Jan 13
Thierry Henry’s wonder strike in the 70th minute sealed the three points for 10-man Arsenal against Blackburn this afternoon.
A dubious straight red card on Gilberto after the Brazilian was brought down by Robbie Savage meant that the Gunners were a man down for nearly 80 minutes.
Arsenal played the counter-attack to perfection, earning a free kick in the 37th minute, which Kolo Toure got his head to to put the Gunners up 1-0 at the half.
23 Responses to “Blackburn 0 - 2 Arsenal”
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January 13th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Brilliant performance under the circumstances - maybe the best this season.
The work ethic was fantastic - I’m wondering if Gilberto’s red card actually helped the team to fight like they did and deliver the result. The way Arsenal mixed tenacity with intelligent counter attacking was sublime.
I’m beginning to think this team could go far again in the Champions League if this progress continues - confidence is the key and we’re building momentum.
8 days off now, and there’s no reason why we cannot topple United, although I don’t really want to see the door open for Chelsea.
January 13th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
This was a great performance by 10 man Arsenal that was more devastating for Blackburn than losing 6-2. This reminds me of the Arsenal teams of the 90’s that played ‘better’ down 10 men after the usual Viera red card.
To Wenger’s credit, he made no changes after the sending off. To Arsenal’s credit, he didn’t have to. I was concerned by our slow start, but we should thank Rob Styles for galvanizing Arsenal into showing our true quality.
MOTM: Senderos who had a very strong game and played excellent defense on a Nonda chance late in the match.
Hoyte is still looking to get it right.
Hleb must be singled out for his warrior like effort at both ends of the pitch.
Toure’s run to beat 2 BR defenders and head in the Henry FK was worthy of any CF.
How do you if you are Blackburn allow Arsenal to score with a 2 man counter attack that beats at least 4 defenders. Henry draws 4 defenders before executing a 1-2 with Fabregas for a stunning 2nd goal. Game, set, and match. Elvis has left the building. The fat lady has sung. Hughes can offer up no lame excuses for his team being beaten senseless.
I see Flamini filling the Gilberto role in upcoming matches.
Arsenal’s confidence will grow tremendously after this performance. There is no reason to think that Arsenal cannot make a run for second place:) Chelsea despite the 3-0 win at Wigan are tottering as Mourinho looks to exit to Real Madrid. I am looking forward to Man U because that will be another yardstick for where we are now. A win against Man U with us just starting to become consistent could be the start for us to beat off the other Euro pretenders.
January 13th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Didn’t see the game but a fantastic result and they shoved my prediction of a blackburn win squarely down my throat.
I think Gilberto is a massive loss for the united game though. The guy, especially at home, is simply the best defensive midfielder in the world. He would have som important at snuffing out United’s little moves on the edge of our area. His speed in terms tracking back makes him so special.
The only hope is that Arsenal appeal and the process that initiates will allow him to play against Man United next week. The suspension would likely start the game after that. I’m sure that happened before at some point.
January 13th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Good win!!
The last few games we are really taking our chances well as compared to earlier. Against CSKA at home we must have had over 20 shots without a goal, and that plagued us in other games as well. Now,inthe most recent games were are getting 5 shots and scoring 3, or three shots and scoring 3. Has anything changed, or is it just the natural ebb and flow of the season?
January 13th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
http://www.dailymotion.com/Richie2710/video/xz8yn_henry-goal-v-blackburn-13-january-2
- Taken from Arsenal Times
Superb interplay between Henry and Cesc. Talk about telepathy. And a great finish from the master.
January 13th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Wenger said he will not appeal. So we will have to depend on the heroics of Flamini against ManUre.
http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1766_1835182,00.html
January 13th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Great game, great win, poor referee. While Gilberto may have broken the letter of the law, he certainly didn’t break the spirit of it - should have just been a yellow IMHO.
I understand why the “boss” isn’t going to appeal the red-card but it was made into something bigger than it was. Savage truly is a poxy wanker, crawling all over Gilberto and then the fall after Gilberto lashed out at him.
Happy for the win sad for the loss of GS with ManUre coming up.
January 13th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Very impressed with the way AW kept two strikers up front and did not make a change of the team’s formation after Gilberto was off.
It sent out two signals:
1. To Blackburn and the negative, ruby football - u guys ain’t got the guts to go all out attack us even when we are playing with 10. Therefore we don’t even need a defensive midfielder.
2. Even with 10 men,we are confident to continue attack, to score and to win.
It has been a truly Happy New Year for the Gunners so far! We may not be there yet this season, but u just got this feeling strong and stronger that the boys seem showing signs of finally coming together.
January 13th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
This is a game (on the road in bad conditions against a physical, nasty team; down a man for nearly the entirety) that we would not have won a month ago. Humiliating ‘Pool twice looks to have provided a (the?) missing link - confidence and therefore heroic perseverance. And, not to overlook having TH14 in fine form. One of my top three performances of the season.
January 13th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Boys, I’m really happy with this win. To win three away games in a row in the north is an impressive accomplishment for us. We seem to have perhaps turned a corner. We were very disciplined and simply played good soccer.
Wenger won’t appeal Gilberto’s red because he did lash out. By virtue of that fact, we would lose the appeal. You have to be smart about the battles you choose to fight and that would be a bad battle to try and fight. The bad thing is because it was considered violent conduct, it’s a three-match ban.
If you guys paid attention to the game you will see what I was saying when I said Fabregas could play defensive mid. Considering the players we had on the pitch, the decision to not make a substitution was tactical brilliance. We saw Hleb and Rosicky tuck in to central areas while Clichy and Hoyte provided the team width to about thrity meters from the end line. Tactically, very sound.
The goal from Henry was absolutely incredible. For two players to attack like 7 Blackburn defenders and not wait for other team mates to get involved says it all. For Henry to take the shot like that with one touch was audacious. I really enjoyed his celebration. It was as if he were saying “I’m back, bitches!”
We still didn’t look cold in defemse. Blackburn had four chances that they really should have scored on and I was amazed that they missed. Not to take the luster off of today’s performance but we can’t do that against Manchester United. You know I’m not a Seneros fan but he looked good today. Again, I found myself saying “Well done Senderos”. Strange. Anyway, I hope our attacks are as efficient next Sunday. Man United will be up for this game but ir we’re as clinical as we’ve been in the past week or so, we can embarass them. That would be nice.
January 13th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
I agree with the point that this might have been a game that we could not have won, or would not have one… say a month ago.
Having Henry in the line-up makes a lot of things possible. He passed to himself last week… in scoring the 3rd and clincher against Liverpool, and the goal this week was AMAZING. How many players could have done that? I don’t think there are more than a handful in the world.
We can afford to play Blackburn as if we have 11 men… because Henry is out there. It allows us to still play with confidence.
I think that the sending off of Gilberto may have actually caused Blackburn to play LESS PHYSICAL.
a) being up a man… they are more likely to go forward, than worry about the thuggery.
b) after the sending off, they got 3 yellow cards… so there was the possibility of the ref evening things up on the pitch. So they had to be more careful with their physical play.
3 very important points.
Very impressive win… and now we get a full week off…
The game against United is very big. If we could manage to beat them… our confidence would soar… and could propel us forward in all competitions. Obviously, no Gilberto against United is not a positive. But for one game, we should be able to scheme and overcome the loss. We played without him against Blackburn and won… so its possible.
With TH14 healthy and in form… and the team gelling at the right moment… and Cesc and Henry digging in defensively when needed… ANYTHING is possible with this team right now.
Great stuff. Great win. Great week for the Arsenal.
January 13th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Blackburn did miss a few sitters - I don’t remember four. I remember two, a header and the guy who kicked the ball against himself when it was easier to score. But then Henry missed a sitter too.
Gilberto had to go because he kicked Savage. What I don’t understand is that Savage kicked Gilberto 2 or 3 times when he was never going to get the ball. So what’s the difference to his violent conduct and Gilberto’s?
But then that’s what the talentless Savage does. When his career’s over all he’ll be remembered for is one thing - being a pikey, dirty little prick. Tragic huh?
January 13th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Have to put this win up there alongside the wins at OT and Anfield. I hope we have FINALLY put to rest our problem in the North and against the Goons.
Sad for Gilberto. He has been around long enough to know that if he does what he did, he will get sent off. The laws are stupid. Hence Wenger is not appealing.
Cesc, Rosicky and Hleb battled like warriors. They did not make it look like we were a man down. A bit like at Anfield in 01-02. Blackburn may have been less physical after the red card, but they weren’t exactly softies. Ask Cesc.
The best way to respond to Blackburn tactics is to beat them on the pitch. That’s exactly what we did, and with 10 men!!! Bravo.
What can you say about Henry’s goal? Super. He has scored in every game after his rest. One more goal against ManU will be perfect. Again, well done Arsene.
Yes, we will miss Gilberto against ManU. The other games he will miss are in the Cup and we should be able to manage. Flamini against ManU and Diaby against Spurs.
January 14th, 2007 at 2:12 am
An absolute blitz of a game. Piece of magic from Titi on 72″. Grit, determination,quality,technique,class,vision… you could see everything in this game. Just further emphasizes the fact that we’re better this year than we were last year. This was a game which was similar to the one at Sheffield United in many respects except that it wasn’t a mudbath but we came out tops. Apart fromt he couple of misses that Rovers had with Derbyshire I thought we controlled the game brilliantly.
This is what Arsenal are about .. this is how they play even when its a 4-5-1. For anyone who feels 4-5-1 is defensive, they’re right except when Arsenal play it. We looked dangerous even with 3 in the middle and when RVP came off as well.
Gilberto will be sorely missed against ManU but not for the remaining games cause he probably wouldnt have played in the 2 cup games anyway. Still with this team I’m pretty confident that we’ll step up again and get the points against ManU as well.
Toure n Sendy were immense as were Hoyte n Clichy. I think Hoyte has improved quite a bit from the time when he gave away Joey Barton’s penalty at Man City. The future is just unbelievably bright … the kids just have to stick together and keep learning all the time without letting it get to their heads.
We plyed without Titi n still scored. We’ll play without Gilberto n still be strong in central midfield. We’ll be strong against ManU and we’ll put in a performance even if we lose.. which I dont think we will.
Finally something which hasnt been mentioned .. Tomas Rosicky played a blinder yesterday. It was Cesc who drove us forwrd nd ws hugely instrumental creating but Rosicky’s workrate helped us greatly to nullify the loss of Gilberto which no one’s noticed.
MOTM: Toure … because we needed to be defensively solid at that time. Yes Titi scored a wonder goal which not too many people can score but Kolo Toure was immense..immense at central defense.What a buy!!!! –> 6,00,000 pounds…
LESS THAN A MILLION!!!
January 14th, 2007 at 11:54 am
January 14th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
to be honest, i am seriously afraid for our defense against Man U.
especially two characters in our defense called Senderos and Hoyte.
Yes, Senderos has played well recently, but we all know he likes it when the ball is constantly up in the air. that is his strenght. He cant cope against speedy strong strikers can he??? Wont Rooney “kill” him?? And if he comes against Saha or Ronaldo he would be skinned for sure.
Hoyte is another. He will be constantly targeted in my opinion.
I hope Eboue is fit for the game. And i hope Djorou plays against Man U (like he did at Old trafford). Djorous main weakness is the high balls, but Man U are not going to be pumping balls into the air. And Djorou can easily handle fast paced and strong attackers no problem.
January 14th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Agree, Djourou is better suited to United’s style although he has gone backwards- in my opinion- since the United game. Like Senderos did last season, he has gone timid and looked unsure when he has no reason to be.
Without Gilberto, United could rip us apart, and their slightly stronger defence could prove the difference.
January 14th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Yes, thats true… United “could” rip us apart…
Liverpool “could” have as well… twice, but didn’t.
And without Gilberto, and down to 10 men, Blackburn “could” have buried us.
But we have stood tall, played very hard and determined football, and won all 3 games this week.
I think we will have a very solid effort against United. It will probably come down to who takes their chances best. With Henry on form, I KNOW we have a good chance.
January 14th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Cheers to that.. My thoughts as well… what “could” happen and what do are 2 usually very different things… we weren’t supposed to take them at OT… but the boys stood proud and strong.. as I believe they are ready to do again…
you gotta believe…
January 14th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Fred’s right, Man Utd is not the game for Senderos - unless Wenger plays 4-5-1 and tells Arsenal to sit back and soak up the pressure.
However, I’m more worried about Hoyte, I can see Ronaldo ripping him to shreds.
January 14th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Let’s look at the positives:
1. United will be under more pressure than us to get the 3 points, so they will have to attack. And nothing else suits Arsenal more than a counter-attack game.
2. These will be two sides going to play FOOTBALL. When we find ourselves in a REAL FOOTBALL MATCH, we can match with anyone.
3. The past few games since the new year, we created few chances, but the covert rate has been amazing. Remember early of the season the criticism of our FINISHING? And personally, I would rather to see us scoring 2 goals out of 3 chances, than none out of 20.
January 14th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Well, I think we can win no matter what.
But with Gilberto out I think we’ll miss something defensively, and Hoyte worries me - the results are belying the fact that he’s a total waste of space, and it’s only a matter of time before we get punished for him disappearing from his position 10 times every game.
January 15th, 2007 at 10:17 am
Djourou is susceptible to moments of ball watching but I agree his speed will come in handy against ManUre. While Hoyte has improved alot since the start of the season, his defensive positioning still leaves alot to be desired. In the game against Blackburn, he basically left the right back position unguarded for most of the 2nd half and played too close to Toure. If not for the hardworking Helb who tracked back very often, we could have been punished more severely. I would prefer Eboue back for sure.
IMO the bigger issue is: who will replace Gilberto? Is it Flamini? Diaby? Song? Denilson? Or switch to 4-5-1? Or Toure and play both Sendoros and Djourou in central defence? I prefer 4-5-1 with Cesc, Flamini and Baptista in the middle with Henry up front.
I think Wenger will go with 4-4-2 and play Cesc and Flamini in the middle.