[Birmingham City 2-2 Arsenal] Eduardo's injury mars draw

[Birmingham City 2-2 Arsenal] Eduardo's injury mars draw

Postby rvtheace » Sun Feb 24, 2008 2:15 pm

Arsenal began the match knowing that they had a great chance to open an 8 point gap over Manchester United, but football took a back seat within the opening 3 minutes when Eduardo went down after a tackle from Martin Taylor. It looked like a typical late challenge at first, but the panicked reaction from Cesc suggested otherwise. A red card was flashed to Taylor, and the medical staff rushed onto the field. Clearly something dreadful had happened. Most of the Arsenal team looked liked they had seen a ghost, with Cesc and Ade looking the worst affected of the pair.

As it turned out, the Croatian had been struck right above the ankle join when on the turn, which resulted in a compound fracture that has practically snapped his foot away from his leg. He was taken off the pitch by an ashen faced Gary Lewin, Bendtner came on, and it was back to the game. The sight of Fabregas taking a deep breath before taking the free kick showed just how badly affected some of the Arsenal players were.

The Gunners were not at their best, and on the 28th minute, were left trailing to 10 man Birmingham when James McFadden curled in a fantastic free kick, after being brought down by Flamini on the edge of the box. Not long after, McFadden had a glorious chance to put his team 2 up, but allowed himself to be tackled by Senderos before he could get his shot away.

Arsenal managed some decent moves of their own, all the threat came from the wings, with Clichy and Sagna putting in cross after cross. Adebayor and Bendtner managed to meet most of them, but failed to trouble the Birmingham goal too much. Walcott was unable to do much on the right wing, and Hleb’s trickery rarely produced any end product.

Things changed early in the second half though, with Adebayor rising high to win a header and Walcott produced a predatory finish with the keeper nowhere to be seen. It was the first Premier League goal for the youngster, and he’ll need to produce more before the season is over to make the loss of Dudu more bearable. Within five minutes of his strike, he added another one. Picking up the ball in midfield, he charged at the defender, cut inside, and unleashed a perfect strike with his left foot – a fabulous goal to give Arsenal the lead!

Arsenal looked far more settled after that goal, and had several opportunities to seal the tie, most notably Adebayor’s failed attempt to lob the keeper. The chances went begging though, but the team rarely looked threatened by the Birmingham attack, so all was fine. As the clock was winding down, disaster struck. Clichy made a fatal error of failing to notice the onrushing Parnaby until it was too late. Yet, Clichy did manage to recover well enough to nick the ball away, by the referee pointed to the spot, and McFadden took care of the formalities.

The terrible climax to an awful day at the office moved Gallas to tears, and it is quite likely that many fans empathise with him. Thoughts immediately returned to Eduardo, who has now undergone surgery. We await word regarding his chances of recovery. Get well soon Dudu!


Image
Image
User avatar
rvtheace
David Rocastle
David Rocastle
 
Posts: 2735
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:43 pm

[Birmingham City 2-2 Arsenal] Eduardo's injury mars draw

Postby SE13 » Sun Feb 24, 2008 2:54 pm

Nicely done!

It's so sad that the injury to Eduardo completely overwrites the day. One tends to forget that there was actually a game in amongst all the other things.
Image

Image

Please note that my comments are my own view, and not that of GoonersWorld. Everything I write is subject to © 2007-2013, and is my own work unless quoted otherwise.
User avatar
SE13
Rest in Peace
Rest in Peace
 
Posts: 38139
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:12 am
Location: Lincoln

Re: [Birmingham City 2-2 Arsenal] Eduardo's injury mars draw

Postby Monica » Sun Feb 24, 2008 6:17 pm

the result seems didn't important for me again since we have Dudu's broken leg here :roll:
all i need to hope that Dudu will speedy recovery.all the best for him.and apparently 25/02/2008 is Dudu's 25th birthday.how sad to celebrate a birthday in such that condition.but anyway Happy Birthday Dudu!
User avatar
Monica
Liam Brady
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:38 pm
Location: Indonesia


Return to Match Reports 07/08

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests