The Beautiful Groan

Arsenal 2 (Denilson 5, Fabregas pen 83) West Ham 0
(Premiership)

For long periods of the first half, this game looked to be a stroll in the park. Ahead after only five minutes, Denilson exchanging passes with Bendtner before finishing impressively, we were cutting West Ham apart at will – only the final ball or finishing touch was preventing it becoming an memorable hammering.

And then in one instant, the game changed entirely. A long ball over the top saw Franco and Vermaelen chase for the ball, the Belgian tried to haul the striker back, missed, but Franco threw himself to the ground theatrically anyway. Martin Atkinson was on the half way line, but the linesman flagged for the penalty, indicating it was also worthy of a red card.

Where to start with that decision? Well, firstly, they bumped shoulders outside the box, so the resultant penalty was incorrect. Second, it wasn’t a foul, and third, Franco was never in control of the ball, so the red card was an awful decision.

I don’t actually blame Atkinson for the mistakes – he was miles away and reliant on his assistants. But as a team, they completely screwed it up to the point where even the anti-Arsenal ESPN brigade were calling it ‘harsh’. Harsh is certainly one word, but I’d go with another. Wrong.

We were shaken, and had the penalty gone in, we would have been level at the break, knowing that pressing forward with ten men would have been dangerous in the second half. But the much maligned Almunia came to our rescue with a stunning save – there was little wrong with Diamanti’s penalty, but the Spaniard clawed it away from the corner and our now slender-looking lead was preserved.

The second half, without wishing to resort to clichés, felt like a coming of age. Despite a numerical disadvantage, we controlled the match comfortably, West Ham having just one decent effort – Carlton Cole hitting the outside of the post although Almunia looked to have it covered.

In the end, we put the game to bed with another penalty, awarded for a blatant handball by Upson, who was very lucky to stay on the field having already been booked. No matter – Cesc buried the chance, and the points were secure.

For the second week running we’ve suffered at the hands of the referee and come away with the points regardless. Anyone who still believes that the major decisions go the way of the big clubs should analyse our penalty history this season. Time and time again we’ve been denied stonewall kicks, with the Eduardo embargo only recently lifted, while Hull have been gifted two of the softest penalties you’ll ever see. And that was before today.

So to come out the other side triumphant backs up what Wenger has long said about this group – they have character, and mental strength. It would have been easy to drop points last week and this, but we’ve kept on winning and we now sit proudly on top of the league. The pressure is on United and Chelsea, and the chances of both leapfrogging us tomorrow are slim given their tough fixtures.

As for personal performances, it really was the day for the previously lambasted to step up and show us we were wrong to ever doubt them. Bendtner held the line well, and his touch for Denilson’s goal was perfect. Eboue was menacing all day, and his direct style of running causes nightmares to opposing defences.

Almunia pulled off that vital penalty save, without which we would have been up against it, Diaby came on as a substitute and impressed, and Denilson was superb in the engine room, adding another goal from outside the box.

But the man of the match was the returning Alex Song, whose importance to the team cannot be overstated. Immense in the first half, he was an impregnable barrier yet also creative in our slick passing maneuvers. In the second, he was forced back into defence, yet slotted in as if he had played there all his life. In one notable incident, he made a terrific sliding tackle on the edge of the box with West Ham threatening, but in reality, the only reason the move had got to that point was that he was missing from the midfield. It is staggering how far he has come.

Having successfully overcome Song’s two match ban, and Vermaelen’s red card today (two of the three most important players in the squad, along with Cesc), we have to get negotiate a tricky trip to Birmingham next weekend with a backline missing our Belgian brick wall. Silvestre is likely to get the nod, with Wenger indicating that Campbell needs a rest:

“Sol Campbell was outstanding but to repeat the games could become a problem for him so I think I have to give him a big holiday next week to recover”

With Barcelona to come in the days after the Birmingham game, that break may last ten days. That would mean Silvestre and Song in central defence, with Denilson reprising today’s second half role, where in fairness he excelled.

But that is for another week. There is only one thing we should be looking at right now, and here it is:

Looks good, doesn’t it? Enjoy your Sunday.

Only one place to start today and that is with this morning’s spectacular Champions League draw, pittingus against Barcelona in a repeat of the 2006 final. Messi, Henry and co come to the Emirates on March 31, with the return leg in the Nou Camp six days later.

The gasp in the auditorium when the draw was made told its own story – this is one for the purists, and a tie the whole footballing world will be watching in earnest. Neither team can count defence as the strongest part of their game, but while we have every reason to be concerned about shackling their attacking talents, it was interesting to see the general reaction amongst Barcelona fans – they aren’t particularly thrilled at the prospect of taking us on either.

The general consensus is simple – it will be a wonderful footballing occasion, but the draw has hurt both side’s chances. A likely semi-final against Mourinho’s Inter won’t be easy either.

The scheduling, however, has been kind. Playing the first leg on the Wednesday gives us an extra day’s rest after our trip to Birmingham, but having the second leg on the Tuesday after is the most crucial, giving us an invaluable extra day to recover before our trip to White Hart Lane at the weekend. In between the two is a home game with Wolves, the sort of fixture you would hope to be able to rest players for and still come away with three points.

It would be easy to focus on the glamour of those occasions, but that is not a trap we can afford to fall into. We are potentially eight games away from lifting the Premiership, and while West Ham are struggling, particularly on the road, they have a history of surprising us – they were the last visitors to win at Highbury and the first at the Emirates.

The team news is excellent – Cesc, Song and Rosicky all return, and with just a few players remaining on the injured list, the bench tomorrow will be amongst the strongest we’ve had in a while, certainly offensively. If we continue in our current vein of taking games down to the wire, we might need those attacking talents to change the game.

We should win tomorrow, but it will be no walkover. Carlton Cole returns, and the Hammers will be confident of breaching our back line. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it decided by late goals again, so my bet of the day is for the match to be poised at 1-1 at half time, which Sportingbet offer a very generous 10/1 on.

A good alternative is for the match to be level at half time, but for us to win it in the end. That double bet is available at 14/5.

It will be an interesting day for Sol Campbell in particular, whose last meeting with West Ham (their first team anyway – he did play their reserves earlier this year) was the infamous night he walked out at half time. Time to set things straight.

Chelsea and United don’t play until Sunday, and both have very tricky games. We will go top tomorrow if we win, and pile the pressure on in the process. The momentum is with us, tomorrow is for keeping it going.

Enjoy the game.

So the protracted first knockout stage of the Champions League is finally over, and we’re down to eight teams. Somewhat surprisingly, there is quite a spread of nations represented in the quarter-finals, and for the first time in a few years, only two Premiership clubs remain in the competition.

Everyone has their opinion on who we want to face, and who we want to avoid, but the mantra of ‘there are no easy ties’ rings true at this stage – I can pick out a reason why every opponent is dangerous.

What is certain is that no matter who we face, the press will have plenty of stories at their disposal. We may draw United, in a clash of the two remaining English sides, or Barcelona, in a repeat of the 2006 final. Bordeaux would see us face Chamakh (a clash I’d rather avoid because of the tedious nature of that link), Inter would give Wenger the chance to finally beat Mourinho, while CSKA Moscow would be a familiar opponent for Arshavin.

But for me, the two most interesting ties are the remaining pair – Bayern Munich and Lyon. We have history with Bayern – they knocked us out in 2005, and gave us trouble in a group stage back in 2000/1, coming back from two goals down to draw at Highbury. Coincidentally, Lyon were also in that group, and to my knowledge that was the only time we’ve ever played them in a competitive match. A hunch says we’ll be getting one of those two.

And for who we want – Bayern and Lyon are certainly two of the sides we’d be confident of beating, while Moscow are friendlier now that their winter is over (although their plastic pitch would be awkward). Inter are beatable provided you have a strong referee, but the performance of Messi last night makes me worry about two legs against Barcelona.

But in reality, I just hope we don’t draw United. Not because I think we should fear them, but the whole fun of European competition is playing sides you are less familiar with. Personally, I’d take Bayern – a good team steeped in history, with star players, but a team you’d be confident of beating. That’s my pick, but we’ll find out more tomorrow.

In the meantime, we have the Premiership to concern ourselves with, and a weekend that may be looked back on as defining. United face a wounded Liverpool side who have Gerrard inexplicably available despite his near-assault on Brown last weekend, but it is Chelsea who face perhaps the biggest banana skin with a trip to a Blackburn side who have won their last four home games and are fresh and rested.

Either could drop points, and it is imperative that we take advantage if they do. West Ham have a decent record against us in recent seasons, although they haven’t won away from home since the opening day of the season. Three points are to be expected if we are to apply more pressure on the top two.

Cesc looks ready to return, and Song will also bolster the midfield following his two match ban. The bigger concern is Gallas, whose calf injury was described by Wenger as ‘endless’. I have to say I’m worried by the possibility that we won’t see him in an Arsenal shirt again, and more pertinently that his backup may cost us vital goals between now and the end of the season. Campbell has impressed, but can be exposed by pace, and his understandable fitness issues mean that Silvestre will feature far more than any of us is comfortable with.

Incidentally, this will be the first time Campbell has faced West Ham since that infamous walk out.

Unusually, we play first this weekend, and a win would put us top of the league, albeit temporarily. And if we did win, I’d bet than one of United or Chelsea would fail to climb back above us on the Sunday.

Until tomorrow.

Something has been puzzling me ever since Hull were awarded a penalty on Saturday. Not whether it should have been awarded, or whether it was a goalscoring opportunity or not, but something else.

Having decided that it was not a goalscoring opportunity (which the referee has since said was his reasoning), why was Sol Campbell booked?

When keepers take down attackers who are running away from goal, they are booked. When referees decide that players have not prevented an ‘obvious goalscoring opportunity’, but there is still a decent chance, they sometimes still book them instead of showing the red card. And having come to the same conclusion, Andre Marriner took the same action on Saturday.

Here’s the kicker: there is no such cautionable offence as ‘well, it was almost a goalscoring opportunity, but it wasn’t quite, so I’m going for yellow instead of red’. Unless there is some other reason for a yellow card to come out, the referee has a black and white decision to make – was it an obvious goalscoring opportunity? If yes, red card, or if not, no card at all.

It has become accepted in these instances that the yellow card is given, but let’s look at the rules to see what offences can cause that punishment:

Unsporting behaviour – given for wild fouls and cynical, deliberate fouls. Sol’s was neither – he brushed the player.
Dissent – nope. He was pretty restrained given how incorrect the decision was.
Persistent infringement - no. It was his first foul.
Delaying the restart – no.
Failure to respect restart distance - used for encroachment at a free kick. That’ll be a no, then.
Leaving/entering the field without permission – no.

No mention anywhere of a ‘nearly goalscoring opportunity’, you’ll note.

Just to be clear, I’m not just referring to Saturday’s incident. Time and time again, at all levels of football, players are booked when a referee doesn’t feel the chance was quite good enough to show the red. Keepers in particular barely ever commit a foul without receiving a card.

But there is no rule to back this up. There is no reason for a referee to caution these players, so it is bizarre that it has become such accepted practice. A bit like flashing cards in the last ten minutes for identical challenges to those that went unpunished in the first ten.

Can anyone enlighten me on this?

You have to feel sorry for Cesc Fabregas. Falsely accused of spitting at Hull’s assistant manager, Brian Horton, after the two clubs met in the FA Cup almost exactly a year ago - an incident that initially ‘happened’ on the touchline before being hastily moved to the tunnel when Phil Brown realised how easily the Sky cameras would expose his lies – he has been forced out every time the two have clashed since.

Having been criticised for everything from his demeanour to his attire in that fixture, he was injured for the 3-0 victory at the Emirates back in December, a match memorable for the entertaining chants being aimed at the Hull management pair, as described by ‘holic at the time.

With the Tigers in such a perilous position at the foot of the table, this may be the last chance to play them for a while, but it looks almost certain that Cesc will again miss the fixture with his hamstring injury. We should have enough to dispatch them regardless, but the captain would have been chomping at the bit to play.

Nasri will continue to deputise, and he has been nothing short of a revelation in the last couple of games. In fact, my bet of the day selection was simple this week – Sportingbet are offering 8/1 on the Frenchman opening the scoring tomorrow night, and given how involved he is in our attacks at present, that seems very generous. Alternatively, 13/5 on him scoring at anytime are also decent odds. I’m on a bit of a streak with these tips, let’s hope that continues.

Song will be missing from the midfield with the completion of his two match suspension, so Denilson gets another chance to impress, while Silvestre is likely to come in for Campbell, who is probably unable to play again so soon after the Champions League game. The only other doubts are Rosicky and Sagna, but we have ready made replacements in Walcott and Eboue, and rotation was likely anyway.

Hull might be without Stephen Hunt, which will be a great relief to Almunia, and have problems of their own after Barmby and Bullard clashed the day after the 5-1 mauling by Everton. But they will be fighting for their lives and have shown in bursts that they can be dangerous, drawing with Chelsea and beating City in recent weeks.

The match is on ESPN, and quite handily, Sky have given me a month’s free subscription to the channel. On the down side, I’ve seen some of their coverage, and it would be fair to say I won’t be paying much attention to their ‘analysis’. In fact, it is a distinct possibility that I’ll be reaching for the mute button.

What we must not do is underestimate Hull. Chelsea and United have home fixtures against West Ham and Fulham respectively, and will surely claim three points each. If we can keep up with them, we could take advantage next weekend when both face tougher challenges. United face Liverpool, while Chelsea travel to Blackburn just days after their rematch with Mourinho.

If the table looks the same on Monday, I’ll be happy. Nine games to go, and hopefully this is the last one Cesc will miss. Do it for him.

Enjoy the game.