Betalogue

It was yet another encouraging display by a severely depleted team away from home against a Blackburn team that has not let in many goals lately, but desperately lacks creativity and tends to resort to a very physical approach.

Ljungberg having picked up an injury during warm-up, Wenger had to improvise and use Ashley Cole as a midfielder for the second time this season. And once again, Cole was really impressive in this role.

The highlight of the game was obviously van Persie’s goal, which had Dennis Bergkamp written all over it. If the young Dutchman can start performing consistently and keep his temper in check, he could have a very bright future at Arsenal.

I thought that Vieira’s form was once again rather indifferent, but on the other hand this was the Gunners’ fifth clean sheet in a row, although Blackburn’s Reid really should have punished the defense in injury time with an equalizing goal.

While the FA Cup is a totally different competition, it’s hard to imagine the Gunners failing to progress to the final if they can field a full-strength team on April 16 in Cardiff. Blackburn really have very little to offer in terms of attacking flair, and, while players like Dickov can be extremely irritating, if the referee can keep a lid on things and ensure that the Gunners can actually play some attacking football, then they shouldn’t have too much trouble overcoming Blackburn and joining either Newcastle or Manchester United in the final. (Needless to say, I’d much prefer a Newcastle – Arsenal final.)

Elsewhere, Manchester United were somewhat lucky to get all three points against Fulham, who missed a handful of great chances in the second half of the game at Old Trafford. Chelsea continued their march to the title, although off-field and on-field disciplinary issues might still catch up with them. Whatever happens this season, it’s safe to say that Chelsea will not have convinced everyone that they won what they won “cleanly” and entirely deservedly.

This entry was posted by Pierre Igot on Monday, March 21st, 2005 at 5:29 am and is filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.