retired_jgirl87

I couldn’t help myself. I just had to call my brother, even though I knew he would take the **** out of me like he always did. But with Arsenal playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night and tickets being at a premium, there was no more definite way that I could get hold of one. After a few pleasantries (which are quite difficult when you’re talking to my cocky little brother) I manoeuvred the conversation around the mid-week football. Right then, where are you off to? he asked. Norwich maybe, or perhaps Middlesbrough or Newcastle? I bit my tongue to stop myself rising to his bait and then just answered his question matter-of-factly. I want to go to the Bridge to see Arsenal play Chelsea. Any chance that you know of a spare ticket floating around? I could just imagine his face breaking into a smile on the other end of the phone. Oh, they’re scarce, but I might be able to rustle up one. What’s in it for me? he asked. Well, I’ll pay you for it, what else do you want? I replied. Mmm, let me think about that one, he said. Let me make a couple of calls and I’ll get back to you.

The little sod kept me waiting until the morning until the morning of the match before he rung me at work. He told me he had a ticket for me and all that I had to do was make sure that I wore my Arsenal shirt to the game. Well, that was easy as I was planning to do that anyway. I was to meet him at the Fulham Broadway tube station at 7 o’clock. What was he up to?

Wednesday 2nd February 2005:

Chelsea v Arsenal – Stamford Bridge, London

Arsenal’s fast start stunned Chelsea and pinned them back in their own half. Reyes had the first chance after 4 minutes when Babayaro played on onside on the far side of the pitch. He cut in from the left and hit a low shot from 12 yards, but Cech spread himself well to force it away. Babayaro already looked to be the weak link in the Chelsea defence and Henry exploited that after 9 minutes by twice dribbling past him before sending a cross into the near post. Gilberto had lost his marker and he had time to bring the ball down before lashing it past Cech to make it 1-0 to Arsenal. A quick free-kick by Pires gave Reyes another chance in the 18th minute, but from an acute angle he could only find Cech’s legs with the shot and the ball spun away to safety. It took until the 23rd minute for Chelsea to fashion their first chance. Mutu got some room on the right to whip in a cross and Ballack met it at the near post and flicked it on with his head. Drogba was at the far post and he launched himself at the ball with a diving header, but Lehmann was able to get his hands up and parry it away. Campbell scrambled it away and Gilberto played a good pass out to Reyes on the right. A counterattack was on and Reyes stormed forward with Henry and Pires in support. Reyes waited until he could draw Terry out of position before releasing Henry and the Frenchman ran in on Cech. He had just gone around the Chelsea keeper when Paulo Ferreira lunged in from his blind side to knock the ball away for a corner. For the remainder of the first half, Arsenal held sway and Chelsea were doing the bulk of the defending. There were half-chances for Vieira and Reyes, but a second goal didn’t really look like eventuating. As injury-time began, Chelsea put together an attack down their left which saw Robben put Duff into some room. He forced his way past Hoyte and made it to the bye-line. A perfectly-placed chip to the far post and there was Lampard stealing in to nod the ball back across Lehmann and into the top corner to make it 1-1.

Arsenal had dominated possession in the first half, but the second half was much more equal. Chelsea’s goal right on the break had hauled them level and they came out revitalised after the break. Mourinho took off Babayaro after 58 minutes and bought on Gallas which closed down that chink in Chelsea’s armour. To be honest, there was nothing of note in front of goal for either side until the 74th minute when Duff managed to break down the left and send a firm cross curling over towards the far post. He would probably preferred Drogba or Ballack to be the player arriving to meet the ball, but it was Robben. The Dutchman is not renowned for his heading and he showed why as he got underneath the ball and sent into looping into the crowd behind the Arsenal goal. Arsenal’s best chance of the half came as late as the 88th minute when substitutes Edu and Aliadiere combined to set the Brazilian free on the left. As Edu made ground down the wing, Aliadiere raced towards the near post and he arrived just in time to meet the cross with a flicked header which skimmed the top of the cross bar. In the end the 1-1 draw was probably more of a bonus to Chelsea than Arsenal, but overall it still keeps the Gunners in touch with the Blues at the top of the Premier League table.

Chelsea 1 Lampard 45
Arsenal 1 Gilberto 9

Chelsea: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Terry, Babayaro (Gallas), Lampard (Cole), Ballack, Robben, Mutu, Duff, Drogba (Parker).

Arsenal: Lehmann, Hoyte, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Pires, Gilberto (Edu), Vieira, Ljungberg, Henry (Aliadiere), Reyes (Bergkamp).

My MOM: Jose Antonio Reyes gets my vote, but nobody really stood out tonight.

What my brother made me do: Wear my Arsenal shirt in the middle of a block of Chelsea supporters, mainly him and his mates. Bloody ****-takers!!

What I did in response: Took it all in my stride and showed dignity under extreme provocation. C’mon, there were twenty of the bastards!!


Next up: Arsenal v West Brom – Highbury, London

retired_goddess

still going strong Spav. This is my favourite story by a mile.

retired_jgirl87

Thanks for your ongoing support stebs. :thup:

Here's the next match for you.

================================================

Being an Arsenal fan meant that I didn’t have to worry about games against the likes of West Brom. There is no way that they are anywhere near the standard of the Gunners and we will blow them away with little fuss on Saturday. And I should know what I’m talking about – I’ve seen the Baggies four times already this season and they have not impressed me the slightest on any of those occasions. With Chelsea not playing this weekend, we’ve got the chance to eat into their nine point lead and put a bit of pressure on them at the top of the table. We may be second at the moment, but there is nothing else but getting into first place on the minds of myself and my fellow Arsenal supporters.

Saturday 5th February 2005:

Arsenal v West Brom – Highbury, London

Henry showed that he was keen to get proceedings started when he fired in a swerving 35 yard effort that Johnsen had to batter away after just 40 seconds. Skipper Vieira was ranging forward to add his support to the ever-increasing Arsenal attacks and twice he headed into the side netting after 12 and 17 minutes. Despite an almost complete dominance of the midfield, Arsenal just couldn’t convert their final passes into goal attempts. It took until the 34th minute for the Gunners to break the deadlock. Cole and Reyes combined to release Aliadiere on the left and the young striker produced a fine bit of trickery to beat Gaardsoe and swing a left-footed cross into the box. Henry met it with a firm header, but the ball struck the post. The rebound fell to Pires on the right of the six yard box and he squared it into the middle for Reyes to sweep the ball home from 8 yards range. Before Arsenal could capitalise on their 1-0 lead, injury caused them to make two unforced changes. Gilberto injured his shoulder and was replaced by Pennant and then scorer Reyes had to leave the field with an ankle injury as he was substituted by van Persie.

The second half had not been long underway when Aliadiere appeared to tweak his left hamstring and he was replaced by Bergkamp as a precautionary measure. Arene Wenger had now been forced to use all his substitutions and there was still nearly 40 minutes to go. No sooner had Bergkamp settled in than his striking partner Henry sent a scare through Highbury when he failed to get up after falling to the ground following a heading duel with Albrechtsen. Eventually he left the field with a brace around his neck and Arsenal was now down to ten men. A more defensively-minded Arsenal still managed to hold West Brom at bay. Cole was getting through a mountain of work on the left side, acting as both a full-back and winger so that van Persie could offer more support to Bergkamp up front. This was perfectly demonstrated in the 71st minute when Vieira burst forward from midfield and threaded a through-ball towards the left side of the attack. Cole ran onto the pass and collected the ball before rounding Johnsen and rolling the ball into the empty net to make it 2-0 to Arsenal. After 78 minutes Dobie broke the Arsenal offside trap and headed towards Lehmann in the Gunners net, but Cole produced a lung-bursting sprint to get back and hook the ball away just as Dobie was about to shoot. In the end, despite a one man advantage for almost 35 minutes, West Brom were unable to break down the Arsenal defence and they demonstrated why they are widely tipped to suffer relegation at the end of this season.

Arsenal 2 Reyes 34, Cole 71
West Brom 0

Arsenal: Lehmann, Hoyte, Campbell, Senderos, Cole, Pires, Gilberto (Pennant), Vieira, Reyes (van Persie), Henry, Aliadiere (Bergkamp).

West Brom: Johnsen, Haas, Gaardsoe, Sigurdsson, Albrechtsen, Clement, O’Connor (Johnson), Farinos, Greening (Scimeca), Zalayeta (Dobie), Earnshaw.

My MOM: Ashley Cole owned the left-hand side of the pitch, both in defence and attack, and was the dominant figure of the match.

West Brom fact #1: No matter how many times I see the Baggies, they are yet to convince me that they’re not the poorest team in the Premier League. Useless!!

West Brom fact #2: Gary Megson has run out of ideas and the axe must surely be hovering over his neck. Start packing Gary!!


Next up: Arsenal v Everton – Highbury, London

retired_tresor

This is great

retired_goddess

I think Arsenal will be your longest run of the season.

retired_swmchick2006

I expect he's cursed to be an Arsenal fan, as his team will probably go on to finish 2nd, far behind his brother's Chelsea...

salt in the wound...

retired_jgirl87

Latest statistics:

Crystal Palace - 5 games unbeaten
Tottenham - 7 games unbeaten
Bolton - 4 games unbeaten
Manchester United - 3 games unbeaten
Birmingham - 1 game unbeaten
Charlton - 1 game unbeaten
Chelsea - 1 game unbeaten
Birmingham - 1 game unbeaten
Arsenal - 3 games unbeaten (currently)

attjen - I hadn't thought about the Chelsea / Arsenal / brother angle to this story. I can see the smartarse taking the mickey out of me if it stays this way. :o

WeWillAlwaysBeALight and stebs - Thanks for your support too. :thup:

retired_jgirl87

It seems that my brother has taken an interest in my footballing preferences now that he realises that he might be able to have some serious fun at my expense. I’m quite happy to indulge him in his conversations about things at the top of the Premier League and how the rest of the season may pan out. Of course he is constantly harping on about how Chelsea is by far the best team in the competition and that the title is heading towards Stamford Bridge for the first time in fifty years. Of course I stick up for Arsenal and point our how our aspirations are still alive, but I know that he is just trying to get me fired up because he is convinced that my team cannot overcome the Blues before the end of the season arrives. I don’t make any wild predictions to him like I would have done a few months ago because I’m just saving up all of that kind of stuff so that I can shove it back down his throat when we win the championship in May.

Saturday 12th February 2005:

Arsenal v Everton – Highbury, London

I’d barely settled into my seat before Arsenal was already a goal up. Reyes sped down the left wing before passing inside to Edu. He chipped the ball towards the near post where Aliadiere darted in to volley the ball across Martyn and put us 1-0 up after just 38 seconds. I didn’t get too long to celebrate the lead though as Everton was level within 2 minutes. Gravesen and Cahill cut through the centre of our defence to release Bent. Lehmann came out to challenge and forced Bent wide, but the striker swivelled and crossed to the far post. Toure got a head to it to flick it away from Campbell, but it fell behind Osman who leapt acrobatically to fire home an overhead kick from the tightest of angles. Things looked dangerous after 7 minutes when Cahill surged into the box from midfield, but Lehmann made a fine save at the Australian’s feet. We replied with a good chance after 12 minutes when Vieira forced a great save from Martyn as he headed a cross from Reyes goalwards. It took an Everton defensive error for Arsenal to retake the lead. Henry closed down Pistone well, forcing him to turn back towards his own goal. The Italian mishit his back-pass to Martyn, allowing Aliadiere to intercept the ball and glide past the keeper before rolling the ball into the empty net to make it 2-1 after 19 minutes. Things were quiet in front of goal for the next 20 minutes until Henry took a free-kick in the 39th minute. His curling effort clipped Osman on the end of the wall and only a miraculous twisting save by Martyn kept it out. From the resulting corner Ljungberg managed to get the ball into the six yard box where it fell for Campbell to smash goalwards, but unfortunately it struck Yobo and bounced clear. Everton had the final chance of the first half as Bent struck his 20 yard effort into the side netting.

I was much more pleased with the start of the second half as Arsenal took control of the match. Vieira went close with a couple of headers before a great chance fell the way of Toure in the 57th minute. Cole and Reyes stormed down the left in tandem before Reyes rolled a pass across the edge of the penalty area. Normally I would have expected Vieira or Edu to be there to hit it, but it was Toure who was lurking and he sent a low shot fizzing into the post and then bouncing to safety. The next decent attack saw Reyes head Cole’s pass to the feet of Aliadiere 20 yards from goal. The young Frenchman took a touch to move the ball to his right. Aliadiere then curled the ball around Weir which masked Martyn’s view of the shot and it crept inside the near post to make it 3-1 after 61 minutes. It was also Aliadiere’s first hat-trick in senior football. A few minutes later Aliadiere was given a standing ovation as he was replaced by Bergkamp. There had been 78 minutes gone on the clock when Arsenal wrapped the game up. Vieira surprised Martyn with a wickedly serving 25 yard shot and the veteran keeper could only parry the ball out in front of himself. The ever-alert Bergkamp pounced quickly and prodded the ball back past the off-balance keeper to make it 4-1 to the Gunners. van Persie threatened to make it five when his late free-kick flew into the side netting, but it didn’t make a lot of difference. Everton had been well and truly spanked and our challenge for the Premier League title was still very much alive.

Arsenal 4 Aliadiere 1, 19, 61, Bergkamp 78
Everton 1 Osman 3

Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Ljungberg, Vieira, Edu (Pennant), Reyes (van Persie), Henry, Aliadiere (Bergkamp).

Everton: Martyn, Watson, Yobo, Weir, Pistone, Osman, Cahill, Gravesen, Rubins (Naysmith), Bent (Chadwick), Campbell (Ferguson).

My MOM: Jeremie Aliadiere was the unquestionable MOM after his fine hat-trick today. Definitely one of the league’s rising stars.

The Arsenal report: A fine free-scoring 4-1 win has us up to second on the table and just four points behind Chelsea. Roll on lads!!

The Chelsea report: A 0-0 draw at home to 14th placed Blackburn was a poor result. Surely not end of season jitters, Jose!!


Next up: Blackburn v Arsenal – Ewood Park, Blackburn

retired_jgirl87

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Premier League - 28th February 2005------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |1st | Chelsea | 27 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 56 | 13 | +43 | 64 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |2nd | Arsenal | 28 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 56 | 23 | +33 | 60 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |3rd | Liverpool | 28 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 46 | 16 | +30 | 59 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |4th | Newcastle | 28 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 34 | 21 | +13 | 51 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |5th | Fulham | 28 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 41 | 30 | +11 | 50 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |6th | Aston Villa | 28 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 41 | 30 | +11 | 47 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |7th | Bolton | 28 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 39 | 29 | +10 | 46 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |8th | Man Utd | 28 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 45 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |9th | Tottenham | 28 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 41 | 30 | +11 | 45 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |10th | Southampton | 28 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 45 | 38 | +7 | 43 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |11th | Birmingham | 28 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 33 | 38 | -5 | 37 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |12th | Portsmouth | 28 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 37 | 42 | -5 | 34 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |13th | Charlton | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 28 | 44 | -16 | 33 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |14th | Blackburn | 28 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 36 | 41 | -5 | 27 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |15th | West Brom | 28 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 16 | 38 | -22 | 23 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |16th | Everton | 27 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 34 | 57 | -23 | 23 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |17th | Middlesbrough | 28 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 27 | 55 | -28 | 23 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |18th | Norwich | 28 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 18 | 39 | -21 | 22 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |19th | Crystal Palace | 28 | 4 | 6 | 18 | 26 | 55 | -29 | 18 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |20th | Man City | 28 | 4 | 5 | 19 | 17 | 45 | -28 | 17 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_w0lfpack1

I'm trying to guess if you'll wind up back at the same club for a second spell at any point... ... love the shifting viewpoint, its wonderful how quickly your "true colours" show after each setback.