Arsenal 2 Stueaua Bucherest 1 - Theo Van Bendtner

Arsenal 2 Stueaua Bucherest 1 - Theo Van Bendtner

Postby Cheese » Fri Dec 14, 2007 10:12 am

Arsenal 2 Stueaua Bucherest 1

Match day 6 of the Champions League and the final game of the group, with Arsenal already through along with Sevilla all that was left to play for was first place which was currently occupied by Sevilla after beating Arsenal 3-1 in the previous game.

Arsene Wenger, who was serving a one match ban, rested key players Manuel Almunia, Kolo Toure, Gael Clichy, Tomas Rosicky and Emmanuel Adebayor for this game obviously with one eye on Sundays big clash with rivals Chelsea. Arsenal were also without Cesc Fabregas, Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini through injury. Arsenal fans did have something to smile about though and that was the return or Robin van Persie who has been out of action since picking up an injury on international duty back in October.

Arsenal started with Bendtner and Van Persie upfront and Walcott playing on the right wing, the combination almost worked within minutes of the start when Van Persie picked up the ball on the half way line and placed a through ball to Walcott who was in on goal only for his shoot to go just wide of the far post.

Arsenal were picking Steaua Bucharest defence apart with every attack in the first few minutes, Arsenal got there goal in the eighth minute through Diaby who was also back from injury. The goal came from a Sagna cross from the right with Diaby controlling the ball in the box and then smashing it into the goal.

After the goal it was business as usual Arsenal continued to attack, Van Persie looked sharp which will please many Arsenal fans ahead of Sunday’s match. It was a Van Persie pass to Bendtner which lead to the second goal four minutes before half time. Van Persie with a one touch pass into the box Bendtner chased the ball took it passed one player then shoot across goal and into the net. 2-0 half time.

The second half wasn’t as quick or successful as the first half, it looked like some players may have been thinking about the game on Sunday, Arsenal still created chances and some good saves denied us more goals.

Van Persie was replaced by Eduardo on the sixty-fifth minute the crowd gave Van Persie a huge cheer after his solid performance after coming back from injury. He looked pleased with himself having got an assist to his name although he looked like he wanted to stay on and try and get a goal, that really was the only thing he didn’t do on his comeback but maybe he is saving them for Sunday.

Within minutes of Van Persie going off Steaua Bucharest scored to make it 2-1, it was a soft goal to concede with a cross towards goal and the Steaua Bucharest player Zaharia got in between Senderos and Traore hand headed home. Lehmann couldn’t really do much about the header it just looped over his head and into the top left hand corner.

Diarra and Eboue replaced Sagna and Diaby with twenty minutes to go and from then on it was routine stuff Arsenal controlled the game without using to much energy. So the game finished 2-1, the game between Slavia Prague and Sevilla finished 3-0 to Sevilla which means Arsenal go though second and have the possibility of facing Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Inter Milan or Porto.

The game went as planed Arsenal did what they set out to do and won the game in a comfortable fashion, the win also see Arsenal stretch their unbeaten home run in the Champions League to three and a half years. With the Champions League group stages complete Arsenal have a number of tasty games to look forward to over the Christmas period.
“What a great day for football, all we need is some green grass and a ball.”
Cheese
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Re: Arsenal 2 Stueaua Bucherest 1 - Theo Van Bendtner

Postby rvtheace » Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:55 am

Nice report. Nice title. :D
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