ESPN: Gunners shoot down Porto
Guardian: Samir Nasri and Nicklas Bendtner fire Arsenal into quarter-finals
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Our defense consisted of Almunia in goal, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, and Traore (Silvestre 88). The rest of the team line-up were Denilson, Nasri, Fabregas, Eboue (Ramsey 54), Rosicky (Vela 45), and Arshavin. The reason I list these out is because none of these players play a traditional (or non-traditional, for that matter) form of striker up front. Many of the them are prone to make runs forward but none of them can be considered targets up front, in the mold of RvP, Bendtner, or Eduardo. Even Vela likes to play off of the left-hand side.

None of this is to say that we shouldn’t be playing this way. I’m just pointing it out.

Arshavin’s goal in the 26th minute brought the end of my frustration over the Russian. His touch up till then had been atrocious. In one instance, he could have easily scored but he pushed the ball too far forward and the goalie was able to get to it first. The goal, however, was a perfect example of Arshavin’s knack for shooting without it looking like he’s shooting. He’s got that little flick from a prone position that ends up being a pretty hard shot. It was the culmination of a nice little exchange between Cesc and Arshavin.

It was utter pain to see Cesc miss a penalty.

As soon as Ramsey came on the pitch, our form changed. I noticed that we were playing a much slower, shorter passing game up until that moment. I’m not sure if the change came because of Ramsey but it seemed to coincide with his arrival. His pace was what won him the opportunity to score and he made good on it in the 80th minute. It was a perfectly placed shot which could have gone anywhere if he had taken it harder.

A new frustration has arisen for me with this team … Carlos Vela. I hope he improves. He really added nothing to the team by floating out on the left like he did.

Blackburn scored two goals on us. The first, by Steven Nzonzi in the 4th minute, was either a fluke or one of the best placed headers ever seen. You decide. I think it was a fluke. Arsenal were in complete control of the game when a freekick is awarded on an alleged Cesc Fabregas foul. The ball was sent down the whole field, at which Nzonzi barely got his head on it. The ball just happened to catch netminder Vito Mannone coming out and goes in. Arsenal 0, Blackburn 1.

It only took 13 minutes for us to equalize. Who could it be? Vermaelen, of course. A well placed square ball from Cesc, Vermaelen makes a little space for himself, moves the ball onto his left and boom! He’s become such an outside scoring threat for us! Arsenal 1, Blackburn 1.

Blackburn would then go ahead for the last time and it would only be for 3 minutes. David Dunn sent a hard shot that deflected off of Galas and finds Mannone going the wrong way. Three minutes later, a wonderful feed from Cesc to Robin van Persie on the left side of the Blackburn box, and RvP shoots to the far corner past Paul Robinson and we’re level. Arsenal 2, Blackburn 2.

That was all there was for Blackburn. The rest of the show was ours. In the 37th minute, almost a carbon copy of Cesc’s feed to RvP was given to Andrei Arshavin. From the same spot, at the same pace, Arshavin made no mistake and put the ball past Robinson in the same way that had happened 4 minutes prior. Arsenal 3, Blackburn 2.

Even if you haven’t seen the match or the highlights, you can probably guess who ruled this show. Cesc Fabregas was a part of everything that happened on Sunday. In the second half, he would get on the scoreboard as well. It was a wonderful volley to the top left corner in the 57th minute. After trying to feed Arshavin and then Rosicky, the ball finds its way back to Cesc (by way of Rosicky’s overhead kick) who decides to take it himself. Control. Laces. Placement. It was a beautifully placed ball, well outside the reach of Paul Robinson, who didn’t even try to get it. Arsenal 4, Blackburn 2.

Like most Arsenal supporters, every time I read something coming out of Barcelona about Cesc Fabregas, I cringe, just a little. I know its all garbage and just newspapers trying to drum up controversy. And then, his form will dip, and I start to wonder even more. But then, we have games like this one and that speculation gets put to rest. Cesc orchestrated everything offensively. If you could count assists without the goal actually being scored, he would have had something in the range of 30. To top it all off, after he scores his goal, he runs to the corner flag and salutes the Arsenal fans with a kiss to the Arsenal crest on his shirt. Classy.

Theo Walcott would make his welcome return to the field and score in the 75th minute. Again, Cesc was there to give Arshavin’s ball into the box a little more momentum over to the right where an on-rushing Walcott was waiting in the wing. A Nicholas Bendter strike in the 89th minute would bring the count to its final tally. Arsenal 6, Blackburn 2.

One good sign from the second half was the working duo of Bendtner and van Persie. These two worked tirelessly to push the play into Blackburn’s half. While the whole team can be credited with the effort, I think Bendtner and RvP did an especially good job of pressuring Blackburn up top, which resulted in keeping the ball forward.

The work in progress continues to be our defensive effort. Its one thing to be able to control the play and push forward (which is a form of defense, I guess), its another thing to defend well when the opposition brings it into our half. For the likes of Blackburn, we’re going to score goals; its our collective defense that needs work. I don’t want to see anyone replaced because I think Gallas and Vermaelen, along with Clichy and Sagna, are working really well together. Its hard to pinpoint (Is it Song?) but I feel its something to do with our midfield and their ability to contain other players from going forward. How I long for the days of Patrick Vieira and Gilberto.

Blackburn got close twice and got lucky twice. Two times we had to come from behind. On another day, the ref would have called a penalty on David Dunn’s run into box in the early part of the 2nd half. Our midfield could have stopped that from ever starting. A tougher opponent, or someone with the luck of Manchester United, and our goal scoring will be limited. The breaks won’t go our way. Its those times when our defensive effort needs to be better or our recent trip to Manchester will be repeated.

Chin up though. We’ve got a game in hand. Another win and we’re only 3 points out of first place. We’ve got a big break until Birmingham on the 17th. Meanwhile, World Cup qualifiers.

While Arsenal possessed the ball well, this game was settled by set pieces. The first goal was a master strike by Denilson to curl Fabregas’ side pass into the upper left corner. But, it wasn’t the dagger that ended the possibility of an Everton comeback. The 2nd and 3rd goals did that. Both centerbacks, first Vermaelen, then Gallas, headed the ball home on well-orchestrated set pieces by Arsenal, not so well defended by Everton. One team has been practicing these, the other not. After those two goals, any confidence left in Everton was gone. The rest of the goals would come on counter attacks, because Everton was pushing forward. This is what Wenger’s Arsenal does best and its been too long since we’ve seen it happen.

If you go back 3 or 4 seasons, you’ll remember that the way other teams figured out how to stop Arsenal when they were in the mood was to take them out of it by being overly physical. Its part of the English game that a team can push and shove a team with superior ball skills and technique. Its looked upon as opposing “tactics”. Manchester United were the first to employ it. Sir Alex Ferguson knew he couldn’t beat the Arsenal team that had gone on a 49 game unbeaten run by just playing football and so enabled his team to muscle their way to victory. Others (to name a few, Chelsea, Bolton, and any team managed by Sam Alyrdice) have tried the same. Credit should be given to David Moyes and the team he put on the field Saturday for not doing the same. But then, its been awhile since another team needed to employ this tactic.

This should be the season where Arsene Wenger’s plan for this team shows its full potential. After the 2004 Invincibles, he began a work of building a culture and program around his style of all-around football. Now he’s got a complete and youthful team to show it. I hope he’s got a plan for controlling the ball and game when things get rough, when teams decide they have to go back to the imposing game of physical intimidation.

And, even though the flowing free-form game of old seems to be back in this squad, there are still questions to be answered about the defense. Vermaelen and Gallas did a great job as central defenders but (1) they didn’t have someone like Drogba or Rooney to contend with, and (2) neither of them are very tall and imposing themselves. Both play the role of speedy, mobile centerbacks very well, although Gallas, at his age, will probably start to wear over a long season.

In any regard, it was a magical game and was a great start to the new campaign. Champions League football against Celtic on Tuesday (2:45 pm EST, Fox Soccer Channel here in the States).

1 down, 37 to go.