There I was, at half time.
Muttering to myself under my breath. Feeling like a right old fool. Having just spent 45 minutes in front of my laptop, trying to catch a glimpse of a game through a lousy stream, that stopped every 3 minutes, and with commentary in Italian to boot.
I wondered to myself. Football fans like us - or maybe it was just me - must be a bunch of sick sado-masochists. We torture ourselves for two weeks, getting through the damn international break, make do with internationals involving England and Rooney, watch Theo get injured, get news of an even longer RVP injury, look forward to Saturday, and then...
We have to sit through this shit. 40-odd minutes of pretty good stuff, yes. First goal for Koscielny on his home debut, nice domination, some nice passing, but some really really bad finishing. Mostly from that damn Arsh. (Just too bloody fat and slow, man). So he misses two, if not three, when put clean through. And as half time approaches, with Bolton having done close to nothing, we let in the requisite stupid soft goal. TY. PI. CAL.
Utterly utterly pathetic. Yes, Koscielny was guilty of a limp header back towards Almunia, but the defending after that, and Almunia's own role in the fiasco were just classic crap defending. Maybe it was the stream, but everything was like, slow-mo.
1-1. Half time. And my sentiments above.
Second half - and I suppose what happened in the second 45 minutes is a better excuse for why we're Arsenal fans. Chamakh first had a good effort on goal, which brought out a decent save from that Bogdan guy, and from the resultant corner, ball back into the box, and yet another unstoppable Chamakh header. The guy can't seem to stop scoring with his head!
Then, the game changing moment. Bolton's best player, Gary Cahill, stupid challenge on Chamakh at the touch-line, red card. You know, that was just a case of stupid refereeing.
First, Arshavin was clean through following from Chamakh's back heel. Advantage anyone?
Second, with play being allowed to continue, a yellow would probably have been the right sanction.
Red was kinda harsh, but I ain't complaining. Cahill probably paid the price for other thuggish challenges from his mates.
So there we are. 2-1 up, and with Bolton's defensive spine off the pitch. Cheeky little goal from Song, followed by a nice finish from Vela to top it all off.
Could've been more, but four against Bolton will always be nice.
I don't think I saw enough of the game to be able to do a worthy player rating, but some of the stand-outs for me:
Gibbs/Eboue - interesting to see them start. Did well all in all, and a rested Clichy and Sagna will do us wonders for Braga on Wednesday.
Squid - nifty debut in what could've been a very iffy tie. It might just come to pass that among the three of Vermaelen, Squid and Koscielny, we'll have a perfectly interchangeable bunch for the two places. Nice.
Song - the metronome. Solid, dependable, and he's got a touch too, man. Nice little chipped goal.
Fabregas - looked languid at times, but his assists (and near assists) were classic.
Chamakh - never looked out of place with the physicality of Bolton. He's looking a better and better buy (free!) everyday.
Arshavin - he needs some time on the naughty bench. He needs to step it up, and now. With Nasri back, and Rosicky still doing fine, why not let Nasri take his place on Wednesday?
A fine and dandy Saturday then. Coz elsewhere...
Shall I mention Goodison Park? Goddamn. Man U's caught that Arse habit of giving points away. First Fulham, which was horrid, and now Everton, which was by far, horrider. Two goals up, injury time to play - and they could seriously have even been beaten. Trust me. As an Arsenal fan, I know how it feels.
Doesn't mean I can't laugh though!
And oh yeah. The other team from Manchester must be feeling the heat too as well, eh? All that money. All that dinero. For a draw with Blackburn? That not goin' to work, Mr Mancini.
And 1-1 ain't gonna work for twitchy 'arry too. Draw with West Brom. Suppose this is what van der Vaart means by Spurs being better than Arsenal. Snigger.
Ciao then.
You know what it feels like to have been deprived of football for so long?
You know it's bad when you actually look forward to Sunday (Birmingham - Pool), Monday (Stoke - Villa), Tuesday (Champions League Day 1) and Wednesday (BRAGA!!!)
Yay!
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