Not even close, Nicklas. Pic via Guardian.
Arsenal 3: Fabregas 34, Walcott 60, Arshavin 90+4
Burnley 1: Nugent 50
They sure do like to keep it interesting, don't they?
There was some interesting talk in the ladies room of Nevada Smiths after the match, says friend of the blog Gloria. I don't remember the story as it was relayed to me exactly so I won't quote it here. Basically, the gist was it involved Nicklas Bendtner and his inability to score.
Not hard to find things to gripe about in this one, but three points are three points, so I won't harp on them. We've said it before, in our Top 100 lists, that there must at least be one hundred goals that would have been scored if Robin van Persie were healthy. Bendtner missed at least five brilliant goal scoring opportunities yesterday. Eduardo missed another. Andrei Arshavin missed two (I blamed his rustiness coming back from his hamstring injury) before scoring. That's eight golden opportunities that went by the wayside. This could've been 11-1.
There was plenty of restlessness at the Emirates yesterday, especially after Burnley equalized. Arsenal took a first half lead on a really first class goal from Cesc Fabregas, putting the ball through Brian Jensen's legs after a brilliant lofted pass from Samir Nasri. But then, a few minutes later, Fabregas was pulled for Abou Diaby, after re-aggrivating the hamstring injury he first hurt in December. EVERYBODY PANIC!!! He's highly doubtful for Tuesday's Champions League tie against Porto. Thankfully, Alex Song's suspension is only for domestic play.
Burnley's equalizer came in two steps: on a long ball lofted to the center circle, Bendtner made no effort to challenge for possession, and the Clarets lofted the ball deep in the other direction. Then, the central defense, which I never trust with Mikael Silvestre on, tries to trap David Nugent, on loan from Portsmouth, but fails. Nugent is clear and chips the ball over a helpless Manuel Almunia.
From that point on, Theo Walcott took over. Yes, that's right. Theo Walcott played with tremendous skill, poise, and pace in the second half. Once Burnley brought themselves level, Walcott realized it was time to stop crossing it to Bendtner and time to finish one himself, which he did with a striking left footed shot to the far post, ten minutes after Nugent's equalizer. It was Walcott's first goal five months.
But the lead never felt comfortable until Arshavin buried the game with seconds to play. The Gunners inability to finish off golden scoring opportunities was a little worrying. But as it stands, though Chelsea has a game in hand, the table reads 63-61-61. Hard to complain when you've won four straight in league play. But we were this close to starting a Robin van Persie chant after each of Bendtner's misses.
Not hard to find things to gripe about in this one, but three points are three points, so I won't harp on them. We've said it before, in our Top 100 lists, that there must at least be one hundred goals that would have been scored if Robin van Persie were healthy. Bendtner missed at least five brilliant goal scoring opportunities yesterday. Eduardo missed another. Andrei Arshavin missed two (I blamed his rustiness coming back from his hamstring injury) before scoring. That's eight golden opportunities that went by the wayside. This could've been 11-1.
There was plenty of restlessness at the Emirates yesterday, especially after Burnley equalized. Arsenal took a first half lead on a really first class goal from Cesc Fabregas, putting the ball through Brian Jensen's legs after a brilliant lofted pass from Samir Nasri. But then, a few minutes later, Fabregas was pulled for Abou Diaby, after re-aggrivating the hamstring injury he first hurt in December. EVERYBODY PANIC!!! He's highly doubtful for Tuesday's Champions League tie against Porto. Thankfully, Alex Song's suspension is only for domestic play.
Burnley's equalizer came in two steps: on a long ball lofted to the center circle, Bendtner made no effort to challenge for possession, and the Clarets lofted the ball deep in the other direction. Then, the central defense, which I never trust with Mikael Silvestre on, tries to trap David Nugent, on loan from Portsmouth, but fails. Nugent is clear and chips the ball over a helpless Manuel Almunia.
From that point on, Theo Walcott took over. Yes, that's right. Theo Walcott played with tremendous skill, poise, and pace in the second half. Once Burnley brought themselves level, Walcott realized it was time to stop crossing it to Bendtner and time to finish one himself, which he did with a striking left footed shot to the far post, ten minutes after Nugent's equalizer. It was Walcott's first goal five months.
But the lead never felt comfortable until Arshavin buried the game with seconds to play. The Gunners inability to finish off golden scoring opportunities was a little worrying. But as it stands, though Chelsea has a game in hand, the table reads 63-61-61. Hard to complain when you've won four straight in league play. But we were this close to starting a Robin van Persie chant after each of Bendtner's misses.
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