AC Milan 0 - Arsenal 2 (Fabregas 84', Adebayor 92')

Epic. Just epic.

Even a good few hours after the conclusion of the game at San Siro, I still can't shake the feeling that I may have witnessed the finest display of pure football in the annals of Arsenal football.

The fact that the Gunners' performance humbled (or humiliated?) the reigning European and World club champions rightly magnifies the accomplishment. Most satisfyingly though is that they won on their own terms, by playing their scintillating brand of football rooted in hard work and in relentless dedication to the task at hand. They outhought, outfought and outplayed in every aspect of the game the golden-standard bearers of Champions League football.

A staggering number of superlative individual performances - and a delight to run through the specifics...

Almunia - 8. A very assured presence in goal, particularly the unsettling first 15 minutes of the game. Such was his command of his surroundings, I never felt we would concede throughout the entire game.
Sagna - 7. Not afraid to surge forward in support of Eboue. Supremely confident against Pato and Ambrosini throughout the game, made both of them look pedestrian.
Gallas - 7. The captain was back - and he marshalled his defense with confidence and authority. Tima and time again, Inzaghi, Pato and Kaka were left embarrassingly deep offside behind our quick-paced defensive four.
Senderos - 7. One of his best games of late - powered by a most welcome surge of confidence.
Clichy - 8. His best display in the Champions League this season. His partnership with Diaby controlled with authority the gaping hole on the right side of Milan's midfield that Gattuso never looked able to cover.
Hleb - 9. Plain brilliant display from the Belarussian. His effort rate and mobility, along with the accuracy and unpredictability of his passing game, allowed him to function very effectively as Adebayor's launchpad.
Fabregas - 9. Everything he did, he did magnificently well (which in the end included scoring) His vision proved second to none - his direct passes cut straight through a Milan midfield who was clearly unable to cope. His frequent surges upfront were also a constant threat; his brilliant goal fully deserved.
Flamini - 8. Proved, yet again, that he doesn't just play his defensive midfield position superbly, he owns it. The confidence he showed throughout the entire game encouraged Fabregas to push forward and hold the ball an extra fraction of the second that many times meant the difference between a decent pass and a great pass - as most of his were on the day.
Diaby - 7. The most remarkable aspect of his game was his defensive discipline - his partnership with Clichy worked very well and suffocated any kind of threats originating from the right side. Oddo found the combination way too much for him.
Adebayor - 9. As close to a clear 10 as performances come, he was everything he can be when at his best - strong, elusive, precise, unselfish and dangerous at all times. His ball control was truly marvelous, and his movement kept the Milan defense off-balance the entire night. His movement created plenty of penetration channels that Hleb and Fabregas took full advantage of. The Togonator was simply superb.

As tempted as I am to move the focus to the challenges ahead in the Premiership, I won't - this was too sweet of a performance to not let its historic meaning linger on for a couple more days. So enjoy the feeling, my friends, and take comfort in the fact that come Friday morning, every one of the remaining Champions League contenders will hope they draw anybody but the mighty, mighty Arsenal...

Arsenal 1 - Aston Villa 1 (Bendtner 90')

A tough one to swallow

A scrappy point - and a most unlikely one by the looks of the events as they unfolded at the Emirates yesterday. And come mid-May, it won't be any surprise that the points won or lost in injury-time drama will make the difference between winning the title and coming in second. Remember the Gallas equalizer against United at the Emirates? The Tevez equalizer at White Hart Lane a couple of weeks ago?

The big question (and one whose answer I would like to think Wenger knows) is whether this was the hangover after the very traumatic past week or a sign of the decline that so many have been predicting - some, it must be said, with gleeful anticipation. While the Villa game did not answer this quandary, the game at San Siro on Tuesday easily could.

Although the game yielded one massive positive (we are still in first place, albeit by the thinnest of margins) the negatives of our carelessly poor link play and even poorer defensive work are far more glaring. Martin O'Neill (the most underrated managers in the EPL by far) devised a tactical masterpiece for neutralizing our free-flowing passing play through suffocatingly tight coverage. His team executed it extremely well - and we were not able to cope. Meanwhile, when on the counterattack, their speed and directness of play instilled panic in a defensive line of fast-diminishing confidence.

Here are the ratings:

Almunia - 8. By far the best performer in the team, he made a couple of absolutely critical saves and displayed the calm and composure that we have come to expect from him.
Sagna - 6. His incursions in support in the right midfield channel were somewhat effective in the first 30 minutes, but with Agbonlahor making himself quite the nuisance on the counterattack, they had to be kept at a minimum.
Gallas - 5. His influence on the back four seems to be fading fast. A very nervy display that was quickly mirrored by the entire defensive line.
Senderos - 6. Not as bad of a game as the score sheet would make you think. A few minutes before scoring in his own goal he could have done the same at the other end of the pitch.
Clichy - 4. The poorest display of the season for Clichy (the only player who is somewhat justified to still be hung over after the Birmingham City game - and the one who showed it) The trouble is, as long as his backup is Traore, he must get back in shape.
Hleb - 5. Unable to generate anything remotely creative. Double- and triple-covered as soon as he received the ball, he was unable to escape the pressure. Wide right or behind Adebayor, his contribution was minimal.
Fabregas - 5. Just like Hleb, unable to cope with the suffocating pressure from a very mobile Villa midfield. Moreover, there are no signs that his goal drought is anywhere near its end, and the lack of composure in front of the goal is very troubling. He should have easily converted the clear opportunity he had at the end of the first half - he scored from infinitely more difficult circumstances.
Diaby - 5. (Bendtner - 7) While the slickness of his dribbling was once again second to none, his speed and overall work rate were less than stellar - the lack of match fitness being partly the culprit. He never threatened the Villa back four and he rarely contributed creatively.
Walcott - 6. It is becoming increasingly clear that Theo Walcott's most potent threat is his speed - and that one of his most glaring weaknesses is his crossing ability (except for the one at the end of injury time in the Milan game) He looked overwhelmed by the opportunity to start alongside Adebayor, and their partnership never "clicked". Easily perturbed under pressure, was unable to find the right channels to run into (not that our midfield would have necessarily been able to find him, mind you)
Adebayor 6. Largely anonymous, worked hard but did not have much to show for it - the assist to Bendtner was absolutely perfect, and he should rightly receive credit for it. So there.

Next up, Milan - and at San Siro no less. Toure should be back, and so should Eboue (such is the state of our team, I am looking forward to Eboue's return...) And Robin van Persie should be available off the bench.

...I feel strangely optimistic about this one - although last time I wrote this sentence, it was in the preview of the second leg of the Carling Cup semifinal at White Hart Lane.

11 games to go

With less than a third of the games to go, the season is drawing to a predictably dramatic finish – with three teams having a legitimate claim on winning the title, and no less than five others targeting the highly-coveted fourth spot.

In this post, I will take a look at the remaining fixtures for Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea and how they stack up against each other - and I will do it despite the fact that last weekend’s highly improbable events (and, somewhat consequently, results) may render the entire exercise hopelessly meaningless.

Let’s start with where we are at...

...and then take a look at the games left: (the teams have been ordered by current table ranking)

First off, the remaining fixtures of Arsenal and Man Utd seem oddly similar. Five of their fixtures are identical (those grayed out) and, in general, the others seem quite balanced. So, which games will make the difference?

The games against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge
Both Arsenal (on 3/23) and Man Utd (on 4/26) are going to visit Stamford Bridge. In terms of preceding mid-week fixtures, Arsenal seems to have a (potential) edge: their game comes 4 days after Chelsea's Carling Cup final rematch at White Hart Lane, while the Man Utd game comes after the Champions League semifinal first leg. (for both teams)

The games against fourth-spot contenders
Both Arsenal and United play Liverpool and Aston Villa at home (Arsenal as early as this weekend) so there is sensible parity there. The difference may be the Arsenal - Everton game at the Emirates in the penultimate match day of the season, which could have meaningful implications for both teams. We could be looking at sealing the Premiership title with a win, whereas Everton could clinch the fourth spot if they get a tie or a win.

Tricky mid-table fixtures for United (away to Blackburn, home to West Ham)
Blackburn has never been an easy place to go to (particularly late in the season, with the potential for an UEFA Cup spot potentially looming). West Ham provided a most painful upset earlier in the season.

Last game of the season
Both Arsenal and Man Utd are playing their last game of the season away to teams who may very well be in the throws of relegation and in need of a result to keep them in the Premiership. Under perfectly similar circumstances, is Arsenal’s trip to Sunderland tougher than United’s trip to Wigan? Although both teams are being managed by former Ferguson players, their teams’ relegation status on that day may play a bigger part.

Finally - the game at Old Trafford (4/13)
There is a good chance that, in the end, the title will depend on the outcome of the game between the two top title contenders. A defeat there would mean that we would have to do better than United at Chelsea (win if they tie or lose, tie if they lose) – that, of course, assuming that we perform similarly in the other fixtures.

…Just for the fun of it, if we throw the Chelsea fixtures into the mix, one striking point:

Chelsea arguably has a tougher fixture list – particularly away
Trips to Everton, Manchester City and Spurs make for a comparatively tougher remainder of the season and should compensate for the advantage of hosting both Arsenal and Man Utd at Stamford Bridge. Trips to West Ham and Newcastle (the latter in the penultimate game of the season, when they could realistically be looking at relegation) could prove very difficult as well.


Finally, a couple of key dates (subject to change, depending on the schedule of future FA Cup and Champions League fixtures)

3/23: Chelsea – Arsenal and Man Utd – Liverpool
4/13: Man Utd – Arsenal
4/26: Chelsea – Man Utd
5/11: Sunderland – Arsenal and Wigan – Man Utd

James Lawton in The Independent

Required reading for every fan of the beautiful game, James Lawton's column in The Independent reminds us all what the debate sparked by Eduardo's injury really should focus on.

Arsenal releases statement on Eduardo

Eduardo could make "a full recovery after nine months"

Arsenal FC has just released a statement on Eduardo's injury.

The news seems to be encouraging for the long-term - the preliminary estimate on the length of the recovery is quite similar with Diaby's last year.

Birmigham City 2 - Arsenal 2 (Walcott 50', 55')

Black Saturday

...What can I write that hasn't already been written about the game at St Andrews yesterday?

In a 2-hour span of a truly infamous day, we lost one of our players to a truly horrific injury that could end a highly promising career, then found a way to overcome a one-goal deficit only to fail to secure the three critical points through a late (and questionable) penalty kick decision.

The traumatic events that unfolded yesterday can mean so much during the final stretch of a football season - and they can spell the difference between pulling together or falling part. We can only hope that the adversity that this squad faced yesterday can provide the catalyst for the final 11 games of the season and a very difficult return leg against AC Milan at San Siro.

In the absence of Eduardo, the remainder of the season will depend on the timely return of Robin van Persie and the scoring contributions of Walcott and Bendtner - and, to a lesser extent, Fabregas. It will also depend on the leadership of William Gallas, who can and must rally the team around the tragedy of losing one of their teammates to a horrific injury that could arguably happen to any of them.

Can 'do it for Eduardo' become the rallying cry of this team for the remainder of this season? If it does, the story of this season could very well be one of the greatest in sports history- that of a championship won against all odds and against adversity that many of our players could not have possibly been ready for.

Arsenal 0 - AC Milan 0

Not over yet

First off, let's get one thing out of the way: we are definitely over our Old Trafford hangover. Over, done, way past it. Never happened.

...Now, to the Wednesday night affair...

As a fan of the beautiful game, rarely have I felt so satisfied with a performance that yielded such an unsatisfying result. Yet that was very much the case last night, when The Arsenal played a tactically sound and esthetically superlative game against the mighty Rossoneri di Milano. Unfortunately, it also happened to be one of the more woefully unproductive (wasteful?) displays in recent weeks, Adebayor's last-gasp opportunity the most glaring of the bunch. However, even though Milan have proven impenetrable defensively, our midfield and our defence made them look thoroughly impotent offensively.

As Champions League first leg results go, this one does not typically bode well for the returning leg - particularly against Milan. However, I must confess that I feel strangely optimistic about the return leg. The dynamics of the game at San Siro will be quite different - and we do not have a one goal advantage to defend with a conservative 4-5-1 formation. To go through, Milan must score - and so do we, but I think our speed and creativity on the break from Milan's sustained pressure could make the difference. If we score first, the rest could be history. I have a feeling Eduardo will contribute to this one - it's about time...

The ratings:

Lehmann - 7. Although barely tested, he made a couple of good saves and showed good composure throughout the game.
Sagna - 7. Brilliant defensively, he rendered Pato irrelevant for the entire duration of the game.
Gallas - 7. Was able to put the Old Trafford nightmare behind him and conduct his defensive four with calm and composure.
Toure (Senderos - 8) Has proven once again that he is by no means a liability in Toure's absence. Good thing, since Kolo is out for at least four weeks.
Clichy - 7. A little more reserved offensively, as good as it gets defensively.
Hleb - 9. No matter where he showed up, he created havoc with his superb ball control, movement and vision. His truly outstanding effort should have been rewarded with at least two assists.
Fabregas - 9. Fully aware of the occasion's magnitude, he rose to the challenge and put in a truly brilliant performance - just like Hleb, he fully deserved a couple of assists. He commanded the midfield with energy, authority and a sense of joyful unpredictability. His repeated passes to Adebayor were superbly weighted and crafted - he almost converted one of them early in the second half.
Flamini - 8. Matched Gattuso step for step, tackle for tackle - their duel may be the key of the second leg game.
Eboue - 8. (Walcott) As always, a mixed bag - greater threat than usual going forward and penetrating through the middle, lacked critical composure when presented with a fine chance by Hleb's perfect pass. Unnecessary diving in the box - his immature behavior on the pitch is becoming quite annoying, you can only invoke the "desire to win" so many times...
Adebayor - 8. A very labor-intensive performance against the most consistent central defensive duo of the last few years - Maldini and Nesta. Pity he could not reap the ultimate reward for proving himself a highly potent threat throughout the game. Well, there's always the return leg...
Eduardo - 7. (Bendtner) A better performance from our "fox in the box" - very mobile, always in motion, trying to draw as much attention as possible in order to create space for Adebayor. There may not be much personal chemistry between the two, but I like their on-the-field movement. The San Siro game may be his chance to shine and send us through.

Next up - Birmingham City. A critical game on many levels, most importantly for building up an 8-point lead at the top (however temporary) And don't rule out a surprise at St. James Park - I know I don't!