not play him? And with arsrhavin and walcott, you have two excellent wide options. After 70 and its still tied, i would throw on van persie and take off nasri and my final gamble if we were still down would be eboue for bendtner with song filling in at central and kolo on the right. What was arsene thinking?
April 18th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Poor game by Fabianski. I just hope that it was a huge learning experience. AND, I think if we really did take the FA Cup more seriously, we might actuallyl win it and not go trophyless again… Questionable lineup.
April 18th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I guess that is what happened when a lineup that simply has not played together in the mid and back play against a solid bunch of brats from west London. Where was the passing? Cesc could not find a rhythm, perhaps because he was flanked by Denilson. Arsene saw something that apparently we all missed prior to todays game as far as his lineup and substitutions go.
I echo the calls for Song, Arshavin and Nasri starting the game, and then of course once Bendtner steps on the field, Drogba scores. Thanks a lot Bendtner!
April 18th, 2009 at 11:39 am
i wouldn’t say it’s bendtner’s fault. he catches a lot of blame, fabianski alone, in my opinion is to blame for that goal. i don’t see why he felt he should come out of the box, had he stayed in box and blocks dogba, he still has the advantage. does he not understand birthdays? you don’t GIVE gifts.
April 18th, 2009 at 11:44 am
I was be sarcastic about it being Bendtner’s fault. It was simple irony that he steps on the field and immediately Chelsea score. To be honest, RVP and Ade did little in the second half to justify keeping them on really. However, nothing happened once subs came on either so…
April 18th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Oh Dear, our performance was bad, we never really get going. Our midfield is weak with Diaby and Denilson losing a lot of possesion on the ball. They are not pressing hard on ballack and lampard, who did two key passes to drogba and malouda. Cesc is not efficient as a DM roll. Also, we are not confident on ourselves and we lost our tempo for the whole game. Fabianski is poor but he is not the main reason we lose, we can control the match as we did in the previous match. Look at the statistic, we only had two shot compare to chelsea, 7 shots on the first half! I am not here to say Chelsea is good but we are not enough strong without Arshavin,Song and Nasri. I was so surprise with Wenger on his first 11! I wish he has a better reason to explain his decision on putting his star player on the bench, where he spent millions!. Too disappointed on the lose, actually we can do it better…Heart break…
April 18th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Wenger left himself open to a lot of questions with this lineup. Looks like he played it conservatively and lost out. If he thought this lineup would not let any goals in he’s kidding himself. So much for offense being the best defense.
April 18th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
completely fooled by sarcasm, once again. oh well. um, i wouldn’t say we were horrible, we made some (huge) mistakes and were still in it, really impressive as we were resting some of our better players and some of our other players were not on top form. we will see chelsea again at least once, the knowledge that we almost took them out with a weakened side should be somewhat reassuring. we definitely can build on this.
April 18th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
EBOUE AND FABIANSKI U COMPLETE NUTTAz!! Very poor lineup…good job leaving Nasri and Arshavin out Wenger look where that got us. I aggree with the other comments above. Eboue…in football youre supposed to get muddy…next time dont be afraid to tackle someone and get ur shorts dirty. And Fabianski…tut tut tut…U BLEW IT…i really thought we could win the FA cup this year…but champions league pleaseee!!!
put us fans out of our misery…4 FLIPPING YEARS MAN WITHOUT A TROPHY!!! well good luck arsenal with the champions league…terrible lineup wenger…u should have done
Fabianski
Gibbs Toure Silvestre Eboue
Wallcott Fabregas Nasri Arshavin
Adebayor Van Persie
DUHH!!
sfe arsenal fanz
April 18th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
*sigh* not again… well im not surprised, lets just hope we can pull a miracle in the champions league.
April 18th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
WHY THE FUCK DID HE NOT START NASRI & ARSHAVIN! All i have heard all season is how good Denilson is. Am i the only one who thinks he’s not good enough. Wenger waited to long to bring the players on who could have turned the game around. Walcott was firing balls over the box all game, Just for no-one to get on the end of it! Scraping a tried and tested formation (again!)To start players who have barely played any games recently (diaby) Arshavin would have pushed forward! and given Fabregas a better playing partner! Then he takes off “Lazy” “Barn Door” Which okay, he is a bit slow on the up start, but as we saw against Villareal, he can pull of some sublime shots and fantastic goals. But he was runing around on his own most of the time. So he opts for a second rate striker.Our defense is depleted and it makes it worse when we have Silvetre in place. Who I would throw out with next weeks rubbish!! we are using our second goal keeper (Alumina would have saved the first goal and commanded his defense better) But that really shouldn’t be an excuse.I love You Arsenal, i always will. But Wenger screwed up totally today. Okay Its certainty a reassuring sign that these “kids” can get to the semi final, but how many “veteran” players will stick around waiting for them to perform and win a trophy?
Well soon the club will be taken over, and Wenger will go to a Spanish club and we’ll probably end up winning shit loads by spending loads. And still people will say “its not like the old Arsenal” You will never please everyone. But one thing i do know any self respecting Arsenal fan will know today Wenger fucked our chances of silverware up today, and this time he hasn’t got an answer!
BRING ON LIVER FOOL! 4-3-2 this time thou!
April 18th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
What anoys me is this could have easily been avoided. Arsene Picked a questionable lineup, maybe to rest players for liverpool I dont know but the players and fans alike are desperate to get a trophy which I think is a higher priority at this point.
Our better players are stalling in contracts because we lack trophy’s and apparently ambition and they will eventually leave if nothing is done about the trophy crisis. Now to address this trophy crisis We need to alter the squad list just a bit. Some players are just not good enough. When there are no injuries I think we are fine but if they all get injured in a pivotal time in the season we cant be falling back on players like eboue, denilson, silvestre, fabianski and bendtner (untill he can finish, then he will be good). Wake up to yourself arsene.. some of these players are failing us time and time again.
April 18th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
What i hate most about denilson is he is SO weak in the tackle. He jockeys the power players but they opposition look like he’s just a fly attached to them and is no worry to them. When he gets possession, he usually passes sideways or backwards or loses possession again. Song at least gives us a physical presence who fouls when its needed (or not) as much as I dont rate him, he has improved to a point this season that he is better than denilson.
April 18th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Agree with the posts above – we(read Wenger) messed up with the line-up. Arshavin definitely should have been part of the starting eleven. Song with his current form and confidence was missed too. Fabianski has this problem of leaving his line quite often than not – was sure that this wasn’t going to change unless he messes big time in some crucial game. Hope he learns from yesterday’s mistake of his which I attribute our loss to. These inexperience can’t be an excuse for poor show in crucial matches as it really is testing the patience of other team-members who have no silverware to show in the past four years. Hope we will bounce back in the next game with liverpool and carry it into our champions league matches as well.
April 19th, 2009 at 1:52 am
another year without trophy.n your lame excuse like we always heard..’the team is so young 20 years old bla bla’r u sure they all cesc nasri walcot will stay till peak age 28 years old?get real man..when they reach 25 all of them will fly away to barca real n even milan..how long shld we wait to lift trophy?champ league?come on it’s man utd man..not man city!!yes we had huge blow in the defense line up..n still u see potential in ebue?laughable!!mr wenger can u xplain the line up?playing like school boy..came into 60 minute still arshavin n nasri on the bench?first 45 minute u already coud see that it’s not diaby’s day..why should wait for substitute..
plus it’s essien in the midle for chelski n u still thought denilson can cope?what the heckk..we should realize that arsnal is laughbale in this last few years..really sighh
April 19th, 2009 at 3:29 am
Disastrous performance. I thought after the Villareal game, we could put on a fantastic performance, perhaps beat them 2-0 or so. For me, I think if Almunia was infront of goal for the game, we would have kept a clean-sheet. Both goals could have been avoided. Fabianski is just too inexperienced and for a young lad like him playing in an FA Cup semi-final is just too much pressure for his light shoulders to hold. I was extemely surprised not to see Song in the line-up as i thought he deserved a starting XI spot. We only had 2 shots on target the whole game, had Arshavin been on before im sure he would have tested Cech many more times. Overall, it was a horrible game for any Arsenal fan to watch. I guess it’s just another trophiless season for us gunners as i don’t think we have the experience to life the champions league.
April 19th, 2009 at 5:07 am
WENGER IS TO BLAME; Mistake #1: he played DENILSON instead of ****SONG****, realy poor decision considering song has been playing so well and would do a much betr job than denilson against BALLACK and ESSIEN he is a much MORE SKILLFUL AND STRONGER PLAYER than denilson offensively and defensively and works well with FAB in the middle
Mistake #2: he should have kept the formtion playing Van Persie infront of FAB, FAB likes to set up plays from DEEP IN THE MIDDLE setting “ADEBAYOR” “PERSIE” or “WALLCOTT” so pushin him forward to be more offensive is CRAP >>>>>> persie is a better forward, mor attack minded and passses the ball up front superbly aswell and thats where he shud ALWAYS play
Mistake #3: last but definately not least could somebody on this earth please tel me why the hell on earth does WENGER believe in the: WORST STRIKER AND PLAYER IN ARSENAL HISTORY!!!!>>>>>BENDTNER. its not wise to take off an ADEBAYOR in a match like this, we kno how he picks up goals from out of the blue especially when playin with fab persie or arshavin and walcott,he is a liability to any opposing team worst he is so good in the air…to b fair to bendtner he has extremly good positioning, scored a couple 1s but have anybody seen the goals this kid misses??????
love the form of walcott…keep gunning son, fabianski get a hold of yourself we kno you can…van persie and arshavin have been superb did u guys see the tackles persie landed i could see the boys werent intmidated and were hungry…guys leave eboue alone u guys always pick on him but he makes well needed good runs,combines fantastically with wallcot and is a threat like any other arsenal player and as he slips r appear to in u guys eyes u get at his throat,eboue is a good player and deserves his spot unlike denilson and bendtner
to be fair chelsea got off easy due to the extremely poor condition of the field the ball could not roll aswell else chelsea wud av ended up 6-o down lol!!! and due to major mistakes made by wenger an if he continues no form or skill will prevent players morale from droppin after bein so close but yet so far not winin a single title thus far…good game gunners we still believe in you guys!!!!!! gooner for life
April 19th, 2009 at 9:07 am
[...] The Arsenalist: still kicking out fresh jams. [...]
April 19th, 2009 at 11:05 am
I’m sorry but Manchester united lost makes me even more pissed at Wenger he better know what he is doing in Champion league.
April 19th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I cant understand you guys why you blame every arsenal player who play so bad on some games, its just a bad luck about eboue and fabianski i think they are great players no mather what happened yesterday!(Almunia injured, Sagna sick, Gallas injured and Clichy also)and who will replace them?, from that game they will learn to stay a litle bit focus, they do some mistakes but for the next game they will try to play harder! Arsenal have 9 matches in 24 days its not easy to say why Song not playing or nasri or arshavin that job is to Wenger he is the man who make decicions who will play dont forget that Arsenal must stay on 4th position and also the play with LIVERPOOL 1, Chelsea 1, Man Utd 3 times, and 4 matches +
Gunner 4 Ever!
April 19th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
# Uwvie Says:
April 18th, 2009 at 11:21 am
i feel horrible for Fabianski because this was his chance to show that he was ready to be number 1 and wow, boy did he fuck that up. but no arshavin, arguably the main reason for a domestic upswing and no nasri? then you partner cesc with denilson? what???? if song isn’t in the back 4 why isn’t he in midfield? frustrating.
dont forget about Almunia in CL FINAL with BARCELONA what he done and now its a GREAT GOAL KEEPER!
FABIANSKI will be a great GK too!
April 20th, 2009 at 3:23 am
I CANT BELIEVE THAT WE DIDNT PUT ON ARSHAVIN OR EVEN NASRI ARSHAVIN CANT PLAY CL THIS SEASON SO HE WAS WELL RESTED AND ALSO THE FACT THAT OUR DEFENCE WAS WEAKENED SO ITS OK BECAUSE WE ARE STILL INTHE CL AND COULD NICK AN AWAY GOAL AT THE THEATRE IF DREAMS
April 20th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Why has wenger not said anything about why he did not start Arshavin? I am disturbed by this decision not to play Arshavin and may need counciling.
April 21st, 2009 at 11:08 am
at RD: i agree 100%
diaby i felt wasnt useful. it was gonna be a tough game for sure. would have liked to see song in the mix with his physical presence. cesc wasnt his usual self either…fuckin drogba is arsenal killer. special thanks to fabianksi. poor lad. on his bday got a baptism of fire. lets finsih 3rd in epl and win champs league. hopefuly everton wil fa cup
April 21st, 2009 at 11:23 am
one good think about fab is that he is decisive but he was unlucky to make a wrong decision.
April 21st, 2009 at 11:25 am
this was a kick in the teeth, as soon as i saw the line ups i knew it was a real likely hood for a f-up..for starters, denilson is not as relibale, tough or passionate as song. he was easily overwhelemed..and diaby, well appart from the giving h ball away once every ten minuites,typical runs into a dead ends..he was invisible. He is not going to be the next vierra, he is lazy and clumsy with a dire 1st touch that macthes Bentner dor sheer clumsiness..Wenger is sacraficing the success of arsenal to “nurcher” these kind of players, who are either not good enough or just plain dont suit arsenal style football..arshavin, nasri and song should have started, sell BENTner, diaby, denilson and buy a real solid centre back, there are pleanty of cheap ones in eastern europe who can run and dont get out muscled..we will have an exodus of our best players from arsenal if we dont start having some success soon!! i grew up and live in highbury and this loss was easily one of the most irritating i have ever seen, simply because we are suffering due to Wengers faith in players that have had plenty of chances to show they have got it but clearly dont!!
February 28th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
I think that is an interesting point, it made me think a bit. Thanks for sparking my thinking cap. Sometimes I get so much in a rut that I just feel like a record.