Isn’t Turf Moor the coolest ground name in English football? I think so. Anyway, Eduardo continues his fine form with a calm, cool, collected, composed, compassionate and creative finish. Did you expect anything less? In all seriousness, we played like shit and are lucky to have survived the Burnley pressure after they were whittled down to 10 men. I’m not too sad to lose Eboue to the ACN after this one, as the halftime guy from ESPN (idiots, all of them) pointed out, “It’s like he’s wearing a colored uniform, keeps giving the ball away every time”. Eboue needs to understand what his limits are abide by them, his departure will mean more time for Walcott who is just about due to score his first league goal – I can’t take the suspense anymore!!

Senderos didn’t look completely shaky which gives me some confidence that he just might be able to fit Kolo’s size 50 shoes while he’s gone. The thing that’s scary about Senderos is that he has that look about him that says “you know I’m going to screw up sooner or later and when I do it’s going to be large” and every time I look at his mug I think back to last year’s FA Cup against Blackburn. This is usually where the Senderos supporters point out his contributions in the CL in 2006 and I say yeah, but what have you done for me lately? I know, I’m a bitch.

This might be the last we’ve seen of Jens Lehmann who I’ll be sad to see go. He’s done mulling over an offer from Dortmund which he’s a fool to reject because it doesn’t look like Wenger will ever forgive him for his early season gaffes. The man sure holds a grudge. Here’s the Arsenal.com match report but you also want to check out Third Gen – he likes to write and write and write.

Many thanks to the Arseblogger for finally adding a link in his sidebar. Feed.

Eduardo ’9 Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=unQck2Ip5e0]

Bendtner ’75 Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=hCsLroC6HcY]

Match Highlights: Mega Video

What do you expect when your star players are out for a crucial FA Cup game just after you’re lost in a gut-wrenching Carling Cup final? You would think Wenger would covet some silverware after the Chelsea Carling Cup loss but no such luck. I was shocked to see Henry out of the lineup despite his minor foot injury while Fabregas also sat. Adebayor was also out of the lineup (suspension) against Blackburn so misfiring Julio Baptista and flash-in-the-pan Jeremie Aliadiere got the call. It’s a little sickening to lose to Blackburn with the same pathetic excuse that we didn’t have our best side.

Henry’s been resting since last Tuesday, how much rest does a man need before he can play about 30 minutes. Even a little appearance by him would’ve given us a spark, after all only a touch of his skill was required to finish off one of the many chances the Gunners had. This side featured the likes of Gallas, Ljunberg, Traore, Denilson, Aliadiere, Baptista and that f***ing fool Senderos who keeps screwing up in the clutch. The Arsenal back four looked disjointed and even the midfield was coughing up possession through poor passing. Early on Traore nervously headed out a Pederson pass from the left even though nobody was within 10 yards of him. I’m not sure if this kid really needed to be playing in this game, maybe Clichy (who came in much later for him) was the better option as a forward-thinking back. Blackburn controlled early possession but it was sloppy and never threatening.

Arsenal finally managed to get some possession after 10 minutes and Aliadiere was setup beautifully by Eboue but a poor first touch helped out Friedel who accused Aliadiere of diving. He didn’t dive. I’ve seen a penalty given in those situations but a no-call was the best call. Baptista then tried to latch on to a cross but because of his clumsiness he lost the ball. He never had any bearing on what he was doing, this guy hopes he can score, he doesn’t actually believe he can.

In the first game Arsenal were denied a clear penalty and the same can be said here. Ljunberg was clearly trampled inside the box as he was well past the defender but no call from Graham Poll who shook his head like he knew exactly what he was doing but really didn’t have a f***ing clue. Baptista again was wide open on the far post but his clumsy header flew over the bar. The commentator at this point summed up the situation, “the game could be over in truth”. Arsenal missing too many chances and this was going to be much like the 1st tie and the CSKA Moscow game. Aliadiere spun around a little later and fired a shot in but it was too weak, still a good effort but it would never beat Friedel.

First Half Highlights (FSC)

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Blackburn came out in the second half with a little more purpose in the second half but never really created any scoring opportunities with Almunia having to do almost no work. Senderos almost screwed up by letting Nonda run past him, if Nonda would’ve been a little more aware of where he was, this might have been a goal. But we’ll hear from Senderos later. On the counter-attack, Baptista unleashes a powerful and purposeful strike which Friedel gets his fingertips to, a decent strike, good save. Almost a repeat shot a few minutes later with the exact same result. Baptista, settling for power knowing he has no finesse, as seen in the first half. But wait, later on Baptista tried a bicycle kick which harmlessly rolls to Friedel, why f***ing bother dude?

Walcott is brought in instead of Eboue who was stepped on in the first half and was still feeling it. Clichy comes in for Traore, something which should’ve happened in the 1st minute but didn’t have any runs down the sides that could break Blackburn. Alexander Hleb had a good game, he played smart and did whatever he could possibly do to setup the strikers and midfielders in attacking positions but when you can’t put the ball in the back of the net, nothing really matters. Arsenal was quicker to the ball in the second half and won a lot of freekicks but none of the set pieces ever amounted to anything. The only thing Blackburn could muster up was Darbyshire challenging Gallas inside the area on the right but Gallas saw him off well. So after Hleb works hard to win a freekick, Baptista is all eager to take it and the look on his face before he’s about to strike is one of focus, concentration, desire, determination and intent. But what comes out of the freekick? A direct hit against the wall! I can’t believe this guy and how awful he is. At least, Reyes would score and create occasionally, this guy is just completely bankrupt when it comes to creativity and talent. Here’s to him being sent back to Real Madrid so him and Robinho can cuddle together.

Late in the game, Benny McCarthy blows by Senderos, who was stumbling like an old woman, and unleashed a cracker which Almunia could do nothing about. Senderos actually backed up after stumbling and invited McCarthy to strike the ball with as much time and power as he needed. Arsene Wenger had that look on his face which said, “Oh Shit”. You would think after Sunday’s display of ineptitude Senderos might come into this game with some purpose and a mindset of redemption, but nothing of the sort. A terrible defensive performance in a critical part of the game.

McCarthy 1-0

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If only we had a talented striker in the game, we would’ve won. I’d even settle for Adebayor if not Henry, even he could finish off some of the chances Aliadiere, Baptista and Ljunberg wasted. That little outburst he had at the end of the Carling Cup final might have cost us a place in the next round, shows you how important controlling your temper is. We’re now out of two major competitions and on the brink of the biggest one. The Champions League is all that we have left.

Highlights from the first leg are here.

Note: Highlights from the replay are here.

It was a 7:30AM start time for me but that doesn’t explain why there were so many empty seats in the Emirates for this one. I’ll let some Brit explain that one. It was a completely different squad than the one that faced Bolton. Amongst the starting lineup changes, Henry returned alongside Aliadiere along with Walcott, Senderos, Fabregas, Flamini and finally after what seems like a millennium, William Gallas. A little surprising to see Arsenal suit-up a near first-team squad with the Champions League returning on Tuesday but I guess that shows the significance of the FA Cup to Wenger. Let’s not mess about, Arsenal’s goal was to win the game and Bolton’s was to earn a replay. As much as I hate and spit on teams that adapt that approach, it is their only chance to advance and I doubt they care if they made the game ugly and boring.

Arsenal had the majority of early possession albeit it was near the middle of the pitch with Fabregas controlling the ball, seemingly with some sort of plan. The only early ball that threatened was a lob pass inside to Henry who needed to volley it home but fired it high. It was a difficult chance but somehow you expect him to do better. Maybe it’s unfair because if any other striker (say Baptista) had just managed to get a foot on it, we’d be praising him for his efforts.

On the other side, Blackburn’s front line positioning was always too geared towards an offside than a scoring chance so any long pass they did muster up led to very marginal threats. The opportunity they did have was safely ruined by David Bentley who chose to fire it from 35 yards rather than pass to any of the two players on either wing who had an advantage over the defense. Nice to see an ex-Arsenal man show his old team how sorry they were going to be for letting him go. The only other “threat” Blackburn posed was when Fabregas lost the ball in midfield with Nonda down the field but the pass for him was way too long, a horrible pass really.

Moment of skill for Thierry Henry. Fabregas sends Aliadiere down the right side but he’d too deep and finds Henry with three defenders surrounding him. Henry shows some great dribbling skills to evade all three and supply a decent cross. The captain making something out of nothing really. Arsenal got a few corners in the half and they used them to no advantage which leads me to propose that Arsenal just play the ball in with a simple pass on corners rather than lunge it into the box. They’re much more effective in build-up plays with width rather than set pieces.

Arsenal were definitely ahead in the game in terms of half-chances and possession but in the end all that doesn’t really matter. I think Blackburn isn’t even trying to score; a replay sounds pretty nice to them. Maybe these guys and first half highlights can explain better. Is it just me or is the Star Sports set ridiculous? I mean get rid of those couches.

First Half Highlights

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Kolo Toure had a nice run virtually the length of the pitch before his shot was blocked off. Immediately after, Fabregas had a lot of space in front of the box but he tripped and no foul was called. He should’ve passed it two seconds sooner when he had help to his right in the form of Aliadiere. It’s funny seeing Bolton have the ball with any kind of space around them, they have no idea what to do. It’s like their game plan isn’t even to score so when they actually have the ball with any opportunity to do something, they get confused.

Kolo Toure makes another long run, this time it ends with Henry’s pass for Ljunberg being intercepted by Khizanishvili. A more conventional build-up play for Arsenal, something that’s easy on the eyes and is a scoring chance. Henry and Ljunberg have played together for so long that it’s very hard to discount the chemistry between the two, maybe that should be a factor in Wenger’s team selection. So Theo Walcott gets a chance to score his first Arsenal goal from 8 yards out after a pass from Aliadiere but he drills it in the side-netting. He should’ve done better or at least shot it across the face of the goal rather than try aim for the near corner which was always going to be tough. Maybe that’ll come with experience or maybe it’ll never come.

Gallas gets taken out for Clichy, most likely I’m guessing because it’s been a while since he played and Wenger wants to take it easy with him and plus, we need him in Champions League on Tueday. Arsenal playing extremely wide, almost too wide doesn’t do them much good and Walcott wasn’t having any success against Warnock who was exchanging high-fives with his mates after Walcott stumbled and gave the ball away. Adebayor is brought in for the ineffective Walcott and Rosicky replaces Ljunberg for similar reasons as Gallas and maybe to ignite the midfield to win this one in the last 20 minutes.

Huge scare for Arsenal when Darbyshire desperately looped one in which Almunia had to get the slightest of touches on to bump it out for a corner. And then it’s followed by total bullshit as Aliadiere is clearly brought down in the box by Warnock, a clear penalty by even the commentators account and the referee looks the other way despite having a clear and un-blocked view of the play. Henry had a difficult chance on the ensuing scramble and shot it high and wide. Blackburn catching a huge break on the defensive end after almost scoring on the other.

It’s left to Gael Clichy to be creative and he makes a nice run, looses the ball, gets lucky and gets the ball back, marched into the area only to deliver a very poor pass into the middle. Arsenal were grabbing at anything at this point, even Fabregas attempting a volley which never had a chance. Soon after Fabregas set up Rosicky nicely in front of the net and all he had to do was lift it over the goalie, but alas, much like his missed sitter against CSKA Moscow, he failed to punch it in.

A mad scramble in front created by Adebayor’s run from the left sees Henry get the ball but he tries to place it with finesse to the right and it’s deflected by Friedel only to Justin Hoyte who has a clear goal scoring chance but his shot is blocked. This along with Rosicky’s earlier chance were Arsenal’s best goal scoring opportunities in the game.

Nothing new, a frustrated Arsenal unable to capitalize on opportunities at the Emirates. I didn’t think we’d need a replay to get past Bolton but just like the home game against CSKA Moscow, we missed too many chances. Add another fixture to an already overcrowded schedule.

Star Sports post-match highlights – A bit patchy for a few seconds in the middle.

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The replay is on February 28th at Ewood Park.

Arsenal came in resting Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Jens Lehmann and added Alexander Hleb and Freddie Ljunberg to the travelling squad to Bolton. The Gunners looked smooth and efficient from the beginning and managed to string together series of meaningful passes to create chances, the best one early on being Rosicky’s bullet shot which went a couple feet wide of the left post. Arsenal playing with a lot of width with Bolton having very little early possession and Bolton’s physical play being tactfully avoided by the Arsenal midfield tandem of Rosicky and Denilson.

The breakthrough came from Adebayor after Denilson and Rosicky had exchanged passes to setup the lanky striker who was helped by a deflection to beat Jaaskelainen who the delusional Allardyce thinks is the best goalie in the league. BTW, the ArseBlogger has a great pic of the walrus in his entry, check it out.

Emmanual Adeabyor 1-0

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Arsenal continued putting pressure and Baptista should’ve scored after finding himself relatively open near the right post but his finished to put it bluntly, simply sucked. There was more of that to come. Late in the half, Bolton hit the post after massive confusion in the area which saw Bolton attempt a couple shots, one which was bravely blocked by Gilberto. On the counter-attack, Adebayor again setup Baptista who really isn’t doing any justice to his nickname by keeling over and falling down. It wasn’t mentioned two of the at least five instances where Baptista should’ve done much better than he did.

Early in the second half and Bolton had a great chance to score but Anleka made a piss-poor pass instead of just shooting. On the other end, Baptista, not to be out-done in piss-poor passing made one of his own after being setup beautifully on the break. He had two choices: to pass early or to shoot. He passed late.

Alexander Hleb had a very good game. He played under control and was able to turn his defender at will. His nifty series of moves almost paid off just outside the box but he was broght down by a struggling Ben Haim. Baptista hit the ensuing free-kick straight to the goalie. Baptista made amends after he was brought clearly by Ben Haim but the Brazilian shanked the kick about a mile high. A missed penalty hurts worse than a kick in the crotch.

Ben Haim Foul and Gilberto Missed Penalty

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Campo had a free volley on the right post but he shot that wide and complained that Almunia got a piece of it. That wasn’t true and soon after the same scum got carded for diving which preserved some justice. Arsenal were counter-attacking throughout the second half and the best chance had Adebayor all alone with just Jaaskelainen to beat which he did by evading him to his right but drilled the shot into the left post.

After wasting all these chances, Arsenal, vulnerable to set pieces, gave away a corner in injury time which Mete nudged home after it was kicked headed down by Campo. All these missed chances by Adebayor and Baptista means extra time.

Meite 1-1

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Bolton had a few chances in extra time, one hitting the post but it was Baptista that missed a chance to put Arsenal ahead. Late in the first period of ET, Baptista had a chance to put Arsenal ahead from a relatively obtuse angle but drilled it wide of the right post across the face of goal. Another missed chance.

Early in the second ET, an awesome run by Aliadiere which split open the Bolton defense and he touched it off to Freddie Ljunberg who supplied a deserving finish to Aliadiere’s great run. Arsenal deserved to win this game, if anything they should’ve scored at least 6 times. Bolton missed their share of chances too but it was Arsenal that was the better team at the end of the day.

Freddie Ljunberg 2-1

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I’m not sure why the hell Chelsea were interested in Ben Haim, the guy is clumsy and unsure defensively. He was shown his second yellow after a foul on Baptista which reduced Bolton to ten men late in the second ET. Anelka was a non-factor and should’ve equalized for Bolton after he chested down a volley just inside the box, but shot it too high.

Our man Baptista confirmed that he can’t hit the broad side of the barn by shanking a penalty after Adebayor was brought down late in second ET. Luckily for him he saved some face by passing off to Adebayor for Arsenal’s third goal which came after Bolton committed too many men downfield.  It was great seeing that scum Ivan Campo getting carded for diving, that guy just looks like a weasel.

Baptista missed penalty

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Adebayor 3-1

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To check out highlights for Arsenal vs. Blackburn at the Emirates, click here. Blackburn is next.

Note: If you’re looking for the Arsenal vs. Bolton Highlights from the replay at the Reebok stadium, go here.

Since YouTube has suspended my account, the goals and highlights will now be posted on DailyMotion until they suspend my account.

For a while there I thought Bolton was going to end our run in the FA Cup. The replay is on Valentine’s Day at the Reebok Stadium. Walcott should’ve done much, much better on his volley in the second half, he needs to score his first Gunner goal in the worst possible way just so he can prove to himself that he can score. There was a Jeremie Aliadiere sighting as he along with Baptista were brought in late by Arsene Wenger in hopes of putting the Gunners through. Aliadiere tried to be a hero in injury time but released a shot that only his mother could be proud of. Arsenal tried to win the game late by throwing long balls to Thierry Henry but the Bolton defense did a good job of denying Henry space. The Gunners dominated the last fifteen minutes of play by applying constant pressure on Bolton, but the Wanderers were pretty set on earning the replay.

Henry and Adebayor did not have good games. Both were waiting for the perfect ball to come to them instead of helping to create attacks. It’s evident why Robin van Persie is preferred to Adebayor; this season the Dutchman always seems to be at the right place at the right time and his presence will be sorely missed. Julio Baptisa was brought into the game when Wenger’s hand was pushed but he needs a lot of the work to be done for him before he finds the back of the net. The replay is winnable but Henry, Adebayor must be far more influential than today.

Kevin Nolan 1-0

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Kolo Toure 1-1

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It seems like the only goal Tomas Rosicky ever scored was the scorcher against Hamburg in the Champions League. Since that day the well has been pretty dry but where there’s famine, there eventually will be a feast. Arsenal held off Liverpool long enough in the first half while the Reds dominated meaningless possession which rarely bothered Aluminum Man.

The counter attack which created the first goal was textbook. Alexander Hleb set up Rosicky from the wing who wired it over Jerzy Dudek. Gerrard had a chance to provide the challenge but was a mere bystander.

Remember that Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal where he dribbled through a whole bunch of players and executed about six fakes before scoring? Rosicky’s second goal didn’t have that many fakes but he did manage to dribble through six players and then place it in the right corner.

Playing at home, Liverpool mustered a lucky deflected Dirk Kuyt goal before the master himself, Thierry Henry embarrassed Jamie Carragher who though he could match the Frenchman for pace. He was wrong. After a 30 yard pass to himself, Henry eluded Carragher and dribbled the ball all the way from the left touchline before placing it just beyond the reach of Dudek and the game just beyond Liverpool. Classic Henry goal knocks Liverpool out of the FA Cup.

3-1 to The Arsenal

Here are some post game interviews:

• Arsenal’s Thierry Henry
• Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger
• Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez

Here are the goals:

1-0 Tomas Rosicky

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n08gUjPAdRY]

2-0 Tomas Rosicky

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rgDbgPBG-o]

2-1 Drik Kuyt

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upzDTZogOzs]

3-1 Thierry Henry

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpbfc688rDM]