After a nervous start which saw us go down early at home yet again, Gooners around the world were no doubt bracing themselves for another 1-1 draw. No one could have predicted at that point that when all was said and done, Arsenal would put six past Friedel, from five different players.
Gilberto opened the scoring for the Gunners - a header from a corner. (I know, I didn’t believe it at first either!)
Hleb scored Arsenal’s second, while Adebayor converted a penalty to make it 3-1 at the half.
The first 25 minutes of the second half were a footballing clinic put on by Arsenal, but with no goals. Suddenly, Blackburn scored against the run of play, and it was back to a one goal game.
However, Robin van Persie took over, scoring an absolutely exquisite goal to restore the two goal advantage, before he added another. Mathieu Flamini rounded out the scoring, as a nice +4 goal differential went along with a well earned three points.
22 Responses to “Arsenal 6 - 2 Blackburn”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
December 23rd, 2006 at 2:51 pm
excellent attacking thr-out but only good finishing towards the end
hleb fab and rosicky know each otherinside out it seems, and will always create
but the defense…SWEET LORD…vots wrong with them….each of them exceptional defenders in their own right but but together as 4 and they are shocking!…tension, lack of confidence, mis communication, poor judgement and downright lazyness sometimes….shocking shocking shocking!
gallas cant come back fast enuf!
December 23rd, 2006 at 6:18 pm
Tale of Two Arsenals. Offensive juggernaut and shambolic defense.
The 6-2 scoreline flatters Blackburn. It should ‘ve been 10-1. The scoreline should not deceive Arsenal supporters about how the defense played. Indian_gooner ’s description of Arsenal defense’s foibles only leaves out the kitchen sink. Not one defender had a game to be proud of. What part of the statement:”we have to avoid making simple mistakes” do these defenders not comprehend. Toure who is old enough to know better was our worst defender today. Gave away the PK for the usual early goal down. The Captain (Gilberto) came to the rescue with a rare headed goal. Clichy, great going forward but he is suppose to defend a little, right. Hoyte, great going forward … Djourou was our best defender by default and that is not a compliment.
This was Adebayor’s best game. A superb PK. Great runs off the ball. Absolutely destroyed the Blackburn RB with runs to the byline. Made great passes. Deceptive pace. Better touch today. His game is growing before our eyes.
The first time this season that our legendary counter-attack resurfaced. The pace was at its blistering best. It gave me goose bumps. That’s what I’m talkin’ about. That will put the fear of the Emirates into visiting teams.
RVP scored the 4th goal with a piece of individual brilliance. That was the goal we needed to kill the game.
Watford on Tuesday. They looked clueless against Liverpool. When you get promoted, you NEED to upgrade your team like a Reading or Wigan.
December 23rd, 2006 at 8:13 pm
Consider ppl predicted an 1-3 defeat scoreline like that prior to the match, a 6-2 victory is an excellent result.
December 23rd, 2006 at 11:44 pm
An expected result but not the scoreline.
The defence looked shaky. Neither Toure nor Djourou looked comfortable. Lehmann had to make many saves. Conceding four in two home games is a big cause for worry.
Is it the first time we played 4-4-2 with Rosicky, Cesc and Hleb? I doubt we will use the same against better teams. Can Rosicky make the left winger position his own? Only time will tell.
Arsenal are making a habit of turning up only after the opposition scores. The game was a tale of two 3-1 halves and between 3-2 and 4-2 there were a lot of tense moments. We really need to clean that up.
Ade has finally got on the assist charts. He is improving every game. Any idea why he took the penalty instead of Gilberto? Not that I mind, the more the better. RvP added to his tally against Blackburn. If only he could shoot with his right foot. The yellow card for diving for justified. Cut it out, man.
Hleb looked stunned after scoring his goal. Almost as if he is isn’t supposed to do that. Later in the same half, he tried to pass instead of shooting from an identical position. Dude, what’s the problem? Just shoot. We need more goals from everyone. Still waiting for Rosicky to score in the league.
It was good to easy us attacking corners. Toure hit the post and Gilberto scored a goal.
Bentley was fired up. You could see it in his celebration after getting the penalty. He was their best player. Maybe there is a lesson for youngsters. If you leave Arsenal, even if you are a decent player, you may not end up in a great place.
Can’t get carried away by this result. After the 4-0 at Reading, we failed to build on it. Now, we have the perfect oppurtunity with the next three games against relegation candidates.
December 23rd, 2006 at 11:46 pm
‘We can achieve something but it’s down to consistency’
Finally something sensible from AW.
December 23rd, 2006 at 11:52 pm
Bentley is a first string player, playing all the time for Blackburn.
He would NEVER have gotten that chance at Arsenal. Good for him.
The lesson for youngsters??? Yes, there is one… but I think it is GO if you get a chance at first team football, because its not going to happen very often at Arsenal. Alidiare has to go. It I were Lupoli and/or Bendtner or Stokes, and I could get FIRST TEAM play at a Premiership team, I’d RUN.
Who is Bendtner, Stokes or Lupoli going to play over?
Henry RVP or Adebayor?
NO NO and NO.
Not based on RVP and Ade’s recent form.
If you want to be a 4th striker for Arsenal and play sparingly for a long time, you stay… but RVP and Ade are young. They are the future.
Bendtner can definitely get a lot more playing time in the Prem elsewhere.
Why the hell should he wait?
December 24th, 2006 at 6:37 am
You’re contradicting yourself Stag.. You’ve always moaned about Arsenal’s lack of big players and how Arsene buys the kids all the time. Kids are going to gewt sold sometime or the other…if you’re good enough you’re there…else you’re off. The precise reason why Sylvinho n GVB were sold I believe to make way for Cole. The same way Viera was sold to not hamper Cesc’s development. If you’re good enough you stay and someone else will get sold. If NB is really that good..lets see him come here and prove himself.How?? you may ask if AW doesnt play him..AW will play him at some time or the other if he’s that good…the same way he threw Cesc n Flamini into central midfield in that 2-2 draw against Chelsea couple of years back when Titi missed his hatrick with an open goal in front of him.
Noone’s gonna play every game… if Bendtner continuously plays …then RVP or Ade will have to go… would you like that?? I dont think so.. If we play too many kids and get ripped you will blame AW for fielding too young a team, if we try and get some rhythym going with the same team you want kids to play.
You’re hard to pleae man…entitled to your opinions though. As far as I’m concerned in a nutshell.. If you’re that damn good you will play…AW will see to it.
December 24th, 2006 at 6:38 am
AW is always sensible….well most of the time
… and he’s just hugely overprotective of the kids… and hence it seems he’s talking rubbish sometimes. Overall he rocks..
December 24th, 2006 at 6:40 am
OFF-TOPIC
Indian gooner: You stay in the USA or somewhere in India? If India where? Reason I ask is coz I’m also an Indian
December 24th, 2006 at 7:07 am
At the end of the day, it’s upto the player. If Bentley had bided his time, he could have been a first team player after Pires and Reyes left. Wenger had belief in the kid. But one FA Cup goal against Boro and comparisons to Bergkamp totally turned his head. He was just not willing to wait any longer. I believe that Wenger has alluded to some such thing in his program notes. Maybe one who has read it can enlighten us.
Look at Pennant. He did get a chance. He just screwed it up by driving a car up some tree. As for Ali, he has waited and still not made it. If he leaves now, nobody will blame him for not waiting. That is the difference between Bentley and Pennant/Ali.
As for Bendtner, if he is good enough, he will definitely get his chance. Don’t blindly equate 4th choice = no chances. Djourou was 4th choice. Ali probably doesn’t get enough chances because he is not good enough.
December 24th, 2006 at 8:52 am
If I remember correctly in that 2-2 draw with Chel$ki, Viera and Gilberto were both not available and Edu had moved on. Wenger played Cesc and Flamini bcos he had no other options. Based on Wenger’s track record, he will not play youngsters unless his first choice are not available; ergo talented youngsters like Bendtler, Stokes, Ali and Lupoli will not get a chance unless there are first team injuries or it is the Carling cup.
December 24th, 2006 at 9:42 am
we have people that predict an Arsenal win by 3 goals every match… and then we lose… so it works both ways.
December 24th, 2006 at 9:49 am
I take the role of the PLAYER in this instance.
I want the team to WIN… so I want PROVEN PLAYERS when we need them.
Buying star players means the KIDS getted pushed down the pecking order.
There is definitely some value to having good young players… but like in any sport, they can be bargaining chips as well… they can be sold to finance other players coming in.
Now, if you are an ARSENAL youngster… like BENDTNER LUPOLI or STOKES…
Do you think that you are going to be playing much next year? The year after?
WHO do you think they are going to beat out for playing time?
Henry? Adebayor? or RVP?
Tell me… if you were Bendtner, do you think you’d want to stay behind those 3?
Look at it from HIS perspective, not YOURS.
If I were Lupoli Stokes or Aliadiare, I KNOW I have no chance of playing for Arsenal in the next 2-3 years. Bendtner may FORCE Wenger to play him, but it won’t be much.
Thats just the facts of being a big team. Same happens at Chelsea, but the players sitting are even older. (See SWP)…
It can have ZERO to do with ” if your damn good “…
If you don’t get the chance to play, you ROT.
December 24th, 2006 at 9:50 am
That is 100% correct.
December 24th, 2006 at 9:55 am
Bentley would NOT have gotten a fair chance. He “might” not have been good enough regardless. He is a good squad player for Blackburn. He made the RIGHT choice for him.
Pennant? He NEVER got a good run of matches at Arsenal. Thats just a fact. Partly HIMSELF to blame, because of his off-field crap, but he did not get a run of games to show what he could do regularly. He IS good enough to play for us. He plays well for Liverpool. They realized he had the talent to play top level football. Again, Good for Pennant. He is PLAYING for Liverpool… he wasn’t going to play here.
Bendtner?
Who knows… if I were him, and I had the chance to play a lot for another Premiership team, or be 4th striker at Arsenal and play in the Carling Cup and get the odd game… with Henry, RVP and Ade in front of me, I’d go play elsewhere.
Thats not an indictment on Arsenal, thats actually a compliment. We have 2 young strikers that are pretty damned good on their day, and getting better, and one of the best in the world. Not a bad thing to realize that Bendtner might not get a chance. Its just the way it is.
December 24th, 2006 at 10:29 am
Consistency. Wenger has been preaching it. Been praying for it. Calling for it. Waiting for it. Sensing it. Is it here? Or just around the corner. Arsenal are having turkey for Christmas. They’ll needed a sharpened defensive edge if they are to cut up the likes of Watford, Sheffield United, Charlton and a second helping of Blackburn pie. Then and only then will the meeting with Manchester United on January 20th have REAL meaning.
I called for us to bring back our loanee strikers-let’s table that request. Aliadiere? He can take the first train smoking. It appears that Arsenal scoring will be done by committee. So be it. If you got the shot take it…Hleb, you’re on the scoring committee in case you didn’t get that memo.
I know he’s injured. I know you shouldn’t kick a good man when he’s down. I ask you, would we be running Blackburn off the field with Ljungberg? No way in hell. Let me also say that unless Henry is prepared to up his work rate/involvement with the Arsenal flow, he should sit.
December 24th, 2006 at 10:50 am
As I said - at the end of the day, it’s upto the player. All I am saying is that a little patience is not out of order. Good things can happen if you wait a little.
I strongly believe that there is place for 4 strikers in a good squad. We can challenge on multiple fronts. Who can forget Cole, Yorke, Sheringham and Solskjaer in the treble season of 98-99. Depth does not hurt and there are enough games for every one.
What is hurting us right now? Isn’t it lack of depth in key positions? Henry gets injured, Ade and RvP take time to take over. Rosicky gets injured, we don’t who to play on the left. Gallas is injured and we are forced to field Djourou or Senderos. Imagine what will happen if Cesc or Gilberto get injured.
December 24th, 2006 at 10:55 am
But for one spell in Sep/Oct, we haven’t been able to string more than 2 consecutive wins. In the league, we haven’t even managed 2 wins in a row after that one spell in Sep/Oct.
December 24th, 2006 at 10:59 am
Thats always how it is… it’s coz Viera n Edu r your big players they play..its because AW knows they will deliver week in week out they will play.. yes we were barebones in CM that game…that ws just an example I give… the point I was trying to bring out was what I’ve already said.. If you’re good enough and you believe you’re good enough.. and want to stay at a big club…fight as long as u can…if u realize you’re not going to cut it…leave…like DB did … like Ali might..like NB might…
Will you rather put Ade or RVP on the bench n play NB and Ali upfront with Titi ?? NO.. because they r still 17 and 18.. because they have a lot to learn … yet… yes they might be banging in goals for fun… n might even shine .. but RVP is playing regularly… this season…. when he’s 23 … Ade at 22 .. not at 17 or 18 unless ur a freak like Cesc….
Which is precisely the point… and what I believe you will agree on… if DB-blackburn didnt cut it here.. or he didnt get a run .. its because sum1 else was better than him in training or in the FA cup or the Carling cup or wherever…
Its really that simple: If Cesc at 17 is considered by AW to be better than Pddy at 29 with all his experience… its all about quality… “ur good ur here…if ur better than sum1 who’s already here…you will play”….
December 24th, 2006 at 11:01 am
True… I agree there… if you dont get the chance you do ROT… and you have to move on..from the PLAYER’s perspective..
December 24th, 2006 at 11:04 am
Are you a statistician by profession by any chance? You always seem to have the exact stats n stuff
December 25th, 2006 at 5:45 am
No, but I do like keeping tab of such stuff.