As It Started, So Shall It End
May 6th, 2007 by 'holic
The inaugural Premiership season at Ashburton Grove opened with a draw against Aston Villa courtesy of a Gilberto strike. How ironic that a goal from the same player in the final home game of the season should secure another home point, and the title but sadly not for us.
Chelsea arrived, minus Carvalho and Drogba, and to be fair bossed the opening phases of what for them was a must win game. Clear cut chances though were at a premium as the Gunners defence held firm.
Arsenal, with Denilson promoted to a starting berth, began to take charge midway through the first half and grabbed a deserved lead when Boulahrouz challenged Baptista from behind as the Brazilian was set to shoot. The sending off was mandatory and Gilberto comfortably despatched the spot-kick to give the Gunners the lead.
The hosts opened brightly in the second half with William Gallas in particular looking to add the second goal. However the visitors, needing a win to prolong the Premiership title race, increasingly committed bodies forward as the half wore on and were rewarded in the seventieth minute with a glancing header by Essien.
Cue twenty minutes of almost indisciplined mayhem as both sides traded attacks in an attempt to settle the contest. Joe Cole netted from an offside position for Chelsea, and Emmanuel Eboue struck the bar for Arsenal, but the final whistle set the seal on a draw that was unsatisfactory for both sides.
Afterwards Arsene Wenger confessed “Manchester United have scored more goals than anyone else and you can only say they deserve the title.” before adding “No, I don’t expect to receive a bottle of wine from Sir Alex Ferguson but congratulations to him anyway.”
So Arsenal will travel to Portsmouth for the final game of the season knowing they have to better Liverpool’s performance at home to Charlton if they are to stand a chance of third place. What began in August as a voyage of hope and discovery has turned into another season of what-might-have-been.
If you are looking for positives then you can say that we were not subjected to a Premiership defeat by either of the top two. Let’s get Pompey out of the way quickly and embark on a summer of transfer and takeover speculation before returning in August to embark on our fourteenth title campaign!
6 Responses to “As It Started, So Shall It End”
Nice article.
Arsene’s selection of the Carling Cup midfield to play in this match is brilliant. However, Chelsea’s performance in the second half showed why they are second and we are fourth. They have that winning, never-say-die attitude. Our players need to learn that.
Oh well. The intelligent among us can see the bigger picture, we just have to be patient fellow Gooners, the good times will return, mark my words.
Good point Paul. The Sky commentators had plenty to say about chelski’s ‘injury’ problems, but we were also missing some key players too. It’s certainly not all doom and gloom – Arsene clearly recognises the need for a natural wide-player and I’m sure he’ll address that in the summer. The return of our missing players will make a huge difference to this team.
I was interested hear Wenger make that comments also Pass. He has a number of option available to him with both Ribery & Robinho given permissiion to leave, however knowing Arsene he’ll sign someone we’ve never heard of!!!
Heard you’re featuring an up and coming talented writer in your hol picks. I heard extremely talented and incredibly good looking?
Indeed I am Dutch. Funnily enough you’re in there too!