Thursday, 21 February 08, 12:03 PM
Arsenal were buzzing tonight. Their movement and passing were as precise as they've ever been this season., and were it not for Emmanuel Adebayor having an off-day (and Eduardo not doing much better), they would and should have had a two goal advantage going into the second leg.
Against Blackburn, Ade had a shocker, but came up with a late goal. Today against Milan, Ade was slightly less shocking (only just), but failed to score, somehow putting a header against the crossbar from point blank range after a great cross from Theo Walcott. This was in the 93rd minute of the game, and it ensured that Arsenal would get no reward for there endeavour.
His other contribution (or lack thereof) was a simple square pass to Fabregas, who was unmarked and right in front of the 'keeper, which he overhit. The ball went frustratingly away from Cesc's run, and deprived us of what would very likely have been a goal.
And what endeavour it was! Flamini was bossy and tidy, Hleb ran and dribbled all over the pitch, and Cesc produced some pinpoint balls. The interplay between the three was especially magical to watch, and they were complemented well by the overlapping Sagna and Clichy.
The defence was excellent overall, perhaps not as impressive as Milan's, but enough to keep Kaka, Pato and Seedorf completely quiet. Toure had to go off early injured, but Senderos came on and had a stormer.
Theo had a nice cameo, running at the tired Milan defence, and Bendtner caused some troubles with his height and touch.
Milan's lack of ambition was surprising. Arsenal outplayed them, no questions asked, but apart from Pato's attempts, there was very little else. Kaka was largely anonymous, apart from a few threatening crosses, and Seedorf was very, very deep the entire game. They should have been playing for an away goal, and Arsenal will be kicking themselves at having dominated a defensive team, but not having scored.
Well, I suppose this all makes it more exciting for yours truly! I've got my hands on an away ticket to the San Siro, so it's going to be a tense encounter there!
2 Comments
Waaaaaaaah! 0-0 is hard to take given the way the game went. I actually thought Adebayor was excellent tonight despite some poor finishing, he was a real handful for the defence and Kaladze in particular. However, you're right in saying he wasted the two best chances, hitting the bar and perhaps even worse, over-hitting what should have been a simple ball to Fabregas.
There was a curse put on them I think - how many shots did they take on goal?