Arsenal Against Villa, Yule Be Nuts To Miss This Cracker
Dec 23rd, 2009 by 'holic
Unbeaten at the Grove, Aston Villa arrive on Sunday level on points with the Gunners, just six points off the Premiership pace. They are unbeaten in eight and have won five in a row. Impressive numbers, indeed. More than three wise men will fancy them to get a result.
On the face of it the visitors have a tidy blend. Width from Young and Downing, the pace of Agbonlahor, the height and strength of either Carew or the festive donkey, Heskey, and the guile of Petrov. I’ve a feeling they will be worrying more about us though, and particularly if Fabregas is fit to return to the midfield.
Having to pen this four days ahead of the game means I cannot be sure about the line-ups, so I’ll not concentrate on that too much. I’m sad to be missing this one, because Villa will give it a go, and I am pretty sure an excellent game will ensue. Don’t forget to check the opening hours at your favourite pub beforehand. I would hate you to find no room at the inn at this time of year.
I don’t think the atmosphere will be quite the same as the Hull game in the west lower. Martin O’Neill may be as mad as a box of frogs, a potential modern day Clough, for whom he once played, but he is a likeable nutter. Don’t let his eccentricity fool you into ignoring a keen football brain. We will have to be at our best to secure the points from this one. Disrespect him, and he may crucify us.
I just have the feeling, and it isn’t rational I know, that Villa are due a defeat, and we are due a decent ninety minutes. Let’s just say I am being guided by the stars. Diaby and Eduardo should have gained in confidence from what they achieved in the second-half on Saturday. Almunia should be lifted by a solid display as well. Traore could solve our lack of pace at left-back if he is fit to return.
There’s a lot of ifs in there, but i’m looking at landing a second consecutive ‘holic pound on the back of an Arsenal win. In the ground you will get 7/1 on a 2-1 home win, but I will take the 15/2 offered by Sportingbet, among other web bookies. Put the gold on that, but as a back up you may fancy putting the frankincense and myrrh on 3-2, with Ladbrokes offering an attractive 28/1.
Thank You All
So that is it. The car is full of petrol, the bags are packed, the presents are wrapped, and the booze alone will take two journeys to get it to the car tomorrow! I’m now going to watch the second-half of Toulouse v Bordeaux, and get slowly steamed.
I can’t go, however, without saying a great big thank you for turning up here in increasing numbers yet again this year. I’m not doing this for hits, but I would be lying if I didn’t say you have made my head swell in recent months. Good job so many of you put me firmly in my place again pretty damned quickly.
I hope you all have a truly happy holiday, and enjoy good health and happiness in 2010. I know not everybody is taking a break at this time of year, and not everybody has much reason to celebrate, but I am raising a glass to each and every one of you as I type these last words.
Cheers ‘holics.
70 Responses to “Arsenal Against Villa, Yule Be Nuts To Miss This Cracker”
where’s nellington then?
Dammit, well in KT.
Pint of cider, please guv.
Have a great Christmas and new year, ‘holic.
Cheers for another year of great blogging.
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stuff your festive allusions in my nicely wrapped box.
or something…
happy christmas to you and the management, ‘holic
I fancy a 0-0 draw shut out
As a villain i would accept this before the game
great game ahead
rob
god bless you holic and thank you for your great work on here.
have a great christmas with the family and ill see you in the new year at a game, all the breast and the bust of luck. dizzy
Martin OβNeill may be as mad as a box of frogs, a potential modern day Clough, for whom he once played, but he is a likeable nutter.
Love that and so true!! Will be Villa’s toughest test so far and get peed off with Villa players who “fear no one”. Heading for a fall with that sort of comment. Villa are in good form and better organised than last year…Arsenal, well they are just Arsenal, say no more . Skillful and an excellent team, just surprised it has been so long since they won anything. Should make for a good game as long as the 3 points head back to VP whether it by a freaky own goal or a piece of absolute brilliance I don’t care.
Evening ‘holic.
Nice preview, we indeed need to show Villa the necassary amount of respect, but as Spanish Villa so graciously posted above, we are Arsenal say no more.
Here’s wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and I’d like to raise a glass and send the best wishes of the holiday season to all the posters and readers of your fine blog.
God Bless and Cheers.
H2H
Cheers ‘holic.
A year of great blogs (& puns) – wishing you and yours all the best.
Friedel
beye dunne young cuellar
downing petrov milner young
agbolanhor heskey
AS AGAINST
AL
BAC WILLY VERMY TRAORE
SONG DIABY
FAB
NASRI ARSH
EDU
looking at both teams there are probably just 3 players from villa i’ll swap with ours- thats not to say they havent got and outstanding team- they are very young, highly technical, and fast- i still dont understand why ashley young is not wearing the arsenal jersey. for us to take this game, then our commitment level must be 100%.
our match winners must stand up( i’m speaking of arsh and fab ).
GREAT GAME , NOT ONE TO MISS.
I nearly forgot people, like everybody else we have received cards in the last couple of days from people whose address we forgot *cough*, so in lieu of those we didn’t buy for I have today donated a Denilson to Arsenal’s charity of the season. It would be great if you felt able to do the same. Click on the Great Ormond Street link in the sidebar and follow the links from there. Cheers again, ‘holics.
Boozy, a major hole in your stocking!
How can the Terrific Triumvirate of Triumph prevail with one of their merry men sitting on the bench sipping mulled cider? With DENILSON, Fabregas and Song in the midst of things, the occasion will be much merrier.
Although you may think me a pudding, I expect to see Nasri take a brief sleigh ride to the Pole for this one with Diaby coming along to help the elves, Arsh and Dudu, hold the reigns up front.
As for the hot cross bun (I know, wrong festivity, but black bun didn’t seem quite right) on the Villa bench, may his box of frogs return to the Midlands, unkissed and with their frog tails between their legs.
Sherry, I think, Sir.
No disrespect boozy seems as a lot of ur team is out injured bt with all honesty the only two players id swap in your team for ours r arshavin for downing and fabregas for stilyan petrov and yet the two i would swap would still probably walk into ur team just in different positions bt we hv:
friedel u hv almunia
l.young cuellar dunne warnock u hv traore vermaelen gallas clichy
a.young milner petrov downing u hv song diaby fabregas nasri arshavin
agbonlahor carew and u hv eduardo
our keeper is in another league compared to urs our whole defence would walk imto ur team ( weve conceded least goals in the prem for ur proof) our midfield is packed with internationals and r absolute quality now tht we hv downing( full points with downing in team) this modfield can tear u apart in seconds, u probably hvnt herd much about petrov bt hes quality, he neva loses the ball and has fabulous vision also we hv agbonlahor and carew who tbf are much more dangerous than eduardo and hv a betta ability speed and strength.
The two players who arnt injured who id swap with my villa players atm r arshavin for downing cz he is probably the best winger in the league and fabregas for petrov cz hes probably the best cmid in the league if u had van persie bck id swap him for agbonlahor cz i also think hes the best striker in the league bt i do think ur missing all round quality so ur a bit like liverpool and i predicted tht they would go rubbish bt i also think u hv slightly more quality than pool and a betta manager who knows wht hes doing bt i think we hv and all round quality team and u dont hv as
much all round quality so i see a villa win maybe 2-0 or. 2-1 bt im not sure cz like someone else sed ur arsenal and if u catch arsenal playing well u hv to play extremely well to beat them. Im not trying to start an argument here its just my opinion and if someone
wants ro say there opinions about villa thts fine with me i just wanted to show my point
I can’t see Diaby or Denilson sitting this one out at kick-off.
Diaby got into the start of a run of form that is exactly what is needed in the Villa game as well as the Fixture list into mid January. Do keep in mind that Diaby brings some well appreciated physicality to his game as well as good pace. Watching him hold off the Hull tackler for the last goal was a most welcome sight.
Song and Fab (if truly healthy) will be in there as well, so the place for Denilson is the question mark and I think you see him push Eduardo to the pine for kick off.
Some questions for the knowledgeable – Were not Clichy and Bendtner supposed to be fit by the Christmas weekend? Have I missed something reported about their injuries being worse than originally thought?
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!
Avillian, a fascinating read. Yawnnnnn…..
fabregas and a fit robin van (oh what wags we Brummies are) are the only two who would get into the villa team on merit considering the formation we play, wouldnt mind diaby tho, wasteda t arsenal especially when that shitster denilson is infront of him in the pecking order.
a villa win, due to our 4 cleen sheets in a row. not sure arsenal keep clean sheets with all their kids. aha, that one’s for free!!
(edit) Oh dear, I appear to have frozen my tongue to this window.
Looking forward to a good game. A good stong performance and the points will be heading our way. Tommy V will make sure that the mistakes of last season do not happen again. In the end, quality will show through.
Merry Christmas 1 and all……
Keep the faith.
Avillian might have a point, but tbf his text speek was too tiresome to read more than three sentences of.
With Downing, Villa has finally gotten balance in the midfield and lately we have begun actually playing some nice football. First proper test for what this “new” team can manage will surely be Arsenal, which at its best plays the most beautiful football on the planet.
I think Villa has a fair chance of getting something here, even a win. Hopefully for us Fabregas will not be up to his best. What I am quite certain of is that it should be a cracking football match which also neutrals will find entertaing.
Here’s to Villa victory. π
Nice read again Holic and my best wishes to you and your family.
5.30am kick-off on a Sunday for the Villa game in California is a tough deal. Oh well, can’t ask the lads to give it all on the pitch without doing my own share I suppose. Another very hard game in perspective but we must win it and we will. With Chelski’s african contingent off and Anelka injured a win could propel us closer to the virtual top spot. A very fine way to end this year.
Mouth, watering.
Fiver, remaining in pocket.
Too close to call this one. Both teams are inconsistent, Villa’s good recent run means next to nothing this season when form is as predictable as a British summer.
Arsenal will be fired up for this one – top four pretenders showing up on our home turf – and dangerous as a result. If we score first, Villa aren’t coming back. I think we’ll do it.
Enjoying the blog ‘holic, thanks and merry christmas to you.
Hey villians are u kidding me. Your team is got no patch on d arsenal 1st eleven wen fit
Thank you very much for a year of excellent writing, `Holic. I wish you and yours a merry Christmas and a very good and healthy 2010.
Villa fans ,don’t know if you noticed but Downing is actually shite ! He wouldn’t even make the bench at arsenal, and to be fair, I struggle to think of one player at villa that would get into our first team !!
Guys I know this is off the topic here but does anuyone knoe where can i get two tickets for the Villa game?
I will give Avillian the benefit of the doubt and assume he is dyslexic. That doesn’t detract from his argument though, other than I only understood one word in five. Shame though, and don’t criticise him for genuinely held views. A week or two back some of us were less than complimentary to some who will play a full part for Arsenal on Sunday, so he isn’t saying much different to what we were amongst ourselves.
Anyway, thanks to all the Villains that popped by and left sensible responses. Hope you have a good journey on Sunday. Seasons greetings extend to you, and decent fans of all other clubs.
To those like tom t, don’t bother coming on here and being abusive. I’ve probably spent more games in the Holte End than you (ask your Dad!). Go and waste someone elses time, please. Cheers.
Come on Arsenal, I’ve got a very good feeling about this. I think it’ll be a very tighly contested game until the first goal is scored. After that, i can see us getting a few. Villa haven’t conceded for a while and when they do (notice the optimism?) they will have a raring-to-go arsenal assault to deal with.
I’m looking forward to seeing Edu getting back into his stride, i have a feeling that it’s either this season or never for him – wouldn’t have been this way if it wasn’t for Taylor. Also Theo could really do with a good game, once it happens i think he’ll start to show the class that he was showing at points last season.
Come on boys, let’s finish the year on a high, i know i will!!
Merry xmas all, here’s to a massive villa spanking!
Mulled wine for me please barman
Looking forward to this one and it shows how times have changed. Previously Villa would never have been given a ghostly in the past by you gooners, now if I read these posts right u would be happy with a draw. Personally as long as we beat the scouse scum I don’t care. I hope u lot win the league, just a shame that whilst u seem to love the English language u can’t see the need to get an English man in ur team!
Come on the Villa
merry christmas
Does anyone know where can I pick up two tickets for the Villa game?
Have a good one ‘holic
Geogoon’s spot on. we need to get the first goal, an an early one at that., once we get that u can be rest assured we would get more.
As for Tom T- i dont know when u villains would realise that the champions league isn’t meant for minnows- as for comparing both teams- common you know it your first team back line would not even be traded for my second team back line.
seriously
beye eboue
cuellar as against djourou
dunne sendy
young gibbs
shit my second team midfield would displace most of your first team midfield
downing rosicky
petrov as against denilson
milner ramsey
young walcott
lets not even start with the attack no contest. so TOM T – get back in line- you are dealing with world class here.
however you cannot not rule out the influence of our corrupt refs – such as bennet against hull city, whom instead of booking “whoever” for a dive, went ahead to award the most ridiculous penalty. decisions like that change games. unfortunately there isnt a single ref in the league i’ll say i prefered.
however when the gooners are fired up (ref or no ref ) no team in the world can stop a fired up arsenal.
I agree with Avillian we do have a much better all round team and the only three players that would get into our team are arshavin, fabregas and van persie but the way arsenal play as a team will make this a very hard game and therefore very hard to predict.
I dont think this game will see either team getting a clean sheet so im going for a 3-2 win for villa,
i like the gunners And i wish you well in the league but obviously being a villa supporter i hope we thrash you π
merry christmas everyone π
Boozy you dont even know what the villa first team is do you
it has:
friedel
l.young cuellar dunne s.warnock
downing milner petrov a.young
agbonlahor carew
for god sake please learn more about football before u share your views youve probably never seen a match have you
Villa4life, you dont expect me to know every single starter in your team, and the only player i delibrately left out is warnock, i cant even see my self comparing him with arsenal’s worst sylvester. so be quite glad i put beye in his place. other i have not missed out on a single player.
And please look at my earlier post and see if you wouldn’t really want my second teams as against your first team, or do i have to go through the pains of analysing each of them.
GOONER4LIFE
So nelly was right.
Have a great Christmas, you and yours, ‘holic!
Whatever the villa first team is, i would only have Ashley Young at Arsenal. We have better options all over the pitch (apart from friedel but he’s pretty much past it now).
I do agree with V4L about our team play but i also think we are better man for man. Villa just aren’t quite good enough to sustain this form throughout a year (Arsenal are only just!) and i think they will begin to crumble after we beat them on 27th. It will remind them that they have a little way to go before they will be any kind of force in Europe let alone becoming a regular top four club.
I do like Villa but it’s the same with any team that is closing the gap at the top, i want them to lose as many games as possible – unless it’s against Man U, Chels, Spuds, liverpool & City….
I’m confident of a win too. Merry Xmas, ‘holic!
Just wait till the 27th boozy then ill be laughing in your face( this doesnt apply to any other arsenal fans just boozy) remember last year boozy 2-0 was that a shock, i think your a bit biased about your team but you cant actually face the truth
utv!!!
ho ho ho, What a cracker this is gunner be, so glad I’m going !. In terms of confidence, this game is massive for both teams, but if Villa play to their best and the Gunners play to their best, sorry Villa fans but you will get hammered. 3-1 to the Arse, payback for last season then bring on the pompey ! Red and White Xmas to you all
‘holic,
I’m an avid reader of your blog and it’s about time to thank you for your effort and time in providing us with such quality writing. You’re the best!
Many wishes to you and your family and a win for Sunday.
Cheers!
It’s no coincidence teams like Aston Villa or even Spurs are flying this season. First both have strenghten their squad significantly over the last couple of years with their annual net spending exceeding a multiple of that of Arsenal’s. More importantly this season there aren’t any Europa cup games to distract their team or stretch their squad. International call ups are limited to a few players. Therefore no exhaustion from their players and no injuriy crisis to deal with.
If Villa or Spurs make the Champions league next season they will face big big problems. Let’s see how they will cope with Ashley Young or Defoe out for five month or having to play every three days.
On Sunday we will face a full strength Villa team who have ensured victories against three of the other big clubs so far. But Arsenal is a team who has always managed to buck the trend and hopefully we will take full advantage of their overconfidence.
This could be quite interesting. The first man ever to score at The Emirates returns on loan?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1238261/Arsenal-pondering-loan-AC-Milans-Klaas-Jan-Huntelaar.html?ITO=1490&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailymail%2Ffootball+%28Football+%7C+Mail+Online%29
Happy holidays ‘holic and everyone else on here. I enjoy your blog.
Hi guys
I like the gooners, and am hoping for a cracking game on Sunday. Personally I think it is too close to call. Just hoping you guys underestimate us as much as Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd have so far this season ;-).
It’s taken a while for our away form to get back to its best this season, but I think it is getting there judging by our results at Old Trafford and Sunderland (only Chelsea have won there as well this season so far).
So please, carry on underestimating us π
Whatever happens, have a merry Xmas and a fab new year. And apart from the games against Villa, hope you win em all :-).
Ciao for now.
Kaz
A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.
‘holic – thank you for all your excellent posts throughout 2009; more of the same for 2010 please!
Regards.
Likewise….I will begin by thanking ‘holic for what is an excellent blog. It is a refreshingly well balanced (well….about as much as can be expected!) source of information, both to read as well as discuss all things Arsenal.
As regards this weekends game, it’s clearly a tough one to call. One has to respect Villa (thanks to those Villians for your contributions ~ apart from one or two idiots). They are a well disciplined side, are good in their set play and are presently at the very zenith of their form. For us Gooners, we have home advantage, we have set of players who I believe are stronger than our opposition, who when on top of their game, can compete with and beat the very best.
So hopefully the squad will remember the defeat of last year and help to expunge those memories with a convincing win. I most certainly will not be satisfied with a draw…..we’re well capable of beating Villa.
I’ll have a pint of Staropramen please barman π
Merry Christmas ‘holic and ‘holix lovers, and New Year cheers to all. Here’s to ringing it in with with six more points.
Feeling tender and in need of refreshment so a nice bottle of Leffe, please. Well chilled.
I’m feeling very festive at this moment in time, so before I change, Merry Christmas to all you gunners and good luck. Hope it’s a cracking game and may the best team on the day win.
We are due a loss, so I’m not very confident.
Sunday’s game frankly has me nervous, can’t see how we can win it. I’m hoping for a draw. Don’t care about all this comparisons between each team’s players, fact is, Villa are a very tough team to beat and they’re doing incredibly well right now. Confidence is very high, they’re tough and strong and creative, and they don’t give up. They’ve beaten Chelsea, Pool and Utd. Whereas our players often show a tendency to put their heads down once things start going wrong.
And Ashley Young the only Villa player who’d walk into our side? Are you kidding? I’d take Friedel immediately and NO ONE would take Almunia!!
Feliz Natal everyone!
Come on marcus, show a bit of fighting spirit man! Where’s your backbone π
Nb. Plenty of football yet to be played, don’t fret. For more years than I can remember we’ve been stronger than Villa. Sure, they’re on the crest of a wave right now but I believe we are still the stronger team.
I think Villa’s style is of sitting back and relying on fast counters is suitable against us, especially if we don’t score early and force them to come out and play. The longer we fail to score, the better the chances Villa have of scoring. I think we will need to score early to win this.
Let’s beat them and put 3 points and a game in hand between us. Up the Arsenal!
Dat’s the spirit Sooth. Say it like it is π
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family ‘holic. Enjoy the holiday season.
happy christmas to you and the managment holic and all the holic drinkers, lets hope we all have a big meeting in may outside the town hall. god bless you all
toppington smythe monsieur ‘holic, here’s to a fine new year.
I support the same team as AVillian, and even I got bored after one sentence. Gompedyret, it seems, managed three and deserves a prize. Havenβt posted here before but since weβre visiting your gaff tomorrow, I thought Iβd drop in and say hello. Hello.
Gooners, I wish you no ill-will (it is Christmas after all), but tomorrow we are going to eat your lunch. If we win, I shall return tomorrow and be insufferable. If you win you will find me hiding my miserable face on The Villa Blog where you are welcome to come and take the piss. I shall try to take it like a man.
To be honest, for some reason the big game for us is the visit of Liverpool two days later. No disrespect and all, but we donβt care if you finish above us as long as we finish top 4. You have bigger fish to fry and if you win, you are definitely contenders for the prize,
Good luck
churchill: good luck to you too…. against Liverpool! Our boys are becoming men so we won’t be pushed around so easily this time around.
It’s a very big game for us too as a win would propel us close to the top after Chelski’s draw today and it would create the impression of a “big 3” that’s needed to keep the vultures off our back for whenever we don’t win 3-0.
Anyway thanks for the respect. You’re not the only one thinking we’re champions material, here’s a United blogger who has good things to say about us: http://www.footballfancast.com/football-blogs/pains-sayits-time-arsenal
WOW WOW WOW!!! Don, I took your advice and watched the game with a more hopeful mindset – WE HAVE CESC FABREGAS!! What a game-changer! And Diaby! What a fantastic performance, fantastic game!!! Second in the league with one game in hand.
Only worry now is Cesc’s injury.
Greetings to you marcus as well as fellow Gooners. Fantastic result!!! Captain fantastic does the business once again. Great overall team response. The Villians have been firmly put in their place. I was growing a bit tired of all their non-stop whining following last years results so today should put an end to all that nonsense!
Re Diaby…..all I can point to is that oft repeated phrase……
“ARSENE KNOW’S”!!!
Keep on believing π
The floodlights must have been on when Diaby got the third, that’s all I’ll say.
Spare a thought for ‘Holic, Gooners. He’s at HolicDad’s and doesn’t even know the score yet!
Diaby, Denilson, Song and Cesc quite brilliant today.
Now, where’s that Avillian bloke? Which one of the Arsenal players was it that couldn’t get into their team again?
Briliant result!!!
Good all round performance, and apart from a ten minute period in the first half we were never really in any bother.
How good was Cesc? What a man!!
Here’s hoping he recovers quickly from his hamstring thingy and that Song comes back in one peice from the ACON, they are two of our most important players.
Cheers to all you ‘holix.
Superb result! I was afraid we were going to have trouble with this one, but I must have fallen for all the Villa hype. It was a risk bringing on Cesc, but it paid off in spades, and even if it means we`ve lost him for 3 weeks it will have been worth it. Diaby deserved his goal for an excellent all-round performance, especially in the second half; and as he is clearly hitting a bit of form, I expect he`ll be out with some kind of strain before too long. Theo looked at his livliest when he came on and did well for Cesc`s 2nd.
Its up to us to keep the momentum going and not replicate the the draw at Burnley following the win at Anfield by dropping points at Pompey.
Villa had the best defence in the league – but only because they haven’t the Arsenal yet. π
it’s rather blatantly obvious that against villa, disrupt the wingers = easy pickings. traore and sagna kept young and downing quiet, doing nothing of note throughout the game. they tried to switch things around, rotating those two and milner but can’t get passed our brilliant pacey fullbacks.
quite a recipe to beat villa for the entire EPL, pace at fullbacks = win π
The Villa fans seem to have disappeared. Just like last season.
Slight problem looming in the center midfield it would appear, now with Denilson apparently suffering back problems again!?
Daying Box of Frogs Spawns Vanilla Christmas Crumble!
The sight of Cesc the Catallan sitting on the subs bench posed an early puzzler. If he’s not fully fit, why would we risk bringing him on? If he is fully fit, why isn’t he starting? All would eventually be revealed when Wenger’s Wand Waived and magic descended on the land at Christmas.
Arsenal looked crisp as the driven snow right out of the gaily wrapped box. Within three minutes we had a could have, should have moment when Eduardo could and really should have. The skill is clear for all to see but the touch and the confidence have yet to return to the twinkling toes of the shepherd from the land of Crozilia.
The tempo was unrelenting. Arsenal’s passing was crisper than the bacon on a pig in a blanket. In Cesc’s absence, Song, Denilson and Diaby looked like the icing on the cake. A dazzling, mazy pass and take run by Diaby had Her Nellieness gurgling on her Black and Tan.
And when the Villanese ventured forward, Gallas and Vermaelen looked as solid as a Christmas Log. Young Thomas’ power headers are a pleasure to behold. While young Willie looked like a hare running from cookies knife when Yon Boglawhore came out of his wrapping.
Sagna and Traore snuffed out the Pantomime Villains’ wing threat quicker than you could say Christmas Candle. All in all, The Gunners’ defense was tighter than Ebineezer Scrooge’s book-keeping. The half-time score was fair but it was advantage Arsenal at the turn.
Then the magical minute 58 dawned. A young Spaniard was sighted arriving from a distant dug out. The roar inside Circus Maximus reached near crescendo. Crescendo itself was reached twice in the subsequent 28 minutes, when two Christmas gifts of near mystical magic suddenly appeared in the back of Villa’s net.
And almost as suddenly as he’d appeared, the young wizard walked off into the gathering gloom and was suddenly lost from sight. Only for another brilliant star to rise and shine just before the Bells of Saint Emirates pealed Oh Come All Ye Faithful Gooners.
Diaby, the often unpredictable and regularly scorned, scored an absolute pearler. Following a run from the half way line he bent a twenty yarder into their net and looked happier than a puff pastry on Christmas Eve as a result.
And so on to southern shores. Will the wizard sit out for a spell? Will Denilson’s Samba drum be muted? Can Aaron Ramsey bring a song from the valley’s to match Alex’s? Wednesday will reveal all with ‘Holic sitting in a hostelry with HolicDad, mulling over a golden goblet and maybe, just maybe, wishing Santa had brought a slingbox down the chimney.
Keep the Christmas Cheer Churning, ‘Holics.