Defeat at spurs ends title chances

And so spurs at last got the result they wanted in their cup final. With it, the slim chances of Arsenal winning the league this year faded to miracle-needing proportions. It was hard not to compare the two goalkeepers after the game at White Hart Lane. Heurelho Gomes made three sensational saves in the second half to keep spurs in the match, while at the other end Manuel Almunia...well, more of him in a moment.

On 10 minutes spurs' Rose smashed home a superb volley following Almunia's punched clearance. It was a once in a career finish from the 19-year-old, who announced himself to the Premier League in the same manner that a 16-year-old Wayne Rooney did for Everton in 2002. Rooney's goal ended our 30 match unbeaten run then; Rose's ended 10 years of league domination of our neighbours.

I don't blame Almunia for the goal, though perhaps he might have caught the initial cross. I do worry about our 'keeper though. It was noticeable against spurs, and previously against Barcelona, that the Spaniard frequently chooses the wrong option when he has the ball, playing a hopeful ball upfield when a player is in space to pass it to, or giving it to someone who is tightly marked. In addition, he seems to be glued to his line, refusing to command his penalty area. Almunia's decision to leave the goalmouth to collect the ball always seems a fraction late to me. A fraction in this league is the difference between winning the league and not.

Vermaelen limped off soon after the goal. Some have commented that his was the "one injury too many". For me, Song was one injury too many. Fabregas was one injury too many. Gallas was one injury too many. That we have managed to compete at all is incredible. Credit must go to the remaining personnel, most of whom are just squad players that are playing more frequently, and with more responsibility than they should. The experience gained this season cannot have done them any harm.

Our overall performance was like watching the Arsenal of the previous few seasons; pass, pass, pass but little penetration. Theo Walcott, who came on after Bale scored spurs' second, seemed unwilling to use his main weapon, dropping deep instead of making quick, forward runs. At times the game was like watching 11 Alex Hlebs; ball retention and neat footwork but no forward creativeness. Until van Persie arrived.

How we've missed Robin van Persie! His first touch, turning between two tiny totts sparked the team into life. Against another 'keeper he would have scored twice. His volley after chested control and a top corner-bound free-kick were both turned over by the impressive Gomes. van Persie created our only goal too, weighting a pass for Walcott to cross to Bendtner, who tried his best to miss from a yard out.

If the 20 minute, game-changing, cameo of van Persie was spectacular, the 90 minute performance of Sol Campbell was immense. I don't think he did a thing wrong. He almost scored too when his late header was tipped onto the bar. Sol's annoyed reaction to the save showed raw emotion, sheer frustration and determination to win the game. If only some of the other players had that kind of fire in them.

The Arsenal travel to Wigan on Sunday. Perhaps, without the pressure of keeping up with Chelsea, the team will be able to relax and play some of the wonderful stuff that's entertained us this season. Perhaps spurs can get a similar result against Chelsea on Saturday. After their gruelling cup semi, followed by their cup final against us, I doubt it. With this bizarre season, you just never know. Let's get 3 points and see what happens.

Post-Barcelona, pre-spurs thoughts

Most of the traveling Arsenal fans I spoke with before the game in Barcelona had a similar level of optimism, somewhere between "Barca can't possibly play as well as they did in the first leg" and "Arsenal will probably lose, but you never know...".

Confidence levels dropped considerably when the news reached us that Alex Song would not be traveling to Spain. The number and frequency of injuries we've suffered this season really is beyond belief. Word on the virtual grapevine is that a few of them have returned to training, but you have to wonder what kind of impact van Persie, Djourou or Gibbs would have in the remaining five games; long-term absentees tend to take several games to return to full effectiveness. Whilst I would relish an edge-of-the-box free kick much more with van Persie on the pitch, we would likely witness a number of row z attempts before he found form again. 

Back to Barcelona. I was genuinely disappointed by the stadium, and more so by the treatment of our traveling supporters. I knew that away fans were up in the third tier, but for £70 a ticket I expected to be able to find my seat and be treated with some dignity. Not a bit of it. The block, row and seat numbers are so confusing that we ended up watching the game from the gangway steps. Stewards that I questioned were telling people to just stand where they wanted.

Arsenal supporters were kept inside the Camp Nou for an hour after the game, which I find unacceptable. Fans should be given prior warning before they are forced to spend the most amount of money for the worst stadium they have visited this season. 

All was forgotten for a few moments when Bendtner scored after 18 minutes, the Dane reacting well after Valdés blocked his initial strike. The highlight of our trip was short lived as Messi snatched a shot into the top corner from the edge of the box. I don't need to report the rest of the goals, we all know what happened. Arsenal's threadbare team were thoroughly beaten and outplayed over the two legs. Even if we had the likes of Fabregas and van Persie we would still probably have lost; the European champions  are that good at the moment. 

This video was sent to me during my journey home. Classic!

It will be interesting to see the reaction from both North London teams on Wednesday night. Arsenal were knocked out of the Europe by Barcelona and have an outside chance of winning the league, spurs were dumped out of the cup - by somewhat less glamourous opposition - and have an outside chance of finishing fourth.

Arsenal will surely have an energy edge after their week's break, particularly after spurs played extra time on the horrendous turf at Wembley yesterday. They weren't helped by some poor refereeing. Palacios clearly took the ball from Portsmouth's Dindane inside the area. Wiley awarded Pompey a penalty and booked Palacios, who will now miss the game against Arsenal. 

Speaking of poor refereeing, Howard Webb had another stinker in the weekend's other semi-final. As in our recent game against Birmingham, he chose to ignore deliberate, persistent and rotational fouling. Deco and Mikel were the worst culprits for a Chelsea team who should have finished the game with ten men. John Terry's "tackle" on James Milner was disgusting. No wonder the best players in world football currently opt to play in Spain. How many more horror tackles must we witness before something is changed? Somehow, Terry will be available to play in Chelsea's next match. 

Manchester United's 0-0 draw at Blackburn means that we can go above them into second in midweek. Three points will have us celebrating St. Totteringham's Day too.

Come on The Arsenal!

What's the score, Taylor?

The home crowd were eerily quiet for the first quarter of the game, Diaby's weak effort being our best chance early on. Diaby has steadily improved in recent matches, and was definitely up for this one before he was replaced by Eastmond in the 76th minute. There was a wonderful moment in the fist half when Diaby tracked back and slid in to win the ball, then played a quarterback-style pass to Eduardo, who sent a rocket just over from outside the area. Let's hope the Frenchman hasn't been added to our crowded injury list. *Update: the Frenchman has been added to our crowded injury list.*

Bolton had taken the lead by this point with a scrappy goal after Arsenal failed to clear in their area. Clichy's attempted clearance went high, Kevin Davies (who seems to win everything in the air) nodded down and Cahill volleyed past Almunia.

Taylor scored the Trotters' second from the spot after Denilson's needless lunge. Both Denilson and Clichy looked rusty I thought, perhaps being rushed back into the team because of injuries.

Alan Wiley allowed Bolton to waste time and he failed to punish a string of fouls. It was the sort of game that Darren Fletcher would have excelled in.

We got the important goal back just before half time. Good work from Cesc saw Rosicky smash in a superb near post effort from the edge of the box. We're due a few like that from Rosicky; remember his goals in the 2006 world cup?

Come the restart, Arsenal sniffed a slaughter, the supporters sensed it too and the nose level increased. Gallas caught Mark Davies with his studs, Wiley allowed play to continue and Fabregas scored tidily from the resulting move.

Bolton were fuming. Post-match, Owen Coyle claimed that the challenge was no less that assult. But this is a team that has set out to systematically scrap and bully their way against Arsenal for as long as I can remember. Jaaskelainen was asking the north stand why we took so much delight in the goal and the injury. Jussi, you cannot expect sympathy when your team's key tactics include harassment, intimidation and time wasting. Would Bolton have stopped for Arsenal? Pffft.

The home side couldn't wait to restart, but they had to wait for Davies to be stretchered off. The noise became deafening and the Gunners were gathering stream. Vermaelen, who hadn't scored for a while, belted home a close-range half-volley soon after to put us in the lead. He really does look the business alongside Gallas now, doesn't he?

Arshavin bundled home our fourth with five minutes remaining, riding through a couple of challenges and lashing into the net. He criminally failed to let Walcott score with his first touch, choosing to go for glory in a chance he'd brilliantly created himself. I was fuming with the little Russian, but not nearly as much as Theo, who let his anger out on anyone that would listen.

"Taylor, Taylor what's the score" came from the Arsenal fans behind the goal as Bolton took a corner. Kevin Davies' partner in grime reacted and ironically applauded. That's Bolton's class, right there.

And so would you believe it? We're top of the league this morning, having scored more goals than Chelsea. I recall our famous game back in May 1989 when we went top on goals scored and stayed there for the rest of the season (!) I still feel that Chelsea are probably too strong for us this year, but you never know. It's certainly up for grabs.

Bolton review, Bolton preview

Arsenal finally played their game in hand at Bolton on Sunday. The Trotters are thought of as our bogey team, but they haven't actually beaten us since Anelka scored twice in November 2006. Bolton still try to play as little football as possible, kicking everything but the ball with a few elbows thrown in for good measure. The Gunners still play the most attractive game in the country, but we are a different animal these days; we can no longer be bullied, as we have shown in recent games against the likes of Everton.

The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Craig Eastmond as the holding midfielder in place of Alex Song. I must confess that I had to check the Arsenal website to confirm his playing position. Wenger stated afterwards that he had an interesting game. He certainly didn't look out of his depth, which cannot be said of Armand Traore. The French defender was caught too far forward a number of times, and seems almost to be trying too hard. You can't blame him really. Clichy, who came on for Rosicky towards the end, will certainly recover his left-back position following his back injury. It's good to have him available again.

Bolton missed two or three good chances and had the ball in the net, which was rightly ruled offside. We should have been awarded a penalty when Jaaskelainen took out Fabregas, but referees aren't giving Arsenal penalties this season (Arshavin at Old Trafford and Eduardo against Everton spring to mind). We should have been given another when Fabrigas was again tripped in the area by Taylor, who proceeded to push our captain's face into the turf and pull his hair. I'm amazed that nothing more has been made of the incident. Had Fabrigas reacted then perhaps Taylor might be in trouble, but Cesc showed class that Bolton can only dream of by retaliating in the best possible way; inspiring us to three points.

I watched the game on Sky. Andy Gray creamed himself when Fabrigas shot low past the 'keeper after a clever one-two with Eduardo. The Spaniard missed an easier chance minutes later, with Eduardo just putting him off Arshavin's cross.

Bolton missed more chances before Fran Merida's tidy low finish sealed victory. See the goals here.

So, an important away win sees us edge ahead of the chasing pack, who all dropped points at the weekend. While we play Bolton for the second time tomorrow night Liverpool host spurs, which is one of those enjoyable games where we win whatever the result. Having had a game in hand for what seems like ages, we are now going to have played one more than most teams after Wednesday's match, which could see us go top if we win by two goals.

We are already top of the injury league table, making our progress this season remarkable. It's been a torrid season for injuries. As Wenger points out, the more injuries you get, the more you have to play other squad members, and the more likely you are to suffer yet more injuries. Nasri and Ramsey have been added to the list, though Walcott and Denilson could be back against Bolton, with Bendtner to follow soon.

The close proximity of the two games means that the thuggery of Bolton's tactics are fresh in the mind. I hope this helps turn the atmosphere up a few notches tomorrow, and we're proudly singing about our elevated position at the top of the league at the final whistle.

Come on the Arsenal!

Post Everton thoughts

Contrary to other reports, a draw against the team that we smashed 6-1 on the opening day of the season was deserved I think. The game was played in the snow, which began to settle on the pitch during the second half.

Denilson, who was involved in a number of the game's talking points, equalised with a deflected shot from the edge of the area after he had stopped Everton breaking away by taking the ball on his chest. The Brazilian bizarrely went down in a heap later on, which at the time I thought might be a recurrence of the back problem that has kept him sidelined recently. He was clearly in pain. The spurs of Merseyside played on and would have scored a third, had Almunia not saved well.

I thought the incident summed up Everton on the day; they showed little class, having been sent out by David Moyes tackle strongly, too strongly in my opinion. I wasn't surprised that both our central defenders needed treatment in the first half. There was a moment in the first half when Eduardo went down on the edge of the Everton penalty area. The replay showed that he was pulled back by one player while being elbowed in the head by another. The referee gave nothing. He also gave nothing when Phil Neville clattered Denilson in the area later on. It was a blatant penalty of the same calibre as the one we didn't get at Old Trafford earlier this season.

Everton's second was very well taken. Pienaar raced unchallenged into an unforgivable chasm in Arsenal's half to chip beautifully over Almunia. The away supporters will have enjoyed it; I remember being behind the goal at St Andrews when Bergkamp scored in similar fashion at Brimingham about five years ago. It's the second goal in this compilation.

Rosicky scored Arsenal's equaliser, again a deflected shot following a persistent run from Diaby, who had a solid game. We may well have scored a winner had the referee added on sufficient time for Everton's second half time wasting.

Without Fabregas, Song or a proper striker I'm not too disappointed with the draw. We're only three points off Chelsea at the top, which would have been unthinkable a month ago.

The FA Cup is the new Carling Cup

I managed to get a ticket in with the West Ham supporters for our cup game at Upton Park. My seat in the upper tier of the Bobby More stand was directly opposite the Arsenal fans. From my lofty position a couple of things caught my attention:

• The pitch must be the squarest in the premier league. It seems as wide as it is long. 
• There were large chunks of empty seats - strange for a cup London derby.
• The home fans were very quiet and seemed resigned to defeat before the match had even started.
• The Arsenal supporters, occupying the entire two-tiered Sir Trevor Brooking Stand, were absolutely brilliiant!

Neither set of supporters had much to cheer about for the first 45 minutes; the game was dire. I was in the queue for half-time hot drinks when West Ham took the lead. Arsenal's offside trap failed and Diamanti had time to finish low via Fabianski's glove and the post.

Arsenal seemed lightweight in the first half. Youngsters Vela, Merida and Wilshire all struggled to impose in 45 minutes that contained poor passing and few chances. With the forthcoming midweek game against Bolton squad rotation was imperative. It just about worked against the Hammers and I wonder if Arsene will treat the FA Cup in the same manner as the Carling Cup games of recent seasons. I hope so. The extra rest that Manchester United's players will have, following their home defeat to Leeds, can only help their Premier League and Champions League campaigns.

The second half was much more enjoyable, and felt like a cup tie. Arsenal dominated from the 65th minute when Diaby and Nasri replaced Merida and Wilshire. We had a couple of chances before Ramsey tucked one away from close range following a tidy move, then 5 minutes later Eduardo's impressive header won the game. The Croatian outmuscled Matthew Upson to arrow his header in the top corner past Robert Green, who had previously made a few decent saves.

I've a feeling that our 4th round tie at Stoke, scheduled for Saturday 23rd January, will be televised and possibly moved to Sunday.

I hope we beat Bolton on Wednesday evening. Going out of the cup and dropping to third in the league will put United under some real pressure. Come on the Arsenal!

Portsmouth 1-4 Arsenal, Song will be missed

We were almost as good as Portsmouth were bad in the 4-1 victory at Fratton Park. I hope that Eduardo's fortunate deflected free kick, which gave us the lead, helps him to snap out of the place he's been in of late. Arsenal's number 9 has had a number of chances recently that should have been easily despatched for a player of Eduardo's shooting ability. I can't help thinking that the diving fiasco has dented his confidence more than it should have done.

Hopefully, Eduardo's lacking confidence will return steadily. He played a major role in the second, waiting in Portsmouth's penalty area for an age for a tackle that didn't arrive before squaring to Ramsey, who flicked it on to Nasri, who was given all the time in the world to set himself for a tidy low finish.

Ramsey, who is starting to look like an excellent deputy of Fabregas, scored the goal that I enjoyed most. He won the ball back as Pompey tried to break, sidestepped a challenge and smashed it, left-footed, into the corner in front of the Arsenal fans. Lovely stuff!

I've spoken about Alex Song previously. He had another fabulous game that was topped with a goal that sealed an impressive away win. I think that Song has really influenced this young team this season, and he'll be missed when he travels to Angola soon. It was interesting to see some of our other players performing Song's trick of feigning a pass to the wing, then shielding the ball while tightly turning
towards the centre.

Song might be in action with Cameroon until 31st January when the final takes place. It's a strong possibility; Cameroon are the joint second most successful side in the ACN having won the competition four times.