Written by Mean Lean
on
Wednesday, 26 January 2011 11:57
'What did she wear?
She wore, she wore, she wore a yellow ribbon, she wore a yellow ribbon in the merry month of May, and when I asked her why she wore that ribbon, she said it's for the Arsenal and were going to Wembley.
Wembley.. Wembley..we're the famous Arsenal and were going to Wembley'
It is nice to be able to sing that once again, it has been a little while since us Gooners have been able to clear our throats and then belt that out. We used to take it for granted since Arsene Wenger has been in charge as we found ourselves at Wembley every few seasons at the least.
Well we are back after finally dispatching of Ipswich Town who held on for dear life until they finally caved in at the end.
Arsene Wenger totally sold me a dummy with the line up, I assumed that Nasri, Chamakh and Walcott would start whilst Cesc and Van Persie would be sitting on the bench with a label saying 'in case of emergency, break open glass'
Instead Wenger showed us how important this game was by starting his two world cup finalists whilst Nasri and co took their seats on the bench.
Predictably the game started in only one way, Arsenal pressure on an Ipswich team who dropped back as far as they could with the aim of steaming the tide and protecting their advantage.
Credit to Ipswich who looked well organised, highly focused and they defended very well. Yet we still created enough chances to have taken the lead early in the game. Van Persie volleyed wide on his weaker right foot.
Ipswich did look to try and trouble the Arsenal back four from set pieces and it was from that where they created pretty much their only chance of the first half. Leadbitter floated a long ball into our box, Szczesny came for a ball he really shouldn't have as he was nowhere near it, the type of decision that his senior Polish colleague would have been castigated for. Szczesny crashed into Sagna leaving him concussed whilst Priskin headed over the crossbar.
Emmanuel Eboue replaced the groggy Sagna and slotted into the right back position.
The Bendtner cross to Van Persie combination continued last night after the wonderful goal at Elland Road recently. They duo almost repeated the trick but Van Persie once again hits the wood work.
I thought Jack Wilshere was fantastic once again and you can already see his growth and improvement from August. He has a swagger and confidence in his ability now that he knows he is a senior member of the first team. One chipped pass into Cesc was weighted to perfection, his captain would have been proud. It was Cesc who was the recipient of the pass and his first touch was spot on but his left footed shot whistled past the post instead of inside it.
I must admit, I was beginning to worry about our missed chances, with the knowledge that any Ipswich goal would mean that Arsenal would need to score three. Thankfully, they were never ever going to score with a certain Johan Djourou at the heart of defence.
Not for the first time, he was immense once again. Winning everything in the air, sticking his body in front of every attacker who attempted to get past our defence. He seems to have developed the knack of blocking off the attacker and then striding off into the sunset. He has a wonderful calming influence about him and that is great for a central defender at his age.
Just after the hour mark, Wilshere lofted a long pass to Bendtner who was on the left, his first touch with the outside of his foot reminded me of Thierry Henry in his pomp, his flick wide of Edwards was quality and his finish was sure. A great goal from Nicklas Bendtner who likes to score goals from the left.
That goal pretty much ended the game, it knocked the stuffing out of the visitors and it gave Arsenal the belief to win the game.
Minutes later Andrey Arshavin who is still not back to his best, delivered a pin point corner to the head of Laurent Koscielny who nipped in ahead of Martin Fulop to head into the net. His rounding of the belly celebration would indicate that his partner is pregnant, so it was a goal fully deserved. His second goal for the Gunners in a wonderful first season. He has developed a great partnership with Johan Djourou and appears to have ironed out his errors. I have no doubt that he will become a world beater for many years to come.
Emmanuel Eboue tried to give Arsenal fans a heart attack by not clearing the ball to safety, Jason Scotland ran into the box and had his shot blocked by Szczesny at the near post.
The game was far from safe at that point, knowing that an away goal from the visitors could still see them head to Wembley after extra time. Ipswich pushed forward and were in possession in a good position but for a fantastic and probable underestimated interception by Denilson in our half. Cesc picked up the ball and fed Arshavin skipping in those short strides of his, he cut inside probably thinking of bending it into the far corner until he saw his captain sprinting on the overlap, Arshavin the king of the reserve pass, found Cesc who took a touch and slotted between the keepers legs. Certainly a goal he has deserved in his last two matches.
Conclusion
We were just too powerful for the Ipswich team, they came with a game plan to frustrate us and if they could nick a goal on the break then they would try and do that. The team were very patient, very organised and very mature. That is great to see.
We have a wonderful chance to add our first trophy for this season. Whilst it is only fourth on the list of priorities it could provide a great springboard for the rest of the season.
Johan Djourou and Jack Wilshere are proving to be very important players for this team. I am so pleased for the former. A very nice guy, who seems very down to earth has had to be very patient. He was playing very well in the team a few years ago and was then replaced by an out of sorts Kolo Toure when he returned from injury.
He hasn't moaned and complained, he has put his head down and has worked on his positioning, his heading and looks to be a complete defender.
The Jack Wilshere who started against West Ham in the FA Cup a few years ago was a completely different player to the one we see now. He struggled to compete on that day, the game passed him by. Now he is making tackles, closing the opposition down and is looking like a 28 year old experienced international when he is on the ball.
The whole squad is doing very well and that is wonderful to see. The evening was somewhat soured by Manchester United coming from two down at Blackpool but we will deal with them soon at the Emirates.
A great day to be a Gooner.
Szczesny (6)
Sagna (7)
Djourou (8)
Koscielny (7.5)
Clichy (7)
Denilson (6.5)
Wilshere (8)
Cesc (8)
Bendtner (7)
Van Persie (6.5)
Arshavin (7)
Please note that ratings are only my interpretations of the game and that others will have differing opinions
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