retired_jgirl87

Thanks Amaroq. I've already had two one-game spells at Birmingham.

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I was really looking forward to the trip to Blackburn after Arsenal’s enforced break due to the FA Cup quarter-finals and the League Cup Final. Speaking of the League Cup Final, although Arsenal hadn’t made it, it was still of interest to me. The reason was that it enabled my crazy family to get together for the first time since Christmas because my brother’s team Chelsea were taking on my father’s team Fulham. It was actually quite nice to sit around the television in our family home and not to be the centre of aggravation for everyone. I totally excluded myself from voicing any support for either Chelsea or Fulham, stating that if my beloved Arsenal weren’t playing then I had no real interest in the result. That comment was the only time that my brother sneered at me or my father put his hand to his forehead in frustration during the whole afternoon. Of course the two of them went hammer and tongs at each other throughout the entire match. Chelsea had gone 1-0 up through a Joe Cole volley after 14 minutes, but Dad insisted Drogba was offside whilst my brother just laughed at him. Then early in the second half when Radzinski arrived at the far post to head home Malbranque’s cross only for the linesman to rule it out for offside, my father was up in arms again. The final score ended up 1-0 to Chelsea, but my father and my brother had such an argument about the goal that my brother was banished early before tea could be served. Afterwards Mum and I shared the extra slice of banoffee pie that should have been my brother’s. What an excellent day it was.

Saturday 5th March 2005:

Blackburn v Arsenal – Ewood Park, Blackburn

There was an early chance for Henry as headed a cross from Reyes towards the top corner of the Blackburn goal after only 33 seconds, but Friedel made a fine save. A much simpler chance fell to Gallagher after 3 minutes following good lead-up work by Jansen, but the young Scotsman blazed the ball over from just 8 yards out with Lehmann at his mercy. Bergkamp took a knock after 15 minutes, so Ljungberg replaced him and Reyes moved up front with Henry. I thought that the first goal would come after 17 minutes when Reyes beat the offside trap and dribbled around Friedel. However he had gone wide to his right and he was only able to find the side netting with the ensuing shot from his weaker right foot. We suffered another early injury when Cygan collided with Gallagher and he too had to limp off. Clichy was his replacement. Blackburn were putting up a good performance though and when Ferguson put Thompson away on their right wing in the 27th minute, the midfielder cut inside to fire a low shot to Lehmann’s left. Luckily our German keeper was on his game and he pushed it wide for a corner. However it was Friedel in the Rovers net who was the difference between the two sides. When Reyes slipped past Johansson and found himself free after 39 minutes, the big American keeper spread himself well to get his body in the way of the Spaniard’s shot. It was 0-0 at the break, but Arsenal had definitely been the better team.

In the 54th minute van Persie replaced Reyes and immediately he was on the attack, chasing a long pass from Gilberto and firing in a low left-footed shot which struck Friedel’s shins and rebounded to safety. Lauren and de Pedro were having a great battle on the right side of the pitch, but there was not a lot happening in front of goal. Even Henry was having trouble breaching Blackburn’s tight defence, so he resorted to a vicious 35 yard effort which swerved past Friedel and clipped the outside of the post in the 71st minute. As we looked for a late winner, even skipper Campbell could be found up front as he joined in from the defence. Gilberto set him up for a shot from the edge of the penalty area after 81 minutes, but it looked like the shot of a defender as it flew so wide that it ended up hitting the corner flag. In the end our dominance in possession and shots counted for little as the match finished as a 0-0 draw.

Blackburn 0
Arsenal 0

Blackburn: Friedel, Emerton, Oleguer (Tugay), Johansson, Matteo, Thompson (Riggott), Douglas, Ferguson, De Pedro, Gallagher, Jansen (Bothroyd).

Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Cygan (Clichy), Cole, Pires, Gilberto, Vieira, Reyes (van Persie), Henry, Bergkamp (Ljungberg).

My MOM: Sol Campbell was well in control of the Blackburn forwards and even joined in our attack, but the real star was Brad Friedel who won a point for Blackburn.

What I hate about football: Spending two hours sitting in a stadium and ending up seeing a 0-0 draw. Time wasted!!

What I love about football: Finding out that the 0-0 draw I just watched has been duplicated by league leaders Chelsea. No change at the top!!


Next up: Arsenal v Newcastle – Highbury, London

retired_goddess

My prediction for arsenal being your longest time at a club is looking good.

retired_jgirl87

It's five games now and there is still the one below to follow, stebs.

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It’s a big game for us this Sunday as we take on Newcastle at Highbury. The Magpies are 5th, but they’ve had a turbulent season under Graeme Soeness. Kieron Dyer fell out with the manager and was shipped off to Manchester City during the transfer window, Titus Bramble is rotting in the reserves on the transfer list, new signings Samuel Kuffour and Fabian Ernst from Germany have not performed as well as would be expected and Lee Bowyer has been whining about not getting a regular start all season. With only 35 league goals, they are 14th on the goalscoring table, but they have relied on their mean defence which has surprisingly given up only 22 goals in 29 matches. Thankfully for Newcastle, Alan Shearer and Patrick Kluivert seem to be able to score the necessary goals to get them up the table. But speaking earlier of their defence, tomorrow they will be under-strength as Andy O’Brien, Steven Taylor and Robbie Elliott are all out through injury. Youngster Paul Huntington has been named to play at centre-half and I bet you that Thierry Henry is rubbing his hands together with glee at the thought of that.

Sunday 20th March 2005:

Arsenal v Newcastle – Highbury, London

Emre gets Newcastle off to a confident start with a skidding low shot in the 1st minute, but Lehmann grasps it well. The keeper throws it out to Lauren who advances down the right and slides it out to Henry on the touchline. He beats Bernard and gets to the bye-line where he pulls it back to Lauren on the edge of the box. The Cameroonian full-back squares it for Vieira to run in and crash a shot past Given from 20 yards to give us a 1-0 lead after only 2 minutes. Lauren and Ljungberg are already controlling the right side and causing havoc with the Newcastle defence. In the 16th minute a sweeping move involving Pires, Reyes, Vieira and Henry ends with Pires finding room on the left wing to cut back onto his right foot and curl in a tempting cross. Gilberto arrives perfectly on time from midfield to power a header past Given from 10 yards to make it 2-0 to Arsenal. The pace of Bellamy takes him through the centre of our defence after 25 minutes, but thankfully Lehmann is on form and he spreads himself well to block the Welsh striker’s shot. After 34 minutes Henry conspires to head Ljungberg’s corner flush against the cross bar from close range and 5 minutes later Gilberto decides to knock his free header straight into the arms of Given. I reckon we could have been four or five up at the break as half-time approaches, but for missed chances. However Henry makes the score-line prettier as he nutmegs the young defender Huntington and then calmly sidefoots the ball past Given from 10 yards range to make it 3-0 just before the interval.

Things get even rosier at the start of the second half when Vieira storms into the near post to flick home a corner by Pires and it is 4-0 after 48 minutes. Newcastle is being ripped apart and I am absolutely loving this, along with about 35,000 other Gunners fans. With some of the players starting to tire, Arsene Wenger decides to freshen things up with the introduction of Bergkamp for Reyes and Edu for Gilberto. Kluivert is isolated up front for Newcastle as Bellamy is needed to defend deeper and deeper against our attacks. When the Dutchman gets a half chance after 64 minutes, he hastily snatches at the shot and hits it well wide from 15 yards out. There have been 74 minutes played when Wenger makes his final substitution and sends on Clichy for Pires and tells the young wing-back to play further forward on the left wing. Lauren and Ljungberg continue to own the right side of the park. They work a great combination in the 80th minute which allows the Swede to send a cross to the far post where Clichy is free and he superbly half-volleys a shot from 15 yards which thumps into the roof of the Newcastle net for his first-ever goal for the club. At 5-0 we are cruising, but Clichy has got a taste for goalscoring now and he grabs his second goal in the 87th minute as he outjumps Jenas and heads home from Ljungberg’s corner to make it 6-0. By now, any Newcastle fans that hadn’t already left Highbury are now streaming out of the ground. They are not present to see the score move to 7-0 as Edu tees up Clichy for a rasping 25 yard drive which flicks off Kuffour’s shoulder and deflects past Given for the youngster’s hat-trick. It has been a magical quarter-hour for Clichy and a wonderful day for the Arsenal Football Club.

Arsenal 7 Vieira 2, 48, Gilberto 16, Henry 45, Clichy 80, 87, 90
Newcastle 0

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

Newcastle: Given, Carr, Kuffour, Huntington (Hughes), Bernard, Salihamidzic, Ernst, Emre (Jenas), O’Brien (Robert), Bellamy, Kluivert.

My MOM: Freddie Ljungberg gets the nod just ahead of Lauren for his tireless display on the right of midfield today. There’s also a special mention for Gael Clichy and his wonderful cameo performance.

I walked into Highbury: Slightly tentatively, expecting a tough battle with the Magpies. It might be tricky today!!

I walked out of Highbury: Feeling on top of the world after witnessing seven brilliant goals. It was a doddle today!!


Next up: Middlesbrough v Arsenal – The Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough

retired_jgirl87

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Premier League - 31st March 2005------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |1st | Chelsea | 30 | 21 | 8 | 1 | 62 | 15 | +47 | 71 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |2nd | Arsenal | 30 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 63 | 23 | +40 | 64 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |3rd | Liverpool | 30 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 47 | 18 | +29 | 62 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |4th | Fulham | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 43 | 32 | +11 | 53 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |5th | Newcastle | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 35 | 29 | +6 | 52 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |6th | Man Utd | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 50 | 34 | +16 | 51 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |7th | Aston Villa | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 44 | 32 | +12 | 51 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |8th | Tottenham | 30 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 44 | 31 | +13 | 49 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |9th | Bolton | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 43 | 32 | +11 | 49 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |10th | Southampton | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 46 | 41 | +5 | 44 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |11th | Birmingham | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 36 | 39 | -3 | 41 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |12th | Portsmouth | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 40 | 43 | -3 | 38 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |13th | Charlton | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 30 | 46 | -16 | 35 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |14th | Blackburn | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 39 | 45 | -6 | 28 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |15th | Everton | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 40 | 63 | -23 | 27 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |16th | Norwich | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 19 | 40 | -21 | 24 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |17th | West Brom | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 17 | 40 | -23 | 24 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |18th | Middlesbrough | 30 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 28 | 61 | -33 | 23 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |19th | Man City | 30 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 18 | 47 | -29 | 18 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |20th | Crystal Palace | 30 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 27 | 60 | -33 | 18 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_embartl

7-0! Awesome win - and a ten minute hat trick for a left back Still enjoying this lots - looks as though it oculd be the last side this season though.

retired_swmchick2006

7 points behind with 8 to play. I don't have a good feeling about this Spav. What are Arsenal's remaining games?

retired_Andrea

Enjoying this so far, you're writing my cousin's season

retired_jgirl87

BoN and Dimony - thanks for your comments and support.

attjen - sorry, no fixtures as I only look one week ahead and you never know when that loss may come and it will all be irrelevant.

Raptor

Still going strong, probably my fav story on FMS this year :thup:

retired_goddess

Arsenal kepp going well although I think that was their last game. My prediction for the next ga,e is a 2-1 for Middlesborough