With a strong performance that married steel with skill and helped by some luck with the goals, Arsenal silenced the baying crowd at Parkhead. As far as performances and laying down the marker for our challengers go, this was probably better than the one at Everton. Celtic played hard and tough, but we are brave and strong enough to stand up to them. We won’t be bullied and we will press and harry even when things don’t always go for us.
Where we probably lacked a little bit was in the incisive final pass, but I won’t nit-pick. A 2-0 away win in a REALLY important game was all that mattered. As always, you can find some excellent match reports and player ratings in blog-world – some good ones here, here and here.
Just a couple of thoughts that probably are not addressed in the blogs, but that I found worth of airing:
- Arshavin would have divided opinion with his performance yesterday. He did seem a little lost stuck out on the left, but some of his close control, vision and passing were amazing. He also combines a superb work rate with some amazing skills. He is yet to make a decisive difference in matches – expect that to come against Man USA and Moneybags City.
- Why do Denilson and Clichy seem so prone to slip during matches – this is not an observation from yesterday, but something that I have been consistently noticing
Finally, I am no big fan of Daily Mail, but I this article by Martin Samuel was very insightful. I knew Angola was poor, but not that things were this bad!
Anyway – time to bask in another good win and nurse the battle scars before Portsmouth come visiting.
Vox Populi