So we won our penultimate game of the group stage, taking our points to 11. We're through to the last sixteen of the Champions League and Marseille's loss to Olympiakos means we top our group. Naturally, we will be playing AC Milan in the next round, while United will come second and play Apoel. Such is the way of this competition.
As for the game itself, not much needs to be said. We got the points, let's start looking ahead to the weekend. The first half was turgid anyway. The atmosphere at the ground was decent, mainly spurred on by the absolutely mental away support. There was one guy with an enormous drum that kept all 8,000 of them in perfect rhythm. I did wonder why, when I had a bottle of water confiscated at the entrance, he was allowed to bring in a large percussion instrument, but there you go. They also had a decent grasp of English- when we went 1-0 up I'm fairly certain they started chanting 'you only sing when you're winning.' If so, you can't help but be impressed by the fact that they chose to mock us in our own language.
The second half was better. Alex Song was very obviously the man of the match. Not only was his assist for the first goal sublime (look at his little touch to get through the two defenders), he also did his main job fantastically. He was everywhere, breaking up attacks, intercepting, generally playing what will soon be called the 'Alex Song role' very well. He even avoided his customary yellow card. Song has become an absolutely fundamental part of the way we play now, and his quality belies the idea that we are a one-man team. It's arguable, but I honestly think he is the best defensive midfielder in the league, especially when you take distribution into account.
I was also very happy to see Diaby. I've mentioned before that I'm a fan of his, and although he came on and did nothing for 8 minutes, it was good to see. I really hope that he can put his injury problems behind him, and start becoming the player I suspect he could be.
I won't go into much more detail on the game because it really was not about the performance, which wasn't great, just the points, which were. Our recent form makes for increasingly good reading as well, having now won 11 of our last 13 games. This is officially a 'run of good form'. The problem with those is that they end, so our next task will be to bounce back when that happens. However, no point worrying about that now.
In other good things that happened tonight, Chelsea lost, putting their qualification in some doubt. I still think they'll go through, but it's fun to watch them struggling. They've now lost four of their last seven games, and drawn one of the others. I hope Roman realises the value of rebuilding a young team with a new, young manager, and isn't impatient for quick fixes or in any way fickle. HA.
So that's that, another win, another three points, and another year in the last 16 of Europe's elite. We might as well start booking the flights to Milan now.
Until Saturday,
Joe
Follow me on Twitter @joeblogsarsenal
Excellent, was looking forward to reading this after a midweek of good results.
ReplyDeleteLove Alex Song and would agree that he is one of the best holding midfielders in the league, with little credit really which is probably for the best.
My only concern about this great run of form is how much we are relying on Van Persie's goals. As incredible as it is to have someone of his class available and fit (AT THE MOMENT, TOUCH WOOD) I would like to see goals coming from elsewhere so that he can be properly rested and just for general team well-being.