Gunners Do An Italian Job
Aug 2nd, 2007 by 'holic
Well that wasn’t such a bad day, was it? Fresh from hearing the news of Eduardo’s successful appeal for a work permit I settled in front of Arsenal’s clash with Lazio in the Amsterdam tournament.
An extremely young side found itself facing the Italians and in the early stages it showed. Skipper for the night Senderos had to be at his best to deny Pandev on the quarter of an hour with a very well timed sliding tackle.
Somewhat against the run of play Arsenal grabbed the lead just three minutes later when a deflected effort from Fabregas fell at the feet of Bendtner. The Dane rounded the keeper and finished superbly. He may not look the finished article quite yet but the big lad is getting on the scoresheet at least.
Midway through the half Eduardo showed his potential value to the side, twice getting his head to crosses but sadly both missed the target. Although not the tallest he does possess an aerial threat, and this would be demonstrated soon enough.
Seven minutes before the break Lazio levelled when Djourou conceded a corner, the defence switched off, and Pandev lost Hoyte to finish neatly. Not for the last time on the evening Djourou was seen to question Almunia.
There was still time for a good chance at each end. Clichy, playing ahead of Traore on the left, saw his effort blocked at the near post at one end whilst Manuel Almunia produced a good save to deny Mauri at the other.
The introduction of Flamini and Rosicky added a little more experience to the Gunners at the start of the second-half. The reward was almost instantaneous as Bendtner slotted home for the second time only to see play taken back for a foul on Eduardo.
There was no such misfortune on fifty-three minutes when Walcott was upended on the edge of the area. Eduardo’s free-kick was deflected for a corner, taken by Rosicky, and headed home by Eduardo himself. Yes, a set-piece goal for Arsenal!
Thereafter the best opportunities definitely fell to the Gunners. Justin Hoyte managed to hit a post when scoring seemed infinitely easier! Then Rosicky decided to over complicate in the box when a straightforward shot may have yielded some benefit.
All things considered though this was a very satisfactory evening for the Gunners. The 2-1 scoreline was not the only cause for celebration. A very young side gained some useful experience and, although I am surprised to be saying it, Alex Song produced a very good performance in the centre of midfield.
It will be interesting to see the starting line-up against hosts Ajax on Saturday. This will be the last competitive outing before the Premiership kicks off against Fulham next weekend. I am left to hope that I can persuade the grandkids to watch the game as I am off to the midlands tomorrow. Mrs ‘Holic may need to be cajoled!
3 Responses to “Gunners Do An Italian Job”
Good balanced report there ‘holic. I’ve just finished watching the delayed game on ATVO (having ditched Sky a few months ago!).
The defence showed their in-experience, but they hung on in there, rode their luck at times and certainly got better as the game wore on. I too was impressed by Song. He looked less like a deer in front of headlights – maybe the loan spell at Charlton has helped his confidence. He’s still not ready for the first team but he’s young and if he’s patient and serves his time in the CC team he may have a future at Arsenal.
Dudu looks promising and I like that he never gives up. Another hard worker like Ade, which can’t be a bad thing to compliment our more fancy players. Although saying that, his through pass to RVP that led to Hoyte’s near miss was a thing of beauty too.
All in all, a young, mostly second-string Arsenal XI did quite well.
I’m really excited about Eduardo Pass. It’s too early to say he is the goalscorer Wenger has been looking for since the year dot, it seems, but he has something about him. I’m not sure he will be at his best alongside RVP and he may yet have to settle for a role on the left for starters. You have to say though we have picked up good results against three good sides in under a week, and we haven’t yet put out what you would consider to be our strongest side.
Absolutely ‘holic – we’re still a work-in-progress but definitely good signs of development. I think the RVP/Ade partnership looks the most promising at the moment. Eduardo just needs to find his feet and I’m sure the right partnership will emerge. I like the versatility within the squad and the possibility to play different combinations on the wings and up-front whether Arsene signs more players or not.