Arsenal made it nine wins in a row after the one-nil defeat of Steaua Bucharest.
Arsenal went into last nights game full of confidence knowing not to underestimate Steaua Bucharest, in the past few years Arsenal have travelled to CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk but have not been able to come away with any points, Arsene Wenger said before the game that Arsenal would have to concentrate the full 90 minutes and to be patient.
Arsenal kicked off the night in their white away kit, It was Bucharest who had the first chance of the night when Romeo Surdu crossed in from the left to provide Valentin Badea’s with a free header after he got in front of Senderos only for the ball to loop over the crossbar and away for a goal kick, Within a minute later a free kick from the right hand side found another free head of a Bucharest player this time the ball was in the back of the net only for it to be ruled out for offside, Arsenal were lucky because it was bad marking and lack of concentration which almost see them full behind early on. Arsenal could of scored themselves after taking a quickly taken free kick and six passes later found themselves outside the oppositions area and on the attack with Van Persie on the ball he took passed a defender put the ball across the face of goal as the ball found Hleb he cut it back to Fabregas who was in space only for the young Spaniard to fire it over the bar from six yards out.
Both sides had long range efforts on goal but nothing that troubled either keeper, Arsenal felt that they should have been awarded a goal when Clichy crossed the ball in from the left and as it took a deflection on the defender it went towards goal the keeper caught the ball and fell to the floor as the ball appeared to have crossed the line while in his hands. It was not given and there was not to many protests from the Arsenal players.
Arsenal had one last attack of the first half but the ball was put out for a corner, for some reason the referee blew his whistle for half time so we didn’t get the chance to take it. So Arsenal went in at half time still level after dominating most of the first half possession wise.
As the second half started Bucharest looked to get on the attack quick and play the ball up field, Arsenal had a good chance early on when a Fabregas free kick was delivered from the right side Adebayor just missed the header and the goalkeeper managed to get a touch and clear it away from the goal.
Arsenal’s heart beats got a little bit faster as Almunia came out of the box to head the ball away it fell to a Bucharest player who had a long range effort the ball would of gone in as Almunia was nowhere to be seen but luckily the ever dependable Kolo Toure cleared of the line. Again soon after a ball played through the defense let Victoras Iacob though one on one with Almunia only for the substitute to put the ball high and wide.
Finally on the 76th minute Arsenal’s breakthrough goal came when Adebayor passed the ball back to Fabregas only for it to go behind the player Robin Van Persie in the right place at the right time smashed the ball with his favored left foot into the back of the net sparking celebrations by the Arsenal players and the 1,000 traveling fans.
After the goal the Steaua Bucharest players heads dropped a little and they didn’t create anymore real chances Arsenal had one with Adebayor striking the ball just over, Arsenal controlled the rest of the game until the final whistle and made sure that they was coming home with the three points.
Arsenal are unbeaten and have now played eleven games in all competitions winning ten drawing just the one game, the one nil made it nine wins in a row. Arsene Wenger was asked how long the winning streak can continue and the Frenchman replied "That is now our challenge - how long can we extend this run? How can we try to be inspired by that kind of consistency, but it is too early to compare a run like we did before. In 49 and nine, there is 40 games difference. Let's go step by step and try to win the next game, which is Sunderland at home." So in typical Arsene fashion we must not get carried away and to concentrate on the next game at home to Sunderland. Nether the less the no harm in celebrating another well earned win and long may this run continue.
Man of the match for me was Robin van Persie not only for the superb goal but his all round contribution with four shoots on goal, the winning goal and 45 passes in which 90% made it to an Arsenal player. A superb all round contribution by the Dutchman.