RvP The Difference As Pilgrims Progress Is Halted
Jan 3rd, 2009 by 'holic
First things first. Fair play to Plymouth. The visitors arrived with a plan, managed to exert some pressure in both halves, and played on the fragility of confidence currently evident in the hosts.
Arsenal clearly resembled the famous ‘curate’s egg’. Parts were, I assure you, excellent. Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie, captain for the day, were prominent in most of the good things that happened. Emmanuel Eboue too had his moments that included going closest for the Gunners in a frustrating and goal-less opening half. Others were less accomplished.
Those who, like me, were unable to get to the Grove found streams at a premium. One good one was found, and in a seperate window I had a wonderful shot of some Spanish-speaking fella’s TV . He was about a minute ahead so I enjoyed his hilarious commentary.
He understood clearly the difficulties Arsenal currently face. ‘No speed, no fast, very very poor’ he stuttered, Manuel-like, toward the end of the first-half. At the start of the second he was to release the cry of ‘GOL’ that he had been saving when Robin van Persie headed home a Nasri corner.
Our Danish centre-forward was being berated by the stream-provider as ‘Bendy, the worst player in the world’, when the second goal arrived. Bendtner himself was taking the credit for the own goal by David Gray. This isn’t a season of comfortable victories though, and Duguid had Plymouth back in the contest within a minute. When Rory Fallon curled one just past the post I think many were starting to fear a sting in the tail.
To be fair though Arsenal too were contributing to an enthralling second-half, and Keiran Gibbs, substituting for the injured Silvestre, was involved in a couple of our best moments going forward. An introduction for Carlos Vela also helped. The third goal arrived when the two outstanding talents combined, with Nasri the provider for van Persie’s second.
At the end of the day you can only acknowledge the fact that we did what we needed to. Nobody will herald a hard-fought triumph over Championship opposition as a turning point in the season. At the same time those who had feared the worst should take some heart from the performance of most of those in red.
We can also be magnanimous and acknowledge the contribution of the visitors to the contest. I hope the 8500 travelling Green Army enjoyed their day out at the Grove. For a while in either half you were given some hope by your side. I hope you enjoyed the trip back to the West Country.
We can now look forward to a week off before entertaining Bolton, beaten today at Sunderland. Then it will be off to Hull who face a replay before hosting us on the 17th. Could our fortunes be on the turn? Let’s hope that’s the case. Make the most of the weekend, ‘holics. I have a selection of malts to taste. I have a feeling they will be a little more enjoyable this evening.






