The season - so far "Everton @ THOF" (1)

[brian]

Ten chew up the Toffees.

At last the chance to get away from the gardening, the neighbours screaming kids, the stench of barbecues and the racket of what
seems like a thousand lawn mowers with a Premiership opening day Saturday fixture at 3.00 p.m. Thank god for football. Tradition
dictates that the opening day of our League season should be a bright sunny Saturday, well the sunshine might have been hidden by
the odd cloud or two but it was up there somewhere.

As I write this introduction we haven't even kicked-off yet and already we've had a player red-carded and the F A are pissing us off
for old times sake. So what else is new? Apart from Chelski being flogged off to a Russian zillionaire of questionably repute,
Glenda spending a few bob, Fergusmoan flogging golden balls from a Nike Club to an Adidas Club and Teddy retiring to the South
coast. Well who cares! It's Saturday and I'm about to set off to join thousands of highly expectant Gooners at The Home of Football.
Any minute now I'll be off on my way to the very centre of the known universe. N5 1BU.

Dennis on the bench, so Sylvain started with Henry while the rest of the team was quite predictable with Kolo preferred to the
nearly fit Keown. As I settled down to watch the match the late arrival of the tossers in seats 49-50 (I think) row 16 West Lower
caused an entire row to stand and obstruct the view, the selfish bar stewards do it every match, every season - have some
consideration for others you prats!

We started brightly although a left-footed shot into orbit by Wiltord could have been better, as could the weak Pembridge response
from range. With five minutes gone our new keeper saved well with his feet and prompted the somewhat predictable chant of 'Lehmann,
Lehmann, Lehmann' - same tune different keeper. Pat went down with a head injury before our new boy was called upon to catch a
cross, which he did with ease. A trip on Pires wide left saw a Henry free kick land on the top netting from range. Close but no
cigar. Gravesen fired high at the other end. Lauren intercepted well played a one-two with Wiltord and won a free kick four yards
outside their box but Henry's free kick failed to dip. Studs up on Lehman by Chadwick was not given by Halsey the man who sent off
Sol against United last season. F A rule 2,643 B studs up on Arsenal players will be allowed throughout the 2003-4 season by order
of Fergusmoan plc.

The much loved, now he's signed again, Pat was majestic as a Henry run won us a corner, Pires took it but Kolo's header went over.
Happily Kolo looked the part at the back although he had little to contend with early doors, I liked what I saw and think Arsene has
neatly solved a perceived problem at the back. Richard Wright was out well to cut out a long ball to Thierry. Freddie and Lauren
combined down our right. Sol cleared after a foul on Henry wasn't spotted, but then not many where. Twenty-five minutes gone and Sol
got a red card for a trip on a player running through, he wasn't even close to being the last man, and it was well outside the area,
it's another Halsey joke red! Must be we're due to play United soon, there can be no other sane reason for the sending off. 'The
referee's a wanker'. Wasn't he just. No doubt this was our twenty-seven thousand, eight hundred and thirtieth penalty under Arsene.
Cue press onslaught from all the usual tossers in the redtops.

Everton follow up with an attack where two players were clearly offside but the flag was notable for it's absence. 'We love you
Arsenal we do'. Gilberto had dropped to centre back before Martin replaced an unlucky Wiltord to balance our team. We reverted to
4-4-1 our usual ten men routine, but what a one. Henry won a corner but Bob couldn't control the weak clearance that resulted, a
chance missed. Shortly after Bob went down in their box, my view wasn't great but some nearer than me thought it was worth a pen,
not Halsey however. 'The referee's a wanker'. 'Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal'. Henry flicked a ball around a player in their box and it
hit his raised arm, a rather harsh penalty was given. Henry, who else, stepped up and rolled it home to Wright's right as he dived
left. 1-0. 'One nil to the Arsenal'

Some scintillating stuff ended with a cross from our left that Pires glanced wide with a header. Only ten men maybe, but we did look
the part. Linderoth with a foul on Pat. Pat did great, then Gilberto did great, in fact they were all doing great. Everton fans
meanwhile were booing Thierry presumably because they failed to enjoy his goal celebrations. Pat chopped the runt Graveson and got a
yellow card before an Everton shot deflected off one of their own for a goal kick, which was lucky because it could have gone
anywhere. With three minutes to go the selfish halfwit who arrived late left early, presumably to be first in the queue for the
bogs. Our defence and team generally had been playing well as a defensive unit with everyone working back well and close space
quickly, we were also attacking fast as when a great Thierry run put Gilberto in with a golden opportunity which he couldn't
control, if only he'd played it back to Tel the selfish early leaving tosser now splashing his boots would have missed our second.
As it was we lead 1-0 at the break and Halsey was warmly applauded off the pitch. Not.

The halfwit was late back into his seat after the break, in case you're interested. The whole row had to stand up again so we're all
paying 37 pence a minute to watch the back of someone's head. First Henry then Pires had solo runs with Pires winning a corner.
Henry took it and Martin was nearly there. Henry won another corner but it was given as a goal kick, why are the North Stand
unimpressed with Halsey one asks? Because he sucks. Another Pires break, another corner, which was given this time. Henry took it
once again and Pat's downward header whistled past the post, an excellent chance. The West Stand were the next to get pissed off
when a throw was given the wrong way. Kolo blocked Chadwick for a corner, Pistone won a corner off Cole. Martin sorted it out though
and once more Kolo headed clear. Interesting that Kolo played on the right with Sol, but on the left with Martin. Gilberto also put
in a fine block as we defended with numbers, well ten actually.

Pat to Thierry to Pires who crossed on another fast break but the keeper took it well. Cole lost possession and this gave Radzinski
a chance from an angle but he fired across the face of goal and wide. Linderoth was replaced by Roonaldo in time to watch our second
goal. Good build up and a strong shot from outside the area by Tel was saved allowing Pat to follow up with a shot that was also
saved but Pires met the parried shot first to give us a two goal lead. 2-0. 'Ten man we've only got ten men'. We only need ten men.

Cole headed clear. Brilliant interception by Pat. Freddie to Thierry who won another throw-in that was given the wrong way. We were
playing possession football which is the best plan with ten men, and for the most part we did it really well. A foul on Henry
finally saw something given our way by the ref to a huge chorus of ironic cheers. They had eight back against our four at one stage.
Lauren was slammed in the back, free kick but no card. Brilliant save from Vieira as the ball flies in. Pembridge and Unsworth off,
Naysmith and Li Tie on. An Everton header resulted in an easy save by Jens who's long kick out went off for a throw not too far from
their corner flag, he also looks to be a two-footed player by the way.

[brian]

Pat to Rob to Tel but he tripped over the ball. Pat shrugged the unpopular Gravesen off the ball before Romford Pele replaced Rob.
Free kick on the edge of our box as Radzinski went down. Rooney took it but it came to nothing. Ray steamed in for his first tackle.
A blatant obstruction on Pat by Graveson earned him an overdue booking. Graveson then shoved Thierry over injuring our man but we
only got a free kick. From the free kick, Henry being off the field of play, Freddie hit the bar with Wright beaten. Rooney then
went studs up into Kolo which looked really nasty. Reckless play is of course a red card offence but he was only awarded with a
yellow. Pat rode out two fouls before Li Tie, doing a brilliant impression of a headless chicken, axed down Parlour for a yellow.
Ray and Tel combined on our right.

Kolo headed clear when I thought Jens might have come for the ball, previously he'd come for everything. He followed up with an easy
save plus a well taken high catch, early days I know but he'll do me. 'Big fat, big fat Wayne'. Cole conceded a corner which Jens
tipped over for another corner. Everton worked it untidily through midfield not too far from our box and a ball was slipped left on
an angle by the short fat boy wonder for Radzinski to slot home. 2-1 with six minutes left on the clock. Could seem like a long six
minutes.

Ray was having none of this all back defending malarkey though and chased down their keeper. Studs in on Martin by Li Tie the
headless chicken but Halsey wanted him to stay on the pitch so he could injure someone else. Naysmith into the back of Parlour who
was fresh enough and game enough to do a lot of our running now. Pistone broke right. The headless chicken chopped Ray down and not
even Halsey could keep him on the pitch this time. A second yellow, which won't have pleased their shirt sponsors. Pat conceded a
corner with a good tackle. Yobo headed over from the corner with a free header. We were playing statues again at the back. Henry
down from a tackle from behind but play waved on by Halsey. Henry was injured though and needed treatment so Everton kicked it out.
Obviously Henry must have kicked himself according to Halsey.

Four minutes added time during which boy wonder threw a strop when pulled up for dangerous play. Henry fouled Yobo to make the point
about being kicked a few seconds earlier. Cole headed a Chadwick header clear and Jens punched out big time as two or three men in
blue were caught offside. Big punch, big applause. Final whistle and this was a big result. Most of the time you wouldn't have know
we only had ten men but Everton don't look as though they'll be pulling up any trees this season. I know it's been said before but
maybe we should start with ten men.

By the way: Everton had no number twenty (Yobo) in our matchday programme - sort it out please Arsenal! And finally a note to all
the Hong Kong Gooners, your mate Gus picked his all time Arsenal XI for the programme this week and will feature in the next
Official Arsenal magazine.

Brian - One life, one game, one team, three doubles

[brian]

The Gunners blitz Boro.

On Saturday 18th August 2001 Arsenal's unbeaten gold shirts made their Premiership debut at the Riverside when Arsenal's ten men
thrashed Boro by four goals to nil. On Sunday 24th August 2003 Arsenal's bright yellow shirts, styled on our 1979 Cup Final outfit,
made their League debut at the Riverside where Arsenal thrashed Boro 4-0 with eleven men remaining on the pitch for the full ninety
minutes.

Seaman, Adams and Parlour didn't start Sunday's match for various reasons but the other eight did. Lehmann for Seaman, Toure for
Adams and Gilberto for Parlour. Back in 2001 two late goals by Bergkamp sealed the rout. This time out it was done and dusted well
before half time. Two years and we played the fast flowing, slick, dynamic, one-touch, give it and go, pass and move football that
is the trademark Wenger style. We simply blitzed the Boro with a display that could variously be described as awesome, emphatic,
controlled, flamboyant, stylish or probably more correctly Wengeresque. We were the bees knees, the dogs proverbials, the business
and have gone top of the league albeit on alphabetical order as a direct result. Two games down thirty-six games to go. Winning away
is one thing; it's always a very pleasant feeling especially when there is a long journey home to follow the day out. But to
slaughter any Premiership side in such style makes you appreciate just how lucky we all are to be watching such a bunch of master
craftsmen week in and week out.

The travelling Gooners were in good voice joining in with Boro's 'Der, der, der, dut' anthem but applying the 'Sol's a Gooner'
wording. Huge chants for 'Vieira' 'SuperRob' and 'Thierry Henry' preceded the kick off. Boro could have taken the lead in front of
the Arsenal fans when Nemeth fired a shot from a narrow angle on their right over the advancing Lehmann and over the bar. Arsenal
responded by winning a corner through Lauren. We settled almost immediately and had good possession early doors (as BFR would say)
as we both probed and let Boro do the chasing on yet another sunny day. It didn't take us long to find the opening and it came when
Pat found Freddie with a fine threaded pass and our Swede forced a fine save from Schwarzer, but Henry has learnt to follow up and
swept the ball home with ease. What will he be like when he feels fully fit? 1-0 Arsenal and cue the obvious song.

The fans in yellow were relaxed now 'Vieira.he comes from Senegal and plays for Arsenal' 'Tim Sherwood. he comes from Boreham Wood
and he's not very good'. From here on in there was one team playing and one frustrated team chasing, unable to get into the game for
anything other than very short bursts or long but ultimately pointless runs by Juninho the darling of the Riverside. Whether the
watching Mills or Mendieta can make an impact remains to be seen, but I suspect they were quite pleased to remain in the stands on
this occasion.

'You're supposed to be at home' It wasn't a dirty game but with Arsenal pressing for most of the match we were inevitably chopped
down on numerous occasions, usually when Boro became tired of chasing shadows. Arsenal's pressure came both on and off the ball with
our whole team closing down whenever Boro got a sniff. When superstars work their rocks off as a team and find a rhythm at the same
time the inevitable happens. Great shot by Wiltord following great play by Pat. Freddie fired over from the resulting half-cleared
corner as our pressure built. The inevitable occurred when a short roll out from Jens saw Ash and Rob combined brilliantly down the
left flank. The interchanging put Rob away to first skin Parnaby and then take the opportunity to pick out the advancing Gilberto
with a delightful chip across field and the Brazilian took his shot first time on the volley superbly, finally opened his
Premiership account. Beautifully created and brilliantly taken 0-2 Arsenal but how I miss a giant screen to enjoy the replays at
such moments. I also missed a stadium clock that would have told me that only thirteen minutes had been played.

How many times I'll report that Pat was majestic this season I have no idea, but he was and he will be again, better yet he is the
best midfield player in the world and he plays for Arsenal. Thank you Arsene. 'You might as well go home' Henry shot from range with
his left. Jens came out of his box well to chest clear. I figure, unaided by any stadium clock, that it was on about 23 minutes when
Arsenal broke up a Boro attack. Immediately Pires picked out Henry who powered down the left before setting up Sylvain for our
third, without benefit of seeing the replays this for me was our best goal and a killer. Daniel, who kindly drove me up to Boro in
his low flying convertible XK8, is never convinced till we're three goals up so he had a longer time than usual to enjoy the Arsenal
in cruise control. No doubt his very knowledgeable six-year-old son Ben, a budding Arsenal statto if ever I saw one, would have told
him when we last went three up before the break.

The ever-lenient Dermott Gallagher a ref who refreshingly tries his best to keep his cards out of view of the paying public carded
Colin Cooper for a chop on Ljungberg. There was more quality play to come though but not before Boro nearly capitalised on a slip by
Lauren who saw the chance untaken by the home team. Henry had a one on one but didn't capitalise. Lehmann was out bravely to save at
the feet of Nemeth. Boateng had a wild shot from range. Great ball from Kolo to Rob who skinned his man before putting Henry in with
a chance that flashed just wide. Henry also had a header that was not too far over before a wild shot by Doriva drew chants of
'Nationwide, Nationwide'. Half time and the pitch was watered during the break, what's that all about?

What the TV highlight programmes probably won't show is the long periods of Arsenal controlling the match with copious passes to
feet which must have sapped Boro's confidence and energy. Some would call it piss taking, others would refer to it as total
football, I just love watching it. Cole and Boateng were down injured for what seemed like longer than the two minutes that were
added at full time, the injuries appeared bad but thankfully they both recovered. A ball over the top saw some neat Henry juggling
prior to supplying an easy shot for Schwarzer. 'Have you ever seen Chelsea win the League? Have you feck!' There were some rare
moments of good play from Middlesborough when we eased off the throttle including mazy runs from Junino, but they all came to
nought. Kolo grows both in confidence and stature, whilst the cover in front of him looks to be more evident than in times past with
the entire team playing their part. Which is how it has to be if we are to win back our League title.

The fourth came when Sol threaded a long low pass to Freddie playing on the shoulder of their last man in a wide right channel. He
took it on and could have shot but instead picked out the run of Sylvain who tapped home. 4-0 Arsenal. Henry booted out of play when
Riggott went down injured. 'Arsene, Arsene give us a wave' followed by boos until Pat Rice told him what was being sung, cue wave,
cue cheer. 'One Arsene Wenger, there's only one Arsene Wenger'. Riggott off, Andrew Davies on and his hair style immediately
prompted a chant of 'One Rod Stewart' to be followed by a chorus of 'Sailing'

Great full-length dive by Lehmann from the Brazilian number ten. As we had begun to power down a couple of notches. Parlour,
Bergkamp and Edu replaced Sylvain, Freddie and Rob. A bit remiss of Arsene I felt when Wiltord was on a hat trick but how do you
tell Henry he's coming off when he looks so absolutely amazing? The nearest we came to a fifth was when a Henry cross flashed just
behind the advanced Bergkamp. We won in style, we won with controlled football, and we eased off the gas somewhat after the break
but at 4-0 following all those midweek internationals that so often disrupt our flow who can blame them. Besides five goals away
from home is just plain greedy but it could be that some other team will cop for it.

This was a match to savour and a warning to the rest of the Premiership that Arsenal are seriously up for it. Good, because so am I.

Brian - One life, one game, one team, three doubles

[brian]

Villa vanquished

Another enjoyable match and thankfully we just carried on where we left off on Sunday. More power play, more slick passing, more
hard work all round, more persistence, more determination, more possession and more goals. We looked in control from start to finish
against Villa and the only way anyone is going to stop Henry this season is by installing speed cameras down the touch line.

The early end to end stuff didn't last long as Villa played most of the match with five across the middle and just Angel up front to
back in to Kolo for the entire match. I spotted just one minor error from Kolo who did well against Angel without any assistance
from referee who even booked Kolo for what he claimed to be his third foul when in fact it wasn't even a foul but if it had been it
would have been his first. Kolo is about to become a cult hero. Wenger says we won't know until October or November if the
experiment with Toure at the back works. Trust me Arsene, I saw Terry Neill, David O'Leary and Tony Adams who were all young centre
backs given a chance and they took it, for my money Kolo is doing the same. Early days granted but he looks more comfortable playing
with the whole game in front of him and his speedy covering has been top drawer.

Sorensen saved well from Thierry on a break. Pires went close. Long range shots were all Villa could manage and Jens took them with
ease. A great run from Pat, a fine break from Freddie put the pressure on and a great ball from Toure to Henry saw his chip go just
inches wide with the keeper beaten. Shortly after Freddie hit the bar with another great chip that had their keeper beaten. Hendrie
hung onto Pat for a yellow card. Arsenal's pressure was relentless. A Pires cross a flicked header and another save by Sorensen. A
brilliant tackle by Pat but Dean awarded Villa a free kick. We had almost total control but Angel went very close with a low right
foot shot from the left that went just past the far post. The men in yellow and black did try to play football and on occasions
managed to but we were always in charge.

Plenty of movement up front but resolute defending from Villa was almost the total story of the first half. Ten men back was the
norm whenever we attacked. Pires had a shot blocked. Henry was fouled four times before finally getting the free kick. Angel chopped
Sol as he broke forward for a booking. Kolo was up for a one two with Freddie. Kolo was carded for an Angel stumble, total bollocks!
Six back for Villa as Henry set up Rob who slipped. Pires was shoved over by Freddie's best pal Mellberg. Rob had words and was
clearly miffed. Half time, and it was basically one way traffic, but it was still nil-nil.

Villa were out early for the second half but it took nine passes from Arsenal before they could touch the ball, and that was the way
of it for most of the second half. Ten men back again to stop more good moves from Arsenal, a stalemate seemed a possibility but we
worked well throughout and the players never got panicked into anything other than neat moves from here there and everywhere. Angel
backing into Kolo, Henry eased Mellberg into the advertising boards, it was competitive but rarely dirty despite all the yellow
cards. The Arsenal subs warmed up after only ten minutes gone, a clear message from Le Boss that we needed to work even harder - so
we did. Eleven Villa men back for a corner and one of them, Samuel I think, went for an own goal, which appeared to be headed off
the line onto the bar and away, but only as far as Sol who powered home a header whilst impersonating a flying wardrobe. 1-0 to the
Arsenal. 'Sol's a Gooner' 'One nil to the Arsenal'

Barry went over the top on Ash as the game got a tad steamier. Vassell on for Kinsella who'd done little other than defend whilst
Vassell did very little other than get caught offside. A cross from Pat was hit from a narrow angle on the volley by Sylvain, but it
was well over. Dennis on for Wiltord with twenty-four minutes to play. A great Henry run ended with a weak shot. Great hold up play
by Rob to put Ashley in for a cross, which Thierry missed completely. A bad foul by Whittingham on Gilberto was 'played on' but a
yellow was flashed when play finally stopped. Hendrie was hanging on to Pat and seriously annoying him, they had words, and then
they had a head to head discussion before Rob separated them. The Clock End responded with the chant of the night; 'Get your mascot,
get your mascot, get your mascot off the pitch'.

Freddie down the right, Thierry down the left, it was all Arsenal. Dennis tried to curl one into the top corner but got it badly
wrong before Ray replaced Freddie. Dennis fouled Barry and was carded, a bad foul on Henry was missed, Barry fell over his own feet
but was given a free kick on the edge of our box. Angel fired it straight down Jens throat.

Ray to Henry to Rob for a header wide when he might have done better. Still Arsenal pressed, still Arsenal worked, and still Arsenal
played quality football. Lehmann made a high catch, Parlour was hauled over but nothing was given. Barry dived in a clear attempt to
get Pat booked the little toe rag, that's him out of my fantasy team the cheating jerk! Hadji shoved Dennis over then kicked the
ball away but no card was shown. Ray and Thierry combined well, it hadn't been a game where our full backs were allowed any space
but we still worked the angles and made the runs. A rare four on four break on the counter attack for Arsenal ended tamely. Three
minutes added time. Dennis won a great 50-50 ball, the ball squirted up and forward so Henry went on the chase and was too fast for
the speed cameras and everyone else. Sorensen was caught in no-mans land and with 2 minutes 53 seconds of added time gone we made it
2-0 as Henry slipped it into an empty net.

That puts us top of the League on goal difference. Wonderful stuff, great perseverance, a great team effort and 93 minutes of hard
work justly rewarded. Not every game will be won in cruise control, we ground this one out and that's what you need to do if you
want to be Champions at the end of the season.

Brian - One life, one game, one team, three doubles

[brian]

Not pretty at City, but we stay top.

Like most travelling fans I enjoy visiting a new Stadium so an early season visit to 'The City of Manchester Stadium' was something
to look forward to. It's a very decent, good looking ground as it happens. Offering good views from our seats as you would expect,
exterior ramps similar to the San Siro, plenty of leg room, well signed externally and internally. Entrance tickets are different as
well in that you swipe a credit card sized cardboard ticket to gain entry. It's also full of local fans rather than hoards of day
trippers from Woking or Tokyo which is the case elsewhere in Manchester.

On the down side I found the sound system to be almost incoherent from my seat, there was no visible clock and no giant replay
screens. Once inside I found the bars to be good, adverts for Ladbrokes were evident but there was no betting booth in the away
section. The toilets were totally overcrowded at half time. The pre-match speakers in the concourse area were deafening. Getting
away from the ground was a problem with the police closing roads but not telling us about it before hand. All of which are minor
complaints really which will hopefully be rectified with time and experience, it's a great venue and one I'd be delighted to
revisit.

Pre-match entertainment centred around the news that Beattie, bless his little cotton socks, had clinched a winner against Manure.
This meant that the pending City v Arsenal game was now a top of the table clash. With the two sets of fans sharing a common hatred
there were 46,436 people enjoying themselves before a ball had even been kicked. 'Only one James Beattie' 'When the Saints go
marching in' 'Who the feck are Man United'. All sung to the players warm up routine on a grey day. 'Say WE are top of the League'

The players came out wearing yellow and blue whereas John, Marion and myself to name but three found ourselves wearing the wrong
colours. Last year we were in red and white against City, so why the change? I love the new away kit but quite when did red and pale
blue become a colour clash?

'Have you ever seen City win the League?' The match started with City attacking towards the travelling Gooners who were located in
the lower west section of the South Stand, although in reality an oval stadium can really only have one stand, but you know what I
mean. With Graham 'Inane grin' Poll as referee the match wouldn't have been complete with at least one controversial moment. Poll
hates Vieira and not only treats him like nuts but also allows opponents to do so Bosvelt hauled down Pat, then stuck a leg out to
trip Pat, fouled Pat again and then fouled him badly twice in quick succession and all within the first half hour. Five fouls on
Vieira by Bosvelt, so a yellow card for continuous foul play against one player then? Of course not, this was the Chelski fan Poll
watching Vieira get the treatment so Bosvelt was spoken to and remained card free for his 79 minutes on the pitch. But this wasn't
the controversial incident to which I referred, that happened when Lauren miss controlled a ball that he subsequently shanked it
past Lehmann for an own goal. Granted it was poor play by Lauren but a hefty shove in the back by Sinclair at the crucial moment was
the principle reason he beat our keeper with ease. Did Poll see it? Of course not. 1-0 City.

Cole was booked for dissent just after Poll had let off Bosvelt with his 5th foul on Pat. If such a detestable wind up merchant of a
ref didn't exist you'd be hard pressed to invent him. He's got to be the only ref I know who has his own song! Throughout the first
half Sylvain was caught offside, all of them appeared to be quite marginal but it's an easily cured habit which any top forward
should be able to combat. Staying onside isn't rocket science and the frequent sight of the offside flag is an annoying aspect of
Wiltord's game but that said I thought he played well and certainly didn't deserve to be subbed, but just as in previous matches he
eventually was.

Up until about ten minutes before half time City looked much the better side, Anelka's hold up play, distribution and running were
very good despite him playing solo up front with just occasional support from Sibierski. City played a longer ball than usual
although in the main Kolo and Martin dealt with most things thrown their way. Shaun Wright-Phillips (son of) gave Ashley a seriously
torrid time although in fairness these roles were reversed after the break. Tarnat was occasionally at it with Freddie and we didn't
hit our usual rhythm. Both teams were guilty of losing possession too easily, while goal chances were restricted. A harmless long
shot from Tel, a Pires effort straight at their keeper, (whoever that might have been), a wild shot by Wright-Phillips, a shot on
the turn by Sibierski that was easy for Jens, a fine shot by Anelka that was very well saved by Lehmann. Dave saved from Freddie and
again from a low shot by Wiltord.

Half time and I figured Arsene had 15 minutes to sort it out, whereas the team had another 45 minutes to get a result. As at Boro
the previous Sunday there were sprinklers on the pitch during the break. Can anyone explain the reasoning behind this? A blow up
doll is the latest novelty item taken to away games and was bounced around over the heads in our section.

After the break we upped the tempo a little but still didn't reach that peak of flowing football that we all know we can attain.
With less than three minutes played however Pires found Cole who'd been lost by Wright-Phillips so had time to pick out the unmarked
Wiltord who rammed home from close range. 1-1. Henry Winter in Monday's Daily Telegraph claimed that when Wiltord beat Seaman he was
the first Arsenal man to beat Dave since Siggi Jonsson scored against him in his days at Queen's Park Rangers some 14 years ago. Top
research Mr Winter but not quite true, surely you must recall Lee Dixon and a number of other players in red and white scoring some
classic own goals during his time at Highbury.

Barton fouled Vieira, his first foul I believe, and was booked. 'Blue Moon' the usual City chant was countered with 'You've only got
one song' and Seaman is a Gooner' A good move ended with Freddie chipping Dave. Sommeil chopped Henry on the half way line, the
argument that he's prevented an obvious goal scoring opportunity for turbo man would be lost on Poll of course.

'You're the THFC of Manchester' cruel but true. Lauren was carded for not a lot on Anelka. Pat won a great ball but the free kick
goes City's way, for being able to win great tackles presumably. 'ArseneWengersRedAndWhiteArmy-WeHateTottenham' sung with gusto I
think the phrase is. Cole to Wiltord but it fell just behind Pires from the cross. A fast Arsenal break after Anelka dallied on the
ball. A great chance for the knackered looking Sibierski was hit limply at Jens, who then had to make a good save from Anelka. Great
cross by Cole to Pires who volleyed high, wide and not very handsome. Tiatto on for Sibierski. Arsenal were having good possession
now but still lacked the killer ball. We predicted that Ray and Dennis would be on for Wiltord and Ljungberg any time now. And as
you know Mr Wenger's timing in these matters varies little from game to game.

Rob chased down on Seaman who didn't seem to come out with 100% conviction, the ball broke to Freddie who finished with ease and
then piled into the crowd to celebrate. 2-1 Arsenal, but Freddie was booked for his celebration. City went to pieces for a while in
a spell where Tarnat was booked for dissent and Tiatto was booked for what looked like a reckless tackle on Gilberto. The blow up
doll was really flying now, twenty foot leaps in the air. Dennis on for Sylvain, Ray on for Freddie - told you. 'Who's that team we
call the Arsenal' 'Graham Poll is a ****ing ****hole' Lehmann saved from point blank range but Fowler had already been flagged. Edu
on for Pires. Sun handled the ball then kicked it away but there was no yellow, obviously the sun shines out.. Wright-Phillips and
Bosvelt replaced by Fowler and Berkovic. Berkovic's a good player but he does like to slow things up. Suits me.

Henry got himself one on one with Seaman, got round him but he could only win the corner. The flag was up as City hit our cross bar
after some rare nonsense from our two centre backs. The three minutes added time saw a great tackle from Lauren, Henry hit the post
from an offside position and Henry fired just wide after Pat won a great ball in midfield. Fowler also found the top of our net.
Full time and all in all it was a rather scrappy three points gained at the expense of City who might have got more out of it if
they'd believed in themselves.

This is now the best start to an Arsenal season in my lifetime, and if the International disruptions don't screw us up we have every
chance of carrying that run further against Portsmouth in a fortnights time. In the meantime as I said to some Sky Blues after the
game 'We do with all sincerity wish them all the very best in their quest to become the number one Club in Manchester'.

Brian - One life, one game, one team, three doubles

[brian]

Thank goodness for Kolo

To the best of my knowledge Inter Milan have never played Arsenal and my abiding mental picture of Inter
Milan is of their European Cup Final match against Celtic in Lisbon way back in 1967. When Scotland's
greatest ever club side defied the odds to gain a great victory in Portugal. On that night Inter Milan were
a totally defensive team, and I expected nothing other than that tonight from last season's beaten
semi-finalists.

Twice European Champions in the early 1960's Inter have the pedigree for Europe, they needed little of that
tonight. Tonight they must have had one of their easier European matches because they won at a canter, I
won't say without breaking sweat because they worked hard. They defended well tonight but not outlandishly,
and certainly no more than you'd expect from an Italian team away from home. Arsenal huffed and puffed and
built numerous reasonable attacks, but we never grabbed them by the throat and shook them rigid. Reasonable
attacks were never going to cut it with against a half decent Italian defence. The fact that we were the
better team for twenty-two minutes counts for nothing because we didn't break them down and hardly ever
looked like breaking them down. They simply left Cruz and the very speedy Nigerian forward Martins up front.
Martins didn't even get his number mentioned in the match day programme. Which begs the question why did I
pay £2.50 for a bl**dy programme if it doesn't even give me the full squad for the opposition? Up front they
were effective, elsewhere they closed us down immediately in midfield cutting off the supply line for fast
breaks. If we looked like breaking we were fouled whenever we were not closed down immediately. So what else
did we expect?

Tonight's ref Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez went the entire game without use of cards, he waved advantage
whenever we were chopped on the edge of their box and gave them a free kick when ever we chopped them. The
assistant ref in front of the West Stand for the first half was either pants or collecting a sizeable bung.
He ignored three clear offsides before allowing the fourth from which Cruz scored, ironically this followed
shortly after a good Arsenal move had just ended with a Wiltord offside. Wiltord caught offside, now there's
a shock! Their second came soon after the first when a good cross from their left skimmed Sol's head and was
volleyed home beautifully by Van Der Meyde from a narrow angle fairly wide right. Lehman got hands on it, I
think, but rockets are hard to stop. A piss poor ball from Pires, not his first or his last, set up their
third which Martins stabbed home and then celebrated with some brilliant back flips. The score was 0-3 but
the game was over at 0-2.

Between the second and third goals Toldo saved a penalty from Henry. Freddie won it going nowhere. The kick
was delayed for a ridiculous amount of time and there should have been two yellow cards for time-wasting at
this point but of course there wasn't. No blame can be attributed to Lehmann for any of the goals and Kolo
was absolutely brilliant all night. He made just one mistake late in the match but also made three do or die
tackles which had red card written all over them if not timed to perfection. Henry gave his all, as did
Vieira. The rest were pretty pitiful. Pires and Wiltord should have been embarrassed to appear after the
break and if Wenger thinks that Pires deserved to be wearing a red and white shirt for the second half I
cannot for the life of me figure out why. Inter had three shots on target and scored three goals. We had
nine on target and didn't look like scoring once.

After the break our first move broke down with Pires and he got worse. Ljungberg tried as did Pat, Thierry
and Ashley but collectively we were not at the races. If I'd had a book with me I probably would have read
it instead of watching the painful proceedings on the pitch after the break. Kanu who was as bad as Pires
and managed to miss from point blank range replaced Gilberto and Bergkamp who also could have scored
replaced Pires. Parlour eventually replaced Wiltord.

Kolo Toure was our best player by a mile and without him it might have been six-nil. Kallon on for Cruz hit
the post in the four minutes added time, which we also had to endure. Quite a few Gooners applauded Inter
off the pitch and they deserved it but they are not a brilliant team. The Spanish referee's principle reason
for talking to players in the second half was to get them to tuck their shirts in, how sad is that? This
despite an appallingly late high tackle by Cruz on Kolo, and some very similar 'revenge' by Bergkamp on
Materazzi when he left a foot in shortly afterwards. Either might have been a red card job. Our forward
efforts throughout the match were not up to scratch so I see no reason why I should be bothered to report
them. I've made a point of slagging off Pires but do not hold him personally responsible for a fairly woeful
team effort, it's just that I couldn't see the point of him being allowed to continue on the pitch after the
break.

Please kick some arse Mr Wenger, I do not want to be subjected to such an embarrassment again this season
but if you have no plan 'B' I fully expect to find myself suffering like that again. Changes were required
at half time, if not before.

Brian - One life, one game, one team, three doubles

The Jack Kelsey Fan Club www.arsenalarsenal.co.uk

[brian]

Van Diver cheats again

On our way to Old Trafford, a journey that currently seems to be taken at least twice a year, we passed some
alleged Manchester United fans in a car on the M6. Nothing remarkable there really other than the fact that
they had their map book out. Which says everything there is to say about United wannabes.

I have to admit that I wasn't convinced that Arsene would pick the right team for the occasion so arrived at
the ground with a certain amount of trepidation. But our line up showed that Keown was in for Campbell
following the recent sad loss of Sol's father. Bergkamp was in for Wiltord and Parlour replaced Pires. As
most fans were anticipating the now usual intimidatory kicking from Keane and the Neville sisters this
seemed a very suitable line-up to combat their thuggery, and so it proved.

The travelling Gooners were vociferous as 'Have you ever won the League at Highbury?' 'Ooo to ooo to be oo
to be a Gooner' '60,000 Muppets amongst others opened the proceedings. The excitement in the crowd however
by far exceeded anything on the pitch. Naff Neville chopped Henry in an almost mandatory fashion but the
start was more like a quiet sparring match.

Everyone worked hard but Ray and Freddie worked their rocks off all match, as a result our fullbacks were
rarely exposed which particularly benefited Cole who had a great match up against Ronaldo. Which was as it
should be and good to see for a change.

Ronaldo might be a good player, he might not. All I saw him do was a whole load of high-speed step overs.
Bouncing around with his speeding boots and worms in his hair he looks more like Ronald MacDonald than any
player I've seen. He rarely got past Cole and although he probably had more shots than any other United
player they were all very speculative.

Ray to Freddie for a flicked header but no support. In fact neither side really supported their lone front
men with conviction. United for a home team were unusually negative, they seemed to play for a draw almost
as if they were expecting the match to go to penalties on the final whistle. It was 15 minutes before the
reds had a chance and this came from a free kick. Henry was caught offside, looked a bit marginal but
difficult to be sure from our viewpoint. Arsenal were looking good, we had more of the ball and were
pressing well but United defended deep. A United free kick wide right saw van Diver head over from well
beyond the far post. At the other end Cole flashed one just past the far post after some fine work by Henry.

Both Nevilles (Naff and very Naff) managed to foul Dennis simultaneously. A Fortune header was easy for
Lehmann. It was happening at both ends on and off, but nothing that could be construed as a really clear-cut
chance to either team. But with both teams more or less playing 4-5-1 not a lot was likely to happen.
Thierry managed to set up Dennis for a wild shot, Ronald MacDonald fired over from range, Dennis beat two
men but couldn't find Parlour, O'Shea won a corner after Giggs's foul on Dennis went unpunished. Claims for
handball by United fans resulted in the 'handball' pisstake party piece from the Gooners. Cole creamed
Ronald MacDonald to wild Gooner applause. Keane chopped Pat if only because it was expected of him, but it
had been amazingly clean considering. A final hopeless shot from Ronald MacDonald before the break and the
half ended.

[brian]

As half time arrived neither side had been committed to attack, maybe we edged possession maybe they edged
chances, but it had nil-nil written all over it. I thought that maybe the English 'Old Firm' had agreed
pre-season to take two points each and then both give Chelsea a good stuffing. Deciding the Championship
elsewhere.

You have to stand up at half time at Old Trafford and walk about because the amount of legroom provided
would make a pigmy wince. I'm less than 5'11" but have trouble so heaven knows what it's like for taller
guys or girls. Unusually the bars were open for alcohol and the coppers were not in riot gear when we
arrived this time. I asked a policeman why the change of policy and he said it was 'because you lot don't
cause a threat'. I assume he just meant aggro wise because we usually threaten to drown out the muppets and
take the piss. Most often we succeed. The new Arsenal shirts continue to impress, as does the 'names' seen
on them, I spotted 'Goonerbird 1' and 'THFC 61' at Sundays match.

Lehmann arrived back on the pitch at the sunny end without a cap, poor forward planning on his part which he
rectified by making some poor soul sprint off to the dressing room for one. Naff Neville was late on
Bergkamp, has he ever arrived on time for a tackle? Freddie went down very close to the box but the ref was
about 40 yards away and pretended he knew what happened, as if. A Gilberto shot won a corner. Henry had a
wild shot from wide right that also won a corner. A dummy from Dennis almost put Freddie in. Ronald
MacDonald shot again from a narrow angle. O'Shea chopped Lauren, nothing given. Toure won a clean tackle on
Van Diver and got carded, the free kick being punched clear by Jens.

Keown headed clear, Henry was obstructed on the halfway line - nothing given. A Van Diver shot was easy for
Lehmann. The match warmed up a little, the intensity rose as we won another corner. Keown seemed to beat
Fortune to the ball but got a yellow card. Arsenal broke seriously fast with Henry and Ljungberg but Henry
didn't keep up for the return ball. We were playing now. Henry almost got in as we continued to pressurise
United.

Cole won a free kick when Van Diver chopped him down. A Henry header from range went well wide. All the subs
warmed up to the tune of 'ArseneWengersredandwhitearmy - we hate tottnum' A foul by Naff Neville on Pat,
actually given on this occasion, before another good Arsenal break. Vieira on Fortune, another free kick.
Fortune then tried to foul Pat but only succeeded in injuring himself. 'We won the League in Manchester'.
Henry called offside, seriously marginal.

Henry to Ljungberg to Vieira, just too far but a blinding move. Diego Forlan, the Sally Gunnell lookalike,
came on for O'Shea. Ronald MacDonald won a joke free kick against Cole which Lehmann caught from Giggs'
kick. Van Diver was well offside, but not given, this was Old Trafford after all! Fortune who enjoyed his
time on the floor fell over again and Pat was carded this time. Bennett had to chase Pat to show it though.
Not long after this, with Pat on a yellow, Van Diver went up with the sole purpose of putting his foot into
Pat, he succeeded, hurt Pat and Pat gestured with a silly air kick in his general direction. The cheating
pile of puss leap back as if shot. Second yellow for Pat, yellow for Van Diver, presumably for playacting.
If Bennett didn't see the foot in on Pat there will of course be an enquiry from the FA. Will there feck!
Ten men Arsenal played on and regrouped as Edu replaced Dennis in the aftermath.

Ronald MacDonald chopped Freddie for a yellow card. Freddie limped off as Cole limped back, I didn't see
where Ashley got injured. Cole kicked again and goes down as the angelic United heroes fail to kick the ball
out of play. Not being able to beat ten maybe they thought they had a remote chance against nine. Cole was
not allowed back on as Bennett aided United's cause, there must be a goal in the script Ferguson gave him
pre-match was my first thought. Why shouldn't an injured player be allowed back otherwise after treatment?

Forlan into the back of Freddie, no yellow. Edu went close with a whistling long range free kick with forty
seconds to go. United were given three added minutes to cheat their way to three points. And goodness
gracious me, heaven forbid, how strange that Sally Gunnell should go down in the area. Penalty to United.
What a shock! It was at this point that I threw my notebook to the ground and stamped on it whilst swearing
at Forlan, the ref, and all the United muppets whilst using every four letter word under the sun
interspersed with words like cheating, dirty, filthy, despicable, detestable, expletive, expletive and more
expletives. I had a good view and if that was penalty then my balls are 24 carat and my name is David
Beckham.

Meanwhile Jens was out to the edge of the box searching out Van Diver following him around and giving him
some verbal. The kick was taken as Jens did a wild German dance left and right about a yard behind the line.
The cross-bar was rattled something fierce and we all pissed ourselves laughing at Van Diver as the ball
rebounded into play. His third miss in succession I believe. Two fingers all round and a major mouthful to
the man who was supposed to score the penalty in the script Ferguson handed to Bennett prior to kick off.

Final whistle and complete delirium on and off the pitch. We deserved the point if not more and we certainly
didn't deserve to be cheated out of it. The cheating detestable Manc scum had failed to achieve by foul
means what they couldn't achieve by fair means. The Arsenal players made a point of telling Van Diver what a
detestable cheating pile of flotsam he was and Keown very kindly gave him a foretaste of the hairdryer
treatment he could expect from the soon to be banned to the stands Fergusmoan.

Arsenal players are sick to death of the cheat Van Diver getting away with punches, kicks, stamps, elbows
and dives, all whilst being treated like an innocent angel. At the final whistle an explosion of pent up
feelings and abuse were hurled his way and he'd dived and cheated for everything he got. Arsenal have now
made the point on behalf of Premiership Clubs everywhere that Van Diver may be a great player but that doesn
't prevent him from being a nasty, despicable cheating individual. In the old days he would have got a
seriously good kicking by a seasoned pro and warned to change his ways by his fellow professionals. In the
Premiership today he is given penalties and his victims are penalised with red or yellow cards. If only
someone else in the Premiership had the balls to stand up to United other than Arsenal, if only all the
other Clubs wouldn't just roll over and die.

Of course Manure's media lackeys won't see it like that, the poodles of the press will toe the Fergie line
and demand a full F A enquiry. After all Arsenal stood up to be counted, which wasn't in the script. Arsenal
told Van Diver what they thought of him and that mustn't be allowed.





Brian - One life, one game, one team, three doub

[brian]

Arsenal limp to victory

Outside the ground pre-match 'Jump up if you hate Manc cheats' t-shirts were selling like hot cakes. Inside
the ground Patrick and Martin received massive ovations as they entered the area. If anyone thought that
Arsenal might throttle back after VanDiversgate they had another thought coming. With both teams seriously
up for it this encounter was played at ninety miles per hour in the quieter periods.

What a cracker this turned out to be, end to end stuff from the off. Not a lot of classic football, but tons
of endeavour, lots of good honest challenges and entertainment from start to finish. Our line-up was the one
that started at The Theatre of Conmen with the exception of Wiltord who replaced the injured Bergkamp.

A great Cole cross was tipped clear by Given very early. A fine Arsenal multi-pass move ended when a good
Wiltord cross that was cleared. The fact that Bramble chopped Gilberto indicates the amount of attacking we
were up for, but the ball was soon up the other end. Newcastle were pressed back again as a Parlour run and
shot cannoned off Henry for a goal kick. Rain was pouring down and got heavier as the half went on. Henry
won a free kick when possession would have been preferred. The heavy rain caused more than one player to
lose his footing. A Henry turn run shot sequence forced a great save. Newcastle countered, after Wiltord had
a shot cleared. The game seemed too hectic for either team to gain any control but a Lauren cross from the
right was sliced and Henry followed up at the far post to make it 1-0 Arsenal. It was still absolutely
pissing down. Did we care, of course not.

A Robert cross was held then dropped by Lehmann, fortunately Mary Poppins was asleep at the time. Wiltord
upended. Pat off the pitch for treatment. Shearer offside. Patrick subbed by Edu with only twenty minutes
gone and for a while we lost control and a bit of shape. Newcastle equalised almost immediately with a slick
five or six pass, one-touch move that ended with a Robert tap in. We were slack, they were slick 1-1.

Bellamy flattened Edu and was spoken to by the ref Mike Riley who had a very good match. Rare praise of a
ref from me, but he let the game go where he could and didn't get card happy. Gilberto to Sylvain who should
have tried one first time but didn't. Fair dues to Wiltord though because he worked seriously hard tonight.
Great save by Lehmann from Bernard. Henry called offside when he collected the ball but it was Wiltord, no
change there, who was in the offside position. Another great move ended with a Lauren cross. A fine Gilberto
run saw Wiltord unlucky to fire over from the floor. Brilliant stuff by Lauren coming out of defence. Cole
to Henry for a great turn and shot. A good half but no cigars. Honours shared.

The end to end stuff continued as the rain eased off but there was little controlled passing, the game didn'
t allow time for it. Great run by Freddie as he was put through by Wiltord, and it seemed it had to be in as
Freddie went clear but hit the post and came away. Unlucky. The limping Cole, who had been struggling before
the break, was finally replaced by Cygan, as Parlour won another corner. Edu fired over with power from a
free kick at distance towards our right. Parlour went in hard as the match was still continuing in an end to
end vein. It was mainly Arsenal applying the pressure, but not continuously. With thirty minutes to go Pires
replaced Parlour, not to universal acclaim it must be said. 'Ooh Ah Ray Parlour' was the cry. The first, and
only, yellow card came with a bad foul on Ljungberg by Robert, Freddie was badly injured and a passenger
from here on in.

From the free kick Pires hit the cross which Gilberto met with a bullet header. Good cross, great header but
the marking was questionable. 2-1 with ten men. Ljungberg was hit as soon as he returned. Wiltord fired back
at range, from a half clearance, with a fine shot but one that not too difficult for Given. A run through
the Newcastle midfield and a great angled ball inside the full back for Bernard who beat Keown to the ball
and fired home 2-2. Dumb to concede so soon after scoring. Freddie off again for treatment. Lehmann punched
clear and took Bellamy with him who stayed down. Keown also down and limping off. Freddie back heavily
strapped to limp around to no effect for the rest of the game, he should have come off but this is the
Arsenal spirit, one for all and all for a victory. We wanted it.

A Newcastle free kick, which was highly dubious in the first place, was taken about ten yards nearer goal
than it should have been but Robert fired it out. A bad foul by Bramble on Cygan wide left. Henry took it
and the keeper tipped over for a corner. From the corner an inexplicable handball by Jenas. Penalty. Jenas
had guilt written all over his face on the replay screens but Newcastle complained and manhandled the ref
anyway. I expect the F A will look into it though don't you?

Henry chipped the pen straight down the middle as Given dived left. There were about eight players
encroaching at the time. Do I care? 3-2 Arsenal and ten minutes to survive plus the three that would be
added. Freddie limped on, Henry ran himself to a standstill. A Newkie Broon move saw someone blast over from
an offside position. Sorry but black numbers on black and white shirts make reading the numbers a joke and I
only recognise some Newcastle players at distance. More brilliant play by Kolo who is well on his way to
being the Arsenal player of the season, hands up all those who think he should get the six shirt next
season? Well I do.

We held on as Newcastle threw in the kitchen sink, albeit inaccurately. But we deserved to hang on, both
sides wanted it but I think we gave just a little bit more despite the seriously diminished resources.
Heroic stuff from Arsenal, a really fabulous game, a great result and I really enjoyed a good old honest
game of English football packed with overseas players playing the English way. Well played Newcastle, well
played ref, very well played Arsenal.

Brian - One life, one game, one team, three doubles

[brian]

No goals in Moscow.

Moscow is a very long way to go for a match but at least we got away with a mild night to play a game of
football in one of the further reaches of European competition. We also got a Dutch ref who wasn't as overly
fussy as his Premiership counterparts and a packed 30,000 stadium full of enthusiasm where the strains of
Arsenal chanting could still occasionally be heard.

The big news for Arsenal was the team. No Vieira, no Campbell, no Ljungberg, no Bergkamp (as usual). So Edu,
Wiltord, Parlour and Keown were all in the line up. Martin was captain and he led the team out in Russia
where we usually fare badly. Both teams however had poor records of late on the European stage and neither
side imposed themselves to any massive degree in this match.

Arsenal started brightly with a good opening spell where the major highlight was a great through ball from
Edu to put Henry in with a chance down the middle. I'm not sure if Henry leaned back or whether the ball
took a slight bobble but either way our best chance of the half finished well over the bar. Lokomotiv came
back at us and had a spell where they bossed the game. There was a period where we looked very shaky. Cole
and Lehmann cleared one off the line in this spell from a near post header that was somewhat gifted by our
lack of marking. A good block was also required by Keown on one occasion to prevent a goal from the team in
red. Pat Rice could be seen screaming from the touchline for us to get further forward as we let the home
team peg us back far too deep. Defending in numbers is good but not too deep, it was only late in the half
that we took back the initiative, mainly thanks to good work from Edu who grew in confidence as the game
progressed, although he was pretty wasteful with his free kicks. 32 had a great chance when put through with
Toure caught but missed his chance for any easy pot at goal.

Once more our most expensive player ever failed to stay on side during what was probably our best move of
the half. Staying on side is not rocket science and for that much money a week someone ought to be able to
teach him how to do it. If a ten-year-old wanted to play centre forward he'd be required to stay on side, so
why the feck a French international is allowed to get away with such piss poor play is beyond me. For fecks
sake learn the offside rule Wiltord! This alone would avoid the breakdown of something approaching a hundred
or more Arsenal attacks per season!

Parlour had a shot well saved. Pires had a good swerving shot after being given loads of room to advance.
Toure headed a corner just past their far post with a great run and a fine effort. We were coming good just
before the break and Arsene and co in their luxury armchairs in the 'dugout' must have felt better about
things than they had earlier in the half. 0-0 half time.

A good early cross by Cole was wasted, as no one appeared to be attacking their box. Lehmann was required to
act as the last line of defence quite a number of times as Lokomotiv resorted to a longer ball game after
the break. Headers outside his box and high catches being the order of the day. Henry had a header from
range from a Lauren cross but their keeper was nether really bothered by it. A fine move saw Henry take it
on and feed Pires who was in space but couldn't get enough on the shot to make it count. A fine chance gone
begging.

Edu impressed me in patches, Kolo looked to have most things in control, our full backs were not exposed,
but we didn't have the fluid touch. We didn't look like killers and Henry didn't get the usual high level of
service. Lehmann looked a bit iffy with one shot from distance but overall he was quite solid. 20 fired one
over as Arsenal backed off. Lokomotiv seemed to lack the full confidence to take us on after the break. We
had increased possession and worked it quite well in spells but couldn't find the killer ball as the Moscow
team increasingly defended in numbers.

One frenetic spell of battering their goal saw Parlour, Cole and Pires all with chances inside the box and a
big handball appeal; this had followed a good run by Henry. Kolo was given offside when he timed his run to
break through from a free kick and nearly scored with a header, but he clearly wasn't offside. One good
chance for Lokomotiv saw a cross-field ball fired into orbit, 8 also had a good shot saved by Jens. At the
other end Henry had a shot deflected for a corner. Kolo did really well to block a shot following a quick
free kick. 2 got the first yellow when he axed Henry on a good run down the middle. The free kick from range
was easy for their keeper though.

We had some more moves involving Henry; Parlour and Pires but we never quite got our act together
convincingly enough. Pires looked knackered late on but maybe he was just tired of avoiding tackles. Wiltord
set up Parlour but he couldn't keep the half volley down. One final free kick in the three minutes added
time saw Edu make it easy for their keeper.

Over all an away point might prove to be good, but we might equally rue the lost opportunity of three
points, who knows at this stage? With the players we were missing however we might all have settled for a
draw pre-match. Players missing however is something we are going to have to learn to live with, in all
competitions. A more obvious point is that we're gonna have to score in Europe if we want to progress and we
seem a little timid about going full throttle right now. I don't know why because we have the firepower if
we choose to commit it.

If I get to find the Lokomotiv names to match their numbers I'll update this report.