First off, 1-0 in the first leg of any European knock-out at home is always a good score. But if there’s ever any “bad” 1-0, then this was it. It was scary how tentative we were in front of goal. (Tentative is the nicest I can say it).
Basically, the first 60 minutes of the game were as good as we’ve played in a long time – and we really made Roma look like a Cardiff, and should’ve put them away as quickly as we did Cardiff. Things were wonderful from the first to second thirds of the pitch, but once we got there, things always seemed to fizzle. And, just as I thought they only way we’d ever score was from the penalty spot, we got lucky. RVP the maker, RVP the deliverer. What we’d have done without him, I don’t know.
So 1-0 in the first half. Then the first 15 minutes of the second, which saw Nick Bent flub chance after chance, after a first half that had already seen him waste countless chances with lousy first touches. Skyed one when it would’ve been easier to score, and then…miss of the century from none other than Eboue. I won’t bother to describe it. Too goddamn painful. Just go see if there are highlights. He had an open goal, decided he could not shoot, dribbled into as many Roma players as he could find, then when the angle was tightest, decided it was about time he shot and so he did, and missed. God bless that absolutely useless twat.
Defensively, we were really sound, and hats off to Kolo and Mohawk Billy for playing well together. (They even spent some extra quality time together in the changing room at half time). Sagna and Clichy were their usual selves, and for a while, Diaby looked really useful too. Then of course, we had to send on Eboue’s midfield kindred spirit: Alex Song. God bless this second absolutely useless twat. Did nothing other than pass sideways as usual, never broke into anything more than a jog, and just wasted space.
As far as the player ratings go, you’ll see who our star performers were:
Almunia 8 – Tried hard not to fall asleep, and when called on, looked really comfortable.
Clichy 8 – He was everywhere. Probably figured we needed help upfront, but never neglected his defensive duties. Immense.
Gallas/Toure 7 – Sound and stable, but I took off a point for coming on after the break late! That was really odd for a professional game. Two dudes running back onto the pitch after the ref had started the game. Freaky.
Sagna 7 – Not as effervescent as Clichy, but did his job against an inept Roma attack.
Nasri 8.5 – Super performance. Provided the spark to the team. Did a good job roaming behind RVP with Nick Bent on the left. Most good things seemed to come from him.
Denilson 7 – Not spectacular, nothing really bad, just kinda average. Seems to be the story of his life.
Diaby 7.5 – Rather useful touches in patches. Unlike Mr Song, seemed interested in playing some football, and helping his team move forward, towards the opponents’ half. But may have gotten injured tying his laces...leading to Song.
Eboue 5 – Ran like a mad dog, but when it came time to make that pass, had a rather impressive 100% fail rate. So I gave him 5 for just making the effort. His miss was something to behold.
Bendtner 5 – Really, he should now shut his fat gob and NEVER ever talk about his right to be in the first team again. First team in Birmingham, yeah. But not this one. His first touches and finishing were unforgiveable.
RVP 7 – Average performance really, but his average is still miles above the best that many in this team (save the defence) can offer. PLEASE do not get injured in the shower.
Vela 6 (sub) – Thought Bendtner was useless. Until he came along. Nothing happened on the left, and couldn’t defend. At least Bendtner could get a little bit more height and heft in defence. Betrayed his age tonight.
Song 0 (sub) – Just get out of my sight, boy.
Ramsey 7 (sub) – In his less than 10 minutes, showed that he’s a better option than Eboue, even if he were to suddenly lose the use of one leg and both eyes. More imagination, more brains.
All in all, Roma were so crap, they’d have been whipped by Sunderland. We only have ourselves to blame for not putting the entire tie to bed. But I suppose this happens to teams who have lost ALL confidence in front of goal. I should just be grateful we still have someone to draw and convert penalties. So, for a team who can’t score, let’s be happy with a 1-0 we can take to Rome. If Roma keep it up, we should have a good chance. If given 1-0 before the game, I’d have taken it and run.
Oh yeah, final point on “The Beast”. He was back to his crappiest crap best. Hurray. At least he’s fair. Maybe it’s the red of Arsenal that brings out the crap in him. He did score that 4 against Pool in yellow, no? Had little more than 3 touches of the ball, and one wild shot at goal. Sounds about typical of his contributions to Arsenal.
Thanks to another glass of wine, I can go to bed with some peace. I was expecting for a good half an hour for Roma to spring an equalizer. It never came, they were so crap. Thank god for that. Wonder if Fulham will be as crap as Roma.
Nighty night. Given that the 3 other European ties were drawn, Arse fans should at least go to bed happy.
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