Football is a very surprising sport. When draws are made, some contests get won on paper. Arsenal were to host Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup 4th round. Everyone thought that it would be a “stroll in the park”. I wrote in a previous post that Neil Banfield’s reserves will be too much for them but I was horribly mistaken.
The side that I predicted was almost identical with the side that played yesterday. The only difference was the change of “captaincy”. Samir Nasri was given the nod ahead of Tomas Rosicky.
As the home side, we threatened early on. Andrei “Hotty” Arshavin was quite lively throughout the game. He attacked from the left and sent a cross to Nicklas Bendtner. The finish was the “P” in poor.
Eboue linked up with Bendtner with a superb “one-two” pass, fed Nasri who in turn supplied the gunpowder for Hotty. The ball was wasted.
Arshavin decided to take on all comers and cut inside in the box. The shot hit the goalie’s near post.
As we found ourselves in the comfort zone, Sebastien “Squisha” Squillaci produced the first Arsenal moment of madness. The Squisha took the ball forward and somehow misplaced it in midfield. The Huddersfield players launched a counter attack but it only led to a corner kick. Even Laurent Koscielny’s attempt to save the ball from going out was a futile act. He only succeeded in moping the turf with his ass.
They had a cross that was nodded away by some bloke.
Bendtner was present in the bench when Cesc “El Capitan” Fabregas sent that delightful through ball to rVp’s path against Wigan. The finish was a show of rVp’s amazing technique.
Nasri took the role of El Capitan and supplied a cross field ball to Bendtner. Instead of bringing the ball under control then applying a better finish, Bendtner chose to lash it once and ended up shooting some air.
It was really embarrassing for our “Wald Bezt” striker. At least he could afford a cheap smile and continue with his bubble gum.
Bendtner atoned for that glaring miss by scoring a goal that was aided with a little deflection from some Huddersfield bloke. The ball got to Chamakh’s path. He controlled the ball and sent Bendtner through. Our rangy Dane had a few touches and fired a shot on goal. The defender sliding in to cover the ball helped with a slight deflection thereby sending it past the goalie.
The celebration was odd though. The only players smiling were the ones that came to celebrate with the scorer. Bendtner just exchanged hugs and ate his gum.
They sprung another counter attack with one shiny shoe wearing chap. The cross he drilled into the 6-yard box needed the slightest of touches to make it 1-1. Luckily for us, the ball evaded the striker, Squillaci and newly crowned 3rd choice goalie Manuel Almunia.
We then retained possession at the back and tried to build up an attack. When the ball got to Denilson’s foot he decided to act a quick porno flick by dashing the ball to opposition in our box. The Huddersfield bloke wasted the glorious chance to punish us.
Arshavin then gave a cheeky pass with his heel to create a chance for Bendtner. The attempt was also spurned.
Captain of the day, Samir Nasri was having a good game playing the Mr. Creativity role behind the attacking trio. His afternoon was however blighted by the hamstring injury he sustained when trying to chase a long ball. It was later reported that Samir “El Rufai” Nasri was going to spend 3 weeks in the sidelines. We play the BarcAliens in two weeks time. That was a game that we needed players like Nasri.
Tomas Rosicky returned from exile and was drafted back into the team as Nasri’s replacement.
We all wanted AW the Alchemist to sign a center back because the Djourcielny combo had played so many games and were in dire need of rest. He told us to “calm down” because Thomas “Verminator” Vermaelen was making progress in his recuperation and the Squisha was available after 3 weeks out.
The Squisha came in for Johan Djourou in yesterday’s game. A speedy fellow from Huddersfield took the ball from his half and started a one-man riot against us. The ease at which he skipped past Denilson was an annoying sight. Denilson was supposed to be the “4” for the day. Kieran Gibbs was also out of position so the speedy one was faced with our two center backs.
Laurent Koscielny stretched out his foot but the speedy bloke skipped that challenge. The bloke was faced with Sebastien Squillaci. He then kicked the ball away and turned himself into a battering ram. As he hit the Squisha’s body he hit the deck with ease. With the Squisha being the last man, the man with the whistle Mr. Clattenburg brandished a red card and sent him off for an early bath.
He was injured for almost 30240 minutes. He spent just 41 minutes yesterday.
Huddersfield kept pressing and probing our shaken defence. Denilson was our stand-in center back for the remainder of the 1st half.
AW the Alchemist made a tactical substitution at the start of the second half. Alex Song came in for the disappointing Marouane Chamakh. His introduction meant that our formation to see out the game would be 4-4-1.
Rosicky gave Arshavin a very “Cescy” through ball but the Russian failed to crown that good attacking move by lashing his left foot volley off target.
A bloke from Huddersfield fired a descent shot but Almunia was equal to the challenge.
Huddersfield started to make the numerical advantage count by starting a series of attacks that threatened the Arsenal defense.
The first scary moment of the 2nd half arrived when the opposition striker had a chance to bury the ball in the 6-yard box. Almunia rushed out to anticipate the ball but it was flushed out for a corner by the player you would not expect to be there. Andrei Arshavin. He even got injured for his “bravery”
The game so far had produced different highlights, a goal, many missed chances and a red card. There was even time for a “comedy” class act to be displayed.
Gibbs misplaced the ball to a Huddersfield player. He sent in a cross towards Almunia’s path for a simple catch. With the onrushing striker closing down on our goalie, he let the ball bounce past him and started “chasing” it with the striker. With the ball almost going out for a corner, Almunia was shoved a bit by the striker thereby getting the final touch. He then screamed at Mr. Clattenburg expecting a freekick. He should have caught the ball in the first place. The resulting corner kick almost ended at the back of our net.
Almunia then atoned for that comedy show by making a save of the highest quality from a chap that calls himself Lee. That save reminded me of the blonde Almunia of the 2007/08 season.
The man with the shiny boot fired a ball that evaded both Bendtner and Song to miss the net by a lick of paint.
In the 63rd minute, Huddersfield had 9 shots, the home team was a shot lower at 8.
Some bloke turned Gibbs inside out and lashed wide.
Gibbs was exposed again by another chap but Song came to wipe up his mess with a good clearance. Mr. Lee scored his first ever Huddersfield goal from the resulting corner.
AW the Alchemist played his last wild card on the deck by bringing on our SuperMan, Cesc “El Capitan” Fabregas for Abou Diaby.
He quickly stamped his authority in the game by sending a lovely diagonal pass to Bendtner. The Dane was aware of Koscielny’s presence in the box so he gently cushioned a soft header to the defender’s path. The shot was blocked by a defender. The ball then fell to Eboue who crossed it back into the danger area. Bendtner’s header was a few inches above the crossbar.
Despite being the scorer of our only goal so far. Bendtner was guilty for the charge of profligacy.
He missed another glorious chance when Arshavin controlled the ball well and set him up with a chance to make us go 2 up. He had one touch too many and wasted the chance.
Denilson developed a cramp late on when he was sent through. It was good to see that he came back to the pitch. 9 against 11 would have been disastrous because AW the Alchemist had used his subs.
El Capitan then put up some good touches then teed up Rosicky. I said that I would pay my tithe if TR7 scored a goal. It was not to be because his shot was blocked.
When a 4th round replay seemed on the cards, El Capitan sent a lovely through to Bendtner. Bendtner was impeded in the box by a defender causing the Man on Black to blow his whistle and point to the spot.
He sent the keeper the wrong way and put us 2 up. He ran to the net, grabbed the ball, bit his red badge and went to the corner kick flag. That goal was dedicated to every fan. Super Fab to the rescue once again.
Match ratings.
Almunia (6.5) did okay. Eboue (6.6) supplied some good crosses. Gibbs (6.0) put up his poorest performance this season. Squisha (5.8) disappointed the fans by picking up a red card. Koscielny (6.4) didn’t do too much. Denilson (6.7) put up some decent passes in midfield. Diaby (6.5) showed his match rustiness. Nasri (6.3) did okay before getting injured. Arshavin (6.9) was a live wire with the ball at his feet. Wald Bezt (7.3) scored a goal and was fouled in the box for the penalty. Chamakh (6.1) had a poor outing. Song (6.8) steadied the ship in the defense. Rosicky (7.0) put up a lively performance. El Capitan (7.2) saved the day once again.
This victory has ensured for qualification to the 5th round for a meeting with Leyton Orient. It seems that the FA has taken a nicer approach with the draws. I wouldn’t mind another cup double. The last time we achieved this feat was in the 1992/93 season.
The tweet for the day comes from Arsenal’s messiah, Francesc “El Capitan” Fabregas
“RT @cesc4official: Wishing @Nanas08 and @_denilson15 a speedy recovery. We need them fit soon to fight for every single game till the end of the season.”
It’s really unfortunate that Samir “El Rufai” Nasri would miss out on our Earth-saving game against the BarcAliens.
Sorry for the lateness of today’s post.
I’ve been very busy doing my university clearance in Owerri.
Being an Arsenal blogger changes a lot of things. For future reference, some posts may come late.
I hope my esteemed reader would understand
That’s all for now.
Sayonara.
