Missing Men Make the Difference as Arsenal Beat Barca 2-1



That one's for you, Boss

 When was it exactly that my heart stopped beating?  The first time it stopped beating, I mean.  It was when Song got his yellow card for bringing down Messi...in the 6th minute.  I thought it was a bit harsh for Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli to hand out so soon and on our home turf especially as Song hadn't gone into him hard.  He basically just fouled him to stop the movement.  But the Signor wasn't havin' it.  A reminder that this was European football - not English.

Great.  Now Song had to play extra careful for 84 minutes? 

Well, we know that he didn't play especially careful the rest of the half seemingly getting warned by the ref every other play.  I know I wasn't the only one holding my breath until halftime anticipating a second yellow for our holding midfielder and then a suspension for the next leg at Camp Nou.

But it never came.  What did follow that 6th minute was an exciting, edge of your seat match that brought out the very best out of most of our boys.  And then men who was missing last year, Robin VanPersie and Andrey Arshavin (who went out in the 27th minute of the first leg last year with in injury) along with newcomers Jack Wilshere, Wojciech Szczesny and Laurent Koscielny rising to the top of the heap to aid this Arsenal side into morphing into potential champions.

As I stated, there were many breathtaking moments.  But here are the things I noticed the most.

1)  Jack Wilshere is fearless and not prone to panic.  Like most fans, there are players that when they have the ball, I hold my breath waiting for a mistake.  Jack is not one of them.  He's a player I want to receive the ball and push it forward.  He had a calmness on the ball - not unlike Cesc - while Barca players were swarming down on him.  Without seeming to blink an eye, he would turn and protect the ball, or pass right before the opponents arrived.  Cesc seemed to be playing farther up so Jack often took the ball from Djourou or Koz and started the plays forward.  UEFA reported that Jack overall had 83% pass completion rate and a 91% pass completion rate in the final third (@OptaJoe).  Excellent.

2) Koscielny had probably his best game as a Gunner - his timing for this improvement was impeccable as he helped the midfield shackle Villa and Messi.  Yes, Villa scored but only because Clichy played him onside.  It did look like both Djurou and Koz saw that Clichy was not keeping his line and one has to wonder "Did they say anything to him?"  At the end of the match, however, it was Koz's crucial interception that started the charge forward for Arshavin's goal.  He also aided Chezzers in squashing a last-ditch attack in injury time by Barca.  Well done Laurent.

3)  Djourou did not have his best match.  He was slow at times and looked unsure.  I think he is at home very much in the English League where long balls, corners, and winning headers is the name of the game.  Against Barcelona, however, speed and agility are needed against a team that like to hold onto the ball and look to break the offside trap between the two center backs.  Villa, Messi, and et al are speed demons who can change direction with the ball at their feet quite handily.  He hung in at the end, helping  to absorb pressure, but Champions League is a different style for him.

4) Cesc also did not have his best game last night.  His first half of the match was full of passes that were just off in their accuracy.  In the first five minutes, however, he did provide RVP with a beautiful chip over the defense, only to see his vice-captian's shot blocked by Valdes.  He also had a great cross into the box after a Walcott on breakaway found him on the right side.  Howver, it was just a bit short and fell to the defense rather than Robin.  My favorite moment by Cesc, however, was his waving his arms at the crowd and then his teammates in the 58th minute, trying to get them roused before the free kick we were awarded after Pique fouled Nasri.  This guy wants to win so badly.

5) Robin has to miss a few chances before he makes a goal.  It's the same in the Premier League.  I guess missing chances is just part of his warm-up.  What a goal that was too.  I, like Valdes apparently, thought Robin was going to cross to the middle.  Instead, he took his left foot from the left side of the box and slid the ball between Valdes and the left goal post.  Why score a sitter when you can show off like that?  Obviously, he needs to see the ball often in the opening minutes of the game, just to make sure he can miss a few and then score for the rest of the game.

6) Like Jack, Wojo doesn't seem easily intimidated.  The chip that Messi missed in the opening minutes was due partly, in my opinion, to the fact that our young keeper stood up as long as he could, making himself gigantic and throwing off the shot.  He also was vital in Alves not scoring in extra time as he flew at Alves' feet to ge the ball, but was beaten.  He kept control of his body so as not to give away a penalty and ended up pushing Alves to the right, cutting off his angle.  Plus, you didn't love his celebration at Andrei's goal?  Speaking of that...

7)  Our Russian looks to be back.  An unusual substitution demostrated Le Boss' intention to win as put on a striker for our defensive midfielder.  That set up to the match winning goal was a total of five passes starting with Koz's interception who passed to Jack, who passed to Cesc, who fed Nasri running down the right who then passed to an oncoming Arshavin.  Andrey didn't miss a beat as he put it in the back of the net.  Let's hope he didn't mind too much about not starting.  John Cross of the Mirror was there at the Emirates and wrote:


Yet afterwards, Arshavin was straight down the tunnel, no celebrating. He walked through the mixed zone area for press interviews without stopping.

Clearly, the Russian was upset at being left out of the starting line-up. But the Champions League is a squad tournament and Arshavin showed just how important a role he has to play.

Let's hope he's not sulking and is merely determined to learn his lesson, accept his kick up the backside and come back even stronger.

Diito from me.  I'm glad the magician is back and he needs to stay in good spirits to help us with the other three competitions we're vying for.

8) My last observation is twofold.  Barcelona?  They are good.  The way they took over the last part of the first half and into the second was scary.  They basically played ping-pong with a soccer ball.  Their possession time was an astounding 66% compared to our 34%.  And yet we won the match without winning the possession stat.  I think there was only one Premier League game we won like that.  And we know what it's like to have all the possession and not take away a win.  It's nice to have the shoe on the other foot, isn't it?

I guess that's it for now.  Extended highlights are below.  Make sure to wath until the end so you can see Wojo's celebration.  We have an FA Cup match on Sunday to look forward to.  In the meantime though, unlike our players, we can bask in the glory of the win until our next game.  Who says fans have to move on right away?  Have a GREAT one Gooners.


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