A night to remember..

Arsenal 2 Barcelona 1
It's the final scoreline on Emirates Stadium, February 16th 2011, when Arsenal meets Barcelona. Arsenal overcame a 0-1 deficit, to win 2-1. Barcelona themself didn't play poorly, they even played well, but Arsenal's outstanding play made them lost.

First half was Barcelona's, they controlled the game well, even Arsenal was dominant in the first 10 minutes. Barca kept the possesion well, distributed, and could score a goal, from David Villa, by Lionel Messi's assist. They almost scored the second, but Szczesny keep the scoreline 0-1.

Second half, and Arsenal played differently. They dominated the game, being sharper than the first 45 minutes. Wenger played Arshavin to replace Alex Song, which is a gamble. They played without any defensive midfield, but they needed to change situation, as they were behind. It was a very risky decision. Barca could've scored another goal, if they had succesfully exploited Arsenal's offensive formation.
After few chances, their work finally paid off, although more than 30 minutes is needed, when Gael Clichy chipped the ball through Barca's defence, and Van Persie smashed the ball into the net, when Victor Valdes slightly out of his position. 1-1. And sice that goal, momentum winds blows for Arsenal. 5 minutes later, Arsenal fast counter attack from Samir Nasri brilliantly finished by supersub Andrey Arshavin.

Barca was awaken from their sleep, and they tried to equalize, but 7 minutes plus 2 minutes of injury time was not enough to score a goal. So the final score, Arsenal 2 Barcelona 1

Arsenal showed that they CAN beat Barca without playing naive, defensive. They still play with their original style, and more importantly still winning. It is a match to remember, as both teams showed passing ability, techniques, and also beautiful football. And it's a night to remember for the Gooners, as they beat what everyone considers as the best football club in this universe! Next leg will be held on Camp Nou, and Arsenal holding a one goal lead, but there's still 90 minutes to play. Everything still could hapeen, so Arsenal shouldn't been complacent by this aggregate.

Just hope for another great game in the second leg..!

Bad Game, but Still Win

Arsenal scraped 2-1 victory over Huddersfield town, but it's not something arsenal should have been proud of. It was clearly a bad game, Arsenal was under constant threat from Huddersfield Town, and if Huddersfield had had more luck, Arsenal would've been easily suffered their third home defeat this season.

Arsenal which rested Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie didn't have their best first half, even they lead 1-0 by Bendtner's deflected goal. Huddersfield had some chances to equalize, which fortunately they failed to do any shot on goal. Huddersfield could got a penalty if the referee had seen Kieran Gibbs handballed in penalty area. Arsenal even had to play with ten men after newly-back-from-injury Sebastian Squillaci did a professional foul on 40th minutes. Any other bad news is Samir Nasri, the captain in this match, got an injury, and has to be replaced by Tomas Rosicky

Second half was Huddersfield's until they continuously threatened Manuel Almunia's goal, and they could equalize from Alan Lee's header from corner kick. Shocked, Arsene Wenger introduced the captain Cesc Fabregas to replace Abou Diaby. Arsenal started to dominating the game again. Finally, Nicklas Bendtner is brought down, and Arsenal got the penalty, which succesfully converted by the substitute Cesc. 2-1 for Arsenal. Huddersfield tried to find an equalizer but the score remained 2-1. Arsenal are through to next round..

Almost Draw, but It's a Win

Arsenal almost got a 0-0 draw, but a late goal scored by Alexandr Song Billong made them earn three points in the match against West Ham United

Arsenal was dominating the game, having possession, making passes, and creating chances. But West Ham was defending very well, and Robert Green was playing like possessed. He denying chances, not only once, twice, or three times, but nine times!

When everyone was thinking it would be a 0-0 draw, Gael Clichy cut inside through the left flank and gave a lovely pass to Alex Song and Nicklas Bendtner. It was Alex Song who headed the ball and scored the goal. A priceless goal, which keep Arsenal in the title race. It wasn't an easy game, even could be said it was a very tough game. But, in the end Arsenal could overcome it.

In other place, Chelsea won 2 goals by one goal against Blackburn. So it's still 5 points between Arsenal and Chelsea.

City - Arsenal 0-3

In the beginning Arsenal was under pressure. City dominated the game, and David Silva had a chance to score, but Fabianski denied it.Deryck Boyata sent off by Mark Clattenburg, after a professional foul, brought Chamakh down. Even Manchester City is playing with ten man, the game was still even. Both team made some inaccurate passes. But it was Arsenal who opened the score. One-two play by Nasri and Arshavin, nicely finished by Nasri, 1-0 for Arsenal. Arsenal would've leading 2-0 on first half, if Joe Hart hadn't saved Fabregas' penalty. So first half ended 0-1.

On the second half, Man. City had some chances to equalize, but Fabianski brilliantly denied it. Alex Song doubled Arsenal's lead, and since that time, Arsenal comfortably controlling the game. Finally, Nicklas Bendtner made it 0-3 after few minutes coming in.

It was a good game by the gunners, they played well, offensively and defensively, even they helped with the red card. But at least, Arsenal has answered the critics for them. Should this form continues, Arsenal will be real contenders for Chelsea.

Real Test

Arsenal is now on the third position in English Premier League with 14 points from 8 games, 3 points behind Manchester City and also 5 points behind defending champions Chelsea.

Arsenal will face Manchester City this week on City of Manchester Stadium, this weekend. This match is an undoubtedly tough match. City has bunch of quality players, such as Nigel de Jong, Carlos Tevez, and Arsenal's hatred Emmanuel Adebayor. Roughly, City, like Chelsea, is physically stronger than Arsenal, but Arsenal technically better.

While Fabregas and Walcott are back, Vermaelen and van Persie are still on the sidelines, facing injuries they got during international games. Jack Wilshere is also absent because of red card he got during the match against Birmingham City.

Arsenal did lose 2-4 in City of Manchester Stadium last season, but they still has chance to win this game. What Arsenal has to do is to score an early goal. This season, Arsenal never lose any game after scoring first. So, I predicted, the team who score an early goal will win this game.

Fabianski could replace Almunia?

Manuel Rivero Almunia took Arsenal's regular position in Goalkeeper in 2007/2008, when he filled Jens Lehmann's position, when Lehmann was injured, and played fairly well, and since then, Manuel Almunia has been no 1 for Arsenal, which also resulting Jens Lehmann to be freely released to VfB Stuttgart.

Almunia is rather inconsistent, sometimes, he could play very well, stopping penalties, like he did against Tottenham, which ended 2-1, or against West Ham, which ended 2-0.

But he also could play badly, like he did against Birmingham, when he slipped Kevin Phillip's shot into his own net, or recently, like he did against West Brom.


This season, before the season started, Arsene Wenger reported want to sign a goalkeeper to replace Manuel Almunia. From Shay Given, Marteen Stekelenburg, and also Mark Schwarzer; but until the end of transfer window, Arsene Wenger didn't sign any goalkeeper, and Manuel Almunia still became Arsenal's no 1, because his deputies, Lukasz FabianskI and Vito Mannone, made several mistakes when Arsene Wenger believed them to stand in front of goal.



Manuel Almunia

Well, Manuel Almunia is injured now, and Fabianski have to fill his position. Fabianski was highly doubted he could play well, but in the match against Partizan, he showed who he really is. He stopped one penalty, and made strings of fine save.

If Fabianski continue playing like that, Manuel Almunia could be switched to the bench, and he gains first team football regularly. Could Fabianski continue his brilliance? The first test is today, facing Chelsea!

Arsenal - Liverpool 1-1..

Arsenal were held 1-1 by Liverpool on the Anfield. N'Gog capitalized Arsenal's poor defending, while Pepe Reina's own goal saved Arsenal from the defeat on Arsenal's first match.

First half was Arsenal's game, they were controlling the match, passing well, even they didn't have much chances, it would probably the matter of time, until Arsenal score a goal.

Joe Cole was red carded for tackling Laurent Koscielny in the end of first half, and it means 11 against 10 for Arsenal. But on the beginning of second half, it was not Arsenal who took the lead, but Liverpool. Arsenal defended very poorly, Nasri giving the ball to Liverpool's side.

Well, after leading 1-0, Arsenal didn't respond well, they even showed their weak mentality, they were giving chance for Liverpool to expand their creativity, and Liverpool had some great chances - fortunately, the scoreline remained 1-0.

Arsenal then recovered, but Liverpool had gained some confidence, and they defended very strong. Honestly, Arsenal were quite lucky to get equalizer, even they had some chances to equalize. Pepe Reina was unstable while trying to catch the ball, and - as everyone knows - it's in. 1-1 for Arsenal

Well, It wasn't Arsenal's best performance, but it wasn't bad either. It was Liverpool who defended very well

The point of this game is Arsenal need to improve their defending, they were really vulnerable on the defence, and better teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Internazionale, and Chelsea could punish Arsenal with heavy defeat, IF they continue defending like that. There's still time for Arsenal to improve, before it's too late.

Tomas Rosicky should start from the beginning in the next match, and Wilshere could be dropped on to the bench, while Van Persie should play in front with Chamakh.

Hopefully, Arsenal could be better next match and win the EPL..