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Seemingly our unwritten League mission is to stay ahead of Everton, but whichever way you look at it, this particular match it lacked major significance for either Arsenal or Portsmouth. Theoretically Arsenal are still in the title chase and theoretically Portsmouth are still under threat of relegation. Realistically this was just another league game. Betting for today’s match was as follows: Henry to score the first goal 9-4, Snow during the game 5-1, Pompey fans to slag off their once beloved Harry 1-9 on, Arsenal to get another player suspended 6-4, A prat wearing a silly hat and ringing an irritating bell having it shoved up his arse – evens.
Arsenal kicked off with the wind behind them towards the Clock End on a cold blustery grey day. Old timers Cesc and Quincy were involved with our first attack while Quincy and Thierry tried some one-twos that didn’t quite come off for our second. Referee Foy played on as Henry was clipped; he waved play on quite a bit, as he was seemingly loath to make too many decisions. LuaLua their only forward to cause any real problems had a shot saved low. Any minute now it seemed Arsenal might wake up.
Quincy worked his way through to hit a shot across the face of goal with his left peg. O’Neil was both high and late on Vieira but Foy didn’t seem too bothered. Pat was looking sharp and fouls on Henry were mounting in number. Henry, Cole and Owusu-Abeyie were involved in a move that set up Thierry for a shot. Portsmouth best play of the half came when Taylor, I think it was, crossed for Yakubu Aiyegbeni to crash a header against the bar. Quincy cut inside for a shot at the other end. All in all the football was somewhat laboured with Portsmouth conforming to the standard away routine at Highbury with an almost inevitable 4-5-1 formation. Henry came away from a ruck of three Pompey players with the ball, took it on further and make his own space for a shot that went over.
Lauren replaced the seemingly injured Cygan. So Kolo moved from right back to centre half. Kolo then fouled LuaLua near the touchline and although the free kick seemed to by pass everyone a corner was given. The injured Griffin was replaced by Primus who I was surprised didn’t appear from the off. Referee Foy is one we don’t see too often and his innate ability to get in the players way may well have a lot to do with that, I don’t reckon he could read a move to save his life and subsequently he managed to manoeuvre himself into the most irritating positions possible. I lost count of the times he got in the way. Lauren crossed as Cole flew in looking for a header. The lino was hopeless when it came to keeping up with play so LuaLua got away with another unseen offside. The linesman finally spotted one that was a good three yards offside.
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Primus then flattened Cole who went up in the air before landing, resulting in a free kick and the first yellow card of the day. A flash overhead clearance from the Greek disease soon followed. A forearm smash by O’Neil on Henry only won a free kick as the Pompey tackles became somewhat reckless, as with the disease on Quincy and a scythe by Stefanovic on Lauren that rightly saw him receive a yellow card. Chalkias in goal sliced a back-pass for a corner that was hit in well by Thierry. Chalkias fumbled the ball in and it fell to Pat who blasted over from all of five yards out. A mediocre first half came to an end with the Gunners well on top and in control.
Plenty of half time reading matter today, there was a new issue of ‘The Gooner’, a 500th souvenir issue of ‘Gunflash’ and a really good value for money 50th issue of ‘Up the Arse’ - £1 for 144 pages can’t be bad. Better yet the long awaited book ‘It’s up for grabs now...’ was on sale outside the Gunners Pub and it looks like a winner after the quick flick through. Can’t wait to start reading it on Mother’s Day.
Would Arsenal throw away their lead after the break with half a mind on Wednesday’s big match, or would they take the game by the scruff of the neck? Well thankfully our early neat play and commitment pointed towards an extended lead. Great skill by Pat and good pressing by our young French perpetual motion expert in midfield led the way. Flamini gets better every game and seems to be gaining confidence. As does Clichy who combined brilliantly with Cole down our left today. They took it in turns to go forward and just occasionally both joined the attack, I do like this left side combination which I’d be delighted to see on a more regular basis.
Fabregas to Lauren who’s cross was headed away for a corner. Henry’s ball in was good but Senderos charged in underneath it despite a decent jump. When the Greek disease tripped Quincy the ball in saw Senderos being very obviously pulled back, but Foy’s positioning was woeful and he didn’t spot it. Another good cross from Lauren and this time Cesc had a header not too far away. Flamini won the ball in midfield and found Pat who in turn played a great ball to Henry who got himself clear and delightfully clipped the ball over the advancing keeper. 2-0 to Arsenal and three points in the bag. We very nearly scored straight form their kick off as Pat stole the ball and Henry, I think, put Quincy away. Clichy and Cole provided some more stunning stuff down our left.
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Fabregas was replaced by Ljungberg who got into the action immediately. Vieira and Clichy tackling the same player simultaneously won a Portsmouth free kick in dangerous position. Van Persie was involved in the build up before Flamini had a shot blocked. Clichy and Van Persie combined well with a series of passes. A seriously crap clearance with the keeper well out of position landed at Robin’s feet but he failed to capitalise as he tried, but failed to find Freddie. Henry was still shaking his head minutes later. Kamara fouled Clichy who got up anyway and played it to Cole who picked out Henry who won a free kick for the third time he was fouled. This was on the edge of their box so no prizes as to whom stood over the ball.
Henry took it and aimed perfectly for the top corner. What happened next I’m not sure, it seemed to me that Chalkias caught the ball, but as he fell to the ground he either dropped it onto his knee or decided that he was landing over his own line and tried to chuck it away. Either way it seemed to bounce off him and into the net for what, subject to the dubious goals panel, will be a Thierry Henry hat trick. 3-0 Arsenal. We were still playing football at the death, which is as good a way as any to build up a head of steam for what will undoubtedly be an uphill struggle on Wednesday.