Gunning for Glory: My Arsenal Story

January 22
English Premier League: Matchday 22

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TOTTENHAM 3 – 0 ARSENAL

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A game filled with red cards, possession for Arsenal, and a three goal win for Tottenham Hotspur.

Tottenham came into the game sitting in 2nd​ position in the league, and Harry Redknapp was all too happy to mention this in the pregame buildup.

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Emmanuel Adebayor scoring his first of two goals against his former club

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White Hart Lane was rocking, and the fans were brought to incredible new levels when Emmanuel Adebayor beat Per Mertesacker for pace and then easily scored on the short side past Wojciech Szczesny just 6 minutes in.

Things went from bad to worse for the Gunners when Aaron Ramsey put a hard tackle on midfielder Scott Parker, and Stuart Attwell felt the Welshman was deserving of a straight red card. The away side now faced a difficult uphill battle to get back into the game.

Within 5 minutes of the sending off, Tottenham grabbed their second goal of the game, again Adebayor beating Mertesacker to a loose ball and finishing high past Szczesny.

Poor marking in the area saw Michael Dawson get his head to a van der Vaart corner and give Spurs a commanding 3-0 lead, again Mertesacker at fault with some pathetic defending.

With just over 6 minutes remaining in the half, Arsenal were thrown a lifeline when Robin van Persie made a quick turn and was hauled to the floor by Ledley King. A second red card was shown, this time to the home side, meaning both teams were forced to play with 10 men aside.

With time running out in the half, Gervinho put the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed due to a very close offside call.

On the hour mark, Thomas Vermaelen picked up his second booking of the night for a silly tackle from behind on Adebayor. The Belgian defender joined Aaron Ramsey in the dressing room, as Arsenal were forced to finish the game with 9 men.

Arsenal held the ball well for the final minutes, but were unable to get any real scoring chances. A tough loss for the Gunners against important rivals, with Per Mertesacker at fault for all three goals against. The new signing may find himself in some hot water after this disastrous performance.

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January 28
FA Cup: Fourth Round

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LEICESTER CITY 2 – 2 ARSENAL

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Arsenal’s quick start was cancelled out by an impressive performance from Leicester, forcing a replay in just over one weeks time.

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Leicester City's Andy King forced a replay match between the two clubs after his beatiful strike in the second half

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Arsenal manager Andrew put out a mix the first team players and some of the backup squad members. Arsenal were lacking depth upfront, so Robin van Persie started as the lone striker.

The Gunners looked to be in complete control of the game scoring twice in the first 20 minutes of the game. Robin van Persie was the scorer of both goals, first sliding to get a foot on Theo Walcott’s cross, and the later splitting the two center backs and scoring a lovely solo goal.

Leicester responded immediately, as Paul Gallagher was left unmarked after Lukasz Fabianski was able to make the first save, but the rebound fell to the striker with an open net to shoot at.

Leicester City levelled the game in the second half when Andy King scored one that brought the home fans to their feet with a beautiful striker from outside the box.

The two teams will meet up for a replay match, Arsenal cannot be pleased with their performance after going up 2-0 so early in the game.

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January 31
English Premier League: Matchday 23

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ARSENAL 4 – 0 WIGAN

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Wigan Athletic with another pathetic performance against Arsenal, continue to sit dead last in the English Premier League on just 9 points from 23 games.

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Gervinho celebrates his first half hat trick, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott run over to join him

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Arsenal’s captain Robin van Persie scored just two minutes in from a long ball from Mikel Arteta, the striker making no mistake firing low into the far corner.

A strange goal just before the 30 minute mark for the Gunners as van Persie’s free kick struck the far post. Wigan right back Ronnie Stam was first to get to the ball off the rebound, but Gervinho quickly pressed the defender. The in form Arsenal forward then appeared to foul his opponent with the tackle, but there was no call from referee Rod Demott, and Gervinho shot into an open cage to push Arsenal’s lead to 2 goals. The Wigan players were clearly disappointed with the non-call, but the goal had been coming for some time.

Some more quick passing from Arsenal lead to Gervinho's second, a diagonal ball from playmaker Mikel Arteta allowing Gervinho space to slot home.

Gervinho completed his hat trick 5 minutes before the half time whistle after fighting off defender Paulo Jorge. Bacary Sagna picked his teammate out with a cross, and the forward made no mistake in beating Ali Al-Habsi.

Arsenal really could have scored more goals, but leading scorer Robin van Persie was taken off at halftime for some much needed rest. Theo Walcott in particular had many chances, but his finishing was poor.

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January 31
Thoughts From the Manager

A real mixed bag of results this month. We started off so promisingly, but the middle sector of January brought some disappointing results against rivals Chelsea and Tottenham.

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English Premier League

The negative results this month against Chelsea and Tottenham may come back to haunt us at the end of the season. Dropping points to rivals is already tough enough to swallow, but these are the teams we must catch in order to break into the top 4 of the Premier League. Though we played well in the match against Chelsea, our performance against Spurs was pathetic, and having two players sent off in the match showed our lack of discipline.

We were able to take 6 points from 6 against the weaker opposition this month, but these are points we must take every month if we want to play in the Champions League next season.

Dropping back to 5th​ place in the division was unfortunate, and we now sit 6 points back Manchester United and Tottenham, and 7 points off of Chelsea. I cannot stress the importance of finishing in the top 4, and we must improve our play against the leagues big teams now or face the consequences. Manchester City still top the table on 55 points, and lost their first game of the season to Tottenham on January 1st​.

Robin van Persie continued his impressive goalscoring run, grabbing another 2 goals to take his total to 19. More impressive though this month was the play of Gervinho, who notched 4 goals in 4 games, including a hat trick in a 4-0 win over Wigan. Also good to see new signing Mikel Arteta’s hard work paying off on the stats sheet, as he now sits tied for 3rd​ in the Premier League with 10 assists, 3 off Rafael van der Vaart’s pace.

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English Premier League Table

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English Premier League Statistics
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FA Cup

I thought to myself before the Third Round game against AFC Telford that if we lost this game, I would immediately resign from my job. We came away with a 5-0 win with some solid performances from many of the youngsters, and thus, I am still here managing Arsenal.

Unfortunately, we threw away a 2 goal advantage in our next match at Leicester, and will now be forced to play another unnecessary midweek game in just over a week.
Transfers

Much of the transfer budget was used up during the summer, so our club was not busy at all during the recent window. We were able to announce the signing of Felipe Anderson from Santos, and it looks like the young Brazilian has a promising future at just 18 years of age.

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Felipe Anderson

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We were though able to make some signings of players that will be joining our squad when their contract runs out next season. I will not be divulging any names at this point, but a promising young striker will be joining our team who might just be our teams next Dutch superstar, as this striker has the potential to model his game alongside Robin van Persie. Any guesses who this player might be?

A small loan away from Arsenal, as Sebastien Squilliaci has joined Olympiacos for the remainder of the season. We received $1 million loan fee and the Greek team will pay 100 percent of the players wages, so the deal made sense for us as the defender was only playing in the reserves.

Unfortunately for us, many of our rivals were very much active in securing new signings. Most notable, Chelsea brought in FC Porto star Hulk for just over $27 million. This was a player I was hoping to have a look at this coming summer, but Manchester United and Chelsea made offers for the player, and he chose to take his talents to Stamford Bridge.

Here’s a full look at the biggest transfers of the January window:

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January Transfers
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Preview

A lot to look forward to in the month of February. A difficult trip to Stoke City, the FA Cup: Fourth Round Replay at home against Leicester City are all important games, but will surely take a backseat to our First Leg trip to Germany where we will take on Bayer Leverkusen.

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February 5
English Premier League: Matchday 24

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STOKE CITY 2 – 2 ARSENAL

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Arsenal will be disappointed to have given away a 2 goal lead at Britannia Stadium after playing a good away game.

Robin van Persie was suffering from the flu for the past few days, but was given the start in the hopes of grabbing a few goals. Manager Andrew did mention during a pregame interview that the captain would not be playing the full 90 minutes today.

Arsenal had the lead 25 minutes into the game as Theo Walcott got on the end of the long set piece by Bacary Sagna. The speedy winger finished well on the short side, an area in which he had been struggling with as Arsenal were desperate for secondary scoring.

An uneventful first half gave way to an exciting second frame where Thomas Vermaelen extended Arsenal’s lead by nodding home powerfully from Mikel Arteta’s corner.

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Robert Huth celebrates with his teammates after scoring to get Stoke City within a goal
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Stoke had been threatening from set pieces all game, and it finally paid off when Robert Huth headed home from a corner kick which was poorly given away by sloppy defending by van der Wiel.

With just over 10 minutes to go in the game, Stoke City evened the game through another set piece. Jermaine Pennant’s free kick from just inside the byline was met by Ryan Shawcross who beat Thomas Vermaelen to the ball.

Set pieces have continued to give Arsenal problems, as they drop a further two points to their rivals.

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February 8
FA Cup: Fourth Round Replay

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ARSENAL 2 – 0 LEICESTER CITY (ET)

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Yaya Sanogo started up front for Arsenal in the hopes of giving Robin van Persie a week to rest up after a battle with the flu. January signing Felipe Anderson was recalled from the reserves and took a place on the bench for the match.

There were chances aplenty for the home side, as Benayoun, Walcott and Gervinho all went close, but Kasper Schmeichel was playing very well and kept his side in the game.

Arsenal’s best chance fell to center back Laurent Koscielny who nodded off the bar in second half stoppage time, meaning the game required extra time.

Felipe Anderson made his debut to start extra time (who was impressive in his 30 minute showing), and Robin van Persie was needed with 15 minutes to go to try and grab a win for Arsenal.

The introduction of their captain appeared to spur the team even further forward, and Gervinho was able to intercept and poor back pass from Steve Konchesky and side foot into the net.

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Theo Walcott clinches the victory with 5 minutes to go

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With 5 minutes to go, Arsenal started a quick counter attack led by van Persie by playing Gervinho, who passed across the six yard box to Theo Walcott who tapped the ball home and secured the victory.

It took much longer than most expected, but Arsenal eventually were able to break Leicester down and move on to the next round where they will face Birmingham at St. Andrews.

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February 11
English Premier League: Matchday 25

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ARSENAL 3 – 3 EVERTON

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Everton steal a point after Arsenal blow a 3-0 lead at home following a strong start to the game.

A handful of Arsenal’s usual starting 11 were not fully fit, so players Cheik M’Bengue, Per Mertesacker and Gregory van der Wiel were part of Arsenal’s starting team.

Arsenal took the lead 2 minutes in when Aaron Ramsey played Mikel Arteta, who proceeded to play Robin van Persie. The striker took one touch past his man and fired into the corner with his off foot.

Per Mertesacker doubled the lead when he easily beat Phil Jagielka to the ball off Arteta’s corner.

Arsenal went up by 3 goals through an unlucky Everton bounce. John Heitinga played a poor ball which struck Marouane Fellaini in the back and fell kindly to van Persie, who beat Jagielka with a quick deke and fired low past a diving Tim Howard.

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Tim Cahill started the comeback for Everton, turning around a 3-0 deficit to help the Toffees grab a draw

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With Arsenal in full control just before the end of the half, Everton reduced the deficit off a corner kick which fell to Tim Cahill.

Arsenal nearly killed the game off early in the second half, but Gervinho’s shot hit the outside of the post after a quick counter attack started by Yaya Sanogo.

Everton pulled to within one goal when Laurent Koscielny made a sloppy clearance, allowing Tim Cahill space while the defender was out of position and the Australian scored his 10th​ EPL goal of the season.

Arsenal were looking pathetic in the second half, possibly due to fatigue. Everton completed the comeback with 20 minutes remaining after a deflected shot fell to Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who shot towards the far post past a hopeless Szczesny.

A fantastic comeback from an Everton side which are beginning to find their form after a slow start, while another 2 points thrown away for Arsenal which may come back to bite them come the end of the season.

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February 18
FA Cup: Fifth Round

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BIRMINGHAM 2 – 1 ARSENAL

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A decent display from Arsenal, but a pathetic result sees Championship side Birmingham move on in the FA Cup while Arsenal crash out.

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Aaron Ramsey looks on in disappointment as Arsenal were eliminated from the FA Cup

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Positive news for Arsenal has Jack Wilshire made his return to the squad with his first start in nearly 8 months after suffering a broken ankle.

Keith Fahey opened the scoring for Birmingham on the 20 minute mark with a low shot into the close side corner after a strong opening 15 minutes from the London club.

Andrey Arshavin tied the game up after some slick passing between himself and Theo Walcott early in the second half.

With less than 10 minutes remaining, a scramble inside the Arsenal penalty area fell to midfielder Jordon Mutch, who turned and fired past Wojciech Szczesny who was only able to get fingertips to the ball.

Manager Andrew looked disgusted after the game during the post match interview, and said he would be holding a closed door meeting with the players before their Champions League game in 3 days time.

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February 25
Champions League: Round of 16 – First Leg

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BAYER LEVERKUSEN 2 – 0 ARSENAL


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A deserved result for the home side as Leverkusen took their chances well, while Arsenal struggled to get anything going offensively.

On the brink of halftime, Stefan KleBling gave Bayern Leverkusen the lead. A scramble inside the Arsenal box and a failed clearing attempt by Gregory van der Wiel allowed the striker to get a powerful shot off, which snuck under Wojciech Szczesny.

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Bayer Leverkusen's Tranquillo Barnetta scored a wonder goal

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The home team`s lead was doubled on 66 minutes with a wonderful goal from Tranquillo Barnetta. The strike was from some distance out, smashing the inside of the far post, nothing Szczesny could do about it. A strong candidate from Champions League goal of the season!

Arsenal were unable to grab an away goal they so desired, and will now have to put on a strong performance at the Emirates to get something out of this tie.

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February 25
English Premier League: Matchday 26

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BLACKBURN 0 – 2 ARSENAL

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One early goal and one late one helped Arsenal grab an important victory away at Blackburn on Mick McCarthy`s debut as the new Rover`s manager.

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Gervinho scored Arsenal's second goal of the game with a tap in after a great run and play by Marouane Chamakh

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Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie played a one-two, and the Dutch striker fired home from distance on 25 minutes to give Arsenal deserved lead.

Arsenal controlled play for the remainder of the game, and put the match to bed through Gervinho. Marouane Chamakh made a lovely run with the ball to split two defenders, and chose to lay the ball off to Gervinho out wide to fire into an open net as keeper Paul Robinson was caught rushing the dribbler.

An impressive away performance and another strong showing from Jack Wilshite off the bench, and now may warrant a start in some of the coming games.

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boy, your updates are awesome! Keep it that way! :DDD
 
February 28
Thoughts From the Manager

February was a month to forget, as two big losses and a 3-0 lead which we gave up were some of the most disappointing results of the season.

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English Premier League

We were only able to pick up 5 points from 3 games this month. This would not be so disappointing if we had not given up two commanding leads by 2 goals to Stoke City and 3 goals to Everton. We really should have had another 4 points from those two games, and hopefully we can recover these important lost points in the remaining two months. The only positive of the month was the 2-0 demolition of Blackburn.

We continue to sit in 5th​ position in the league table on 48 points, but rivals Liverpool, currently in 6th​, have closed the gap to just 3 points. Not only have Liverpool closed the gap, but we have dropped more points to the all important 4th​ seed Manchester United, who are now 8 points clear of us. Manchester City continue to dominate the league on 65 points and have conceded just 8 goals in 28 games. Shockingly, our fiercest rivals Tottenham are sitting in 2nd​ place, 6 points back of the leaders, and Chelsea come in in 3rd​ position, level on points with Manchester United.

Robin van Persie scored another 3 goals this month, taking his total to 22 for this campaign, and is now 7 goals clear of Didier Drogba.

Wojciech Szczesny surprisingly came in 2nd​ place for English Premier League Young Player of the Month for February. The keeper conceded 5 times in 3 games, but has been stellar this season and has cemented the number one role between the sticks.

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English Premier League Table

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English Premier League Statistics

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English Premier League Young Player of the Month
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FA Cup

We played well in our Fourth Round Replay at home to Leicester City. A really dramatic game which went to extra time, and two late goals helped us on our way.

Unfortunately, we played poorly against Birmingham and lost in the Fifth Round. The board were quite displeased with this result, and I was very disappointed with the team’s performance. We have now been eliminated from both domestic cups.
Champions League

Our most important match of the month saw us travel to Germany to take on Bayer Leverkusen. This was a tough place to go, and the home team were deserved 2-0 winners. We will now need to show up at home in the second leg, but I have confidence we are still very much in with a chance to advance as our home form this year has been strong.

This is appears to be the only competition we are still partaking in where we will have a chance at winning a trophy, as the Premier League appears to be impossible to win. Though it will be difficult, our best performances have always come on European nights, and the boys seems to really get up for these games.
Preview

This could be a month which shapes our season, and possibly my future. A trip to the Etihad Stadium on the 10th​ of March is a game we must get a result in, as we have yet to beat any of the big teams. Just four days later, Leverkusen will come to London in our second leg clash in which we must win by 3 goals without conceding to advance. It appears to be a tricky fixture, but we are a different team at home and can still progress.

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Please keep the comments coming guys, some big games this month to look forward to.
 
A good story so far.. I've enjoyed reading this.. Hopefully you can clinch 4th place come the end of the season.
 
EndaDC said:
keep winning someone will slip up
Click to expand...

Hope so, tough when you don't control your own fate and have to rely on other results, still time though.

Here's another quick update.
March 3
English Premier League: Matchday 27

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ARSENAL 4 – 1 ASTON VILLA

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Promising performance from the Gunners as they were both dangerous in attack and solid defensively against a reasonably good Aston Villa side.

Arsenal were off to a flyer inside of the 1st​ minute as Andrey Arshavin took down a long ball in stride and finished perfectly into the far side top corner, a brilliant assist from defender Laurent Koscielny.

A second goal for Arsenal came on 12 minutes, and it was in typical Robin van Persie fashion. The striker took a pass with his back to goal, then turned his defender inside out and fired down off the cross bar.

The Villains grabbed a goal of the their own around the 35 minute mark as Darren Bent nodded a soft goal past Szczesny, after the cross took a slight deflection off Thomas Vermaelen.

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Theo Walcott scores his second goal of the game past Richard Dunne's best attempt to keep the ball away from the Aston Villa net

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With 15 minutes remaining, substitute Theo Walcott, who has been at his most dangerous when coming off the bench, beat his marker and scored from a free header after a good cross from the left.

Walcott got his name on the score sheet for a second time as he combined well with van Persie and a calm finish from the winger gave Arsenal their fourth of the night.

Arsenal kept their chances of finishing in the top 4 with the victory, and will need a strong performance in their two upcoming games against league leaders Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.

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March 10
English Premier League: Matchday 28

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MANCHESTER CITY 3 – 1 ARSENAL

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Tough goals for Arsenal to concede, but Manchester City are certainly a class above the Gunners and all the teams in the English Premier League.

It was tough scheduling for Arsenal as they also had to focus on the midweek clash in the Champions League. Regardless, Arsenal were in desperate need to pick up some points so many of the starters were in for the game. Alex Song took his place in the starting 11, even though manager Andrew mentioned the day before that he was only at around 75% fitness.

City started well, and Samir Nasri came back to haunt his former club for the second time in the Premier League. The Frenchman hit the post from the left on what appeared to be a cross, and unfortunately for the Arsenal defenders, the ball rebounded straight back to him. A simple shot into the net as Sczcesny was slow to recover and was still on the ground when the ball finally hit the back of the net.

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Samir Nasri celebrates after he gave Manchester City the lead
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The home side continued to show their dominance, and Mikel Arteta gave the ball away cheaply in midfield where it was collected by Nasri. The midfielder carried the ball near to the Arsenal box, and fired a wicked shot low and to Szczesny’s right and settled in the back of the net, a quick 2-0 advantage for City.

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Nasri dispossessing Mikel Arteta, and later moving in on goal and scoring
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Arsenal began to hold the ball more, and create opportunities, but a quick break saw summer signing Danny lay the ball off for James Milner from 12 yards out, and a side footed strike again beat the keeper to give the Citizens a three goal cushion.

Arsenal grabbed a goal from Laurent Koscielny early in the second half, and continued to pile on the pressure, but were unable to get anything more from the match.

It was a strong fight back attempt from Arsenal in the second half, but too little, too late, and more dropped points mean a near impossible top 4 finish now.

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March 14
Champions League: Round of 16 – Second Leg

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ARSENAL 3 – 0 BAYER LEVERKUSEN

Aggregate: 3 – 2
Arsenal advance after Extra Time

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Arsenal needed extra time, but pulled off a spectacular performance at home to oust Bayer Leverkusen and move on to the Champions League Quarter Finals.

Arsenal came in knowing that conceding just once would almost surely mean elimination, but also were required to scored at least 2 goals to have a chance in progressing, so a delicate balance was required on the night.

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Arsenal warming up pregame, knowing they need to record an impressive result to progress
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Jack Wilshire’s good form since his return from injury meant the youngster got the start in midfield alongside Mikel Arteta. Chiek M’Bengue was preferred on the left side of defense, and Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen started again in the center back roles, and have began to form a strong partnership.

Bayer Leverkusen’s two goal scorers from the first leg, Stefan KieBling and Tranquillo Barnetta, got starts, and imposing goalkeeper Rene Adler stood between the sticks, knowing he was going to play a key role as Arsenal pushed for goals at home.

Arsenal’s relentless pressure in the first half payed off when Robin van Persie scored the first goal of the game. Gervinho made a good run on the left and played van Persie, who made a quick move and then smashed the ball past Rene Adler who had been terrific to start the game.

Arsenal went into the second half knowing they still needed to find a goal, and Leverkusen knew they could no longer just sit on their first leg advantage.

The away side began to open up more and penetrate the Arsenal backline, but Alex Song made a strong tackle in midfield on 55 minutes and started an attack. The holding midfielder quickly passed on to van Persie, who turned and found Theo Walcott streaking towards goal on the right side. Walcott beat his man for pace, and fired short side to level the game on aggregate.

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Theo Walcott's goal leveled the game at 2-2 on aggregate
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Neither team could find a goal before time expired in regulation time, and extra time was required to separate the two sides.

On the verge on the 100th​ minute, Arsenal’s most important player gave his team the lead. Gervinho had beaten his man on the left of the box, and squared a ball to Robin van Persie, who took one touch and fired low past Adler from just inside the box.

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Robin van Persie scored what turned out to be the game winner.
Unfortunatly, the striker was unable to finish the game after picking up a minor knock
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Unfortunately for Arsenal, with 10 minutes remaining, van Persie collided with Leverkusen defender Manuel Friedrich and was unable to continue. Arsenal had made their third and final substitution by bringing on Andrey Arshavin just 2 minutes before the incident, forcing the home team to finish the remainder of the game with just 10 men.

Left back Andre Santos was employing time wasting tactics with minutes to play in the far corner, but Renato Augusto felt it was necessary to put in a strong tackle on the Brazilian. Referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco felt the challenge was worthy of a second booking, meaning both teams would play out the remaining 2 minutes plus stoppage time with 10 men.

Arsenal defended well throughout the game, and the final whistle blew, sending Arsenal through to the next round thanks to a strong performance in front of the home supporters.

Manager Andrew was delighted with the victory post match, “We are a different team when we play here at the Emirates. I know most teams play their best football at home, but this team is almost on another level. To turn the tie completely in our favor, even if it did take extra time, shows the belief the boys have.” One reporter quickly asked Andrew if he felt like his team could go on and win the completion, the gaffer was also quick with his response “We will see, I’m not going to make any predictions.”

With Arsenal’s stellar play at home, they look like a real threat in this competition. The draw for the Quarter Finals and Semi Finals of the Champions League takes place March 24.

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Big win here against Leverkusen, move on the the Quarter Finals of the Champions League.

Hopefully another update later tonight.
 
March 20
English Premier League: Matchday 29

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ARSENAL 2 – 0 SUNDERLAND

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A big win for Arsenal, but a massive loss as Robin van Persie will miss the remainder of the season due to injury.

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Arsenal will be forced to finish their season without Robin van Persie, a massive loss for the Gunners
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Two Gervinho goals split what was the biggest news of the match, a Robin van Persie injury. The striker needed to be helped off the field on the 52 minute mark after a collision with Titus Bramble. Early reports have ruled the Dutchman out for 2-3 months with a major hip injury, which means Arsenal will have to play out the remainder of the season without their most important striker.

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March 24
English Premier League: Matchday 30

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QPR 1 – 0 ARSENAL

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More dropped points for the Gunners, another road loss and a strong performance from Queens Park Rangers.

With a midweek game in the Champions League, Arsenal made a few changes to the starting lineup which included the likes of Yossi Benayoun and Per Mertesacker.

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Akos Buzsaky celebrates with teammates Joey Barton and Anton Ferdinand after scoring the eventual winning goal
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The only goal of the game came in the second half when Akos Buzsaky latched onto a long ball and finished with a dribbler that just got past keeper Wojciech Szczesny.

A fairly even game in which a draw would have been a fair result, but again Arsenal struggled on their travels. The first of many games without Robin van Persie has displayed Arsenal’s lack of depth at the position, as Marouane Chamakh looked very much isolated at times and struggled to create chances for himself and his teammates.

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March 28
Champions League: Quarter Finals – First Leg

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ARSENAL 5 – 0 SHAKHTAR

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Arsenal got scoring from an unlikely source in a Laurent Koscielny hat trick to put the English club in complete control going into the second leg.

These two sides met up in Group D, with Arsenal grabbing a 5-2 victory on Matchday 1, and fell 1-0 in a meaningless game for both sides after qualification was secured for both teams.

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Laurent Koscielny scores his third goal of the game, and deservedly celebrates

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It was nearly a dream start for the home side when Andrey Arshavin was sent in all alone on Pyatov, but the Russian saw his attempt come off the post. The winger was first to the rebound, and from an acute angle, saw his second shot at an empty net slam the crossbar and again stay out of the net.

The game remained goalless until the second half, when 2 minutes in, a low corner from Mikel Arteta was cleverly flicked on by Jack Wilshere at the near post. Laurent Koscielny was the first to react, and slid the ball home for the lead.

10 minutes later, Marouane Chamakh scored a wonder goal from more than 25 yards out, Pyatov only able to get fingers to it, but cannot keep the ball out.

Koscielny grabbed his second of the game with 62 minutes gone, again from a corner kick, but this time the ball is played straight to him and the center back makes no mistake with a strong downward header.

Andrey Arshavin was on the verge of being substituted, and with his final touch in the 84th​ minute, the Russian put Arsenal up by four. Gregory van der Wiel was given achres of space to run into, and the wing back pushed as far as the byline, and chipped a cross to the back post where Arshavin was waiting to tap home.

In injury time, Laurent Koscielny completed his incredible hat trick with his third goal off a corner kick. A couple of deflections on the way, but the French defender made no mistake with a nice strike for his third past Pyatov.

Arsenal are usually a team which struggles to defend set pieces, but Koscielny put 3 past Shakhtar to help Arsenal on their way to a commanding victory.

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March 31
English Premier League: 31

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ARSENAL 5 – 1 FULHAM

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Four goals from Thomas Vermaelen and a single from Per Mertesacker help Arsenal to victory in an impressive performance from the team’s defenders turned scorers.

Two goals from Thomas Vermaelen inside the first 30 minutes from Andrey Arshavin corners gave the Gunners a quick lead.

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An unlikely source of goals from Arsenal, as Thomas Vermaelen finished with 4 goals this afternoon

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Fulham got a goal back 5 minutes before half time through Bryan Ruiz. After the Arsenal wall did its job and blocked a Fulham freekick, the ball fell well to Ruiz who took one touch and fired into the back of the net.

On the hour mark, Vermaelen clinched back-to-back center back hat tricks for Arsenal as he easily beat his marker to the ball and volleyed home from 6 yards.

Incredibly, the center back wasn’t done at 3, and he grabbed another goal with 1 minute to play, taking his tally to 4 goals in the game.

Per Mertesacker added another goal in injury time, meaning that all of Arsenal’s goals in the game had come from corner kicks and scored by defenders.

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I have no clue what happened in our last 2 games. I didn't change anything on the set pieces, and didn't change Koscielny or Vermaelen's instructions. Was incredible to get 3 goals from Kos, and 4 goals from Vermaelen in back to back games.

Unfortunately, we lost van Persie for the rest of the year, hopefully Chamakh can step up.
 
wow amazing stuff mate you lost van persie but you still score loads of goals(with defenders) impressive
 
KiLLER99 said:
wow amazing stuff mate you lost van persie but you still score loads of goals(with defenders) impressive
Click to expand...

Thanks, couldn't believe all the goals they were scoring, need more of the same for rest of season.

Sorry for lack of updates last few days, haven't had a chance to play or write, but will definatly get back on it this week.
 
Can't wait to see what happens next mate. Maybe a defender scoring 6 goals!!!
 
March 31
Thoughts From the Manager

A fairly straight forward month, with good performances for the most part. A disappointing loss to QPR in the Premier League was cancelled out by a spectacular second leg against Bayer Leverkusen and our first leg match in the Champions League Quarter Finals.

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English Premier League

All three of our wins in the Premier League which we played at home were convincing victories, while our two losses both came away from home. The Manchester City result was tough, but City have dominated the league this far, so I wasn’t too surprised with the loss, unlike our showing against QPR.

We have continued to score with ease, but most of this months scoring came from some unusual sources. After learning Robin van Persie will miss the remainder of the season, I am not complaining about getting scoring from other areas, but we need to get our forwards and midfielders helping out as well. Fortunately, Thomas Vermaelen (4), Laurent Koscielny (1) and Per Mertesacker (1) have all pitched in since van Persie’s injury.

We still occupy 5th​ place, level with Liverpool, but unfortunately we remain 8 points back of 4th​ place Manchester United, who also have a game in hand on us. Finishing top 4 is looking less and less likely, even with some decent results we’ve had, the top team also continue to pick up good results.

Robin van Persie will more than likely not play another Premier League game this season, and he is currently sitting on 23 goals, 6 goals clear of Emmanuel Adebayor who has been on a good run of goalscoring. Mikel Arteta still sits second on the assist charts, and Andrey Arshavin has snuck up on the race as he racked up 5 assists in the final game of the month vs. Fulham.

Wojciech Szczesny was named the English Premier League’s Young Player for the Month of March, making 5 appearances and conceding 6 goals.

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English Premier League Table

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English Premier League Statistics

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English Premier League Young Player of the Month
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Champions League

What can I really say? Two of our most important games of the season, and we pull off 3-0 and 5-0 victories at home. To come back and win the Round of 16 in extra time was really fulfilling, nerve-racking, but when you’re the team that scores in extra time, its awesome. Most shocking result of the Round of 16 saw Barcelona bounced from the competition by our next opponents, Shakhtar. Barcelona went to the Nou Camp up 1-0 on aggregate, but were eliminated with a surprise 3-0 loss at home.

After both teams came back from first leg deficits, our performance of putting five goals past Shakhtar was incredible, and getting a spectacular hat trick from Laurent Koscielny was pleasing as well.

I am pretty confident even our poor away form will allow us to qualify for the Semi Finals, where we will take on the winner of Chelsea and CSKA Moscow’s tie.

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Champions League Round of 16 Results

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Champions League Quarter Finals Draw
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Preview

First up next month is our trip to Ukraine, where we will hopefully confirm a birth in the Champions League Semi Finals. This really shouldn’t be a problem, and I will resign immediately if we cannot see this tie out. If we advance, both Semi Final games will take place this coming month, so we will be playing a lot of football in the next 30 days.

A string of winnable Premier League games against many teams currently situated in the lower half of the table. If we are to make any sort of run at the top 4, we must take maximum points from all games.

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April 3
Champions League: Quarter Finals – Second Leg

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SHAKHTAR 3 – 3 ARSENAL
Arsenal advance on aggregate 8 – 3

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Arsenal continued their good run in the Champions League thanks to a 3-3 draw in Ukraine and an 8-3 win on aggregate.

With a 5-0 lead from the first leg, Arsenal had all but secured their place in the Champions League Semi Finals, and an early goal from Marouane Chamakh after a Shakhtar breakdown, the tie was settled as the home side would have needed to score 7 goals.

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Shakhtar goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov looks on in dusgust as Arsenal took the lead 1-0

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Arsenal grabbed another goal from Mikel Arteta, who fired a hard shot from the top of the area and into the back of the net.

Before the half ended, Gregory van der Wiel brought down Fernandinho from behind to concede a penalty, and the Brazilian stepped up and scored low to Szczesny’s right.

Shakhtar tied and then took the lead through goals from Sammir and Dmytro Chygrynskyi, but Arsenal pegged them back after Theo Walcott scored off a deflected Gervinho cross.

Arsenal continue to struggle in their travels, but all of that seems to have been forgotten as the London club move on to face fellow English team Chelsea in the Semi Finals.

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April 7
English Premier League: Matchday 32

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ARSENAL 3 – 1 NORWICH

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A strong game from Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere who helps the Gunners to another 3 points.

Arsenal took the lead 20 minutes into the match through Andrey Arshavin. The winger scored with the outside of his foot from the right hand side into the far corner past John Ruddy.

Thomas Kristensen scored from a freekick for Norwich to tie the game, as Wojciech Szczesny looked slow to react to the curling effort.

Marouane Chamakh restored the lead for Arsenal on 54 minutes by seizing on a partially intercepted pass from Gervinho, and quickly shooting into the far top corner.

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Jack Wilshere calmly put home Arsenal's third goal of the night, and his first of the season

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John Ruddy palmd away unconvincingly in stoppae time, and Jack Wilshere was in the right place at the right time to score his first goal of the season.

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April 9
English Premier League: Matchday 33

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ARSENAL 0 – 0 SWANSEA

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Arsenal dropped points after a dominant performance which saw strong defensive ability from both teams.

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Marouane Chamakh battles for a header with Ashley Williams

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April 14
English Premier League: Matchday 34

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WOLVES 0 – 1 ARSENAL

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A handful of wasted opportunities from the away side, and a single Theo Walcott goal seals an important away win for the Gunners.

After a lackluster opening 55 minutes, Arsenal got the only goal of the game after some intelligent passing from their front three. Park Chu Young played Marouane Chamakh, who was gifted some space by the Wolves midfield. The target man played a quick ball to Theo Walcott, who was cutting in from the right side, and finished with a placed shot in the corner.

Arsenal may have had one eye on their midweek game with Chelsea in the Champions League, but they just did enough to secure the three points.

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April 18
Champions League: Semi Final – First Leg

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CHELSEA 2 – 2 ARSENAL

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A thrilling match between two of England’s biggest sides ends in a draw, but Arsenal able to head back to the Emirates with two precious away goals.

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Theo Walcott celebrates with goalscorer Thomas Vermaelen

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Didier Drogba was still nursing an injury, so Fernando Torres got the start from manager Andre Villas-Boas. John Terry was out through suspension, so Alex partnered David Luiz in the center of defense.

Steven N’Zonzi played in midfield alongside Alex Song for some added defensive awareness in midfield for the Gunners, and Marouane Chamakh started as the lone striker supported by Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin.

An even opening half an hour saw both teams with chances to score, but Salomon Kalou was the first to take his chance on 31 minutes. Fernando Torres made quick work of Thomas Vermaelen on the break, and crossed the ball for an unmarked Kalou, who smashed the ball into the top netting.

Arsenal were able to get on level terms when Andrey Arshavin was brought down by David Luiz just outside of the box to the right side of Petr Cech. Mikel Arteta swung the ball towards the far post where Laurent Koscielny was isolated with Salomon Kalou. The Arsenal center back easily beat the Ivorian for the header, beating Cech who was only able to get a foot to the ball.

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Didier Drogba gave Chelsea a 2-1 lead with little time left after his slight defelction found the back of the net

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Chelsea and their fans thought they had the game won with 13 minutes to play, when a Frank Lampard freekick was half cleared, and Alex took a shot which was ever so slightly defelcted by substitute Didier Drogba and into the back of the net.

Unfortunatelyfor the Blues’ supporters, another set piece goal by Thomas Vermaelen saw the teams draw level, as the Belgian defender out muscled Ramires off the corner, and was able to flick the ball into the near side of the goal.

The game finished level at 2-2, but Arsenal will take 2 away goals back to the Emirates for the second leg, with a date in the finals for the victor.

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April 21
English Premier League: Matchday 35

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LIVERPOOL 1 – 1 ARSENAL

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With all eyes on their second leg tie with Chelsea in the midweek, a weakened Arsenal side came away from Anfield with a single point.

The likes of Park Chu Young, Yossi Benayoun and Johan Djourou were handed rare starts by their manager, and two of these players combined well to open the scoring for Arsenal.

20 minutes into the game, Jack Wilshere moved the ball forward to Park Chu Young, who spotted Yossi Benayoun in behind Glen Johnson. Benayoun made no mistake with a calm finish with his left boot to silence the home crowd.

Liverpool tied the game before the half when January signing Oscar Cardozo got his head to a Jordan Henderson corner.

The teams traded chances late in the game, but both keepers kept the game at a draw.

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April 24
Champions League: Semi Finals – Second Leg

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ARSENAL 2 – 0 CHELSEA
Arsenal advance 4-2 on aggregate

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A stunning display from Arsenal as two goals from Marouane Chamakh see Arsenal into the Champions League Final.

Chelsea knew they had to come out and score at least one goal on the night, but they looked uninspired to start the game. Arsenal held the ball well for the opening 15 minutes, but were unable to create any clear cut chances.

Just after the 20 minute mark, Gregory van der Wiel's cross attempt for Marouane Chamakh went beyond the striker. Andrey Arshavin was able to mop up the loose ball, and after a quick move to get past Branislav Ivanovic, a low cross found Marouane Chamakh who passed the ball into the far corner past a frozen Petr Cech.

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Marouane Chamakh celebrates his first of two goals on the night, helping Arsenal on their way to the Champions League Final


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Villas-Boas was shouting instructions at his players to push up, and this dearly cost the Blues when a long ball from Thomas Vermaelen caught the Chelsea defense pressing too high. Marouane Chamakh was able to get behind David Luiz, and finish with his left foot on the short side to really put Arsenal in the driver’s seat.

After halftime, Arsenal began to sit deeper, and hit on the counter attack with success. Chelsea were unable to get past the hard working Alex Song, Fernando Torres and later substitute Didier Drogba invisible for most of the night.

Arsenal manager Andrew was clearly delighted with the result post match. “We had an advantage going into the second leg with the two away goals, but we didn’t sit back on it and we continued to search for goals.” The manager was heaping much praise on striker Marouane Chamakh, “Marouane has stepped in well as our team’s striker without Robin. Each game, we ask our strikers do go out and score a goal, and tonight, Marouane grabbed us two, I was really happy for him.”

Andre Villas-Boas, on the other hand, was less than pleased with his team’s performance. “They defended well, we couldn’t grab a goal. Unfortunately we let the lead slip away at Stamford Bridge, and it cost us in the tie.”

The final whistle blew to thunderous cheers from the Arsenal supporters. Arsenal have progressed to the Champions League finals, where they will challenge Real Madrid for a chance at a trophy for the first time since 2005.

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April 28
English Premier League: Matchday 36

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ARSENAL 2 – 0 BOLTON

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Arsenal extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 6 games, thanks to an early goal by Abou Diaby.

An early throw in deep in Bolton territory eventually fell to Aaron Ramsey, who made a slick pass to Abou Diaby at the top of the area. The midfielder took a heavy first touch, but was able to keep control of the ball and fire with his left boot past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

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Arsenal winger Andrey Arshavin followed up the play and was rewarded with a goal


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Arsenal doubled their lead and sealed the game on 35 minutes. Andre Santos carried the ball down the left flank, put a low cross into the area intended for Marouane Chamakh. The striker was unable to get a touch to the ball which was slightly behind him, but Andrey Arshavin was trailing the play and fired low into the far corner.

Not only were Bolton unable to grab a goal, but injuries to Ricardo Gardner and El-Hadji Diouf made the afternoon one to forget for the Bolton fans.

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Sorry for the long update, but I didn't want to do a separate update for the second leg, and then have one more game added on.

Anyways, I am so pumped to have made it to the Champions League Final! Hoping to do 3-5 updates just for the final, maybe a preview, the game, post game, interview, etc. I want to really make the build up and post match fun.

Any suggestions for what you would like to see for the final, open to ideas.
 
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