Arsenal's Journey towards Glory : Huge win for Gunners

[Dr. Pepper]

Shan you playing this on CM08?

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Match Report: Arsenal 4 Hull City 1

(Adebayor celebrates the 4th Arsenal goal of the match)

Arsenal got back to winning ways with a fluid attacking display against a battling Hull City at Emirates. The Gunners started brightly, van Persie missing a penalty after Roque Santa Cruz was brought down by Ian Ashbee. But Caleb Folan scored first for Hull with a neat lob before Emmanuel Adebayor headed in an equaliser for the hosts and Santa Cruz gave them the lead. Santa Cruz dinked home a second after being released by Samir Nasri before Adebayor crashed home from close range.

Arsenal had come close to scoring after only a minute, Sanat Cruz just failing to latch on to Mikael Silvestre's cross and crown a sweeping move. And after six minutes, Santa Cruz won a penalty after having his heels clipped by Ashbee when through on goal. van Persie step up and the left-winger had his shot saved by Hull's stand-in keeper Matt Duke.

Hull's first chance came courtesy of Gunners center-back Gallas, the Frenchman heading just wide of his own goal when under no pressure. Cesc Fabregas went close for the hosts again on 15 minutes, his rifled shot just tipped over by Duke after being teed up by Tomas Rosicky. But after soaking up wave upon wave of early assaults, Hull striker Folan put his side ahead after 22 minutes with an exquisite curling lob.

Shortly after, Akinfeyev was forced into a sharp save from Richard Garcia before van Persie almost tip-toed through to score at the other end. Adebayor leveled things on 32 minutes, heading home a teasing van Persie cross. Dean Windass should have restored Hull's lead before half-time but blazed wide with the goal at his mercy.

Arsenal started the second half as they did the first, van Persie volleying across goal from a deep Eboue cross before Samir Nasri dragged a shot wide. But Hull stayed in the hunt, Windass just failing to reach a Bryan Hughes cross on 50 minutes. However, Santa Cruz gave Arsenal the lead after 53 minutes, bringing down a dinked van Persie through-ball and passing the ball into the net.

Folan almost equalized immediately but his header was parried over by Akinfeyev. But Arsenal continued to look sublime in attack, the impressive van Persie almost setting up Fabregas to score on 70 minutes and Nasri being denied by Duke. Adebayor almost scored himself soon after, but hit his shot straight at Duke before Santa Cruz poked a shot just wide.

But Santa Cruz did not have to wait much longer, dinking the ball over the sprawling Duke after being released by Nasri. The ubiquitous van Persie almost made it four just before the final whistle, but was once again denied by the impressive Duke. However, Arsenal were not finished and Adebayor made certain deep into extra time after a defensive mix-up.

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*Jose Mourinho

"We created chances and had the mental strength to keep going and that is the important thing. Emmanuel Adebayor played very well. We needed pace in the midfield and I wanted to give Gareth Barry a breather. Roque Santa Cruz did extremely well leading the line and Samier Nasri is a great player ."

*Phil Brown

"I feel sorry for the guys. They had a real go and didn't come to sit back - but there's always a chance you'll get caught by Arsenal. We created chances and it was a good team effort. The result looks like a hammering but we gave them a good game. I'm delighted with the performance. The commitment was there but we have to perform more consistently."

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Arsenal: Akinfeyev ; Eboue, Gallas, Toure, Silvestre ; Rosicky(c)(Ramsey 87'), Fabregas, Nasri, v.Persie(Walcott 89') ; Adebayor, Santa Cruz
Unused Subs: Sagna, Almunia, Barry

Booked: Silvestre

Goals: Adebayor 32', Santa Cruz 53', 82', Adebayor 90'.

Hull City: Duke ; Doyle, Ashbee(c), Dawson, Brown ; Geovanni(King 78'), Garcia, Hughes, Boateng(Fagan 66') ; Folan, Windass
unused subs: Myhill, France, Welsh

Booked: Ashbee

Goals: Folan 22'.

Att: 54,293

Ref: Alan Wiley​

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Santa Cruz and Adebayor have been quite impressive .

 

[Karachi Xpress]

YAY Another win Nice progress on the league table for the Gunners

 

[freddiw]

solid win mate

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Match Report: Arsenal 1 Kiev 0

(Nasri celebrates his late winner)

Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri scored the winner , which means Arsenal qualify for the next stage of the Champions League. Nasri headed home from an Cesc Fabregas cross late in the game to secure a third straight win.

Arsenal were not at their best but Emmanuel Adebayor and Fabregas had good chances before Nasri's winner. Corr?a and Oleksandr Aliev both went close for Dynamo Kiev, who require a win to keep alive their any chance of qualifying for UEFA Cup action.

The defeat means Kiev will face an anxious last matchday of the group stage, when they host Inter who have like Arsenal already qualified for the knockout stages. The two sides combined to produce the sort of game that will have been more to the liking of Kiev manager Yuri Semin than opposite number Jose Mourinho - even if the result did not go their way.

Arsenal were allowed plenty of possession but only the briefest of sights at goal. Theo Walcott curled a shot wide and Fabregas headed off target after an opening 20 minutes that had end-of-season affair written all over it. Corr?a gave Arsenal a rare scare after racing on to a Tiberiu Ghioane through-ball, but his effort was blocked by Igor Akinfeyev's legs and Barry cleared Aliev's header off the line from the resulting corner.

Emmanuel Eboue saw an effort deflected wide, while Nasri, Santa Cruz and Adebayor all had headers that failed to test Oleksandr Shovkovsky in the Dynamo Kiev goal. With Tomas Rosicky watching from the bench , Arsenal were lacking their usual drive from midfield and too often opted to try and pick out an isolated Adebayor, who was well marshalled by Bet?o and Oleh Dopilka.

Kiev threatened to snatch a first win at Emirates when Oleksandr Aliev found room to shoot in the box but flashed his left-foot effort wide. Robin van Persie was given a run out and received a rousing reception from the home fans. The forward is one of a number of players who may not be around next season.

But Nasri boosted his hopes of being a firm part of Mourinho's plans for the coming season by scoring the winner with 13 minutes remaining. He drove down the middle and slipped a pass in for Fabregas, whose right-foot cross was perfect for Nasri to leap and thump past Oleksandr Shovkovsky.

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* Jose Mourinho

"We dominated the game from start to end. I am surprised that we have only one goal written to our name in the scoresheet. We had some great chances which we failed to convert. We need to improve ur finishing. But at the end of the day a win is a win."

* Yuri Semin

"There is a lot of disappointment not to get the point but the performance was good, the players stuck at it. It is always difficult here because Arsenal have so much possession. I thought things had started to turn in our favour but they are a very good counter-attacking team."

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Arsenal: Akinfeyev ; Eboue(Djourou 86'), Gallas(c), Toure, Clichy ; Barry, Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott(Ramsey 86') ; Santa Cruz(v.Persie 78'), Adebayor
Unused Subs: Almunia, Silvestre, Rosicky, Merida

Booked: Barry

Goals: Nasri 77'

Dinamo Kiev: Shovkovsky(c), Dopilka, Bet?o, Sablić(Milevsky 66'), Diakhat? ; Ghioane, Corr?a, Aliev, Morozyuk(Huysev 76') ; Diakhat?, Shatskikh
Unused Subs: Bangoura, Lutsenko, El Kaddouri, Bohush, Yussuf

Booked: Sablić

Att: 59,085

Ref: Bruno Paixao​

 

[Karachi Xpress]

Nice win there. Should have got more goals though. Change the manager and we get more better results

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Should've been a bigger victory. I think you need to send a little reminder to your strikers that you're a title chasing team and they can't get complacent.

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Match Report: Arsenal 1 Man Utd 1

(Rooney slides and celebrates his brilliant goal)

Roque Santa Cruz's second-half header prevented leaders Manchester United from going three points clear of Liverpool. Wayne Rooney gave United a first-half lead after a wonderful piece of skill, bending the ball past Igor Akinfeyev. The game developed an intriguing ebb and flow in the second half as Rooney twice went close, while Cesc Fabregas rained in a series of shots in reply. And Santa Cruz earned Arsenal that point when he powered a header past Edwin van der Sar from a Fabregas corner.

If United had the better of the first half, Arsenal were well worth the draw given their impressive second-half display. Arsenal manager Jose Mourinho brought on Aaron Ramesy for Emmanuel Eboue at the restart, a switch that entailed Gareth Barry dropping to right-back.

That formation provided Arsenal with greater attacking fluidity, with Barry superb in the way he surged forward from his defensive position. The highlight of the opening half was Rooney's exquisite goal.

When Tevez threaded a pass through to the Englishman, with Gallas and Kolo Toure providing a defensive shield for Akinfeyev, there seemed minimal danger. But Rooney quickly switched the ball to his right foot, before bending a shot round Gallas and past Akinfeyev's outstretched hand.

The game had needed that moment of inspiration because the preceding 29 minutes had been overshadowed by some rugged physical approach from both sides. That niggly tone was set by Tomas Rosicky's early challenge on Ronaldo.

The Czech soon found himself on the receiving end as he was sandwiched between Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic. Arsenal had lots of possession in the first half but with Roque Santa Cruz and Emmanuel Adebayor tightly marked by Vidic and Rio Ferdinand their best efforts came from long-range shots.

Eboue hit a waspish shot that Van der Sar beat away and the Dutch keeper had to get down quickly to save a Fabregas effort. As Ramsey settled to the frenetic pace of the match, Rooney's run and cross almost created a second goal for Tevez, who miscued as the ball came to him quickly. Tevez had another half-chance when Evra's cross ricocheted to the Argentine, who again was unable to get a decisive touch.

On 70 minutes Santa Cruz's thumping header hauled Arsenal level. The Paraguayan striker rose above Vidic to meet Fabregas's corner and Scholes standing on the line was unable to divert the ball to safety. Indeed Scholes's headed intervention might have taken the ball away from Van der Sar, who had thrown himself to his right to try and save Roque Santa Cruz's header.

With a quarter of an hour to go the out of form Adebayor was withdrawn to replaced by van Persie, but the change failed to yield a winner for Arsenal.

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*Jose Mourinho

"We were not at our best in the first half as we were lucky concede only one goal. But in the second half Ramsey added some pace and we dominated the second half. We could have got the winner but again we were not the best side today. We although deserved a point from the game."

*Sir Alex Ferguson

"Rooney's goal was brilliant, he has scored many goals this season but this was the best of the all. We had many half chances which we could have converted and come out with the win. But we concede the goal due lack of concentration in the dying minutes."

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Arsenal: Akinfeyev ; Eboue(Ramsey 46'), Gallas, Toure, Silvestre ; Rosicky(c), Fabregas, Nasri(Walcott 86'), Barry ; Santa Cruz, Adebayor(v.Persie 75')
Unused Subs: Almunia, Clichy

Booked: Nasri, Adebayor, Silvestre

Goals: Santa Cruz 70'

Man Utd: Van Der Sar ; Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra ; Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs(Nani 76') ;Rooney, Tevez(O'Shea 86')
Unused Subs: Foster, Neville, Hargreaves

Booked: Carrick

Goals: Rooney 29'

Att: 60,010

Ref: Howard Webb​

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Arsenal were very poor in the 1st half, they turned it around in the 2nd but it wasn't enough. Mourinho needs to give the squad a good talking to and get the to cut the slack.

 

[treva]

Not a bad result, but one they maybe needed to win. Good job Arsenal got it together in the second half otherwise their title hopes could be ended very early. Points are sliding away thick and fast at the moment!

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Match Report: West Ham 0 Arsenal 2

(Adebayor celebrates his beautiful goal against west Ham)

Arsenal comfortably saw off West Ham to maintain pressure on the top two as they now move in the third position. Cesc Fabregas put the Gunners ahead in the second minute, finding space in the box to smash home into the bottom corner. Lucas Neill had a shot cleared off the line as West Ham responded well but Emmanuel Adebayor made it 2-0, slotting home from the narrowest of angles.

The Hammers' attacking threat faded as the game wore on and they ran out of ideas well before the final whistle. West Ham were chasing this game from the start thanks to Cesc Fabregas's latest strike, his third in his last three starts.

With two minutes gone, the Spanish international ghosted between Lucas Neill and Matthew Upson, chested down Gareth Barry's cross with his first touch and buried the ball past Robert Green with his second. Green's frustration at the amount of room Fabregas had been given was clear, but he could have no complaints about West Ham's response.

First Mark Noble's toe-poke flew just wide, then Carlton Cole shrugged off Mikael Silvestre and saw his shot spin off Kolo Toure and arch past the post. The Hammers went even closer from the resulting corner which saw Neill's deflected near-post shot cleared off the line by William Gallas.

But Arsenal are known for their resilience almost as much as for their flair these days and the Gunners not only held out, but increased their lead in the 18th minute. Adebayor beat Green to Silvestre's long ball and, after nodding past the stranded goalkeeper, he threaded his shot between the post and defender Upson from an almost impossible angle.

It was a blow for West Ham but an even bigger one was the injury that forced Freddie Ljungberg off on 37 minutes, as the visitors did not come forward with the same conviction once the Swede departed his old stamping ground. However, Arsenal were hardly creating much by then. Apart from a half-hearted Santa Cruz header and a deflected Samir Nasri effort, there was little to trouble Green.

The spark had gone out of this match long before Dean Ashton was belatedly brought off the bench for the injury-hit hosts. Ashton could do little to change the outcome and George McCartney's fizzing shot wide of Igor Akinfeyev's post was the Hammers' only effort of merit after the break.

At the other end, Adebayor lobbed wide and Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky both brought good saves from Green but Arsenal seemed keener to out-pass West Ham than add to their goal tally. Gunners boss Jose Mourinho will be happy enough with the outcome though, and, after seeing his side collect 10 possible 12 points from last four games before December, he will be content that their title challenge is on track at the Christmas.

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* Alan Curbishley

"We conceded a goal we are not used to conceding in the first two minutes. Fabregas had time to bring it down and pick his spot. Their second goal was a disastrous one for us as well. We created a couple of chances but poor defending meant we were on the back foot. You can't concede goals like that here and get away with it."

* Jose Mourinho

"We did the job early on and after that we controlled the game. West Ham created some dangerous situations from set-pieces in the first-half but we stayed in control. They never gave anything away but we commanded things."

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West Ham: Green ; Neill, Faubert, Upson, McCartney ; Mullins(Solano 77'), Parker, Noble, Ljungberg(Etherington 37') ; Cole(Ashton 71'), Bellamy
Unused Sbus: Wright, Tomkins

Booked: Cole, McCartney, Noble

Arsenal: Akinfeyev ; Sagna, Gallas, Toure, Silvestre ; Rosicky(c), Nasri, Fabregas, Barry(Walcott 63') ; Adebayor, Santa Cruz
Unused Subs: Almunia, Eboue, V.Persie, Ramsey

Goals: Fabregas 2' , Adebayor 18'

Att: 29,0921

Ref: Chris Foy

​

 

[Dr. Pepper]

About time you got a comfortable win with a clean sheet. Good stuff Shan.

 

[Karachi Xpress]

Nice comfortable win there. Keep the good form up!

Nice work Shan!

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Man Utd claim November award double

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has won the Premiership manager of the month award for March.

England striker Wayne Rooney made it a double for United by picking up the player prize.

United won all three of their Premiership matches in November, increasing the lead over Liverpool at the top the Premiership to five points.

Rooney, 22, featured in all three games, scoring four times against the opponents.

The striker has won the player award thrice in the past, while Ferguson has been named manager of the month an impressive 21 times.