The Spuds came calling yesterday with their claims of being the North London team on the up and by the end of the game the difference in class between the teams was there for all to see. I spoke yesterday about how good Cesc, Arshavin and RVP were and how The Spuds had nobody to match them and by the end of the game that was evident too. RVP was excellent and so was Cesc and even though things didn't quite work out for Arshavin he gave it everything he had. To be honest the 3-0 score line flattered The Spuds and they could have got a real hammering. Our unbeaten league run against them now stretches to 20 games and 10 years and the bragging rights belong to all Gooners yet again.

I arrived at the supporters club in Bray about 10 minutes before kick off and the first thing I heard was that we had drawn Man City away from home in the last 8 of the Carling Cup with the game to be played on December 1st or 2nd. I then found out the team that had been selected and it was as I had predicted with the exception of Bendtner playing wide right. It looked a strong enough team and with Defoe and Lennon missing for them my only worry was the threat posed by Crouch. To be honest our defence dealt with him fairly well and he never really got a free header in on goal in the whole game. The only time we looked vulnerable was when he laid the ball off for Keane or any of their midfielders coming forward but all in all besides a few crosses to claim Almunia had very little to do on his return to first team duty.

We started brightly and after less than 5 minutes Bentley deliberately handled the ball in our half to stop us breaking but the referee decided to ignore the rule book and didn't even bother to lecture him never mind show him a yellow card. Only a few minutes later he came in late on The Verminator and caught him right on the shin. By the laws of the game he should have being taking an early shower as it was clearly another yellow card offence but the referee again chose not to issue a card. Even Andy Gray agreed that Bentley was a lucky man to be still on the pitch. At that stage we all agreed that the most likely player to be booked first would be wearing red as the referee clearly didn't want to book anyone too early in the game because he would have had to issue a yellow card for almost anything after that.

We had our chances in the first half and the best of them fell to Cesc when his shot from inside the box was very well saved by Gomes to keep the scores level as halftime approached. The game seemed to be petering out in that first half until we won a throw on our right about 10 yards from their goal line. Sagna threw it to Cesc and he passed it straight back to Sagna who stopped the ball and dispatched a cross towards the near post. It looked to be going nowhere but RVP gave it all he had to beat his man to the ball at the near post and Gomes seemed to be surprised at the shot coming in and was beaten at his near post despite getting a hand to it. The stadium went mad and we were all pretty happy in The Strand too as we looked to be heading to half time with a 1 goal lead that didn't appear likely only moments earlier. 

As we watched the the replays of the first goal again and again on the TV the camera suddenly switched to Cesc as he buried the ball in the keeper's right hand corner of the net and after a slight pause we realised that we were 2-0 up as we had scored straight from their kick off. A misplaced Spud pass hit RVP on the knee I think and rebounded to Cesc in the centre circle and he proceded to run straight at them and beat 3 players before sticking the ball in the corner of the net from 18 yards out. Half time came soon afterwards and we found ourselves with the same lead we had at West Ham last week and we knew that we could only beat ourselves at this stage.

A short while before we scored the first goal Bendtner signalled to the bench that he had to go off as he had what appeared to be a groin injury and we were treated to the bizzare sight of him attempting to run around the pitch for what seemed like at least 3 minutes as the ball stayed in play. Why he didn't go down and demand treatment or to be helped off I don't know and we were lucky at one stage that we didn't pay the price for it. Corluka had not got forward at all but it was blatantly obvious that if he did Bendtner could not track back so he obviously pushed forward. As he ran past him Bendtner called Clichy to cover the run as he couldn't but nobody did and we were only saved because The Verminator did very well to intercept Corluka's cross. It was very unprofessional of Arsenal to allow that situation to develop with a player clearly injured and Bendtner should have gone down or we should have put the ball out when we had the chance. Thankfully we didn't pay the price and hopefully we will learn a lesson from it.

At half time I commented on how Eduardo had changed the game when he came on but he hadn't had any part in either goal at all. I did think that the second half was ideally set up for a player like him who could time his runs to perfection behind a defence that was pushing forward to try to get back in the game. A little while later I was proved right as Diaby played a lovely ball through for him and I was certain he would score as he was 1 on 1 with the keeper but he got it just wrong and the keeper just about stopped it. We did manage to get a 3rd goal when Eduardo broke down the left and he was scythed down by one of their players. As we all waited for the referee to blow for the free with the linesman flagging he in fact waved played on and even though Sagna stopped he still had the ball when he realised that the game was still going on. As the Spud players had stopped too he crossed it along the goal 6 yards out it seemed that the keeper and defender had it covered but it somehow squeezed between them and there was RVP to tap in his second and our third.

After that it was just a matter of how many and when Cesc played Eduardo in again he ran with the ball from the half way line and approached the keeper who had left his box. When he placed his shot we were certain that it was going to be 4-0 but inexplicably it went wide and the scoreline stayed the same. We saw out the rest of the game with ease and our 3rd clean sheet of the season was a welcome extra to the game. The manager got very frustrated when we were 3 up and he said afterwards it was because he couldn't communicate properly with his players and he felt it was very important for us to get the clean sheet. He's right in that because after letting our lead slip against West Ham and AZ it was important to defend properly and keep that clean sheet. We moved up to 2nd in the table until Manure and Chelsea got their wins later but with Liverpool losing again and Villa drawing we are putting ourselves further ahead of the pursuing pack whilst keeping up with the pace setters. All in all it was a great day and a nd showed The Spuds that they have a long long way to go to reach our level.

Here's the goals from yesterday.

LINK

And to finish here's today's title track from The Wedding Present which is for Robbie Keane because everyone thinks he looks daft after his claims about how good The Spuds are this week.

LINK

See You Tomorrow.

We play Liverpool tonight at The Emirates in the last 16 of the Carling Cup  and it appears that the boss might just be taking this competition a little more seriously this year. He has already stated that Nasri and Fabianski will make their first starts of the season and he has also hinted that Eduardo and Bendtner will start too as they attempt to come back from recent injuries. It could just be that he feels all of these players need some game time but it could also be that he has decided to treat the Carling Cup with a little more respect. Personally I think that it's the former and he's taking the oppurtunity to give them some game time as he feels he needs them in the first team squad as soon as possible to put some pressure on the players who are playing at the moment and also to give him more options ahead of Saturday's crunch local derby against The Spuds.

With those 4 players in the team the rest of the team shouldn't be too hard to guess as both Traore and Wilshere are unavailable through injury. The defence should be Gibbs, Gilbert, Silvestre and Senderos with Coquelin and Ramsey in midfield with Nasri and Vela joining Eduardo and Bendtner up front. It's a fairly strong team and almost every player in our team will think he has a chance of making an impression on the manager. If we play our own game and pressurise Liverpool on the ball we will give them a lot of problems no matter what team Liverpool play. It will be interesting to see if Liverpool will play a very strong team or not. I don't think Benitez will risk Torres or Gerrard as they are both so injury prone that an injury in this game would be a disaster for their chances of making up the ground they have lost in the league. They sold Alonso in the summer and he was replaced by Aqualini who has been injured ever since but it looks like he will make his debut against us tonight. It would be good to see our players give him the run around.

I don't like to watch Sky Sports News any more but I found myself watching a piece on it last night where they were reporting that Stan Kroneke had bought 10 more shares in Arsenal as he moves nearer to the magical 29.9% mark he needs to make a formal bid for all the other shares. If they are to report every 10 shares he buys they will need almost 70 more reports before he gets to that figure and it just proved to me that they try to sensationalise the smallest of events.

I'll be playing football myself from 7 until 8 tonight and then it's a quick shower and out to the supporters club in The Strand in Bray to watch the second half. If we win it means our rearranged league match with Bolton on December 2nd will be called off until some time in the new year as that will be the week for our Carling Cup quarter final. Our fixture list is becoming very congested but that's the price to pay for being a successful team and it would be worse if we never had a midweek game in Europe or a domestic Cup. I'm predicting a 3-2 win for Arsenal tonight and if Eduardo does indeed play I can see him getting at least 1 of those goals. That's the lot for today.

Here's a look at what we did to Liverpool the last time we played in this competition.

LINK

And to finish here's today's title track from The Specials and let's hope it's the advice the manager gives the players as they take to the pitch tonight.

LINK

See You Tomorrow.

It's Saturday morning again and the start of a long weekend here in rainy Dublin. I had to work until 7 last night and played football at 7.30 which was no mean feat as I had to travel 7 or 8 miles and collect 2 people on the way. We were a little late starting but that doesn't make much difference usually as there is no one playing after us and we can play on until 9 if we like which we always do. Much to our surprise at 8.30 we had to leave the hall as 10 basketball players appeared from nowhere and our game was over. It left us all with a very strange feeling of not having finished what we had started. Needless to say from here on in I will make sure that everybody is there well before the appointed time and we get full value for our money.

Anyway that's enough about my petty trials and I'll get down to the important business of Arsenal and all that is happening in the world of Arsenal. Unfortunately there isn't too much to report before we play West Ham tomorrow at the unusual time of 4.15. I haven't made any plans yet but I imagine that I will be watching the game in The Strand in Bray as per usual with my fellow Wicklow Gooners. The club have said that Eduardo will be available again after his injury as will Senderos as well probably but Rosicky won't make it and a decision on Bendtner will be made after training today. The real dilemna for the boss is in between the sticks as he has Almunia, Fabianski & Don Vito all fit and raring to go but only 1 of them can play and 1 more can sit on the bench. That means that we will have 1 very unhappy goalkeeper sitting in the stands and knowing that he will probably play against Liverpool in the Carling Cup next week but wanting to be in the first team squad. In my opinion he will stick with Don Vito and Almunia will warm the bench again with Fabianski starting on Wednesday night. I'll preview that game on Wednesday morning and I'll preview tomorrow's game tomorrow morning when there will hopefully be a little more to report. Finally for today Henri Lansbury bagged himself a brace of goals for Watford last night in a 4-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday. That's the lot for today.

Here's a little tribute to Eboue.

LINK

And to finish today's title track from Bob Marley. Time will tell who our best keeper is but personally I'd prefer a new keeper to arrive in January who is genuinely world class.

LINK

See You Tomorrow.

The club held their annual AGM yesteday and to be honest there isn't an awful lot to report from it. Most of what was said came from the boss as Stan Kroneke chose to remain silent as I predicted yesterday. He said that he feels the team will deliver a trophy this season but he thinks it is important for the team to be consistent over 10 or 15 years and to remain at the top both domestically and on a European front. Since we moved to the Emirates we have not won a trophy but we have challenged and that consistency is there and he believes we will achieve it over that time scale.

He said that he believes that the attempts by the European Union to regulate the game so as to make sure that clubs balance their books will ultimately successful and the model we are using will be of a great advantage to us. He thinks the days of sugar daddies pouring money from their bottomless pockets into clubs will be numbered and by implication those clubs will find themselves in a lot of trouble. I hope he's right but in the modern world money talks very loudly and the money that certain Russians and Arabs have is likely to influence people in power to allow them to continue to run their clubs as they see fit regardless of what it is doing to the rest of football.

The boss believes that our defence will concede less goals this season than we did last season but if that is the case we will have to start racking up a few clean sheets as we have conceded 11 in 8 games already and we only conceded 37 in 38 games last season. On the plus side as I said yesterday if we continue to score at the present rate we will bag over 150 goals in all competitions and the entertainment value of that alone is well worth the admission money. The boss also thinks that we have enough quality in the goalkeepers we have but I would dearly love to see us sign a top class keeper in January. I always thought we should have signed Friedel when he joined Villa or Blackburn as he is one of those keepers who you are shocked to see make a mistake. With our keepers we expect to see mistakes and we are not surprised when they happen even if we are annoyed.

At this time of the week I would usually be looking at the weekend fixture and considering our options for that game but as we're not playing until Sunday it seens a little too soon yet. By the time we kick off on Sunday at the unusual time of 4.15 pm I would imagine that Chelsea and The Spuds should have wins under their belt and who knows what will happen between Liverpool and Manure. City will be at half time in their match against Fulham and I have a funny feeling that Fulham might just get something out of that game if they can avoid a European hangover. The Liverpool v Manure game should be interesting as the rumours are that red beach balls and balloons will be the order of the day for Manure fans at the ground and in the pubs up and down the country.

I know I said there wasn't much to report from the AGM but I was obviousy wrong as I haven't even reported everything that the boss had to say. The good news before the weekend is that Eduardo looks he will be fit to play and hopefully Rosicky will too as we need a few more attacking options than we had on Wednesday. If you're a player of Fantasy Football don't forget to make your changes today or by 11.30 am tomorrow at the latest. I had another great week lat week and I'm now just outside the top 10,000 overall which I am quite happy with. It feels good to be competing well in the leagues I'm running and long may it continue. That's the lot for today.

This is what Eduardo can bring to the team.

LINK

And to finish today's title track from The Clash. The boss is in complete control of almost every aspect of the club and he seems to love it.

LINK

See You Tomorrow.

It's Saturday morning again and Arsenal have a game today for a change. Birmingham travel to The Emirates this afternoon for a 3pm kick off and the game evokes a lot of memories of the last time we played them. On that day at the end of February 2008 we were on top of the league as we travelled to St. Andrews looking to extend that lead against a team struggling to avoid relegation. We all know what happened to Eduardo that afternoon and the tantrum Gallas had when Clichy gave away the penalty is well documented too. What other people forget but we Gooners vividly remember is that we should have had a penalty when we were 2-1 up and that Clichy actually got the ball when the referee awarded a penalty against him in the last minute. We followed that game with only 1 win in our next 7 league games even though we managed to knock AC Milan out of the Champions league in the middle of it all. With the league gone we managed to win our last 4 games and we finished 4 points off the top if I remember correctly.

In injury news it appears that Almunia is finally back from his "chest infection" and Diaby is available to play after all but we are without Clichy, Bendtner, Eduardo, Nasri, Djourou, Denilson and Vela will be back too late from international duty to play. That's 7 players missing but to be honest we can cope without all of them against Birmingham in my opinion. The big question is if Almunia will come back into the team or if Don Vito will keep his place and the manager is the only one who knows the answer to that question. I think Don Vito deserves to keep his place but if the boss doesn't put Almunia in he will then have to wait for Don Vito to have a stinker before he can replace him. There is a definite pecking order at the club and I expect that Almunia will start but maybe the fact that we have won every game he missed will make him realise that his position is not secure. We have a good replacement for Clichy in Gibbs and many fans feel that he should have had a chance already this season as Clichy's form has not been great.

My guess at the starting line up is Almunia, Gibbs, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Song, Cesc, Rosicky, Arshavin, RVP & Theo although Eboue and/or Diaby may well also start. Our formation will be 4-3-3 of course and so long as we go about the game in the right way we should dispatch Birmingham and put them in more trouble near the foot of the table. I predict a 3-0 win for us with the goals coming from RVP, Arshavin & Theo and if we don't let up over the 90 minutes it could be even more. Goals are coming from all over the pitch as we play a brand of football that is very pleasing to the eye but is also producing results for us.

In other news our postponed home league match at home against Bolton has been provisionally rearranged for Wednesday 2nd December which is a very important date in my calender as it's my birthday. It depends on whether both teams have been knocked out of the Carling Cup or not as that is also the week for Carling Cup 5th round matches. The boss has revealed that Sol Campbell has being training with us as he looks to regain his fitness but he said it is only for that reason. I can't say I'm too happy about it after we released him to let him join a team on the continent and he joined Portsmouth instead. Never mind the fact that he walked out on his team mates at half time in a league match against West Ham. The boss has said that he thinks referees should keep their distance from players and managers and he refused to be drawn on whether Manure's manager should be punished for his outburst after their game against Sunderland. He did say that he wants all managers to be treated the same if they have something to say in the heat of the moment after a game and he doesn't think Manure's manager would want to be treated differently. I'm sure he must have said that tongue in cheek as we all know he not only expects favouritism but he also receives it. That's it for today.

Here's a clip of The Verminator's goals for us so far.

LINK

And to finish today's title track from New Model Army. It's time for our players to get some vengance for February 23rd 2008 but in the form of a good hiding for Birmingham.

LINK

See You Tomorrow.

There was an awful lot written yesterday about the 13 years the boss has been in charge at Arsenal and most of it was very complimentary but there were  a few people out there who couldn't resist having a go. I was on Twitter last night and somebody linked an article about Arsenal and when I opened it I found it was by Myles Palmer on Arsenal News Review. It's a site I used to quite enjoy reading even if I didn't always agree with his opinions but somewhere around a year or so ago he appeared to lose the plot and now I don't even consider reading what he has to say. It was actually amusing to see how anti Wenger he appears to have become and I now know that I have missed absolutely nothing of any interest whatsoever.

Ahead of our match with Blackburn on Sunday we found out yesterday that Theo and Bendtner will both be available again but Eduardo has had a slight recurrance of his thigh muscle injury and he will be out for a couple of weeks. He was risked when he came on as a sub on Tuesday night and that risk backfired although he did create the opening goal so it may well have paid off in fact. I wonder will he be available for his country over the next 2 weeks as we face another international break. Ahead of that break the boss said that we should see both Nasri and Fabianski very soon afterwards and that's very good news indeed. Almunia will be assessed today but the boss doesn't think he will be quite ready to face Blackburn and we should see him after the break again. Can somebody please tell me what was wrong with him as I have heard he had a chest infection among other things. I think 3 weeks is a very long time for a player to be out with a chest infection although I do realise that Arsenal players seem to recover slower than players at other clubs.

I'm sure the boss will have a lot to say today about our match on Sunday and our opponents too. If I recall correctly we have beaten them quite easily in recent seasons and of course it's always nice to put a few more goals past ex Spud Paul Robinson. I think he has conceded something like 450 goals against us in his career so far and long may it continue. It would be nice to give Big Fat Sam another stuffing too but luckly we won't have a game for 2 weeks afterwards as our players are bound to be kicked up and down the pitch and the standard of refereeing this season has been awful in the Premier league.

Thierry Henry said yesterday that he still loves Arsenal and he will come back one day as he feels he belongs with us. He would like to return to work with the boss and I'm sure all of us fans would love to see him back too although I'm not quite sure what role he would fill. A team mate of his at Barcelona, Xavi, has said that he would love Cesc to join him over there as he is a footballer with Barcelona DNA. They didn't think that when they let his contract run out in 2003 before he joined us and in my opinion the DNA here stands for "do not appreciate" as in we do not appreciate their continued statements about our captain. With all the money we have available(it must be at least £70 million) we should start asking about their players just to give them a taste of their own medicine.

Henry could show any player how to act towards a previous club and speaking of which it emerged yesterday that he who shall remain nameless got a 2 game suspended ban and a £25,000 fine for his goal celebration atgainst us last month. I hope that's the end of it but I suspect we might hear a bit more from his big mouth prior to their trip to The Emirates in April. That's the lot for today and I'll preview the Blackburn tomorrow I suppose or maybe even on Sunday. By the way I have just realised that we have 5 games in 15 days after the international break and that certainly will keep things busy here.

Here's a clip of 1 of my favourite moments under Arsene Wenger as Leahmann saved a last minute penalty against Villarreal to put us into the CL final in 2006.

LINK

And to finish today's title track from New Model Army. As the saying goes "No pain, No gain" and we have certainly had the pain with all the injuries so it's time for the gain now.

LINK

See You Tomorrow.

Yesterday's game went almost as well as we could have hoped for as Wigan were dispatched by 4 goals to 0 at The Emirates in relatively easy fashion. Without ever being spectacular Arsenal managed to get their league campaign back on track as 2 goals from The Verminator, 1 from Cesc and 1 from either Eduardo or Eboue depending on which report you read. I was delighted to see us get our first clean sheet of the season in the league as well particularly with our third choice goalkeeper playing. I have read reports elsewhere claiming that we still have a soft centre but you will not play many matches in a season where your opponent doesn't get a few chances at some stage.

I watched the match in The Strand in Bray along with my fellow Wicklow Gunners and I brought my wife, my sister and her boyfriend along with me as they are all Arsenal fans too. He is a season ticket holding Arsenal fan who lives in Dubai at the moment but he is a local boy from Islington. He told me that he has his ticket on the club's site each week to be bought by anyone who wants it and it means he only has to pay about £300 to renew the ticket each season. If he wants to use the ticket himself he has to give 2 months notice and it is then withdrawn from sale for that match. I intend meeting him in London in February to watch a match on a Saturday afternoon.

As for the match itself the outcome was never really in any doubt and although Arsenal were not at their scintilating best Wigan made it a little too easy for us. The first goal came from as RVP swung in a corner and The Verminator headed home to the cheers of the Arsenal faithful. The second goal came early in the second half as The Verminator strode forward from defence and played a pass wide to Eboue. He kept going and took the return pass which he then dispatched to the top corner of the net with a curling, left footed 20 yard drive. At that stage I regretted not putting him in my fantasy team as just about everybody else watching the match with me had. When I considered the fact that yesterday's blog from me was dedicated to him I couldn't believe that I had slipped up so badly but the most important thing was that he was doing it for Arsenal.

From that point on it was only a matter of how many we would win by as Wigan offered little in terms of creating chances. There were a couple of scares during the game but Arsenal were always in almost complete control. The third came when Clichy crossed from the right for Eduardo who hit the post with his shot. As the ball rebounded back into the goalmouth Diaby poked it back to Eduardo whose shot was deflected away from the keeper by the slightest touch from the stripe on Eboue's sock. Most reports give the goal to Eduardo but personally I think it should go to Eboue as it probably wouldn't have gone in without his touch. It was fitting that he should score against Wigan after all the trouble he had in the same fixture last season.

After that the game more or less petered out as Wigan waited for the full time whistle so that they could escape any more torture. Just at it seemed Arsenal wouldn't change the scoreline from a good win to a thumping, RVP laid a ball out to substitute Bendtner who played it in to the near post for Cesc to tap home from no more than a yard or so out and complete a good day at the office for Arsenal. Our top scorers in 5 league games are now Cesc and The Verminator with 3 goals each and the top scoring team in the league are Arsenal with 17 goals in 5 games. If we can get our defensive problems sorted and work on cutting out the individual errors we will have areal chance of doing something this season. At the current rate we are going to score a hat full of goals this season and hopefully some of our strikers will get in on the act as well.

Our next match is in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night against West Brom at the Emirates and I would expect to see any player who is fit and didn't start yesterday's game in the starting 11. There will also be a youngster or 2 thrown in for good measure and the youth team managed a 5-0 win against Bristol City yesterday. There were 5-0 up after 26 minutes and the goals came from Freeman(2) and Aneke(3).  There has been some talk about Eboue being a cheat because of his attempt to put the ball in the net with his hand during the game but the referee booked him and that should be the end of it. The boss says he's not a cheat but as Arsenal fans we are all fed up with his diving in matches I'm sure and I really hope he can cut it out but I doubt it as it seems to be part of his character. That's it for today.

Here's the highlights from yesterday's game.

LINK

And to finish today's title track from Simple Minds. We proved our league campaign is Alive And Kicking with our win yesterday and we have a run of games coming up where we can put ourselves in a strong position if we approach them the right way.

LINK

See You Tomorrow. 

Well my prediction for last night's game went out the window before I had even made myself comfortable on the sofa to watch the game. Arsenal were caught like a rabbit in the headlights and found themselves 2-0 inside 5 minutes after two defensive blunders. First of all Song put the ball out for a corner under no pressure as he seemed unsure of letting it run through to Mannone and when the corner was cleared Eduardo inexplicably back heeled it just outside our box and a Liege player pounced on the loose ball. As he closed in on the Arsenal box nobody closed him down and he shot low into the corner on the keeper's near post. In hindsight Mannone should have covered that post but he took one step in the wrong direction and was beaten by a well placed shot. However he could also have expected a little more protection from the players in front of him.

After such a disasterous start we needed to get a foothold in the game and the only way to do that was to get our passing game going and concentrate hard to ensure there were no more stupid mistakes. However Eboue managed to miscontrol a pass on the halfway line and as Standard charged forward we retreated to the penalty area. The Standard player ran towards the penalty area and as he turned inside Gallas he was upended by a sliding foot from Gallas right on the line of the penalty area. It was impossible to tell if he was in or out of the area but the referee gave the penalty and it looked right at first as the player fell into the area. We were a little unfortunate to concede the penalty but that's the way our luck has been going recently. The Standard player got up and stroked the ball into the corner of the net to make it 2-0 and Mannone picked the ball out of the net for the second time with only his second touch of the night.  

After that we struggled to play any sort of cohesive football for the rest of the first half and the delivery from our free kicks and corners was very poor at best. It was starting to look very dodgy as the only Arsenal players on the pitch that were playing well were Vermaelen and Rosicky. All that changed in the last minute of the first half when Diaby eventually did something good. He turned on the halfway line and beat his man and sprinted forward with the ball. As he reached Standard's penalty area he played the ball into the right hand channel for Bendtner who did very well to hold off the defender and turn and shoot between the keeper's legs from a tight angle and in to the far corner. Suddenly we had a lifeline and the complexion of the game had changed completely.

The second half began much like the first had as Arsenal were slow out of the blocks and Standard almost scored again. However by this stage Mannone had grown a little in confidence after the 2 early goals and some dodgy kicking and he dealt pretty well with anything that came his way. He managed to control his penalty area far better than I have seen Almunia do in recent games and Arsenal gradually started to gain control. We had a few half chances but as the clock ticked towards 80 minutes it was starting to look like Standard's defending was going to pay dividends.

We got a free kick on the left as Eduardo was held back and Cesc floated the ball towards the far post. Eduardo tried to head it but missed and the ball carried through to Song at the far post who looked a mile offside but as it turns out he wasn't. However he did stop the ball with his arm before poking it across the goal for The Verminator to stab it home from 1 foot out. We must have had 5 players in the six yard box when the ball went into the net and it was obvious that the players wanted to get a result even if they were playing very badly.

Suddenly the pendulum had swung in our favour and Standard were all at sea. We won a corner on the left and as the ball came into the six yard box from the corner two Standard players failed to cut it out at the near post and Eduardo somehow managed to get a knee to the ball and divert it into the goal. You could see the relief on the players' faces and we only had 9 minutes left to defend our lead. Ramsey was on at this stage for Rosicky and Sagna was on for Eboue and we Ramsey won the ball just inside their half and surged forward. If he had played the pass to Bendtner a little softer or if Bendtner had trusted his left foot enough to try to trap the ball on it we might have gone 4-2 up but neither thing happened. Standard tried to throw everything forward at as the end approached and Clichy made a fantastic tackle just before the end to stop what looked like it might be an equaliser. It might well have been the only good thing he did all night as he had another nightmare. He wasn't the only one though as passes were misplaced and possession given away all night.

However, we got the away win we wanted and a lot of drama with it too and we brought our losing streak to an end even if we were very lucky to do so. My prediction was a 3-0 win for Arsenal with Eduardo getting on the scoresheet and if it wasn't for the first 5 minutes I had it exactly right. The plusses on the night were the performances of Rosicky and Vermaelen and also Mannone after his uncertain start. Bendtner said he would score if he was played in the central position and he lived up to his own billing which is another plus for us. On the negative side Clichy looked very poor yet again and Song seems to have lost the intensity he had at the start of the season. Gallas had a dodgy night too and I couldn't understand how Eboue was in the team ahead of Sagna. Diaby was at his frustrating worst at times and we again gave away 2 goals rather than having the opposition make them.

From here we move on to a home league game against Wigan at the weekend and we should have RVP and denilson available again. We have to get our tempo and concentration going from the kick off as we need to get some Premier league wins under our belt after 2 straight defeats. I'll be watching the match with the Wicklow Gunners in The Strand in Bray as it's live on Setanta and I'll be looking forward to it as I couldn't make it last night as I'm still unwell. I am feeling a lot better today and I'm sure I will be up to a beer or 2 by Saturday afternoon. My sister and her boyfriend will be over from Dubai and they're both Arsenal supporters and they intend coming to the supporters club with me. I'll have to be on my best behaviour as he's a season ticket holder at The Emirates and you never know when that might come in handy. That's the lot for today.

Here's the highlights from last night.

LINK 

And to finish here's today's title track from Radiohead and it was used because we were lucky to get out of the hole we had dug ourselves.

LINK

See You Tomorrow.

ps Happy Birthday to my yougest son Sam who is 14 today(enjoy the chocolate cake).

We travel to Standard Liege tonight with a squad that seems to be ravaged by injuries at the moment. The latest players to be added to the list of absentees are Almunia, RVP and Denilson with the two outfield players probably only out for a few days which means they will more than likely be available for the game at home to Wigan on Saturday. There is no word on when Almunia will be back and according to the club he has a chest infection. I can remember players picking up mysterious illnesses and injuries in the past few seasons when their form has dropped and I wonder if this is the case with Almunia. It means we will have either Mannaoe or Szczesny in goals tonight and their combined experience at this level is exactly zero.

With RVP out it should surely mean that Eduardo will get a start up front at last and I would imagine that Bendtner will start too. With Denilson out I would like to see Rosicky in from the start but he's probably not up to it yet and my next choice would be Ramsey. With 4-3-3 still the prefered formation it also probably means that Diaby will have the left hand berth and if that is the case he will have to give Clichy some more help as we were torn apart by City on that side at the weekend. Personally I would prefer to see Szczesny as the keeper tonight as from the little I've seen of the two of them he is the more secure keeper. I know Clichy had a very poor game on Saturday but I don't think the manager will put Gibbs in instead of him tonight but he must be under a lot of pressure to do so at the moment.

I would imagine that the manager will play Mannone, Sagna, Clichy, Gallas, Vermaelen, Song, Cesc, Ramsey, Diaby, Bendtner & Eduardo with Rosicky waiting in the wings if needed. It leaves our attacking options on the bench as Eboue, Wilshere and Watt and if we are pushing forward that doesn't leave us with too many options. Maybe Wilshere will get his chance to show what he can do at some stage as well. We have to hope that the injury rate slows down at some stage as we are losing players so quickly at the moment that we won't be able to field a side soon.

Standard Liege are not a team to be underestimated as they proved last season when they only lost to Liverpool in the last minute of extra time in their Champions league qualifier. After that they went on to knock Everton out of the UEFA cup and they are Belgian champions. The Belgian league may not be as good as the Premier league but we certainly won't win by the 7-0 margain that we did over ther in 1993 when we went on to win the Cup Winners Cup. We are lucky that they are missing Defour who is probably their most important player and we need to lay down a marker in our group tonight with a strong performance. The work rate that we showed in our first few games has dropped off just a little at the moment and it is essential that we up that work rate again as it is essential to the tactics we are using this season. We have been pressing the ball very far up the pitch and that can cause problems if everybody doesn't do their job properly. I think we will get back on track with a 3-0 win tonight and I think Eduardo will get at least one of the goals.

In other news the FA have announced that they will be bringing in a quota of home grown players for each squad in the Premier league next season and each squad of 25 must have 8 home grown players in it. These are players who have spent 3 years in the English(or Welsh) game before they turned 21 and I'm sure that Arsenal will have no problem meeting those targets. Any players over the 25 must also fit the 3 years in England or Wales before they are 21 bill. There is also an agreement on showing clubs accounts to the FA and making sure the clubs can meet their committments but most notably it was agreed not to link income to expenditure which is probably the most important requirement for the majority of Premier league clubs who operate at a loss.

The boss was very annoyed with the stamp by Adebayor on RVP and he more or less said that Hughes was the only person who thought it wasn't a stamp. At the weekend he said he hadn't seen what had happened so I think we can take it that he has seen it now. The boss also said that one day Adebayor will realise that Arsenal were good for him and it cannot be argued that we made him the player he is but he can't see it at the moment. Finally for today our newest signing "The Verminator" says he is used to the events at the club at the moment as it was also like "a circus" at Ajax at times. Wherever you're watching the game tonight I hope you enjoy it.

Here's the only goal I could find from that 1993 drubbing.

LINK

And to finish today's title track from The Specials. It's for the players because it's up to them to get our season back on track tonight.

LINK

See You Tomorrow.

ps Good luck with everything today Lady Arse.

I was absolutely shocked when I heard that UEFA had upheld Eduardo's appeal on his ban for deceiving the referee in the match against Celtic at The Emirates. UEFA decided to listen to the referee and his assessor and watch the video evidence and then decided that it could not be proven that Eduardo had deceived the referee. The club were obviously delighted with the decision and so was Eduardo. He says he just wants to forget about it now and concentrate on Liege tomorrow night and he was glad of all the support he got from his family, friends and everyone at the club. I'm sure he will still be booed by opposing fans but I am delighted his name has been cleared. The whole thing was handled incredibly badly by UEFA and in my opinion they only changed their mind because they realised that they had opened a can of worms and they don't have the guts to go after every single diver and cheater.

The reserves won 1-0 at home to Stoke last night with Rhys Murphy getting the only goal and a noteable inclusion in the team was Philippe Senderos. The ladies won their first round league cup match 4-1 at Watford on Sunday and with the European championship over now their season should start properly. With our match in Liege tomorrow night the media are still concentrating on the events of Saturday afternoon at Man City and it seems that RVP could be in a spot of bother for swearing at City fans after he celebrated his goal.

I have read on a Man City site that as they put it "top football analyst Alan Shearer" said that RVP should have been sent off for his lunge on Adebayor that led to the stamp. If they consider Shearer a top analyst they really are dillusional because if my memory serves me right he sits on the fence almost always. He managed to get Newcastle relegated from a position where they should not have gone down and his assault on Neil Lennon a good few years ago should have been dealt with by a criminal prosecution. I know RVP has an edge to his game but the stamp was totally unwarranted and by Shearer logic Cesc should have broken both of Adebayor's legs for his deliberate kick on his ankle.

At the moment I'm suffering from a bad sore throat and flu like symptoms but I don't think it's swine flu so I'm going to leave it there for today. I've being taking some medicine which usually gives you fantastically weird dreams but I haven't had any and that's very disappointing. I'll preview our Champions League game tomorrow and wouldn't it be great to see Eduardo in the team. Before I go you can sign up to my Fantasy Champions League competition if you like at this site and the league code is 131901-25632. You have until 15 minutes before kick off in tonights games to get a team in. If you choose to join - Good Luck.

Here's a clip of exactly what Shearer did to Lennon and then claimed afterwards that he didn't. He was to be investigated by the FA afterwards but he told them he would not go to the World Cup if they investigated him and the case was dropped. That's an honest professional for you.

LINK

And to finish today's title track from New Model Army which is obviously about the great news about Eduardo.

LINK

See You Tomorrow.