Arsenal's Journey towards Glory : Huge win for Gunners

[Dr. Pepper]

Akinfeyev was in goal lol.

 

[treva]

Big win for Arsenal. Needed to beat Chelsea and they did. Now they need to go on a bit of a run and score a few goals. It's all about the games against the big three in Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool. If Arsenal can win those they've got a good chance of winning the title.

Good stuff Shan

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Match Report: Newcastle United 0 Arsenal 7

(Santa Cruz celebrates his hatrick)

Roque Santa Cruz's brilliant hat-trick saw Arsenal defeat Newcastle United at St James Park quite easily and take the second spot one point behind leaders Manchester United. Santa Cruz opened the scoring with a superb volley, then Mikael Silvestre powered in a towering header before Santa Cruz broke clear to slot home his second. Samir Nasri chipped in, then Cesc Fabregas headed the fifth before Santa Cruz third. Alan Smith was sent off for a second yellow card, before Tomas Rosickty's tap-in.

The tone of the match was set in the opening minutes, when Gareth Barry forced a good save from Shay Given, Emmanuel Adebayor shot just wide and Fabregas's free-kick grazed a post. It was no surprise when the Paraguayan opened the scoring in spectacular fashion on 20 minutes, connecting perfectly with Barry's cross to send a sweet volley into the corner.

Two minutes later, Given tipped Cesc Fabregas' low shot away for a corner which Barry directed perfectly towards Silvestre, who headed powerfully home. Santa Cruz was in on the act again on the half hour, sprinting clear of the Magpies defence to reach Adebayor's pass, then coolly sidefooting home past the on-rushing Given.

And there was still time for things to get even worse for Magpies as, in first-half injury time, Nasri sent a delicate chip over Given to make it four. Arsenal pressed after the break and Santa Cruz missed a hat-trick chance when he mis-cued from just outside the six-yard box, then Rosicky's header into the net was disallowed for a marginal offside.

But the fifth arrived just before the hour as Fabregas rose high above the Magpies defence to head in Barry's free-kick.And Santa Cruz got the hat-trick the away fans were willing him to score as he raced clear to slot home - in the process notching his 22th goal of the season for Arsenal. Alan Smith's second booking for a needless tug on Santa Cruz only increased Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan's misery.

The host offered little throughout the game, although Steven Taylor was unlucky not to score a consolation as he shot hit the bar before Igor Akinfeyev clawed away Michael Owen's follow-up. Rosicky then struck from close range in the dying minutes to notch his first goal for the club as a captain and complete a memorable day for the Gunners as they equaled their biggest Premiership win.

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* Kevin Keegan

"This has been my toughest day as Newcastle manager without a shadow of a doubt. Down to 10 men with 5 teenagers on the park it was always gonna be difficult. I've told the kids they're going to be good players in the future. They're the future of Newcastle United football club. and this is an experience they'll always remember."

* Jose Mourinho

"We played our game and the goals came as a consequence of the quality of our game. Of course, Roque scored three - and everybody nearly scored! But Adebayor contributed with his final balls and the most important thing is that the team plays the game we want to play and plays with a great spirit."

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Newcastle Utd: Given ; Edgar, Taylor, Tozer(Duff 67'), N'Zogbia ; Jonas, Guthrie, Smith, Bassong(Viduka 76') ; owen(c), Xisco
Unused Subs: Harper, Ameobi, Carroll

Booked: Smith, Owen

Sent Off: Smith 73'

Arsenal: Akinfeyev ; Sagna(Eboue 77'), Gallas, Toure, Silvestre ; Rosicky(c), Fabregas, Nasri(Ramsey 67'), Barry ; Adebayor, Santa Cruz
Unused Subs: Almunia, Walcott, Bischoff

Booked: Eboue

Goals: Santa Cruz 20',30'& 68', Silvestre 22', Nasri 45', Fabregas 59', Rosicky 84'

Att: 43,212

Ref: Rob Styles​

shantanu_rooney added 36 Minutes and 38 Seconds later...

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Champions League Round Of Sixteen Draw.

Arsenal would face a tricky test against one of the Spanish Giants as they face Valencia in round of sixteen.

*Valencia

"Would be a tricky first leg tie at the Mestalla which has a quite hostile atmosphere for the English clubs. Players like Joaquin, David Villa on form could kill any side. The clubs have never met before so it would be an interesting tie. A draw at Mestalla would be a great result for Arsenal"

Major shock was that Chelsea have been knocked out of the Champions League as they finished third in the group.

Rest of the draw as follows

FC Barcelona vs Inter Milan
Valencia vs Arsenal
Man utd vs AS Roma
Porto vs Lyon
CSKA Moscow vs Bayern Munich
AC Milan vs PSV Eindhoven
Celtic vs Liverpool
Werder Bremen vs Real Madrid​

 

[Karachi Xpress]

WOW! Great win for the Gunners there! Nice hattrick for Cruz.

Shouldn't be too hard beating Valencia. Lets see who gets a hattrick for Arsenal in this game

Nice stuff! KUTGW!

 

[Dr. Pepper]

What a win! A huge message sent to Utd. Only a point now and showing your want for the title. Santa Cruz was on fire. Silvestre scored ! Valencia is a team I wouldn't want to play, although on paper they seem weaker than other teams, they're the kind of team that knocks you out. On his day Joaquin can be a match winner. Chelsea knocked out straight away lol.

 

[treva]

Massive win for Arsenal. They really need a good performance after the Chelse game and they pulled a huge performance out of the bag. Newcastle will be kicking themselves. That's just pure humiliation.

Valencia will be tough in the Champions League. Could be decided by away goals or even extra time and penalties!

 

[saladguy]

Great win against the toon! 7-0 lol.

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Match Report: Arsenal 2 Stoke 1

(Arsenal celebrate yet another victory)

Second-half substitute Emmanuel Adebayor sparked a Arsenal revival with two goals as Jose Mourinho's men continue their brilliant winning run. Arsenal burst into life after a dismal first half when Adebayor slotted home Aaron Ramsey's cross 49 minutes in. He then fired in a penalty 21 minutes later after keeper Thomas Sorensen brought down Theo Walcott. Stoke's Dave Kitson clawed a goal back late on but could not stop Arsenal sealing their third straight win after the Champions 0-0 draw.

Arsenal headed into the game looking confident after 7-0 and 1-0 wins over Newcastle and Chelsea but struggled to conjure up decent chances early on as opponents Stoke City dominated possession. Amdy Faye's weak header was easily dealt with by Arsenal keeper Igor Akinfeyev and the visitors were unlucky to have a penalty claim turned down in the 15th minute when William Gallas appeared to shove Dave Kitson over in the box.

Toure, pushed into central midfield, hit wide with a speculative long-range effort on the half-hour mark and, in the 41st minute, Roque Santa Cruz and Robin van Persie failed to scramble a Arsenal free-kick goal bound. But a different Arsenal side emerged from the tunnel in the second half with manager Jose Mourinho instantly reaping the rewards of replacing ineffectual striker Van Persie with Adebayor.

Just four minutes after the break, the muted home fans roared into life as Togo striker Adebayor latched onto Ramsey's probing cross from the left to slot home from six yards. Stoke City looked on the backfoot after that, with Adebayor continuing to look dangerous going forward. He doubled his tally in the 70th minute after Sorensen's rash challenge on Walcott resulted in a penalty, driving the ball into the top right-hand corner of the net.

Stoke City desperately looked to get back into the game and saw a glimmer of hope when Kitson pulled a goal back with seven minutes to go, firing in Liam Lawrence's cut-back from the right. But more frustration followed for the Potters as referee Uriah Rennie refused to award a penalty when Kolo Toure appeared to bring down Kitson in stoppage time. In the end, Arsenal held on for all three points and sealed their third win since the 0-0 draw against Galatasaray in the Champions League.

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*Jose Mourinho

"Emmanuel coming on was the turning point of the match. We played brilliantly against Newcastle and the home fans though we would play like we did last weekend. But first half didnt go our way but surely in the second we played the football which we should have played in the first half."

*Tony Pulis

"Our first-half performance merited more but our second-half performance didn't merit anything. We didn't create enough chances when we had the good play. But we should never put ourselves in the position where we lose a goal four minutes into the second half and then we gave away a bad second goal."

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Arsenal: Akinfeyev ; Sagna, Toure, Gallas(c), Clichy ; Ramsey, Fabregas, Nasri(Rosicky 79'), Walcott ; v.Persie(Adebayor 45'), Santa Cruz
Unused Subs: Almunia, Eboue, Silvestre

Booked: Nasri, Rosicky

Goals: Adebayor 50'& 72'(pen)

Stoke City: Sorensen ; Higginbotham, Griffin(c), Faye, Davies(Pericard 61') ; Lawrence, Delap, Tonge, Faye ; Kitson, Sidbe(Pugh 55')
Unused Subs: Simonsen, Soares, Sonko

Booked: Sorensen, Davies, Faye

Goals: Kitson 84'

Att: 58,092

Ref: Uriah Rennie​

 

[Karachi Xpress]

Not too good of a win, but a win is a win. So Go Gunners

Nice stuff! KUTGW!

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Adebayor super sub. They were kind of boring until he came on.

 

[Jaztheman]

Congratulations on the Story of the month win. Nice to see you get the recognision you deserve.

An incredible win against Newcastle away, simply stunning. Valencia will be an incredibly tough tie in the Champions League. It's not going to be easy. A poor win against Stoke in the end, only 2-1 to show for your efforts. Adebayor came on and changed the dynamics of the game for you.

Keep this going, Shan.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Nice one mate. You deserve SOTM .

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Match Report: Aston Villa 1 Arsenal 4

(Eboue scores as Arsenal progress in the Carling Cup)

Arsenal eventually showed their Jose Mourinho class to cruise through to the Carling Cup quarter finals but not before Aston Villa gave them a real test. The home side bossed possession in the first half but could not make the visitors pay and Cesc Fabregas duly punished them in the 51st minute. Aston Villa equalised through John Carew volley but Roque Santa Cruz's soon drilled Arsenal back into the lead. Emmanuel Eboue flicked in a third before Samir Nasri added a last-gasp fourth.

Arsenal boss Jose Mourinho made three changes for the trip to Birmingham, drafting in Eboue, Manuel Almunia and Ramsey. Villa freshened up their side bringing in Agbonlahor, Jose Cervantes, Wilfred Bouma and Steve Sidwell, who lined up for the hosts against a strong looking Gunners.

Aston Villa had the better of the early exchanges and nearly took a fourth minute lead when a 20-yard Jose Cervantes drive was tipped around the post by visiting goalkeeper Manuel Almunia. Arsenal also went close after 12 minutes but Brad Friedel tipped Robin van Persie's effort from the edge of the box around the post.

But the Villians grew in confidence as the first half developed and striker Agbonlahor should have done better on 26 minutes when he fired over from 10 yards following link-up play with John Carew. Bentley then went close for the home side soon after but his curling effort was deflected just wide.

Then Laursen had a header cleared off the line by Fabregas from the resulting corner and, as the ball was played back in, Petrov had another header scrambled off the goal-line by former United man Mikael Silvestre. Arsenal broke the deadlock in the 51st minute when Friedel palmed a 25-yard Gareth Barry free-kick into the path of Fabregas, who bundled the ball home from close range.

Aston Villa equalised in the 61st minute when Bentley crossed from the left wing for Carew to volley home at the far post. But Arsenal soon regained their lead when v.Persie nodded a Ramsey cross into the path of Santa Cruz, who drilled 10-yard effort past Villa keeper Friedel.

Arsenal extended their lead in the 70th minute when Emmanuel Eboue flicked into the net after Santa Cruz headed down Fabregas's corner and the 2007 finalists added a stoppage-time fourth when substitute Samir Nasri flicked in a Gallas volley following Cesc Fabregas's corner.

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* Martin O'Neill

"For 60 minutes we were very good. We passed the ball very well. We created some really good chances against a top Premier League team. We didn't take them. You are always wary they will come back to haunt you, which they did. They didn't have to work hard for their goals. If you gift people of that quality those sort of opportunities they are obviously going to take them."

* Jose Mourinho

"I think that [us finishing our chances] was the difference between the two teams. When you create that many chances and you don't take them, you're going to get punished. Aston Villa caused us more problems than anyone else has. We ran out easy winners in the end but it was tough in the first half because Villa did very well."

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Aston Villa: Friedel ; Young, Bouma(Knight 61'), Laursen, Shorey(Harewood 72') ; Jose Cervantes(c), Sidwell(Milner 66'), Petrov, Bentley , Agbonlahor, Carew
Unused subs: Taylor, Reo-Cocker

Booked: Young

Goals: Carew 61'

Arsenal: Almunia ; Eboue, Gallas, Toure, Silvestre(Clichy 77') ; Rosicky(c)(Walcott 79'), Barry, Fabregas, Ramsey ; v.Persie, Santa Cruz(Nasri 82')
unused Subs: Akinfeyev, Adebayor

Booked: Eboue

Goals: Fabregas 52', Santa Cruz 64', Eboue 70', Nasri 90'

Att: 29,291

Ref: Mike Dean​

 

[Karachi Xpress]

Nice win there for the Gunners yet again. Even though the first half was disappointing, they played really good in the second half and deserved the win.

Nice work! KUTGW!