A Partizan In A Pear Tree

Arsenal dispatched Partizan Belgrade at the Emirates last night, beating the Serbian team 3-1 to progress into the next round of the Champions League. It was not a typically fluid Arsenal performance by any means, but Wenger's boys got the job done in the end, and I suppose that's all we could ask for.

On a night when the Gunners needed a win at all costs, they certainly didn't look as if they were trying to get it, at least not early on. The eleven guys on the pitch didn't seem to be clicking at all; the passing was messy, we gave the ball away too often, and we just didn't look very dangerous overall. As an Arsenal fan, we are treated to the sublime more often than not and I think we are probably spoiled to an extent, because after watching last night's sloppy first half, you'd think it was Stoke or Blackburn out there, not Arsenal. But after half an hour gone, captain van Persie was tripped in the box and the referee obliged with a penalty. It did look a bit soft, and Robin definitely did his best to win it, but there was contact and the Partizan defender did leave his foot stuck in, so there should be no real complaints. Robin took the responsibility to give us the lead and confidently put the ball in the back of the net to make it 1-0. I was pretty glad to see van Persie get his first goal of the season, even if it was a penalty; they all count. However, his celebration terrified me to my bones (look at the picture below), and I would like it if Robin refrained from such daring moves in the future. I don't want him to break again.

Instead of the goal spurring us on, Arsenal slipped back into their mundane ways, and held on until half time. Fabianski had nothing to do for the first 45 minutes as Belgrade rarely looked like threatening, but the Polish keeper was powerless to prevent Belgrade's equaliser. Seven minutes into the second half, with their first shot on target all night, Partizan equalised with a deflected goal off of Squillaci. Again our defensive frailties were exposed, an all too familiar occurrence this season that has to be remedied at some stage. I don't know what the problem is, as I don't profess to be a defensive expert. I rate Koscielny and Squillaci quite highly, I believe they are excellent defenders on their day, but something is wrong there. Maybe it's the fact that Song is not protecting the back four as much he could be, but there's probably more to it. It's something for Wenger to worry about, especially when we come up against better teams in the competition.

Thankfully, the scary thought of elimination from the Champions League seemed to wake us up. The rather useless Arshavin (who never got going all evening, despite a great game against Fulham at the weekend) was replaced by Theo Walcott, who stamped his impression on the game immediately. The speedy Englishman pounced on Partizan's inability to clear the ball, and Theo volleyed home from a tight angle to make it 2-1. It was a good finish, and I gave a huge sigh of relief when the ball hit the net. Walcott was brought on to give the team some urgency, and he delivered perfectly. The second goal seemed to provide the team with some momentum, and the on-form Samir Nasri quickly put the game beyond doubt, making it 3-1 with a cool finish. After some fabulous passing between Song and Bendtner, Nasri controlled the ball with immense skill before firing in low for our third goal, and his 12th of the season. The guy is unstoppable right now. It was game over from then on, but there was still time for Sagna to collect a straight red card late on. I was pretty annoyed at the time, but it was just my biased nature refusing to believe what had happened. He'll miss the first leg of whoever we have to play in the new year.

So with Arsenal securing a place in the last 16, the focus now turns to who we will face. Unfortunately the Gunners finished second in the group, after Shakthar defeated Braga, which means we'll be playing either Schalke, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, or (gulp) Barcelona. In typical Arsenal fashion, we had to go and make life more difficult for ourselves. I will gladly take either of the German teams, but I dread the idea of facing Barca or Madrid at this stage; Our leaky defence will be torn to shreds surely. Wenger says that we won't fear Barcelona, but it would undoubtedly be the worst draw to get from the available teams.

Our attention now turns to the trip to Old Trafford on Monday night. I'm hoping to be in the pub for that one, so if I get to watch it, expect something on Tuesday. Depends how much uni work I still have to fit in before Christmas!

Thanks for reading

Sayonara Shakhtar

Arsenal cruised to another Champions League victory last night at the Emirates, where they easily dispatched the Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. The Gunners strolled to a 5-1 win, with former Arsenal man Eduardo grabbing a late consolation for his new team.

It was an assured performance from Wenger's men on the night. I was expecting the match to be a bit closer but Arsenal soon put any fears I had to rest. The opening few minutes were cagey, as both sides appeared to be testing each other out but it wasn't long before Arsenal capitalised and took the lead. After the Shakhtar keeper spilled a corner (doing his best Fabianski impression), Djourou pounced on the loose ball and poked it into the path of Alex Song, who ambitiously attempted a Cristiano Ronaldo-like 'Rabona' shot, which deflected off the defender and bounced kindly into the back of the net to give us a 1-0 lead after 19 minutes. It was pretty funny to see Song attempt such a move but he got the result he wanted, a good goal in the end. I think Song had a decent night, he made no mistakes that I could see, but I do worry that with his increase in confidence over the last 18 months or so, he maybe thinks he's a bit better than he really is, especially going forward in attack. I just have concerns that his constant need to join in on the attack will some day hurt him, as the back four becomes instantly vulnerable when Song leaves his position. But hey, I have no complaints about him until he makes that mistake; Song is a quality player for us. Speaking of the defence, I was very impressed with our pair of centre backs last night, especially Djourou. I know the guy has had injury problems over the last few years, but I have always been a fan of Johan and it has irritated me in the past when Wenger would go with Silvestre over Djourou, for one example; beyond frustrating. He performed well last night with Squillaci, as Shakhtar looked pretty toothless in attack overall. They even made Fabianski look good, who to be fair to him made a very good save in the early minutes of the second half. More games like that in the near future please.

Arsenal continued to press after the first goal and doubled their lead just before half time with a beautiful goal from Samir Nasri. An Alex Song cross was expertly controlled by our young Frenchman, who calmly got the ball down and lashed a shot past the helpless Shakhtar keeper for a two goal lead. Nasri has impressed many fans so far this season, as he continues to carry over his form from last season. The guy can't put a foot wrong. Leading 2-0 at the half, we were cruising and the game was pretty much done and dusted.

After Fabianski's save from Adriano just after the restart, Arsenal took control of the game and never relinquished it. With just over half an hour to go in the game, Djourou was brought down in the box and Captain Cesc stepped up to take the penalty, comfortably scoring from the spot to put the game to bed, 3-0. I was glad Wenger took the decision to start Fabregas and he deserved his goal. You could sense he was a bit rusty early on in the match, which is to be expected after a three week break, but Cesc quickly returned to his normal playmaking self. Denilson replaced him after the penalty, where I expect Wenger had an eye on this weekend's game against Man City; we all want the captain to be fit and rested ahead of that crucial clash.

After going ahead by three goals courtesy of Cesc, the floodgates opened up. Jack Wilshere, who played his last game for a couple of weeks ahead of his impending suspension, had a brilliant outing and thoroughly deserved his goal. After some good work with Rosicky, Jack took a rather heavy touch but still maintained enough poise to calmly lob the ball over Shakhtar's keeper to make it 4-0. Probably the best goal of the night, it was so well taken, and the build up was vintage Arsenal. Only minutes later it was 5-0. Nasri chipped the ball over the Shakhtar defence into the path of Chamakh, who after glancing at the linesmen rolled the ball into the corner of the net for a deserved goal. Everybody including Chamakh thought he was offside, but thanks to a great decision by the linesmen the goal stood and the game was over. Nasri's pass was a thing of beauty too.

To cap off the evening, the returning Eduardo entered the fray for Shakhtar and scored an absolute peach with eight minutes to go. An innocuous ball entered the Arsenal box where Squillaci couldn't quite get to it, but Eduardo connected perfectly with a superb effort which flew past Fabianski to make it 5-1. It was a really nice moment for our former number 9, as the fans, Arsenal and Shakhtar, rose to applaud Eduardo for his well taken goal. It really is a shame that we got rid of him this summer, as he obviously still has feelings for the club and many fans still hold him in high regards. I hope he can resume his career in Ukraine and find success there.

All in all it was a good night of football. Arsenal are now 3 from 3 in the group stage, and barring any meltdowns we look sure to make it into the knockout stages for another year. Next up is a tough trip to Manchester to face Mancini's City. I will be at work unfortunately (GRRRRR) but hopefully I can make it to the pub for the second half. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for reading.