Arsenal-v-Sparta Prague 29/08/2007 (KO: 8.05pm)
Yes, I hang my head in shame - I left the match ten minutes early to try and avoid getting caught up in the mad rush for the Tube (as I had to make the long journey back to Osterley that night). Two words for you: never again.
Anyway, I arrived at the ground earlier than expected as I'd misjudged how long it would take me to get there from the wilds of west London. Kept myself entertained by finding the streetside stall that sells bags of sweeties (yay!), and buying a little badge to put on my bag.
The match started well, with Rosicky scoring after just seven minutes (courtesy of a lovely cross from Walcott) - putting to bed any fears that our boys would be complacent after their comfortable win in the away match two weeks previously.
The team continued to play beautiful football, threatening enough to keep the visitors (who were somewhat lacklustre) hopping - although Sparta had their own fair share of chances towards the close of the first half.
The second half continued in much the same vein, and at times seemed like a casual kick about for the boys from north London - a lot of passing about and oohing and aaahing ensued towards the end.
Typically, after I left (and I still can't believe I did) the pace picked up, and Cesc shot the ball into the net after a delicious run from Eduardo which left his marker stumbling. Eduardo then finished up with a goal of his own.
A more than comfortable win for the Arsenal, and I'm pleased we finished in style - just really naffed off that I missed those two goals! To add insult to injury I failed miserably to catch the goals on television (couldn't find them anywhere *sulk*) and have literally just found a clip on YouTube to fill me in on what I missed. A big thumbs up to whoever put together the montage of all three goals (with 'Princes of the Universe' as the soundtrack)!
Final score: Arsenal 3-0 Sparta Prague (5-0 on aggregate)
Friday 31 August 2007
Why you should never leave early to beat the traffic...
Saturday 25 August 2007
Hot town, summer in the city
Arsenal-v-Manchester City 25/08/2007 (KO: 3pm)
On a scorching and sun drenched afternoon, I arrive at Emirates surprisingly hot, sweaty, and hoping that our boys bring Man City’s unbeaten start to the season to a screeching halt. My mood is brightened when I see that my friendly fireman (who sits a couple of seats away from me) is back – he’d been absent for the Fulham game and I had thought he’d managed to get a seat together with his mates on the other side of the ground. Turns out he’d instead been stuck at work and was gutted to have missed our opening game. Poor lad. Glad to have him back though, it’s nice to see a familiar face!
Back to the match. First half was well played by both sides, although we lost Bacary Sagna to a back injury (after colliding with Flamini) about twenty minutes in (replaced by Denilson). Added to Senderos (who aggravated his Achilles during the warm up) our injury list is growing…
Man City were predictably physical in their game, interrupting the flowing pace which we prefer, but both sides played well and shared chances on goal equally. Both Almunia (who, incidentally, has bleached his hair – leading me to think for a fleeting second that we’d managed to clone young Schmeichel in our desperation) and Schmeichel made their fair share of saves. The teams seemed evenly matched as the whistle blew for half time.
The second half continued in much the same vein as the first, until Van Persie had a penalty stopped by Schmeichel in the 65th minute. His frustrated attempt seemed to invigorate our boys, and we peppered Schmeichel’s goal with shots from Rosicky and Hleb – until, with ten minutes left, Cesc Fabregas blasted home a high drive which sent the crowd into ecstasies of delight.
Injury time came and went, and thankfully the score stayed at 1-0, although not from lack of trying on the part of City. Schmeichel, who obviously takes after his father in more than just looks, came up for a corner and actually won a header!
One nil to the Arsenal, and a well earned victory in my eyes.
Final score: Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City
From comedy to ecstasy
First home game of the season and I’m nervous. Excited, yes – but also somewhat apprehensive. After a not-so-inspiring 2006-2007 season, our captain (the delightful Thierry Henry) buggered off to Barcelona over the summer and it’s unsure as to how his absence will affect the team. Although Henry didn’t play much last season, when he did appear on the pitch his presence seemed to boost the other (and particularly the younger) players. What I’m waiting with bated breath to discover whether his now permanent absence will knock their confidence… or give them room to show their stuff and give full rein to their potential.
So… I arrive just in time for kick-off (thanks to an almighty queue at the turnstile). As I hurry to my seat they’re announcing the line up for Fulham, and to my relief Niemi (who I rate highly as a keeper) is out having injured himself during the warm up on pitch. Excellent! I think, his absence can only be a good thing.
Oh how I was wrong.
Less than a minute into the game and Lehmann makes one hell of a cock up, earning himself the ignominious honour of worst start to the season. He made an awful mistake clearing a backpass from Clichy, and instead of side footing it away safely, he shinned it straight into the path of David Healy – who was only about two yards off the line, and couldn’t believe his luck. Fulham are a goal up after only 50 seconds, and the crowd are aghast. Taxi for Mr. Lehmann please…
To my disgust and disappointment, Niemi’s replacement (Tony Warner) had a cracking game and produced a number of fine saves to thwart our attempts to level the score. The boys played well, attacking hard but just failing to get that goal. My heart was sinking.
With less than ten minutes to go, Toure was halted rather naughtily in a fine run by Carlos Bocanegro, resulting in a penalty for the Gooners. Van Persie whacked it in to even up the score, and after a small scuffle in the goal we kicked off again, rejuvenated and keen to get the winner.
The winner came at 90 minutes, with Hleb hooking in a fine ball to gift us with another goal and the three points we so desperately wanted.
Lucky, lucky Arsenal strike again!
Final score: Arsenal 2-1 Fulham
Welcome to my footie blog!
Besides which, my post match report to my boyfriend after one game was “it was like sixty minutes of really bad foreplay, followed by three surprise orgasms” – and it would be a shame not to record any future gems like that!
So here we go… hopefully I’ll be making an entry after each home game (and possibly away matches, not sure yet) to record what happened, and how I felt. Might be dull for some, but at the end of the day it’s really an aid to my memory, and a way of remembering the highs and lows of the season.
