Arsenal 2 - 0 Blackburn : Match Report
Arsenal moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League
with a fraught and frantic 2-0 win over Blackburn at Emirates
Stadium on Monday night.
From the fourth to the 92nd minute, only a Philippe Senderos
header divided the sides.
Arsenal created the better of the chances - most notably when
Alex Hleb thumped a shot against the base of the post - but they
never quite killed off a resilient Blackburn side until Emmanuel
Adebayor cracked home a close-range shot just before the final
whistle.
As Manchester United and Chelsea will testify, title victories
are build on performances such as this - when, with the pressure
mounting, you respond in the most positive way.
Make no mistake, despite Blackburn's endeavour, tonight Arsenal
fully deserved their three points. It was not comfortable but games
such as these never are. And, remember, it won't get any easier
from here on in.
But this evening Arsenal proved to their fans, the Premier
League and themselves that they have the stuff of champions.
In the build-up to this game, Wenger had suggested he might be
without as many as 11 first-team players. In the end, Senderos
(knee) and Mathieu Flamini (hamstring) recovered in time to make
it.
However the absentee list was still lengthy: Emmanuel Eboue,
Kolo Toure, Alex Song (all international duty), Johan Djourou
(groin), Robin van Persie (thigh), Abou Diaby (calf), Manuel
Almunia (sick), Denilson (hamstring) and Tomas Rosicky (hamstring).
Yet despite all that, there was actually only one change in the
starting XI - Gilberto returning in place of Diaby.
This was always going to be one of the toughest of Arsenal's
remaining home fixtures. But all of a sudden it had become
massive.
Since Arsenal had won at Eastlands last Saturday lunchtime,
Manchester United had come within a 94th-minute equaliser of
dropping six points. In fact they had dropped five. Meanwhile
third-place Chelsea had let two slip at home to Liverpool on
Sunday.
For the first time since that trip to Newcastle just before
Christmas, Arsenal had the chance to lead the Premier League table
by more than a nose.
And they were certainly the quicker out of the stalls this
evening.
They simply deluged Blackburn in the opening stages. In the
second minute, Bacary Sagna skipped past a couple of challenges on
the right and crossed for the unmarked Fabregas, whose chest
control let him down at the crucial moment.
Then Eduardo went through only but was clipped just before he
reached the area and his stumble allowed the Blackburn defence to
sweep the ball behind for a corner. The Croatian
international fired it over to the edge of the six-yard box
where it was met by a firm header from Senderos.
The Swiss defender was engulfed by his team-mates after the ball
went in. In the circumstances you sensed it might a crucial goal in
the season not just the game.
Arsenal did not sit back and admire their work. They swarmed all
over the visitors in the minutes that followed. Adebayor and
Eduardo received the ball in dangerous positions as the Blackburn
defence creaked under the weight of mounting Arsenal pressure.
Steven Reid flicked a header wide from Bentley's free-kick but when
Flamini skied a lay-off from Sagna yards over the bar in the 19th
minute it was pretty much the first thing the home side had done
wrong all evening.
Midway through the half the French midfielder should have made
amends when he went raced onto Fabregas' header. However his
bobbling drive bounced away off Brad Friedel's legs.
The tempo dropped markedly after that and Blackburn finally
emerged from their own half and won a couple of corners. However
the excellent Sagna inspired Arsenal into further forays
forward.
Blackburn gave the home side their first genuine scare in the
36th minute when Brett Emerton curled over a cross from the right
that Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz got a touch on. Both had
too much space and had either made a solid connection the scores
would have been level.
The Paraguayan nearly slid in a goal late in the half from Andre
Ooijer's raking cross. Arsenal had been dominant team in the
opening period but, at the break, the visitors had suggested they
would be the test many had predicted.
Bentley nearly proved that in the opening seconds when he bent a
low free-kick towards the near post and the stooping Lehmann
shovelled the ball wide.
But Arsenal might have made the game safe seconds later when
Eduardo appeared on the right and eschewed his team-mates in the
middle to drill a pass to Hleb on the far side of the area. The
Belarus midfielder took a touch and hammered his drive against the
base of the post.
To this point Adebayor had being having a quiet game compared to
his imperious form of late. That changed in the 53rd minute when he
collected Eduardo's chip forward, cruised past his marker and
thumped an angled shot against the legs of Friedel.
The game was opening up now. Arsenal looked the team more likely
to score but Blackburn were having an ominous amount of pressure.
Emirates Stadium was as nervy as it was passionate.
The greatest soothing influence from a home perspective was now
Adebayor. Fifteen minutes from time, he tricked his way past a
couple of defenders in the area and fired low at Friedel. The
American half-saved it and the ball was cleared. The Togolese
striker did something similar a couple of minutes later but this
time the ball went out for a corner.
Hleb stung Friedel's hands with 10 minutes left as Arsenal began
to look like the end of the game would see them as dominant as the
start.
Fabregas had a couple of efforts in the dying minutes. The
better of them was a flashing shot just wide.
Two minutes into added time, the second finally arrived. Hleb
waltzed into space inside the area and squared to Adebayor who
slammed home his shot from the edge of the six-yard box.
Arsenal had taken full advantage of their rivals' faltering
form.
